Posts tagged with 'Drinking Wine on Facebook'

Recent SUPER Wines

  • Posted on February 5, 2012 at 1:33 pm

by Philip M. Anderson
It is NOW a tradition that I write a blog post on Super Bowl Sunday outlining some wine I’ve experienced along with my Super Bowl prediction.  After Arizona failed 5 years ago to beat the Steelers and, thus, ruin my upset prediction, I have not missed a prediction, having correctly predicted the past three Super Bowl winners.

Before I give you this years winner, let me tell you about a new app I’ve downloaded onto my iPhone called, LetsPour.  I have no less than eight (count ‘em, EIGHT!) wine apps on my phone.  In a perfect world I would have one or two that would do everything I want them to do.  I’m STILL looking for a good food and wine pairing app but I haven’t run across that yet.  If you know of a GREAT one, would you please e-mail me at drinkwine@generalwinethoughts.com?  Thank you.

I have found that I use LetsPour each time we open a wine that’s at least average or above.  To date, since I’ve had this app, I’ve “poured” over 100 wines.  With each wine that you open, you click on “jump in” on the LetsPour app and you give as much information that you have on the wine or that you want to give.  It even has a scanner that you hold up to the bar code on the bottle that will tell you what wine it is, from the producer to the varietal, by reaching into its large data base.  This saves you time from having to input the data in yourself (which takes away from drinking the wine!).

I thought I would write about LetsPour because I find I use this ten times more than I use the others COMBINED.  If I want to “remember” what my favorite, top rated wines, wines I’ve tried are, all I have to do is look at my “pours” on LetsPour.  For example, the last great, five star wine we had was a 2001 Atalon Winery Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley that we had this week with steak.  It was chocked full of fruit but also had the depth of a wine that boasts a decade of aging.

Here are four other SUPER wines that we’ve enjoyed recently:

2008 Gloria Ferrer Estate Grown Pinot Noir from Carneros and Sonoma, California.  Gloria Ferrer is known for their outstanding sparklers but this Pinot of one of the best Pinot’s I’ve ever had in a long, long time, and it was UNDER $20!  It was dirty and smokey on the nose with notes of black cherry and plum.  It went a little old world on the palate with some barn-yardy fruit.  A great mix of new and old world styled Pinot Noirs.
2007 Gamache Vintners Merlot, Columbia Valley.  This Washington wine boasts blueberries and dark cherries and was extremely smooth.  This went PERFECT with prime rib.  I had never had this producer before but will definately go back for more!
2002 Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel, Sonoma, California.  We paired this excellent Zin, which we pulled from our “cellar”, with manicotti.  It has notes of blueberries, blackberries and raspberry jam.  As it opened up there was some black pepper that surfaced.  Delicious wine!
2006 St. Supery Vineyards and Winery Virtu White Wine Meritage, Napa Valley.  What a nice surprise THIS was!  Our friend Rick Bakas, who worked at St. Supery for about a year, never told us about THIS wine!  From the first “sniffy sniff” I could tell it had depth.  A blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion, this wine was absolutely delicious.  Plus THIS wine has the word SUPER in it!

I pulled up the information on all of these wines we enjoyed from my LetsPour app and it was SUPER easy and SUPER simple on this SUPER Bowl Sunday.  So, now that you have some new wines I’ve recommended you try, we can get down to business.  I have have gone back and forth on this game.  The Giants have obviously perservered through some very stressful games on their way to this Super Bowl so they know what to do, however, two weeks in between games can throw all of that out the window.  Earlier in the week I was leaning the Giants way but I have changed my mind.  The swoon they experienced in the middle of the year shows me they can lose focus.  They DID lose a HOME game to my Seahawks, after all.

Here’s my take.  Both teams are very well coached and have proven quarterbacks.  Although defense wins championships in most cases, the Patriots, who have added incentive after losing to the Giants four years ago, thus spoiling a record shattering undefeated season, will have just enough offense to win this game….in overtime!  Yes, you heard it here first!  This will be the first overtime in Super Bowl history and the Patriots will win, 23-20, with 4:54 left in the overtime period, by kicking a 39 yard field goal.

Thank you for reading.  You can always follow me on Twitter or “Like” me on Facebook, if you’d like.  And remember, bottoms up!

Networking At Weddings

  • Posted on October 10, 2011 at 11:04 am

by Phil Anderson
I wanted to use, “Pardon The Interruption”, or, “Now For Something Completely Different”, as the title to this post since it is NOT Part Two of The Wedding Weekend, but they are both taken, and, undoubtedly, trademarked.  However, what happened on the night of the wedding is REALLY worth writing about on SO many levels, so here you go!

I know it’s considered taboo to do business at weddings but this was something I didn’t see coming.  So, since I was caught off guard I didn’t even KNOW I was networking!  While standing in the horde of people waiting to get from point A (the wedding ceremony) to point B (the wedding reception) I was introduced to one of Shelley’s friends whose wife happened to be in the wine business.  DOH!

While we all said what we did for a living, Andrea’s explanation piqued my interest.  She told me she worked for ONEHope Wine and she went on to tell me what the winery’s mission was.  Apparently, what I did (write a wine blog!) piqued hers, as well and we exchanged contact information.  A new wine relationship was born!

ONEHope Wine, as it turns out, is a winery that supports great causes through the sales of their wines! Can you say, “Win/Win”?  Some research uprooted an interesting story of a sales rep for a large wine distributor, Jake Kloberdanz, who, while stocking shelves with wine at a store realized specialty items used to raise awareness and proceeds would garner and enjoy preferential and prominent placement on shelves and thus move faster than other products off those shelves.  Six months later he had created Hope Wine, a name that has since been changed to ONEHope Wine.

In a nutshell, ONEHope Wine produces several varietals of wine, each of which help support a particular cause with the proceeds.  For example, 50% of the profits of their  2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, which runs $18.99 and was co-created by Rob Mondavi Jr., goes to help the Fight Against Autism.  They also produce a Merlot which helps in the Fight Against AIDS, a Pinot Noir which goes to Supporting Children’s Hospitals, a Sauvignon Blanc which goes to Supporting Our Planet, a Zinfandel which goes to Supporting Our Troops and a Chardonnay which goes to the Fight Against Breast Cancer.  In all cases, 50% of the profits go to the cause in which that varietal is supporting.  In fact, Rob Mondavi Jr. has his hand in each of these wines as well!

Andrea was nice enough to send me a bottle of their 2009 Zinfandel and their 2009 Chardonnay.  Because we are in the midst of Breast Cancer Awareness month (did you know that each year it is estimated that nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die?), I am writing about these wines today!

Suffice it to say, many products that represent causes or issues are….how do I say…um….well, not of high quality.  I am happy to report that this is NOT the case with these wines!2009 ONEHOPE California Chardonnay

They chose their Chardonnay to help with the Fight Against Breast Cancer because one out of eight women are effected by breast cancer in this country today plus they prefer Chardonnay 2 to 1 over any other varietals.  Ours had a very light and balanced hint of oak on the nose.  It opened up to butterscotch and butter.  It was simple and delicious.  We paired it with breaded Talapia and it was phenomenal!  It will go with other light fish perfectly.  This wine finished very well and I would recommend it without pause.  The bonus of drinking this delicious Chardonnay is that you know that you are directly helping to fight breast cancer!

We opened the Zinfandel and paired it with one of Shelley’s fabulous steaks.  It was not a big Zin, a bit light, but paired very well with the steak.  What I love about Zinfandel is the spicy, peppory, earth tones and this one didn’t disappoint.  It was also very berry-ish and fruit forward which I loved.  50% of the profits from this wine goes to help support our troops which is outstanding because, since 911, more than 8,000 children have lost a U.S. service member parent as a result of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  OHEHope Wine is right there to help with each bottle of their Zinfandel bought and enjoyed.

I love the concept behind OHEHope Wine and I hope you will pick your favorite varietal (or two…or three….or……?) and give them a try.  The juice is good but what they’re doing is even better!

I will write about Part Two and Part Three of The Wedding Weekend next but I am excited to announce we’re having another big tasting and it’s happening this weekend!  We are tasting through some quality Pinot Noirs (hopefully even my very FAVORITE Pinot I’ve ever tasted, from Patricia Green!) and sparklers.  It’s like Christmas in October!

As always, thank you so much for reading and I look forward to reading your comments especially those comments about how much you loved the OHEHope wine you tried!  Be sure to find me on Facebook and Twitter!

Bottoms up!

 

The Wedding Weekend-Part One-The Rehearsal Day

  • Posted on September 24, 2011 at 11:49 am

by Phil Anderson
Shelley’s son recently got married and we found ourselves in California for quite some time, her longer than me.  The woman her son married is very, VERY cool, but what I enjoy most about her is her passion for learning more about wine!

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!

 

The Definition Of Local Wine Bar is Daanen’s Delicatessen

  • Posted on January 13, 2011 at 2:30 pm

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

And Hayden, Idaho, is most definitely a decent city, because they have a number of great little wine bars, one of them being Daanen’s Delicatessen.  Daanen’s is a small little deli that focuses on quality if not quantity.  Their selection of meats and cheeses is top notch and they serve great micro-brews on tap.  My friend, Ashley Routson would be in heaven with these beers! 

But this isn’t a stinkin’ beer blog, it’s a WINE blog, and wine is what we’re GOING to talk about.  Mark Daanen and his wife, Irene are the owners of Daanen’s Delicatessen.  I have only had the opportunity of meeting Mark in person, as he’s there virtually everytime I stop by.  The one time he wasn’t there, I was told he was in France, undoubtedly honing his wine knowledge. 

And knowledgable he is.

Mark is a wealth of wine information, which I consider a must for anybody running a wine shop.  He carries a great variety of different wines in which to choose from, from all over the world, just not many of any one type, as his shelf space is very limited. 

On Friday nights, Daanen’s has a wine tasting where Mark puts together three different wines to sample, usually for a nominal fee.  I had the privilege of attending one of these tastings about a month ago.  Daanen’s used to give you the three tastings in one glass and Mark, who usually is pouring, had to remember which wine you were on for many people at one time.  Now, you get three pours all at once served on a very clever little rack that holds all three glasses.  With this you also get a card that provides the wine you’re sampling along with tasting notes and other information.  The glasses are positioned in a way that coincide with the wines on the card so you know which one you’re drinking.  I LOVE this!  Did I get a picture of this?  NO!  Stupid, stupid, STUPID! 

But I will!  Watch for it on my Facebook page and you’ll see a picture of it next time I’m there!

The wines I tried this particular night were from Cline Cellars out of California.  Cline has a reputation for making good wine at reasonable prices.  Finding a bottle of wine from Cline Cellars in the store is usually not too difficult.  Originally Cline Cellars was in Oakley, California but moved to the cooler Carneros region in Sonoma County in 1991 where they now specialize in producing Zinfandel and Rhone varietals.

I tell you this because the first wine I tasted was called Oakley Five Reds, a little shout out to where they started.  This wine was my favorite of the night and it was also the least expensive, selling for under $14 a bottle!  It is a blend that includes Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Mourvedre (I know, what a jip, only FOUR reds!).  I found it a bit dirty on the nose with hints of dark raspberry.  I ordered meatloaf off of their bar menu for dinner and it was even BETTER with the meatloaf!  The vintage of this blend was 2008.

The other two wines were Cline Cellars’ 2009 Cashmere and their 100% Zinfandel. 

The Cashmere is also a blend, including Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah in the mix.  On the nose there was a slight smell of seafood.  This also got better with the meatloaf but for the most part non descript.  The Zinfandel I probably shouldn’t write about because it didn’t do anything to turn my wheels.  This had no nose and had a bit of a bite on the finish.  After a little time it DID open up but it was wound pretty tight so that was somewhat expected.  Surprisingly, this didn’t change at all with the meatloaf.

Wine and food pairings are a whole new world of wine tasting for me that I can’t wait to get into more.  If you love wine and love good food, pairing the two perfectly is almost indescribable it’s so good.  In future posts I will talk more about that and the experience I had in June involving Jeffrey Saad, who is the host of the Cooking Channel’s newest show United Tastes of America.

If you have a chance to stop by Daanen’s Delicatessen in North Idaho, I would suggest you do.  Make it on a Friday night when you can sample some wine and hopefully listen to some music at the same time (the night I was there the band cancelled–bummer).

Until next time, thank you for reading and bottoms UP!

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!

C’mon Down To The Cellar, Won’t You?

  • Posted on October 23, 2010 at 5:10 pm

by Phil Anderson
As you walk down the stairs the noise of the street starts to fade, replaced by great music coming from beneath your feet.  On this night it’s accoustic blues.  At this particular moment it’s an Eric Clapton cover, “Before You Accuse Me”.  I think to myself, “I’m not accusing anyone about anything.  I’m just happy to be where I am.”

And that’s what The Wine Cellar in Coeur d’Alene, ID does, it makes people happy and has been since 1992. 

This is the first of a small series of articles aimed at acknowledging the importance of local wine bars and shops.  Every decent city has them.  I’m lucky to live next to a hotbed wine region in Eastern Washington so we have many wine bars near where I live in addition to where I grew up in West Seattle.  I will try to spotlight a few of those in the next couple of weeks.

The Wine Cellar was just recently purchased by a local Coeur d’Alene couple, Tom and Patricia Power.  It was a long ordeal to purchase it because the previous owners were not only out of the area, they were out of the country.  They have retained the founder of The Wine Cellar, Jim Duncan, as a consultant. 

Recently we attended an event for their wine club members and media to introduce the new owners and unveil the plans for a small remodel to The Wine Cellar.  Originally, The Wine Cellar was only a wine bar and music venue but has expanded to a full service restaurant. 

It’s space is quaint and comfortable.  Although the music stage is small, the music they bring in is first rate.  As of this writing, if you click on the About Me link to the left you will see the picture is of me holding a wine glass out in front of me.  That picture was taken AT The Wine Cellar just after it opened under new ownership on September 10th.

On this particular night there were full apetizers and five different wines to taste.  I opted against the Pinot Gris they were serving but I DID taste the rest of the lot, which were served graciously by Michael White, one of the two winemakers for Barrister Winery in Spokane, WA.

I started out with a Pouilly-Fuissé White Burgundy, from Joseph Drouhin, which was absolutely DELICIOUS!  It actually got my highest score of the night.  It’s not often that you get to taste a White Burgundy, which is made from the Chardonnay grape.  I used to love oaky Chardonnay’s until the past year or two when I’ve switched to liking less, or even NO, oak.  Those wines are sometimes called Naked because they are aged in stainless steel instead of oak.  (As you might recall, our house white is Ryan Patrick’s Naked Chardonnay.)

What made this wine so good was the balance.  There was certainly oak, yes, and that’s no surprise from where it comes.  But it was so balanced and smooth.  The oak was very subtle and it added substance.  And it was delicious!

I also tasted a 2006 Pepperbridge Cabernet Sauvignon, a Barrister 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and a Barrister non vintage Blend called Rough Justice.  Out of those three I liked the Pepperbridge and Rough Justice the best.  Let me make it clear, however, they were ALL quite good, it’s just those two stood out over the the other. 

The Pepperbridge was very peppery with licorice and burnt tobacco on the nose.  There were lots of tannins with raspberries on the palate.  VERY tasty!

The Rough Justice was just that, rough and rugged, blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah.  It had many complex levels to it and had a long finish to boot. 

All of these reds would go so well with a nice juicy steak.  Or….even a nice juicy cheeseburger.  Sheesh, I must be hungry! 

If you get a chance to visit Coeur d’Alene you really must stop in the The Wine Cellar (tell them that Phil suggested it!) right in the heart of downtown Coeur d’Alene.  You will not be sorry.  But until you get that chance, check out their website and join their wine club.  Their wine list is not only extensive but very  “off the beaten path”.  You won’t find the same ol’ same ol’ wines that you see at the majority of restaurants.  I find that to be very refreshing.

And, as always, you can find me on Twitter AND Facebook and I hope you DO.  Until next time, thank you SO MUCH for reading and for all of my new subscribers!  I’m gettin almost TWO A DAY and I’m feeling humbled as well as grateful for that.  Thank you! 

And of course, bottoms up!

And Now For Something Completely Different

  • Posted on October 2, 2010 at 12:31 pm

By Phil Anderson
Go figure, I’m going to write about some general wine thoughts, for a change!  WooooHoooo!  Now that IS different!  I’m going to do this fast, as the sun is out and it’s suppose to be 80+ degrees today.

I want to, again, thank ALL of our new subscribers!  I’m just so grateful that you like this column enough to want to read more.  Thank you!

We’ve had the pleasure, recently, of having some really good, inexpensive wine and I wanted to let you know about them. 

The first one is Principato from Italy.  From what I’ve been told this is the wine that is served at The Olive Garden.  It is much like a Beaujolais, which uses the Gamay grape, in terms of drinkability.  The Principato uses a blend of three different varietals, ones that I’m not at all familiar with:  Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara.  The beauty of this red gem is that it runs about $11 …and that’s for a magnum!  That’s right, two bottles in one for around 11 bucks!

This wine goes with all kinds of food, like, spaghetti, meatloaf, cheeseburgers and pizza.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Another wine we tried is called Elvio Tintero Grangia and it blends two white varietals, Mascato and Vermentino, 10% and 90% respectively.  This is such a great, refreshing summer wine (I know, summer is over and we’re into Fall now, but still).  It’s crisp and citrusy, with hints of lemon.  It also runs about the same as the Principato and if you can find it it’s worth a go.

I am going to try some new things in the next few weeks with this column.  I’m going to try and involve some other people whether it be a guest post or sample video blogs.  The first one I will do will involve the importance of storing your wine correctly.  Let me know what you think, please?

And lastly, tonight will be a very fun night as I got some small little oysters to grill for our last hoo-ha of the summer.  It’s supposed to be warm (remember, I need to get out there like NOW!) and I’ve got a bottle of Madeleine Angevine to go with the oysters.  I will write about that tomorrow so that you’ll know how it went.

Keep in mind, you can always reach me by commenting on this or any other blog post or write me at drinkingwine@generalwinethoughts.com.   Also, check out our Drinking Wine on Facebook page!   And if you don’t like ANY of those options (you must be high maintenance!) check out my page on Twitter.  If you can’t handle that either, I don’t know what to tell you.  Lean out your window and yell really loud and I MIGHT hear you.  But probably not.  : )

Other than that, thank you for reading and bottoms up!

Alexandria Nicole Cellars Is A Rock Star

  • Posted on September 24, 2010 at 11:05 am

By Phil Anderson
To open up I want to welcome all of the new subscribers to this little wine blog!  It’s been at an average of 1-2 a day for the past 2-3 months that people are signing up!  I’m blown away how many people have signed up and I am very grateful that you want to read more of my scribes enough to sign up.  (I guess I should start writing more!)  So, a BIG thank you to ALL of you! 

Also we have so many more people that seem to like “Drinking Wine” on Facebook.  I’m very much enjoying the interaction with those folks as well.  And, as always, if you want to write to me about anything, including wine, drop me a line at drinkingwine@generalwinethoughts.com. 

Recently I was in Seattle for my cousin’s wedding (sounds like a title of a movie, huh?).  The wedding was held at Salty’s on Alki in West Seattle (beautiful view of Elliott Bay and the city of Seattle) on Friday and there was a barbeque near (the hot new wine town of) Woodinville on Saturday.

I had an hour or two to kill before the barbeque on Saturday so I ventured out to find a bottle of Madeleine Angevine which I cannot, for the life of me, find in North Idaho.  On this particular trip it wasn’t any easier to find in Seattle (I ended up just ordering a couple of bottles directly from the winery!) but I DID happen to find a new little wine shop in the heart of the West Seattle Junction called Bin 41.

I was impressed right as I walked in as one of the owners, Jon, greeted me with a friendly smile.  I walked away with a few bottles (of course) and two of them were from Alexandrea Nicole Cellars which was the last stop on the way back from the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla a few months ago (can you believe it’s already been three months since the conference?!?)

Jarrod Boyle (R), CEO and winemaker at Alexandria Nicole Cellars and I during a recent visit to their tasting room. I'm holding a bottle of their 2007 Jet Black Syrah.

What I’ve noticed in the wine industry is that most everyone is so very friendly.  Jarrod Boyle, the founder, CEO and winemaker at Alexandria Nicole, is no exception.  He welcomed in our group with open arms.  We tasted almost everything that was available in their tasting room and then he slid back a bookshelf, which was really a secret door, to reveal a special room for their wine club members.  After a few more tastes we were ushered into yet another room for an exquisite lunch with even more wine.

Alexandria Nicole Cellars is named after Jarrods wife, Ali, who also joined us for lunch that day.  A true family affair wrapped in grace and quality!  Before we left, Jarrod offered each of us a bottle of our choice to bring back home.  I chose the 2007 Rock Star Red which is a very exclusive wine comprised of 50% Grenache, 44% Syrah and 6% Counoise.

The name comes from three people who contribute in putting this blend together, who happen to all be rock stars in their industry:
Jeffrey Dorgan has been the Sommelier at the Space Needle in Seattle for 19 years;
Dan McCarthy has been a partner at Seattle’s McCarthy and Schiering Wine Merchants for 25 years;
Eric Degerman is the managing editor, wine judge and restaurant writer for Wine Press Northwest.

Although young and tight, this wine already packs a punch with pepper on the nose along with some raspberries.  It has a long finish with just a little bite on the end.  The tannins suggest you could lay this wine down and not be heartbroken when it is finally opened, which is exactly what we’re doing!

So back to the two wines I bought from Bin 41 in West Seattle.  We didn’t waste any time in tasting these two wines from Alexandria Nicole.  We started out with their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc.  If you’re expecting a grapefruit and grassy Sauvignon Blanc like you’d find from New Zealand or Australia you’d be disappointed.  This is a Washington Sauvignon Blanc all the way around.  Very minerally and terrior driven with no oak to be found and tastes of melon.  Outstanding mouth feel.

We finished that bottle just in time to open their 2007 Jet Black Syrah to go with our steaks.  WOW!  Unbelievably wonderful nose with tar and pepper and a huge dark fruit presence.  The color is so dark, almost inky.  The finish fell off prematurely but, other than that, it paired perfectly with our steaks.  I would recommend both of these wines!

If you ever have a chance, stop by Alexandria Nicole Cellars and taste their juice.  You won’t be disappointed and maybe they’ll even let you in behind the hidden door!  Or not….it never hurts to ask!

Thank you again for reading and, as always, bottoms up!

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