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!

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!

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!

During my past visits I’ve experienced music on a sweltering afternoon at Arbor Crest, where they hold live music events each Sunday in the summer, sipping on their Sauvignon Blanc and swing dancing to great music.  I’ve also took out-of-town family members up for a taste of Eastern Washington’s summer and Eastern Washington’s wine.  This last time I went up all by my lonesome to taste some of Arbor Crest Wine Cellars newer vintages.

This time I was the only one in the tasting room and Shelby greeted me with a friendly hello followed by a warm smile.  The one thing I have noticed about the wine industry, with very few expceptions, is that everybody is just so nice.  Oh, sure, I’ve occasionally ran into snobs or people that just don’t want to be doing what they’re doing, but not very many.  This stop was no exception.  Shelby was knowledgable about the wine she was pouring and very easy to talk with. 

I tasted six of their wines this day.  Among them, their Sauvignon Blanc from Bacchus Vineyard, Sangiovese from Wahluke Slope Vineyard, Cabernet Franc from Conner Lee Vineyard, Petite Sirah from Wahluke Slope Vineyard, Malbec from Wahluke Slope Vineyard and Dionysus Meritage Red blend.  Arbor Crest does not grow their own grapes or have their own vineyard other than what you see when you drive in, which is used, according to Shelby, only for their sparklers.

A couple of the wines prompt extra mention.  Their Sangiovese was very warm with an extra zing on the end.  There were rich aromas of plum.  I am not normally a fan of Sangiovese because of the lack of nose and just a bland taste.  I have tasted some $100 a bottle Chianti’s that are 100% Sanviovese that I just didn’t really like until they started blending them with Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Sangiovese’s that Washington is producing seem to have a much more defining nose, I’ve noticed.  In fact, we just tried a Maryhill Sangiovese that was very similar.

The Arbor Crest Sangiovese sells for $18 a bottle which makes this a great value.

One that sells for a bit more ($45 a bottle) but I STILL consider a great value is their Meritage Blend Dionysus.  I rated this VERY GOOD.  It consists of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec.  This wine packs a punch and has good depth with many personalities.  There were tannins in this wine, to be sure, but not too tongue ripping.

Next time you’re in Spokane and want a unique experience head on up to the crest of Spokane and visit Arbor Crest Wine Cellars and enjoy the breathtaking view to go with your choice of wine.  And when you do, write me to tell me what you thought of it!

Until next time, thanks so much for reading and bottoms up!

We are enjoying a 2007 Maryhill Columbia Valley Chardonnay while sitting on folding chairs and using a step stool as a table!

Open That Bottle Night 2010 came and went without much fanfare, last night, just as last year did.  This year, however, we were back at home in North Idaho instead of Ogden, Utah. 

As you may, or may not, know, Open That Bottle Night, or OTBN, is the night you force yourself to open that “once in a lifetime” bottle of wine because if you didn’t, it may never get opened.  We save that special bottle for that special time and for some reason that special time never seems to be quite special enough.  So the bottle sits.  And sits.  And sits. 

“How ’bout THIS anniversary, honey?” 

“Ummmm, no.  Not quite important enough.”

And sits.  And sits.

“How ’bout the birth of our 14th child, baby?”

“Ummmmmm, nope.  Close, but STILL not quite important enough to open THAT bottle!”

And sits.  Until, it has sat too long.  Way too long!

That is why John Brecher and Dorothy (Dottie) Gaitor coined this once a year event, in their Wall Street Journal’s ”Tastings” column, that falls on the last Saturday of each February so that we could at least open a very special bottle before it had a chance to get over the hill, so to speak.  And this was the eleventh year of the event and it has gone viral globally!  It was all a-twitter on Twitter last night with the question, “What are YOU opening for OTBN tonight?”

Two years ago we had a little soiree at our place with a small group of friends and opened some very special wines.  One of them was a 1981 Chateau St. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon.  It wasn’t very good.  It was either over the hill or just not kept correctly over the years as it was just bad.

But the experience was good.  That was the year we unvailed our cork catcher as I had just finished it a couple of days prior.  Last year we were on our own in Utah where we opened a Sancerre. 

So, what did WE open for that OTBN last night?  Good question.

This year we started out the evening with a 2007 Maryhill Chardonnay.  AND, it marked the first night of the year we enjoyed a glass of wine outside while throwing the ball to the dogs.  Last year we had snow in the back yard until April but this year it’s almost gone.  The sun was out so it made for a beautiful setting but once the sun set it got chilly really fast.  We even fed the fish in our pond for the first time this year on this eventful evening.  I drug out a couple of folding chairs because all of the patio chairs are inside for the winter, and we used a step stool as a table (see photo).

Maryhill has continually impressed me with their quality juice.  A couple of weeks ago we had a Maryhill  Sangiovese and it was very good.  We’re not really Sangiovese fans but this one was something we enjoyed.  We always enjoy their vitners blend.  But last night we opened a 2007 Columbia Valley Chardonnay, from Maryhill Winery.  It had a light toasty finish that continued to linger.  Very nice.  It wasn’t at all over oaked. 

Then, with dinner, we had a choice to make between a Cotes du Ventoux or a 2005 dArry’s Original Shiraz/Grenache from d’Arenberg in Australia and we chose the latter.

Shelley has a fondness for McLaren Vale Shiraz so we chose this one because of that.  We had T-Bone steaks (we usually have rib eye steaks) and they were scrumptious.  The only problem was that I THOUGHT it was a 100% Shiraz we were drinking (because I inadvertently FORGOT to look at the entire label!) but instead was a 50/50 Shirza/Grenache.  My bad.

Well, it started out rather tight but opened up in due time to a VERY berry nose and a chewy, jammy taste!  It paired very well with the steaks and by the end of the night my stomache was full and my heart was happy.

If you happened to enjoy your OWN Open That Bottle Night will you please comment here so that I know what YOU had to drink?  Thank you for reading and, as always, bottoms up!

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!

That’s right, tomorrow is Open That Bottle Night TEN (see previous blog post).  We’ll be on the road so we couldn’t have our annual event, which would have been our third year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have something fun to open tomorrow night.  I have a little surprise for Shelley, but, where WILL we be?  Twin Falls?  Idaho Falls?  Logan or Provo, Utah?  I’m guessing it will be somewhere in between these points as we make our way down to Southern California.  Wouldn’t it be great if we were going down to wine country?  Ah, but alas, we are going down to pick up her father and visit our kids.  My guess is we’ll probably be in Salt Lake City.  Hmmm, they probably won’t appreciate us having a special bottle of vino, will they?

Oh well.  So here’s the deal, you will have to wait to find out what we’re going to open tomorrow night.  I went into our wine cellar looking for just the right wine but all we have are reds down there and I didn’t think we’d finish a whole bottle by ourselves (I’m not about to let a special bottle of red go to waste by not drinking all of it!) so I’ve opted for a white.  And that’s all I’m telling you–for now anyway.  The next post you’ll real ALLLLL about it!

Last night we had a marvelous pork tenderloin and we opened a bottle of 2005 Sagelands Merlot.  Sagelands is from the Columbia Valley in Washington, located in Walla Walla.  This was a delight.  I got raspberries on the nose and even some terrior.  The taste was very mellow and Shelley commented on the tannins.  It went very well with the pork.  Shelley made this wonderful raspberry sauce and it all paired very well with the wine.

Well, tomorrow will be a long day but we’ll have our special bottle of wine to look forward to when we reach our destination, wherever that might be.  I hope you have pulled a special bottle for you to open yourself and share it with somebody or somebody’s special.