Posts tagged with 'Viognier'

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!

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!

A Lovely Taste of Townshend

  • Posted on May 6, 2009 at 6:28 pm

Right off the bat I want to thank all those new General Wine Thoughts subscribers.  If you’re one of them, and you know who you are, I hope you will enjoy the casual talk of wine.  My goal is to teach people from the ground up, from square one, from the beginning about wine.  People often are intimidated when discussing wine and, although there is certainly a lot to learn about wine, you can still have a broad understanding of the different varietals and what to look for.  I will be covering this as well as other opinions and, well, thoughts, during the coming months but I WILL go slow.  Hey, I have my whole life to explain this stuff!

Now, about White Table Wine, Syrah and Viognier!

One of the many incredibly fun things about enjoying wine is meeting so many great people that share the same passion for wine.  As I found myself around the Green Bluff area just North of Spokane, Washington, I felt compelled to stop by the tasting room of an old friend, Townshend Cellar.  It seems like where ever I see Townshend Cellar set up (Taste Washington, Food Services of America events, etc…) I see Jill Rider.  Her Business card says she is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the winery but she is also the General Manager and manages the tasting room and winery events and she does a stellar job, from what I can see.  Really, what DOESN’T she do?  The last time we were there it was myself, Shelley, her dad, Lloyd, and our newest pup, Izzie (see the last post for pictures of all!).

In fact, while visiting with Jill during this “out of the blue” stop, the winemaker, Don Townshend, called her to let her know he had just returned from his trip to Italy.  Undoubtedly, a wine driven trip to be sure.  The story of Townshend is refreshing.  Don debated for years on whether or not he should make wine.  Having never made wine he took the leap of faith after attempting a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in 1995, bottling them in 1998 and realizing they tasted as good or better than some of the best California and Washington wines.

Now, Townshend Cellar makes about 10,ooo cases of wine a year and offers around 20 different wines for their customers to choose from.  Their most popular wine is probably their T3 which is a non-vintage Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.  I see this wine on many restaurants’ wine lists and we have a bottle of that in our cellar, as well as their Vortex, 2002 Late Harvest Merlot and 2005 Syrah (which I just purchased when I was there). 

The other night we opened their White Table Wine which consists of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Chardonnay.  For a price of under $11 you can’t really go wrong.  It was very crisp from the first sip.  Shelley tasted the Viognier right away and thought there may be too much of it.  She thought it was syrupy and slightly metallic.  I noticed there was a tartness to it right at the back of the tongue.  We also noticed hints of apples and apricots on the nose and I also tasted the apricots.  I was captured by the legs on this wine–the wine just seemed to cling onto my glass! 

All in all, we enjoyed this White Table Wine.  They also make a Red Table Wine.  In the never ending quest of coming up with labels that will catch the eye of the consumer the labels on these wines simply have a white table and red table, respectively.  Simple, to the point and catchy.

As for their Syrah–I bought the recently released 2005 while I was there but we already owned a bottle of the 2004 from our last trip to Townshend and we chose to open that.  We drank this with barbequed ribs which was quite tasty.  Since we had a half bottle left over we had that with steak the following night and it was even better!  It is almost entirely Syrah with only 4% Merlot and it’s from Washingtons Columbia Valley.  Very rich.

Shelly exclaimed, “It’s SO PURPLE!” as I poured her a glass.  True, it is very dark.  Right away there was alcohol on the nose but as it opened up the alcohol went away and was replaced with raspberries and pepper.  I thought it was very soft with good mouthfeel.  It paired well with the ribs but was outstanding with the steak.

The following night we completed the Townshend trifecta with their 2007 Viognier.  I remember tasting this at the tasting room and thinking it was quite sweet.  When we opened the bottle it wasn’t AS sweet but SO much fruit on the nose.  This is a wine that would be wonderful on a hot summers day or with some oysters. 

Townshend has made a name for itself with its quality juice and have only ten years making wine.  Just think what another ten years will do for them.  Why don’t you pick up a bottle of something from Townshend Cellar and try it for yourself.

Until then, bottoms up and ENJOY!

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.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Wine and conference championships

  • Posted on January 15, 2009 at 9:04 pm
As we near the second to the last weekend of real football (the Pro Bowl doesn’t EVEN count) I was sipping a glass of Viognier from Bridlewood Estate Winery (bridlewoodwinery.com; 1-800-467-4100) , from the Central Coast of California, Santa Ynez, and wondering, “should I predict the outcomes of these games?” The answer poured over me like the bountiful aroma of spring flowers that this Reserve Viognier sent my way: “YES, I should!”

But first, I will admit that last night we drank a Fume Blanc from Bernard Griffin, not all THAT uncommon, and it was quite good. I have to say that the Sauvignon Blanc grape that makes up a Fume Blanc just never dissapoints me, and this one was no different. The fact that this wine is under ten bucks makes it even better.

The Viognier from this evening tasted a bit more elegant, however. All I think about is springtime fragrance when I recall the nose on this wine and a very smooth taste albeit an awkward finish. Poor Shelley had a cold so she couldn’t really enjoy it and Viognier is one of her very favourites (she’s from Canada, eh, so I have to spell it that way).

Now for my predictions: Arizona will stun the world by beating the Eagles this weekend, 26-20. For the AFC, Baltimore will defeat the Steelers, 19-10. I can back up both predictions with sound football logic. The Cardinals are from the NFC West, where my Seahawks play, and so you always go with the division that YOUR team plays in even if it’s a rival of YOUR team. Loyalty. As for the other side, there is no way that I will ever root for Pittsburgh again after they beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. Rothlis(cheese)burger is not a very good quarterback, in my opinion.

So there you go, my third post, and I even subtly mixed in sports to go with my general wine thoughts! Amazing.

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