December 2010 Archives

West Seattle Cellars Is “Bearish” On Their Wines

  • Posted on December 17, 2010 at 11:27 pm

Bearish In A GOOD Way!

by Phil Anderson
The very first wine shop I think I ever went into, other than The Wine Exchange, in Southern California, was West Seattle Cellars, in West Seattle (obviously).  It was a small little shop and the first person I met was Bear Silverstein.  A gruffish looking character (ok, bearish) I remember wondering, at the time, just how much this guy knows about wine. 

All it took was his perfect (at least to my ears) pronunciation of a French wine to get my attention.  Turns out he was one of the three partners.  I found myself going into the shop anytime I could and was never disappointed.  My wine budget wasn’t much at the time so I enjoyed their “under $10″ bins.

This is the third of a small series of articles aimed at acknowledging the importance of local wine bars and shops.  Every decent city has them!

West Seattle Cellars has been serving West Seattle since 1995 when the shop opened in a little house on California, near the Morgan Street Junction. Bear Silverstein, Tom DiStefano, and Jan Martindale, bought the shop in 2000 and it has continued to grow:  in 2005 they expanded into a new building adjacent to the original shop. The new space has given them more room, including a second floor loft where they hold classes and special events and which is available for rental.

Recently I had an opportunity to experience that second floor when I participated in a Champagne tasting.  West Seattle Cellars doens’t charge for their tastings so it was an added bonus to taste some boutique Champagne for no out of pocket cost.  Two distributors were there pouring seven different wines ranging from $40-$52.

On this night, none of them knocked my socks off, but that could be because I’m not used to drinking actual Champagne.  Most had a pungent  nose, which is typical.  There were three that stood out from the rest of the pack.  Of those three, one was at the $40 price point, the Laherte Freres Brut Tradition, which I found to have a lot of licorice on the nose and was floral on the front end.  The finish wasn’t long, however, so it was kind of a tease. 

Then there was the one that was VERY fizzy.  I mean VERY fizzy!  It  was the Marc Chauvet Brut Selection that caught me off guard because there was basically NO nose then POW, the fizz punches you right in the face.

I have another column to write about a small little wine shop and deli in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, but I wanted to write this one first because today is Bear Silverstein’s birthday.  He passed away earlier this year from health complications and the wine community took a major hit and is still reeling.  This is the reason for the title of this column.

Tom and Jan have done well holding down the shop during this very tumultuous year and they were both there the night of the Champagne tasting.  If you’re ever in West Seattle, I would suggest popping into West Seattle Cellars and saying “hello”. 

Remember you can follow me on Twitter and I also have a Fan Page on Facebook, that is gaining some steam, that you can “like”.  And, as usual, thank you so much for reading, have a wonderful holiday season and bottoms up!

There’s A New Sheriff In Town

  • Posted on December 1, 2010 at 11:13 pm

by Phil Anderson
This is the second of a small series of articles aimed at acknowledging the importance of local wine bars and shops.  Every decent city has them!  The first time I walked in to bin 41 in West Seattle, one thing caught my attention immediately and that was the temperature.  It was rather cool.  My first thought was, “Where’s the heat in this place?”  As fast as that thought came in it was pushed aside by the logical answer that it was a wine shop and it’s keeping the wines that they display at an appropriate temperature.

I grew up in West Seattle.  I played football at West Seattle High School and graduated in, um….. 1979.  I know West Seattle like the back of my hand.  I have been called Mr. West Seattle by people because I’m constantly running into people I know when I’m out and about.  A few of months ago I was in West Seattle I found this new wine store and I “forced” myself to enter the shop for the FIRST time. 

Jon McNamara approached me immediately, partly because I was the only one in there.  He owns it with his wife who is simply named, T.  It is clean with very simple displays of many different wines from many different wine regions of the world, but of course, heavily stocked with Washington Wines.

The LAST time I visited bin 41 they had a tasting that showcased a couple of newer wineries, Fall Line Winery and Reynvaan Family Vineyards.  This particular tasting both of the wineries’ winemakers were there, to help promote their wines.  I find it very helpful to be able to talk to the winemakers whenever possible.  It’s nice to be able to put a face that’s behind the juice that’s in the bottle!

Tim Sorenson, shown with me to the left, is the winemaker at Fall Line Winery which produces about 2,000 cases each year and is located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.  He was pouring the year 2007 this particular night.  The first was a red blend called Exhibition, which fuses Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Verdot.  I also tasted another red blend called Artz which has Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from a single vineyard on Red Mountain.  I also tasted their 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.   All the wines were young but solid, with soft tannins and an easy personality.

The other winery that was there pouring was Reynvaan Family Vineyards and proprietor Mike Reynvaan, shown with me to the left.  Reynvaan produces only 1,200 cases a year and they are located in Walla Walla.  They also grow their own fruit, their first release being the 2007.  I tasted their 2008 Unnamed Syrah which has about 10% Viognier in it which I found softened it up quite a bit.  This one had quite the nose on it with a smokey barnyard funk peppered with tar.  The other was their In The Rocks Syrah with a little Viognier and a dash of Marsanne.  This was my favorite of the night.  I found blueberries in the nose with a dark, inky taste.

Bin 41 typically has two tastings like this every week, usually on Wednesday and Saturday, but sometimes they’ll sneak another tasting in.  What’s fun about small wine shops like this is that they are motivated to teach their customer base about wine in an easy, non-expensive way.  This particular tasting was 5 bucks to taste 5 fun wines.  I saw a couple of people that wanted to taste one or two of the wines again for comparison and it was completely acceptable.

Another great thing about small wine shops like this is you are more likely to be remembered.  When I first visited bin 41 Jon and I had about 20-30 minutes of conversation as he told me a bit about their story and sold me a couple of bottles of wine.  When I walked in this time, nearly four months later, Jon not only recognized me but called me by name!  Are you SERIOUS?  Not only that, he told me the wines he recommended and that I purchased, the names I had long forgotten (not because I didn’t like them but because I have early signs of Dementia setting in!).  That absolutely amazed me and, yes, I will make it a point to come in whenever possible to pick up some more fun wines I haven’t tried yet.

It’s these family owned, small little wine shops that bring intimacy and knowledge to a fast growing group of wine lovers that have a thirst for wine education.  To meet the winemakers behind the wine escalates the relationship between the wineries and consumers.  In this day and age of increased competition in the wine world that’s just one more marketing tool a winery has in their arsenal to help the consumer make a wine buying decision in THEIR favor.

As always, you can find me on Facebook AND Twitter, and I hope you WILL! 

Thank you to all the new people registering for this blog!  And thank you SO much for reading and bottoms up!

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