Old world wine with Oregon flair.

Believe it or not, it’s possible to draw a straight line from the culinary wasteland that is TGI Fridays to the exquisite old world wines found at Cana’s Feast.

Here’s the story: For winemaker Patrick Taylor, it all started when he was an uninspired history major. He quit school and took a job at TGI Fridays to pay the rent. Alongside the lineup of bland American pilsners were a handful of microbrews that made his tastebuds sing. Before long, he decided to head home to Oregon and try his hand at brewing beer.

At Oregon State, studying fermentation science, his passion for beer turned into a passion for wine, and a winemaker was born. Working on big red wines with famed winemaker Andrew Rich, and later with Cana’s Feast founder Gino Cuneo, Patrick fell in love with big Italian reds. He experiments and tinkers, tweaking his barrel strategy, his aging strategy, and more.

Over the last decade, as head winemaker at Cana’s Feast, Patrick has led the way toward their “decidedly uncommon” style, producing Pacific Northwest wines inspired by old world wines from Italy, Bordeaux, the Rhône, and Burgundy. Just don’t serve his wines with the endless mozzarella sticks.