The big day had finally arrived.  All the girls spent the day doing make up and getting their hair and nails done.  The guys swung the sticks on the course.  I tried to find somewhere to lie out in the sun and soak up a few rays since this is something I love but can’t seem to find the time to do it.

As the hours ticked off and the time drew nearer and nearer to the ceremony starting, we got all dressed up and prepared ourselves for a limo ride from our hotel to Leonesse Cellars, where the wedding was to take place.  Having been to the rehearsal the day before I knew that it was going to be beautiful but not THIS beautiful!  They did a phenomenal job decorating, although, it’s not too hard with the vineyards as the backdrop for the ceremony.

The Rock Star couple after the ceremoney during pictures in the vineyards at Leonesse Cellars.

Everything went off without a hitch (and the happy couple WAS hitched!) and then we were shuttled from the ceremony location to where the reception was to be held, Leonesse’s barrel room.  Two barrel rooms in two nights!  There was a bit of a wait while they shuttled 150 people to the reception (it was a rather long walk…).  During this wait I met somebody whose career I found quite interesting.  Click HERE to read all about THAT story!

This barrel room was much larger than the one at Ponte Winery the night before.  It was fabulously decorated and had a wonderfully festive ambiance.  This might surprise you but, the moment we got settled at our table, I sashayed to the bar to find out what they were pouring.  I was VERY much looking forward to trying their wine!  (If you are a fan of Drinking Wine on Facebook you will know we have a wine neighbor that is always bringing wine over to our place.  She brought a bottle of Leonesse Port that we had with chocolate one night that was WONDERFUL!)

We started out with a  Leonesse Melange de Blanc which consisted of 44% Roussane, 41% Viognier and 15% Marsanne.  With all the celebrating activities going on it was difficult to really savor the experience of the wine but the Viognier really stood out as their were notes of peaches a hint of honey.

Dinner was uttlerly spectacular.  It was a buffet that featured (in my case, anyway, because I didn’t try the grilled chicken with brushetta) top sirloin with bacon, shallot and Gorgonzola compound butter.  I paired a  2007 Leonesse Melange de Reves with the sirloin and it was perfect!  It was a red blend of 54% Syrah, 25% Cinsaut, 16% Grenache and 5% Mourvedre and it was a bit smokey with flavors of peppory raspberries.

A bonus was a sparkling wine for the toast of the bride and groom.  This wine wasn’t produced by Leonesse but from Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards, also in Temecula.  Wow!  It was an almond flavored sparkling wine that was absolutely delicious!  I didn’t expect the almond taste but it was certainly there.

After writing her own personal note of good luck on the Leonesse cork to her son and his new wife, Shelley places the cork into the cork catcher at the reception.

This night was, obviously, a very special occasion as Shelley’s second child was the first to be married off.  There was dancing, laughter and high spirits, great food and wonderful wine at a magnificent venue, Leonesse Cellars.  It was seamlessly orchestrated by Meghan and Katie of Intertwined Weddings and Special Events. I would typically not even mention them but the night was so flawless they deserve special mention.  People even wrote little notes of luck to the bride and groom on corks and pitched them (ok, more PUT them) in the cork catcher I had made for them as a wedding present.  We met new family and friends and sampled the best that Temecula has to offer.

The only downside was Shelley’s Nikon digital SLR turned up missing and I ended up making two trips back to the winery looking for it without success.

I would suggest a trip to Leonesse Cellars for sure to sample their extraordinary wines if you have the chance.  It is certainly a winery that takes great pride in producing high end juice!  Or better YET, if you’re planning an event and you’re near Temecula, why not consider Leonesse Cellars?  Laura Mitchell, the Weddings and Events Manager at Leonesse who handled this wedding would be more than happy to hear from you!

Thank you so much for reading and remember, bottoms up!

Our Wine Time bell that is next to the back door waiting to be rang.

We have a Wine Time bell that is attached on the wall outside our back door and it is rang when appropriate, like when chores get the best of me and I lose track of time, as a reminder that it is wine time.  Because of this little bell and it’s name and how much she enjoys that time of the day, Jennifer chose that as an underlying theme to their wedding and chose the ceremony to be held at Leonesse Cellars in Temecula, California.

As a wedding present to the new couple, I made them a slightly smaller replica of the cork catcher I made for us that I’ve written so much about.  Getting that down to California in one piece was a feat in and of itself!  I sent everything down with Shelley (knocked down), as she drove down a week prior to me to work at Camp ReCreation, except the glass which I bought down there, TWICE as it turns out after breaking the first pane (or should I say PAIN!?!) during installation!  The cork catcher was going to be used primarily at the wedding reception as guests deposited corks in it they had written words of wisdom to the couple on.  Then during the course of their marriage they will add more and more corks with each bottle of wine they drink.

The barrels of wine are stored in the barrel room at Ponte Family Estate Winery

We arrived on Saturday morning for the rehersal and then checked into The Inn at Churon Winery in Temecula.  The property was nice enough and had a happy hour that included one glass of their wine per person.  I don’t write this blog to bash wineries or vineyards or the wine they produce, but I will say I know why they give this wine away.  We had their Chardonnay and their White Merlot.  I tolerated the Chardonnay (Shelley did not) and she tolerated the White Merlot (I did not) but suffice it to say, we were not impressed at all with these wines.

Temecula has not been known as an area that produces great wine and after these first tastes we were starting to become concerned.  Not long after those thoughts permeated our minds we found ourselves in the barrel room at Ponte Family Estate Winery which is a boutique producer. Their wines are made in very small quantities, typically 1,500 cases per year for each variety.  We started out with their Fume Blanc which had a very pretty, floral nose that completely made us forget about the Chardonnay at Churon.

For dinner we enjoyed an unbelievable crab stuffed filet mignon which was pan roasted and finished with a creamy white balsamic bearnaise.  This paired perfectly with their Super T, a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.   Ponte’s Super T is made in the classic Super Tuscan style, perfectly blending Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. This rich and bold wine tasted of juicy raspberries with hints of anise and vanilla and a smooth finish that left me longing for another glass.

I next moved to their Dolcetto.  Although the name means “little sweet one”, this wine is not at all sweet!  It was big and bold and also went very well with the filet.  During the entire dinner I switched from the Super T to the Dolcetto, thinking each glass was my favorite.  The dinner was superb as was the service.  People even put a few corks into the cork catcher as I had brought it by there.

A very rushed day turned into a wonderful evening with perfectly prepared food and excellent wine from Ponte Family Estate Winery.  If you EVER visit Temecula and want a treat around dinner time I would suggest you kill two birds with one stone and have dinner at Ponte and choose one of their delicious wines to go with it.

Here is what is coming in the future on General Wine Thoughts:
-Part Two and Part Three of The Wedding Weekend
-Guest Blog from Lindsay Anderson about her Napa Valley experience, which included a four hour stop at Opus One (and also happened on the same weekend as the wedding.)
-d’Alessandro Wine from Italy
-Cafe Dolce in Missoula, Montana
-One Hope Winery
-The Dinner Party
-Another edition of “Here’s To Good Friends”, although I’ll have to change the title, featuring sparklers and Pinot Noirs (maybe even one from the producer of my favorite Pinot Noir, Patricia Green Cellars)!

I thank you for reading and please remember you can always write me at drinkwine@generalwinethoughts.com or converse, chat or correspond with me about wine, or anything ELSE for that matter, on Twitter and Facebook!  Until next time, bottoms up!

Well, that’s not exactly how the song goes but it certainly is how the wine flows, at least for this particular night of wine tasting with our friends, Laureen and Katie.  Part one was all about the oldest vintage we tasted, the 1979 BV Cabernet Sauvignon.  Today I’m concentrating on three other wines we tried, all from the same vintage, one from Sonoma and the other two from Napa. 

As in George Orwell’s novel, 1984, where the individual is always subordinated to the state, we, as a group, were subordinated to the wine.  We tasted three Cabernet Sauvignon’s, a proverbial hat trick, from the 1984 vintage from three different producers:

William Wheeler Vineyards, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Robert Keenan Winery, Napa Valley
Far Niente Winery, Estate Bottled, Napa Valley

The William Wheeler Cabernet Sauvignon was the first one we tasted and was our least favorite, as a group (though their was a stinky one in the future that would push this thought).  I noticed a little licorice on the nose but all in all, it was aromatically challenged.  After tasting it I noticed it tasted more like a Merlot than a California Cab.  After the initial light pour to taste it right after it was opened I decanted it.  After 55 minutes (we realized we should not decant as long after we messed up with the ’79) we gave it another go and I felt it recovered and opened up nicely.  Finally it had a nose!  Adding to the licorice note was a bit of black pepper, which I am always fond of.  The others didn’t see this as I did, however, as they were still unimpressed.

Here's to good friends! L-R Laureen, Katie, Diana and Shelley raise their glass of 1984 Robert Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon.

The second wine we tasted from this vintage was from Robert Keenan.  This was interesting because Shelley and I had opened a 2001 Robert Keenan Merlot to go with pork chops two weeks prior.  Now we had a chance to go back even further with this producer.  After the first pour it was much smoother than the William Wheeler.  This wine also still had some tannins which suggested it could go a little longer before being awaken from it’s slumber, which is probably why I had such a hard time getting the cork to come out.  It was a battle for, what seemed like forever, but was more like about five minutes.  In the end, I won as I got all of the cork out without any staying behind in the bottle.  Needless to say, THIS cork didn’t make it to the cork catcher!  I didn’t notice much of a difference when we went back to it after about 45 minutes.

The last of the 1984 trifecta was one the entire group highly anticiapted, the Far Niente.  Before I go any further, I must confess, I didn’t know the pedigree of this producer.  I would go as far as saying I MAY have heard of the winery.  I didn’t let on to this fact on this night, however.  Immediately upon opening and the first pour there was an air of disappointment.  VERY stinky!  Stinky stink stink.  I wasn’t sure if this was because it had gone bad or if it was a European style but it certainly was barnyard.  Fortunately, it tasted better than it smelled, but not a lot better, to be sure.  After 40 minutes of decanting it became even more of a pronounced barnyard smell with about the same taste.  Not much to it, sadly, and I would say this particular ’84 was, in the collected minds of the group, a flop.

All in all, I liked the Robert Keenan the best, even better than the ’79 BV Cabernet Sauvignon.  The group, however, all seemed to have a fondness for the ’79.  With that said, nothing was blowing our socks off, other than the fact the ’79 had help up all these years very well.  Before I give you a preview of Part Three, and last part, of our epic night of tasting, I must confess that I went into this tasting with a very open mind, pretty much convinced I wasn’t going to “hate” any of them.  When a wine is as old as these wines were, I think back to the people who were involved in producing that wine:  The people who tended the vineyards, who were involved in the harvest, the crush, sampling and bottleing.  How many of those people are no longer with us on earth?  How could I judge these wines with an arrogance? 

I told the group before we started I inteded on liking all of the wines we tasted, especially the older ones, whether they were spectacular or not.  We were lucky; I don’t think any of these wines had gone bad.  Were some of them over the hill?  Probably.  The William Wheeler and the Far Niente for sure.  But it was SUCH a pleasure to carefully, and respectfully, taste through each bottle with these special people. 

<pause for a moment for dramatic effect>

When I write next I will tell you about some of the younger vintages we tried and what we thought of those.  I will even add a bonus so be sure to keep an eye out for that!  Until then, thank you so much for reading and bottoms up!

We are enjoying a 2007 Maryhill Columbia Valley Chardonnay while sitting on folding chairs and using a step stool as a table!

Open That Bottle Night 2010 came and went without much fanfare, last night, just as last year did.  This year, however, we were back at home in North Idaho instead of Ogden, Utah. 

As you may, or may not, know, Open That Bottle Night, or OTBN, is the night you force yourself to open that “once in a lifetime” bottle of wine because if you didn’t, it may never get opened.  We save that special bottle for that special time and for some reason that special time never seems to be quite special enough.  So the bottle sits.  And sits.  And sits. 

“How ’bout THIS anniversary, honey?” 

“Ummmm, no.  Not quite important enough.”

And sits.  And sits.

“How ’bout the birth of our 14th child, baby?”

“Ummmmmm, nope.  Close, but STILL not quite important enough to open THAT bottle!”

And sits.  Until, it has sat too long.  Way too long!

That is why John Brecher and Dorothy (Dottie) Gaitor coined this once a year event, in their Wall Street Journal’s ”Tastings” column, that falls on the last Saturday of each February so that we could at least open a very special bottle before it had a chance to get over the hill, so to speak.  And this was the eleventh year of the event and it has gone viral globally!  It was all a-twitter on Twitter last night with the question, “What are YOU opening for OTBN tonight?”

Two years ago we had a little soiree at our place with a small group of friends and opened some very special wines.  One of them was a 1981 Chateau St. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon.  It wasn’t very good.  It was either over the hill or just not kept correctly over the years as it was just bad.

But the experience was good.  That was the year we unvailed our cork catcher as I had just finished it a couple of days prior.  Last year we were on our own in Utah where we opened a Sancerre. 

So, what did WE open for that OTBN last night?  Good question.

This year we started out the evening with a 2007 Maryhill Chardonnay.  AND, it marked the first night of the year we enjoyed a glass of wine outside while throwing the ball to the dogs.  Last year we had snow in the back yard until April but this year it’s almost gone.  The sun was out so it made for a beautiful setting but once the sun set it got chilly really fast.  We even fed the fish in our pond for the first time this year on this eventful evening.  I drug out a couple of folding chairs because all of the patio chairs are inside for the winter, and we used a step stool as a table (see photo).

Maryhill has continually impressed me with their quality juice.  A couple of weeks ago we had a Maryhill  Sangiovese and it was very good.  We’re not really Sangiovese fans but this one was something we enjoyed.  We always enjoy their vitners blend.  But last night we opened a 2007 Columbia Valley Chardonnay, from Maryhill Winery.  It had a light toasty finish that continued to linger.  Very nice.  It wasn’t at all over oaked. 

Then, with dinner, we had a choice to make between a Cotes du Ventoux or a 2005 dArry’s Original Shiraz/Grenache from d’Arenberg in Australia and we chose the latter.

Shelley has a fondness for McLaren Vale Shiraz so we chose this one because of that.  We had T-Bone steaks (we usually have rib eye steaks) and they were scrumptious.  The only problem was that I THOUGHT it was a 100% Shiraz we were drinking (because I inadvertently FORGOT to look at the entire label!) but instead was a 50/50 Shirza/Grenache.  My bad.

Well, it started out rather tight but opened up in due time to a VERY berry nose and a chewy, jammy taste!  It paired very well with the steaks and by the end of the night my stomache was full and my heart was happy.

If you happened to enjoy your OWN Open That Bottle Night will you please comment here so that I know what YOU had to drink?  Thank you for reading and, as always, bottoms up!

Izzie (with the ball, on the left) and Phoebe dutifully returning for more ball throwing.

After many, many months of seeing nothing but white outside (in the form of snow) we’ve finally seen the light.  I know I’ve heard of this thing called the sun and there it was in all its glory warming our world.  THIS called for a sunshine wine!  (or two)

Shelley's father, Lloyd, shows one of the Komomoto Oysters we had with the 2007 Whidbey Island Madeleine Angevine.

 So, before I left Seattle after visiting my daughter on Spring Break, I made two obligatory stops: 

1-      The Metropolitan Grill for their carrot cake that Shelley loves so much, and,

2-      The Pike Place Fish Market to pick up some Kumomoto Oysters for grilling when I got back home.

Remember when I wrote about Madeleine Angevine from San Juan Vineyards back in mid March of this year?  Well, I found another producer of this unique varietal, Whidbey Island Winery, located, ironically, on Whidbey Island.  Whidbey Island is within Puget Sound American Viticultural Area (appellation) which was approved by the federal government in 1995.  I paid only about $13 for this one and we thought we would have it with the oysters.  We put those Kumomoto Oysters on the grill and after no more than five minutes the shells had popped open, ready to eat. 

With the addition of a little Tabasco Sauce, melted butter and lemon we enjoyed the oysters with the 2007 Madeleine Angevine and it was absolutely wonderful!  Shelley’s father Lloyd (pictured above, slightly right) continues to talk about it day in and day out, which leads me to believe I’ll be making another trip over the mountains to Seattle sometime soon.  This Madeleine Angevine was much drier than the one from San Juan Vineyards but it went perfectly with the oysters.  Now, I’m not much of a seafood guy and I especially don’t particularly enjoy raw oysters but this combination was, and is, sensational.

The next night (well, actually late afternoon) we made it outside to throw the ball to the dogs (see picture at top left) for the first time this spring and so we opened up another wine from Whidbey Island Winery, Siegerrebe.  I’ve never heard of this German varietal before I bought this wine.  It was much sweeter than the Madeleine Angevine with hints of peaches and honey.  It reminded me of a Viognier or even a Reisling.  I look forward to trying more of this grape and I continue to be fascinated by how many different grape varietals there are.

As you can see, in the pictures above (with the dogs), and below, there is still snow in our backyard.  Last year it didn’t leave until May 6.  We’ve got three weeks to go to break that record.  I’ll keep you posted.

Last time I promised you I would write about corked wine (cork taint), what it is and how it comes to be and I will live up to that promise now. 

This is the official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:  “Corked is the pejorative tasting term for a wine spoiled by a cork stopper contaminated with cork taint. This is one of the most serious wine faults as in most cases it irrevocably imbues the wine with such a powerfully off-putting smell that it cannot be drunk with any enjoyment.”  (Sounds like a perfect description of the Yellowtail Chardonnay I tried once.)

One of the resources I use is cellarnotes.net (I’ve added a link under the blogroll in the left column) and their description is:  “A ‘Corked’ wine is a wine that has been bottled with a cork that is contaminated with TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole). TCA contamination usually comes from corks but can also come from barrels, other cooperage or even, apparently, from wood within the cellar including walls or beams. The term ‘corked wine’ is applied to all wines with TCA contamination because corks are the souce of most of the problems. The wine industry estimates that as many as 3% to 7% of all wines have TCA contamination at levels that can be detected by consumers. Because most people are not trained to recognize the smell and taste of TCA, only a very small fraction of these bad bottles are ever returned to stores or sent back at a restaurant.”

One would think with the increase of man made stoppers and screw caps that “corked wine” should be on the decrease.  Time will tell.  Shelley and I still like real corks so that we can pitch them in our cork catcher after we’ve finished another great bottle of wine, but that’s just us.

Thanks for visiting and, until next time, bottoms up!

Shelley and Lloyd toast the snow leaving (FINALLY!) with a 2007 Whidbey Island Siegerrebe. Take note of the snow still in the background.

So, now nearly two weeks later, I am writing about a 2006 Shiraz that we had last night with meatloaf.  First of all, let me tell you, Shelley knows what she’s doing in the kitchen.  This was likely the best meatloaf I’ve ever had.  And this Shiraz from Burley Fox went quite well with it. 

Our Cork Catcher and riddling rack.

I don’t know much about Burley Fox other than they’re located in South Eastern Australia.

It was a young Shiraz and it lacked complexity and character.  I was thinking we would get a much stronger wine but it worked well with the meatloaf.  When we were finished we did what we do with all our corks after we finish a bottle of wine and pitched it in our cork catcher. 

Yes, you read correctly, cork catcher.  About a year and a half ago we went to a little wine bar  in Sandpoint, Idaho, to enjoy a little wine and a little food.  It was a lovely place down a long stairway.  As we entered there was this large framed glass with a bunch of corks in it. 

Shelley loved the concept and asked if I would make one for us.  I did and you are looking at the outcome.  We had a few corks saved up but since then we just pitch the cork in the top (the top is open) after we finish a bottle of wine.  We usually don’t put anything in unless it’s actually a cork MADE of cork.  On special bottles or wine drank on special occasions or events we’ll even write on the cork including the date and what the occasion was.  It’s been a lot of fun and quite a conversation piece. 

Next to the cork catcher is our antique riddling rack.  A riddling rack is for sparkling wines.  They are to be turned, if I remember correctly, about a quarter turn every other week, which is called riddling.  I will get my facts straight in a later post but this is the rack that is used to do this.  Now most riddling is done by a machine.  Notice this rack is also used for drying out lavender.  A rack for many uses!

We unveilded our cork catcher at our Open That Bottle Night last year which is the last Saturday of the month of February.  I’ll explain all about Open That Bottlel Night on my next post.  Until then, bottoms up and keep enjoying that wine.