Posts tagged with 'San Juan Vineyards'

Taste Washington-Spokane 2009!

  • Posted on October 6, 2009 at 6:57 pm

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!

Spring (Break Away From The Snow)!

  • Posted on April 11, 2009 at 11:40 am
Izzie (with the ball, on the left) and Phoebe dutifully returning for more ball throwing.

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.

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 finally leaving with a 2007 Whidbey Island Winery Siegerrebe.Shelley and Lloyd toast the snow leaving (FINALLY!) with a 2007 Whidbey Island Siegerrebe.

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

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Have You Heard of Madeleine Angevine?

  • Posted on March 13, 2009 at 9:11 pm

Last year, on Fathers Day, we volunteered to help with Taste Washington.  There are two events, one in Seattle, which is very large, and one in Spokane, which is about half the size.  Over 100 Washington wineries were present and many, many restaurants (I don’t remember exactly because, well, I’m getting old and can’t remember!).  We worked the previous year, 2007, which was the first time for us, and helped bring cases of wine upstairs to the appropriate places.  That was fun, but….

…LAST year we were allowed to work right next to the seafood bar pouring 20 different white wines that were specifically paired for the seafood.  The beautiful thing about this is that we “have” to “work” for two hours and then get the rest of the time to sample the wines and food of the event.  So hard, ya know?

So while we were studying the different whites we were to pour one completely jumped out at us:  Madeleine Angevine.  Let me write this again, Madeleine Angevine.  This is a variety we’ve never heard of  (have you??) and when we were done with our shift of pouring (it’s against Washington law to taste when you are a designated pourer) it was our first taste. 

What a TREAT!  Floral, effervescent, fruity but not sweet at all.  Just very refreshing and crisp.  How have we not have heard of this wine?  The winery that made this luscious treat was San Juan Vineyards, 2007 vintage.  San Juan Vineyards is located in Friday Harbor, Washington and this Madeleine Angevine was Estate Grown.

One interesting thing we noticed was the bottle didn’t hold 750 ML of wine but more like 710 ML.  The label never stated there was 750 ML of wine in the bottle but the bottle itself had  750 ML imbedded right in the glass.  We didn’t necessarily think it was a big deal, just somewhat odd, and I wanted to make a note of that here.

We paid $18.00 for this bottle which is also is not too bad a price.  We would recommend you give this a go as soon as possible.  The only bad news is that was the only bottle we have and now, sadly, we have no more Madeleine Angevine.  We’ll need to fix this problem quickly, I know.  And now as we are already 3 months into the new year our third year of volunteering at Taste Washington is only a few months away. 

What new gem will we find THIS year?

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