Posts tagged with 'Cabernet Franc'
This is our third year volunteering at Taste Washington-Spokane, where over one hundred Washington wineries get together with many restaurants and have a big ol’ tasting. It was held on June 21st at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington. They have an event in Seattle, as well, usually a couple of months before the Spokane event and that one brings so many people, I’ve heard complaints about how you can’t even get around.
Now, I understand that this post won’t be highly relevant but it’s important for me to document this event as it was even better than the previous years that we’ve volunteered. One reason is that we have more knowledge about wine than we did a few years back. With that comes confidence which cannot be overstated.
I HAVE been trying to write about this for about three months. There are so many things to say I start getting overwhelmed and then just “put it off” for another day. Well, as the song goes, “that day has come” (if it’s not a song, it should be).
Like last year, we worked the White Out Bar, which boasts about 20-25 white wines that go very well with seafood and shell fish. The Taste Washington organizers placed the White Out Bar right next to an oyster bar ran by Anthony’s At Spokane Falls, a top of the line Seafood Restaurant, one of the finest in the state. Making it to the oyster bar is high on the list of most of the people who go to Taste Washington so we are naturally the next stop for them, giving us many opportunities to meet people.
I can’t mention ALL of the wines we tasted, as it was well over 20 for me and about 10-15 for Shelley. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this but I don’t often spit when tasting wine. Shelley will at times but not me. I just can’t bring myself to do it.
We noticed none of the Sauvignon Blancs that were poured at the White Out Bar had grassy notes like you find in the Australian and New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. That was interesting. Ahead are some highlights of the wine that ambled past my lips and down my throat at Taste Washington Spokane.
I found a 2007 Chardonnay from Saint Laurent Estate Winery that was very good. It had subtle oak notes on the nose and a caramel finish on the back of the tongue. Very tasty. My Taste Washington program states you can get this Chardonnay for about $15 which is a great value, in my opinion.
Our old friend from San Juan Vineyards made our acquaintance once again, Madeleine Angevine. As we try to be objective while pouring at the White Out Bar unless asked of our opinion, I still found myself pushing this somewhat unknown white wine. Virutually everyone that tried it enjoyed it. After doing some research on that varietal I found that it is from the Loire Valley in France and is found in Germany, the United Kingdom and (how ironic) Washington State, where it is developing a cult following.
I also tasted a Merlot from San Juan Vineyards that was delicious with chocolate cake on the nose and a boatload of personality. (I’m writing this in the afternoon but I find that I really would like a glass of that San Juan Vineyards Merlot right now!) The Madeleine Angevine runs about 17 bucks a bottle and you can expect to pay around $23 for the Merlot.
Another one that stood out was a 2005 Matthews Estate Red Wine from the Columbia Valley, which was a Bordeaux Blend. It went perfect with the chocolate fondue I was pairing with it. Another red that caught my attention, also from the Columbia Valley, was from William Church Winery, their 2006 Bishops Blend. At $19, a true bargain! Barrister Winery poured a 2007 Cabernet Franc, ALSO from the Columbia Valley, that was delicious. It had a wonderuful nose, quite peppery, and their were certainly some tannins as well.
I could go on about wines that I tasted from Dunham Cellars, Coyote Canyon, Barnard Griffin, DiSteffano Winery, Basel Cellars Estate Winery, Vin Du Lac, Whitman Cellars and so on but it would be much of the same thing: Great, great, great!
Suffice it to say, this is something we hope to do every year in June as it is absolutely one of the highlights to our year. We don’t pay the $75.00 admission fee, work for 2-3 hours pouring wines that pair well with seafood and then get to talk to aLOT of people who make wine, love wine and are wine. It’s so much fun. Oh yeah, we help break down for an hour or so afterwards.
So, if you are around the Spokane area June 6th or the Seattle area March 27th and 28th of this year, make a point of dropping the cash and see for yourself the quality of wine being made in Washington State.
Until next time, bottoms up and thanks for reading!
Right off the bat I want to thank all those new General Wine Thoughts subscribers. If you’re one of them, and you know who you are, I hope you will enjoy the casual talk of wine. My goal is to teach people from the ground up, from square one, from the beginning about wine. People often are intimidated when discussing wine and, although there is certainly a lot to learn about wine, you can still have a broad understanding of the different varietals and what to look for. I will be covering this as well as other opinions and, well, thoughts, during the coming months but I WILL go slow. Hey, I have my whole life to explain this stuff!
Now, about White Table Wine, Syrah and Viognier!
One of the many incredibly fun things about enjoying wine is meeting so many great people that share the same passion for wine. As I found myself around the Green Bluff area just North of Spokane, Washington, I felt compelled to stop by the tasting room of an old friend, Townshend Cellar. It seems like where ever I see Townshend Cellar set up (Taste Washington, Food Services of America events, etc…) I see Jill Rider. Her Business card says she is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the winery but she is also the General Manager and manages the tasting room and winery events and she does a stellar job, from what I can see. Really, what DOESN’T she do? The last time we were there it was myself, Shelley, her dad, Lloyd, and our newest pup, Izzie (see the last post for pictures of all!).
In fact, while visiting with Jill during this “out of the blue” stop, the winemaker, Don Townshend, called her to let her know he had just returned from his trip to Italy. Undoubtedly, a wine driven trip to be sure. The story of Townshend is refreshing. Don debated for years on whether or not he should make wine. Having never made wine he took the leap of faith after attempting a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in 1995, bottling them in 1998 and realizing they tasted as good or better than some of the best California and Washington wines.
Now, Townshend Cellar makes about 10,ooo cases of wine a year and offers around 20 different wines for their customers to choose from. Their most popular wine is probably their T3 which is a non-vintage Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. I see this wine on many restaurants’ wine lists and we have a bottle of that in our cellar, as well as their Vortex, 2002 Late Harvest Merlot and 2005 Syrah (which I just purchased when I was there).
The other night we opened their White Table Wine which consists of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Chardonnay. For a price of under $11 you can’t really go wrong. It was very crisp from the first sip. Shelley tasted the Viognier right away and thought there may be too much of it. She thought it was syrupy and slightly metallic. I noticed there was a tartness to it right at the back of the tongue. We also noticed hints of apples and apricots on the nose and I also tasted the apricots. I was captured by the legs on this wine–the wine just seemed to cling onto my glass! (Check out my next post when I will explain all about the “legs” of wine.)
All in all, we enjoyed this White Table Wine. They also make a Red Table Wine. In the never ending quest of coming up with labels that will catch the eye of the consumer the labels on these wines simply have a white table and red table, respectively. Simple, to the point and catchy.
As for their Syrah–I bought the recently released 2005 while I was there but we already owned a bottle of the 2004 from our last trip to Townshend and we chose to open that. We drank this with barbequed ribs which was quite tasty. Since we had a half bottle left over we had that with steak the following night and it was even better! It is almost entirely Syrah with only 4% Merlot and it’s from Washingtons Columbia Valley. Very rich.
Shelly exclaimed, “It’s SO PURPLE!” as I poured her a glass. True, it is very dark. Right away there was alcohol on the nose but as it opened up the alcohol went away and was replaced with raspberries and pepper. I thought it was very soft with good mouthfeel. It paired well with the ribs but was outstanding with the steak.
The following night we completed the Townshend trifecta with their 2007 Viognier. I remember tasting this at the tasting room and thinking it was quite sweet. When we opened the bottle it wasn’t AS sweet but SO much fruit on the nose. This is a wine that would be wonderful on a hot summers day or with some oysters.
Townshend has made a name for itself with its quality juice and have only ten years making wine. Just think what another ten years will do for them. Why don’t you pick up a bottle of something from Townshend Cellar and try it for yourself.
Tonight, we’re having a Cabernet Franc with a pot roast–yUm! So look forward to reading about that AND don’t forget, next column we’ll be talking about legs. I DO love talking about legs, ya know? Doesn’t everbody????
Until then, bottoms up and ENJOY!
The past couple of posts I have written about some decent wines at rather low prices. Not today.
Recently I had the privilege of tasting a couple of very good and well thought of wines and one very interesting one from a highly thought of winery. I’ll start with that one.
I was having a conversation with the General Manager of Elliotts Oyster House in Seattle, Washington, one of the top seafood restaurants in the nation and I told him about this wine blog I write, the one you just happen to be reading right now. I had asked him if he would consider being interviewed for a future post and he agreed. So look forward to an interview with Tom Arthur coming up soon as we talk in depth about Pinot Noir, his favorite varietal.
He then poured me a glass of a 2005 Syrah from McCrea Cellars. McCrea has a great reputation for producing very nice Syrah’s. He told me that this wine was returned by one of his guests as being corked. (Be sure to read the next post which will describe what it means when a wine is corked). “Well”, he said, “it wasn’t corked” but it WAS something and he asked me to identify what was wrong.
Oh, great, I thought, now he’s going to find out just how little I really DO know about wine!
It smelled fine. (Oh, now, I’ve failed.) He said, no the nose IS fine. Whew! Next the taste; Immediately I tasted what seemed to be carbonation and I told him just that. He said, “Bingo! You nailed it.” Apparently the wine makers at McCrea Cellars goofed a tad on this wine and didn’t remove all the yeast and that caused it to be, as Tom said, “a bit spritzy.” People just don’t expect that sort of taste in a red wine but it isn’t harmful and, actually, it was a very interesting taste. I asked him if this might be the next style of wine, a red wine that you can chill a bit and have it be effervescent. He didn’t think that would happen.
I tasted a couple of other wines, as well. One was a 2005 Dunham Cellars Trutina which is a blend of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 13% Syrah and 5% Cabernet Franc. Absolutely delicious. Full, rich body and not too tannic. Dunham Cellars has a history of producing very nice wine. This one was well balanced and had great mouthfeel. The nose was spectacular with hints of spice and pepper.
The last one I tried was from Betts & Scholl, a 2005 Grenache from Australia’s Barossa Valley. According to the winery, Grenache is the most widely planted grape in the world. This wine had a lot of berry on the nose and wasn’t as complex as the Trutina. It also had a fair amount of tannins. It isn’t often I get an opportunity to have a Grenache and it makes me wonder why I don’t choose this varietal more.
Suffice it to say I enjoyed ALL three wines including the “spritzy” one from McCrea. But these wines are hardly at the price point of the wines in my last two posts. The McCrea and Dunham wines are over $30 and the Betts & Scholl is near $25. But the value of a wine isn’t only about the cost of it but the quality related to the cost. That is why we were so high on the Oak Leaf Chardonnay (see my post from March 20) which was UNDER three bucks but not on the Two Buck Chuck which is priced very similarly.
One thing that I’ve found in the world of wine is that it is sometimes difficult to find out what wine to serve with the food you’re preparing or, the other way around, what food you should make to go with the wine you want to open. With that in mind, I just added a new widget to help you pair wine with food and you can see it at the bottom of the left column. I’m not sure I will keep it as it’s rather small. The regular size widget blows right through the words of the post and I can’t figure out (yet) how to make that NOT happen. If you have a comment on this widget or anything else, please don’t hesitate. Just click on the word “comment” at the bottom of this post and it will be directed right to me. After the Ultimate Blog Party 2009 posts netted me many comments I felt very liberated. So you TOO can help me feel that way with a comment. Ok, enough begging.
Remember the next post I will write about what a “corked” wine is. Until then, bottoms up!
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