Posts tagged with 'Taste Washington'

A Busy June Translates Into Many More Columns!

  • Posted on May 23, 2010 at 3:37 pm

By Phil Anderson

Hello and welcome again to some more little, general wine thoughts that have poured into my head, like a great wine!

As you know I entered the WBC or Bust:  Road to Walla Walla contest for wine bloggers that live and blog outside the state of Washington aBOUT Washington State wines.  (If you glance to the left of where you are reading right now you will notice the big WBC or Bust badge.)  This contest was sponsored by Wine CHATr, and they are actually in my blog roll on the left as well.  As it turns out I have been named as one of the 12 citizen bloggers that have won a seat on the bus traveling from Seattle to Walla Walla!  I am so excited to be going on this trip and my thanks and gratitude goes out to all the judges that voted for me because of what they read in this blog!  Thank you!  I really appreciate it!  (OK, enough exclamation points.)

The reason Walla Walla is the destination is because that is where the  2010 North American Wine Bloggers Conference - the premier conference for new media and the wine industry, will be held.  This three day symposium brings a unique opportunity to learn about and discuss the intersection of wine with the world of new media including blogging, social media, and more.

As you will recall, I wrote about a weekend get-a-way to Walla Walla back in November that completely floored me.  I had never visited Walla Walla and completely enjoyed myself.  This will be my second trip back and I can hardly wait.  To see a list of winners and an itinerary of the trip just go to the WBC-or-BUST: Winners Anounced page.  Some of the highlights will be lunch at The Barking Frog after a Woodinville grand tasting at Willows Lodge, a food and wine pairing experience at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, a winemaker’s dinner at The Waterfront Grill on the Seattle waterfront (go figure), brunch and wine tasting at the Cave B Inn and a Yakima Valley grand tasting in Prosser, Washington, just to name a few!  Just writing this makes me excited AND wanting to have a glass of wine!

As I move backward in the month, I would be remiss not to mention the high school graduation of my daughter, Tabitha.  It’s been a long journey with it’s ups and (many) downs but she looks to be on track to graduate which will make me very proud of her.  That is in the middle of the month.

The first weekend of June, just two weeks from today (!) Shelley and I will, once again, be pouring at the white out table at Taste Washington! Spokane.  We will be pouring between 20-25 white wines that pair very well with seafood.  They station us clerverly right AFTER the Anthonys Seafood Bar.  What I’ve noticed the past couple years is that people make a beeline toward the seafood bar and then, naturally, they stop off at our table to say, “hi” and grab a white that will go with their food.  If you are able to make it to Taste Washington! Spokane this year, it is on June 6, from 5:00-8:30 PM at the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane, an absolutely stunning hotel property, to say the least.  It is mandatory that you stop by and say, “hello” to me and Shelley as I would really like to meet you! 

Last week I had the opportunity to taste 15 (yes, I know, that’s alot!) wines at the Olive Crest Cheers to Kids Wine Tasting Event to Benefit Olive Crest of Eastern Washington.  There were three tables set up that were pouring wines that were included in the cost of the ticket and one additional table that poured five premium wines for an additional cost.

I’m not going to mention all of the wines that I tasted because it would be laborious and boring but I will mention a few that I thought were sensational.

One was a Tempranillo from Finca L. Estacada out of Australia that was fabulous.  Rich and earthy and very luscious.  A Merlot from Terra Blanca was also very good.  A Cabernet Sauvignon from Jones of Washington (a winery I just drove by the other day but it was too late to stop in!) and a Claret from Robert Karl were also worth noting for their depth and complexity.

At the premium table I tried four out of the five that were available, choosing to exclude the Rombauer Chardonnay (because I know it to be VERY oaked).  Of the four I tried three stood out and were magnificant:  Woodward Canyon’s Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags’ Leap Petite Syrah (which I thought was supposed to be spelled Sirah) and Dunham Cellars Pursued By Bear (which has a special story behind it…).

One wine that jumped out at us was Pacific Rim’s Framboise which screams raspberry.  The notes say intense and that merely scratches the surface.  You can put this on ice cream as a topping if you’d like and it would be marvelous.

If you “like” drinking wine you should transfer that “like” over to Facebook as I write almost daily about almost anything to do with wine.  And remember to come by and say, “hi” to me at the white out table at Taste Washington! Spokane on June 6th.  Until then, thank you so much for reading and remember, bottoms up!

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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