Posts tagged with 'Spokane Wine'

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!

Townshend Cellar Revisited

  • Posted on April 1, 2010 at 3:46 pm

As I’m writing this it is, in my opinion, a national holiday–April Fools Day!  This morning in the Coeur d’Alene Press, on the front page, there was an article that reported that President Obama had just passed another bill, to help in the ease of American’s stress.  It reported that Obama, on April 15, 2010, from 6am-4pm will replace ALL of the water in ALL of the faucets of America with wine!  Click here to read the article.  I had quite a laugh!  Especially when I saw that the reporter was named April Fuhl!

Sooooo, with that setting the table for another post about wine, here we go!

Nearly a year ago I wrote a post that described our visit to the Townshend Cellar tasting room.  I recently was able to visit Townshend again to see what they were pouring and, once again, Jill Rider was at the ready.

I was able to taste a number of different wines this time.  Among them:

2007 Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 Viognier, 2005 Syrah, 2002 Merlot, 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Lemberger, 2007 Malbec, Tempranillo and their non vintage T3 Rose, Red Table Wine, Pink Table Wine and their Vortex.   The Tempranillo consisted of both the 2005 and 2006 vintages, which I purchased to taste more in depth at home.

I am seeing a trend in what I like the most from Townshend Cellar.  Their Viognier is always good and this time was no exception.  I purchased a bottle to have before dinner that particular night.  Nectarine and floral notes in the nose gave way to a very fulfilling and refreshing taste.  Delicious!  This is a perfect wine to start the evening with, especially in the summer or on a warm day.

Another trend I’ve found is their Syrah.  It was a favorite of mine in the past and this time didn’t disappoint as well, with dark cherries on the palate.  I bought a bottle of this as well and we are still waiting to open it.  It will likely be paired with a steak which, now that I’m writing this, am hoping will be this evening!

Lastly, I bought a bottle of their Pink Table Wine.  This pretty little pink blush is delicately sweet with aromas of strawberry and cherry and flavors of strawberry, apricot and peach.  Shelley enjoys a good rose from time to time and this one was very satisfying.

Townshend Cellar has just made their T3, which is their non vintage Bordeaux blend, available in stores, as it used to only be available for purchase at the winery or at a restaurant.  It sells for under $20 which is a bargain for what you get.

If you’re ever around the Green Bluff area of Spokane, I would encourage you to take time to say hello to Jill in the Townshend Cellar tasting room.  And tell her Phil says, “hi”.

Until next time, bottoms up!

Knipprath Cellars Is Doing It Right

  • Posted on March 3, 2010 at 10:45 pm

I recently had the pleasure of visiting one of Spokane, Washington’s most unique wineries, Knipprath Cellars.  The winery is located in an old schoolhouse.  It’s very quaint, though a bit chilly the day I visited.  I was greeted at the top of the stairs by Sinay, who was manning (or in this case, womanning) the tasting room this particular day. 

I knew very little about Knipprath Cellars except that there WAS one, so I asked many questions and Sinay answered them one by one.  I found out that Knipprath Cellars is a family owned winery that just celebrated ten years of being a full time winery.  All in all I tasted 13 different wines including Roussanne, Syrah, Tempranillo, Merlot and a whole slew of dessert wines, which seems to be their niche.

Of the typical wines I really liked the 2007 Tempranillo and the 2006 Merlot. 

The Tempranillo was very good with some prune on the back of the tongue.  They combined fruit from both the Lodi (California) and Columbia Valley (Washington) Appelations, which I find very interesting.

The Merlot was also very good, with peppery notes.  I have found pepper to be a mainstay of wines I really like.  This would REALLY pair well with smoked cheeses!  Yum!

Although I DID enjoy their Pink, which is a Rose of Merlot (it was very swishy, not that I even know what that means!), the 2003 Matrix Port, which had black licorice flavors with a hint of nuttiness, and the NV Positron Port, which was very rich, I liked the LaV (pronounced, “La Vee”) Dessert Wine and Au Chocolat! the most.

The LaV Dessert Wine is fabulous!  My notes say, “Wow!”  I could have written, “Pow” as well.  Full on vanilla in this dessert wine that is absolutely wonderful.  I bought a half bottle of this to surprise Shelley and had it waiting for her with a bath I ran for her one night.

The other is a perfect fit with the LaV Dessert Wine, Au Chocolat!  Obviously, THIS one is heavy on the chocolate.  As I tasted this it got better and better as it opened up in my glass.  I would recommend either of these two if you like after dinner dessert wines at all.  I’ve only recently began to enjoy these wines and the more I try ‘em the more I like ‘em.

It would be worthy to note that I tried their Coffee Port even though I really am NOT a coffee drinker (I have never even had a cup of coffee in my life!).  It had a wonderful nose but not such a good taste.  Then Sinay did something interesting:  She added a small amount of the LaV Dessert Wine to the Coffee port and that REALLY softened it up to where I liked it better.  It is probably still something I wouldn’t drink if I had the choice, not because it’s not good, but because I just don’t like the taste of coffee.  I know, what’s wrong with me?  If you asked my daughters they would tell you the list is long! 

Knipprath Cellars will be one of the featured wines at the 6th Annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival in Des Moines, Washington this weekend, March 5, 6 and 7.  I certainly wish I could attend this gala event but since I will be heading into that area the following weekend for my Dad’s 70th birthday celebration I don’t think it’s going to happen. 

But that doesn’t mean YOU shouldn’t go and taste some Knipprath wine.  Or, when you’re next in Spokane, cozy up to the tasting room bar in the old schoolhouse and try some very warm, soothing dessert wines from Knipprath Cellars as well as their other wines.  You’ll be glad you did.

Thank you again for reading and bottoms up!

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