Posts tagged with 'Washington Wines'

WBC or Bust PLUS Wine Bloggers Conference 2010

  • Posted on June 28, 2010 at 11:00 pm

By Phil Anderson

The past five days has been all about Walla Walla (and Washington, in general) wines and hospitality.

It’s all in the rear view mirror
I just wrapped up a five day wine tasting frenzy that started last Wednesday, June 23, in Seattle and finished last night back in Seattle.  What happened in between will take multiple posts to unravel in better detail but I will attempt to give you a general overview through this particular column.  I haven’t broke my notes out yet (and there are aLOT of them, so it really WILL be a general overview, based off my memory.

As you probably already know, if you’ve been reading these missives recently, I won a seat on the WBC or Bust:  The Road to Walla Walla bus with about ten other winning wine bloggers (the ones who didn’t win a seat would be the ”whining” wine bloggers) who wrote something about Washington State Wine and live outside the State of Washington.  There were over 100 entries that were submitted and I feel very blessed and fortunate that I was one of the chosen few to participate in the trip.

Marcus Pape, founder of Wine Chatr, spearheaded the idea of this trip and organized all of the events and participation as well as the sponsorships so that he didn’t have to declare bankrupcy afterwards. 

And off we go
On Wednesday, all of the winners and selected media were collected and put on a bus and thrust up to Woodinville, Washington where we had a private tour of Chateau Ste Michelle given by the white winemaker, Wendy Stuckey, and then offered a wonderful, light food and wine pairing while sitting with the Wendy and culinary Director, John Sarich.

Immediately following we were ushered just across the street to Willows Lodge and a Grand Tasting of select wines from various Woodinville producers poured by the winemakers themselves!  It was a very warm day (finally!) and so some of the wines struggled with getting too warm.  Our group then had lunch at the Barking Frog restaurant which is located in the resort.  It might surprise you to find out we enjoyed some fabulous wines at lunch as well.

After lunch we sashayed back to Seattle for a “change of pace” tasting of some of Seattle’s finest local beer at the Pike Brewery.  I have to tell you, I absolutely love beer, but during this stop I only tasted each beer (about six of them, as I recall) and then dumped the rest in a spit bucket.  Turns out this would be a precurser for the rest of the week while tasting wine.

After checking into the Renaissance Hotel we headed toward the Waterfront Seafood Grill for a Winemakers Dinner.  An outstanding dinner by one of Seattles finest seafood restaurants with superior wine.  We didn’t get out of there and back into our rooms until about 11:00 and we had to be up quite early the next morning.

Morning came quickly
After watching the tail end of the USA Soccer Teams win to advance to the second round of the World Cup we boarded the bus heading East.  Our first stop was at the Cave B Inn for some simple appetizers and, of course, more wine tasting.  This day marked the first day in my wine career that I learned to spit while tasting.  I’m here to tell you that I have been completely converted!  No more swallowing when tasting umpteen wines.

After a brief and (the ONLY, it turns out) non wine stop for burritos we found our way to Milbrandt Vineyards tasting room for a Yakima Vallety Grand Tasting with more food!  Stop after stop, wine after wine.  This stopped featured wines from Washington’s Yakima Valley and everything was scrumptious, except I was not very hungry at that point so I didn’t eat much.

The last stop of the day was in Walla Walla at Walla Walla Vitners for some brick oven baked pizza and some of their fine wines.  They also had chilled beer which I declined because I was enjoying the scenic property while drinking their wine.  I met Colby and Kori

I am enjoying a glass of Walla Walla Vitners finest with Kori Voorhees (M) and Colby Voorhees (R) of Wine Peeps.

 (I had met her the day before in Woodinville) Voorhees of Wine Peeps, which I have as one of the few sites under my blog roll to the upper left of this column.

I poured myself into bed at my bed and breakfast, which I will write more about later because it would take too much time, room and effort now and I wouldn’t be giving it justice.

And we’re off!
On Friday we checked in at the Wine Bloggers Conference registration table at the Marcus Whitman hotel in Walla Walla.  During this first day we tasted wine, were served tacos from

Host Kaz (L) and co-host Randy Hall (R) of Wine Biz Radio, out of Sonoma, California interview me at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, WA.

a taco truck (it’s better than I make it sound), heard Steve Heimoff deliver a keynote speech, attend the Wine Blogging and the Wine Industry seminar with Craig Camp, Lori Narlock and Bob Silver, took in an hour of speed tasting of 12 different white wines, accepted a Ste. Michelle Wine Estates sparkling wine at the pre dinner reception, then dinner sponsored by Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and ending the evening with a Walla Walla walkabout where all the downtown tasting rooms stayed open for us.

WHEW!

Here we go again!
Saturday was, by far, my most favorite day.  After an early 8AM dynamic Terroirs of the Walla Walla Valley talk presented by geologist Kevin Pogue we all boarded 15 different buses that went to three different wineries.  Our bus number 10 stopped at Abeja, Woodward Canyon and Va Piano.  Loved, loved, LOVED this part of the conference!  We met the winemakers at each stop and really learned, in an intimate way, about all the passion that is poured into each wine.

After we got back to the hotel I sat in to listen to Andrea Robinson (whom I met the night before at Walla Walla Vitners), Barbara Evans and David Honig talk  about  Growing Your Audience From Other Bloggers To Consumers.  After this ended I up and ran off to the next one about the use of video in your blog with Lisa Mattson, Andrea Robinson and Christian Oggenfuss.  All very informative.

We did speed tasting with reds, which I must say is a kick, then the pre dinner reception and dinner, both provided by the Washington Wine Commission.  At dinner, Lettie Teague, who now writes about wine for the Wall Street Journal (I miss John and Dottie!) gave a keynote speech which I have to say was completely out of place.  Glasses, plates and silverware (OH MY!) were clinking and you could hardly understand a word she was saying.  Fortunately, she conducted a question and answer session the next morning.

Right after dinner there was MORE WINE as an after hours fiesta with Rias Baixas Albarino and wines from Spain was presented to us.  12 Abarinos from Spain were being poured and, with rare exceptions, they all tasted the same to me.  Of course, my palate could have been destroyed by that point of the night. 

I must have thought the same thing that night as that was my last endeavor for this very long day.

Last day already?
Sunday morning I forced myself out of bed early so I could listen to Lettie Teague answer questions which was very informative–much better than the night before.

Craig Sutton talked about Increasing the Conversion Rate of Your Blog at the first seminar I attended and then we had Top Gun Blogging with Andrew Lazorchak, Ben Simons and Joe Herrig for the last seminar (they actually called them break out sessions) of the conference.

A very action packed Food & Wine Pairing Seminar with energetic chef Jeffrey Saad talked about the “rules of thumb” regarding food pairings.  I learned a lot during his non stop, non scripted talk.  That was a good preview of what was to come:  A Wine & Food Pairing Lunch with Chef “Bear” Ullman that featured five white wine and food combinations and five red wine and food pairings.  I only did the red but it was spectacular!

I barely had time to gather my things in time to load back onto the bus heading West this time.  But the weekend hadn’t ended quite yet, no siree….

Other than Seattle, our last stop was at Alexandria Nicole Cellars for an unbelievable lunch and a tasting of 13 of their wines.  CEO and Winemaker, Jarrod Boyle, took us into heaven and back with the wines he served us.  As we left he graciously allowed us each to take a wine of our choice with us to take home!  What a great way to end this unforgettable weekend.

Even an hour and a half delay over Snoqualmie Pass didn’t cast a shadow on the weekend, though a few of the passengers missed their flights home.

I have to say, this will be an experience that will propel me into the next phase of wine education.  I want to thank Marcus Pape of Wine Chatr as well as each and every person in our group.  We had two Sommeliers in our group as well as media and other bloggers.  I can’t wait to get back to Walla Walla.

Until next time, remember, bottoms up!  (And you don’t have to spit if you don’t want to!)

Taste Washington Takes On A Whole New Meaning

  • Posted on June 22, 2010 at 12:39 am

By Phil Anderson

In the month of June “Taste Washington” has taken on an entirely new meaning for me.  To start, on June 6th I completed the Hat Trick of pouring at the White Out Table at Taste Washington! Spokane for the third year which is held at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington.  This year we had double the white wines to pour.  These are all supposed to be wines that pair well with seafood, which is good because our White Out Table was immediately following the Anthony’s Seafood bar which boasted muscles, clams and oysters (oh, my!).  With their plates full of fresh seafood, people continued on to us hoping to find a great wine to pair with their delicious seafood.

Phil Anderson (that's ME!) pouring at the White Out Table at Taste Washington! Spokane!

The past two years we poured between 20-25 white wines but this year we were around 40-45 ranging from your standard whites that pair well with seafood to a Rose or two and even a sparkler.  There was a Terra Blanca Chardonnay that was quite delicious; of course, the Ryan Patrick Naked Chardonnay, as well.  Gifford Hirlinger brought a Pinot Gris for us to pour so that was kind of cool, because that was one of our favorite stops in Walla Walla last November.

One thing that was interesting was just the Friday before I had stopped in the tasting room at Jones of Washington in Quincy, Washington, to taste some of their wines on my way back home from Wenatchee.  We actually enjoyed their Chardonnay and a Rose of Syrah that Friday night, with the Rose of Syrah REALLY standing out and hitting the spot with outstanding mouth feel.  And come Sunday, there was that same Chardonnay from Jones of Washington so we could really add some insight for people when they had questions about that wine, since we weren’t given ANY tasting notes this year.

Yvonne Swanberg, General Manager of San Juan Vineyards (left) and Vivian Flanagan, co-owner of Ryan Patrick Vineyards.

A highlight of the evening was when I got to venture out among the masses to taste and visit and I went directly to Ryan Patrick Vineyards’ booth to introduce myself to Vivian Flanagan (and it turned out Terry Flanagan, as well) and it turned out they were right next to San Juan Vineyards’ booth!  You might remember Yvonne and San Juan Vineyards from the previous two years when I went on and on about their Madeleine Angevine.  We poured that again as well as their Siegerrebe, which I STILL cannot pronounce to save my life!  I tasted a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Ryan Patrick that was wonderful and a Cabernet Franc from San Juan Vineyards that would stand up great with a juicy steak.

It’s always a pleasure to see Jill from Townshend Cellars and I said, “hello” to her and Marlene from Woodward Canyon told me she reads this blog all the time, which I am very grateful for.  Now, if I can only find the time to write more than once a month!  (Remember, last year I was a complet failure at this point of the year.  I vow not to let that happen again!)

Some other reds that stood out during the evening were Five Star Cellars Super Tuscan Red, a Tempranillo from Kana Winery, Hedges Family Estate Red Bordeaux Blend, Robert Karl Claret and Forgeron Cellars Syrah.  You just can’t taste every wine at the event but every year I give it my best go!

This year we stayed at the hotel which was wonderful.  The room was extremely comfortable and it was such a luxury not to pack everything in the car and then drive an hour back home after tasting wine for four hours and then helping to break down for another two.  Personally, I think we’ll do that every year from now on.  Click here to watch a short video of Taste Washington! Spokane and look for me pouring at the white out table in the upper left hand corner (bald dude!) at about the 2:08 mark and at the end!

As for the rest of the “Taste Washington” scenerio, I will be partaking in the North American Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla this weekend, preceded by the WBC or Bust Road to Walla Walla tour, sponsored by Wine Chatr, that I won a seat on because of this very blog.  It starts Wednesday and we will arrive in Walla Walla on Thursday night.  I am going to do my very best to blog about each of the days’ activities, but there are no guarantees!  I can’t begin to tell you all of the things that are lined up for the journey to Walla Walla and then the conference once we get there.

And lastly, I have just entered TWO (count ‘em, TWO) contests with a blog that ALSO won a seat on the WBC or Bust trip, Another Wine Blog and at Andrea Wine.  The first one is for a set of The One wine glasses developed by Master Sommelier Andrea Immer Robinson and the second contest is by that same Master Sommelier that developed The One wine glasses as she is giving away a trip to Napa Valley!  If you are going to enter those two contests, as well, I wish you luck! 

Remember, if you really DO like drinking wine you should absolutely show your passion by “liking” drinking wine on Facebook (it’s kind of like becoming a fan but then they changed it!).  Everyday you’ll find a little tid bit about wine and you can share your OWN general wine thoughts, as well!

So, until Wednesday night, ciao for now and remember, bottoms UP!

Running Into A RockWall Tongue First

  • Posted on May 19, 2010 at 1:44 pm

By Phil Anderson

Omak, Washington.  Not a place you would think to look for a quality wine.  Or is it? 

Upon a local recommendation I seeked out and found RockWall Cellars in the phone book and realized it was only 3.2 miles from my hotel.  After phoning the winery I was told the tasting room had closed for the day.  Bummer.

The person on the phone said he would call the owner to see if he would come open up the tasting room and I said that would be great.  After five minutes my cell phone buzzed and, sure enough, I could come up to the tasting room right away. 

“What great customer service,” I thought.  I ALREADY like them!

Owner and Vintner of RockWall Cellars, Doug Sheets, pours a glass of 2008 Off The Wall in the tasting room at RockWall Cellars.

Owner and Vintner of RockWall Cellars, Doug Sheets, pours a glass of 2008 Off The Wall in the tasting room at RockWall Cellars.

Little did I know what I was about to walk into.  The tasting room was simply decoratated but comfortable.  Doug Sheets introduced himself as the owner and vintner of RockWall Cellars and asked me what I wanted to start with. 

After taking a look at 19 (yes, 19!) different wines to taste I started checking off the ones I wanted to try and still came up with 13.  I tasted four different whites, including their 2008 Dry Riesling, 2008 Auxerrois, 2008 Chardonnay and their 2008 To Di For–Lula, which is a blend of 55% Gewurztraminer and 45% Riesling.

It became quite apparent from the first taste that this was a good idea to look these guys up.  I liked all of the whites I tried.  The Chardonnay uses light oak and it had perfect balance of oak and fruit along with a very floral nose.  Their top selling wine is their To Di For–Lula blend which I found delightful.  Interesting profile, however.  Do you remember those felt pens that are designed for kids that have fruit fragrances in them?  I got that in the nose, strawberry to be exact.  And on the palate I detected a bit of petrol, which I understand is not probably something one would look for in wine but it didn’t detract from the wine.  It was very interesting to be sure.

While I was tasting the To Di For–Lula, Doug told me of the story behind the name.  Lula was his Great Grandmother and she inspired the naming of this wine.  He also mentioned that the winery has only been around a couple of years and he owns it with his partner and sister, Diana Mock. 

DSC_0055 005

Pinot Noir grapes growing across the street from the RockWall Cellars tasting room.

The next wine I tasted I had never heard of and that was Auxerrois.  I was very intrigued.  He poured it and as I was sipping it I stared out the front door of the tasting room gazing at the sprinklers watering the Pinot Grapes just across the street.  As the sun hit the water coming off the sprinkler it had a magical look to it.  The Auxerrois had a slightly pungent nose and, for a white, had some body to it.  It was very interesting and I’m glad I tried it.  I look forward to doing some more tasting of this “off the beaten path” white varietal.

Doug then found out I am rather partial to reds and turned the tasting sheet over to reveal 11 different reds that they pour.  I realized then I should probably learn to spit, but concluded now was not that time.  I tasted ALL of his reds and gave each a very good score.  I tried RockWall Cellars’ blends including Off The Wall, To Di For–Eddie (named after his Great Grandfather, naturally), To Di For–Amore (probably named for the love his Great Grandparents had for each other!), Generation and Second Generation.  I also tried their varietals including their Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Merlot and Reserve Merlot.  RockWall Cellars also makes a Port style wine that they call Foch Lore, which is made from 100% Marechal Foch, aNOTHER varietal I had never heard of before. 

It would have been rude had I not tried their Foch Lore and that’s exactly what I did.  It was marvelous!  It was SO good!  This was the first time I actually smelled AND tasted tobacco in a wine.  This had it on the nose and at the front of the palate.  I know it sounds odd to say something that smells and tastes of tobacco would be good.  I don’t like black licorice but when those profiles show up in a red wine I like it.

The wine that I purchased was RockWall Cellars’ 2008 Off The Wall red blend which has Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Marechal Foch in it.  It had a FANTASTIC nose which I immediately fell in love with…pepper, smokey, licorice.  There was a LOT going on.  It also had a very long finish.  I can’t wait to open this up and try it with a steak because I think this will be fantastic.

My very favorite wine from RockWall Cellars, however, came from a varietal that I don’t often enjoy this much and that was both their 2007 Merlot and their 2007 Reserve Merlot.  I gave my highest marks to both but they were actually both quite different.  Their Merlot had an outstanding nose and I there was plum in the taste.  Doug didn’t have a bottle of the Reserve Merlot open but he felt compelled to open one for me.  Although I didn’t expect that because it WAS after hours, after all, I was extremely thankful for him offering this and I accepted, with great anticipation, his pour.

This Reserve Merlot is sold for $47 a bottle, by far the most expensive of RockWall’s collection of wines.  The Off The Wall blend that I purchased was only $16 a bottle, a virtual steal for what you get.  Everything about the Reserve Merlot was smooth…the nose, the taste, the mouthfeel.  It was a bit tight at the very beginning but it opened up quickly and wonderfully.  I caught a little bit of chocolate on the nose, as well.  One of my very favorite wines to date.  Spectacular.

RockWall Cellars only produces about 1,200 cases of wine a year so you won’t likely find them in your favorite wine store.  One of the major benefits of stopping by wineries to taste their wines is that you are likely going to taste something brand new because stores and restaurants just cannot stock ALL of the wines made in the world.  What you CAN do, however, is call them right away and sign up for their wine club or, at the very least, get on their mailing list.  This WILL be my next wine club that I join, without a doubt.

I am SO happy that I took the time to stop by RockWall Cellars in Omak, Washington, and taste what they’re making.  If you have tasted their wine, or when you do, let me know what you think by writing a comment about it below.  And if you like drinking wine but aren’t yet a fan of drinking wine on Facebook, you can click here and sign up today…like right now. 

As always, thank you for reading (sorry this was such a long post) and, until next time, bottoms up!

Stemilt Fruit Growers Now Includes Grapes For Wine!

  • Posted on April 22, 2010 at 9:21 pm

By Phil Anderson

My travels have recently brought me to Wenatchee, Washington.  As has become habit, I’ve sought out wineries first instead of the work that originally brought me here.  That’s ok, noboby has to know that!  The first winery I happened upon was Stemilt Creek Winery.

Roni greeted me with a warm smile as I entered the tasting room in the heart of downtown Wenatchee.  From the very start of the convesrsation she let me know of the history of the Mathison family and how they started growing quality fruit on their Stemilt Hill homestead just after the turn of the 20th century.  They have now grown into one of the worlds largest producers of quality fruit including apples, pears, cherries, peaches, nectarines and blueberries. 

Until 2002.

That is when they decided to add grapes to their repertoire.  Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot, to be specific.  I had the pleasure of tasting all these with the exception of the Syrah.

What I found very interesting was that Stemilt Creek Winery didn’t produce a white wine.  No Chardonnay.  No Reisling.  No Viognier.  Only red, which would make my friend Les Sargeant very happy.  What I also thought was interesting is that none of these wines had many tannins; at least no harsh tannins.  They were all very ready to drink, very smooth, had personality, character and depth.  I found the Merlot to be complex and very rich with a hint of plums on the nose.  The Cabernet Franc also had a very rich nose and a hint of raisins on the palate.  The Cabernet Franc runs $28, their Merlot $14, and the Syrah $20.

My favorite wine was their 2005 Stemilt Hill Red which consisted of 63% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Syrah.  Winemaker Jan Mathison, with her husband Kyle keeping an eye on the vineyard, hit a home run with this blend.  It was lovely with cherries on the nose and palate.  I enjoyed this wine so much I asked how much it was, thinking it must be pushing $30.  To my astonishment it was only $14!  How could I NOT get a bottle?  And since I had no answer to the just asked question, I had no choice but to purchase a bottle and now I look forward to tasting it with a luscious steak.

Roni went on to explain that their winery produces less than 1,400 cases of wine a year which qualifies them as a boutique winery.  What that also means is that their wine is not so easy to find in your favorite wine store.  What I would suggest is to visit them at their tasting room in Wenatchee or in their just opened tasting room in Leavenworth, Washington, which is a very cute Bavarian themed village.

If you can’t visit the winery then the next best thing is to become a Stemilt Creek Winery wine club member because that is likely the only way you’ll be able to taste the quality wine that the Mathison family has taken so much pride to produce.

Don’t forget, if you’re not yet a fan of wine on Facebook, it’s not too late to become one by clicking here.  As of this writing I’m at about 90 fans so I need an additional 35 to become the official wine fan page of Facebook. 

As always, thank you SO much for reading and remember, bottoms up!

With Their Collection of Quality Washington State Wines These Guys Have ‘Dunham’ Right!

  • Posted on April 12, 2010 at 12:10 pm

To date, one of the best wine trips we’ve taken was the trip to Walla Walla last fall.  On that trip there was a short list of wineries that I wanted to make sure we visited and Dunham Cellars was on that list.

Eric Dunham, the winemaker at Dunham Cellars, which is located in Walla Walla, WA, has been making wine for about 15 years and the buzz surrounding Dunham Cellars wines seem to always be, like wine in a glass, swirling.

I’ve had the opportunity to taste wines from Dunham Cellars periodically over the past years.  Like I said, when we visited Walla Walla last November we made their tasting room a priority and didn’t regret it, having also bought a barrel top lazy susan from there that still sits on the island in our kitchen.

I was introduced to Trutina about a year ago when I had the pleasure of enjoying a juicy filet mignon at The Metropolitan Grill in Seattle and a friend of mine brought a 2005 Trutina from Dunham Cellars.  Trutina is Dunhams Bordeaux style blend and their 2005 consisted of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 13% Syrah and 5% Cabernet Franc.  It paired wonderfully with the steak and I will always remember that dinner with great friends, including Dunham Cellars’ Trutina.

Recently we had the luxury of tasting the newest vintage of Trutina, the 2006.  The blend was a bit different this go around as it had 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Merlot and 3% Syrah.  It has recieved high scores from wine reviewers everywhere which led me to buy this having high expectations.

We served this with rib eye steak, which Shelley prepares to perfection each time, and it paired wonderfully with it.  There was rich raspberries on the nose and black pepper and plums on the taste. 

This is a good spot to write about one of the things I enjoy most about tasting wine and that is the experience.  When you purchase a wine that you are looking forward to drinking, THAT is when the experience begins for me.  You make the conscious decision to choose a particular bottle of wine, in this case it was the Trutina, bring it home and set it on the counter.  As the steaks are marinating you glance over to the bottle, wanting to open it, but withstanding the temptation.

FINALLY, you get to open it, but you still have to WAIT a bit before you pour.  In this case, we let it stand for about a half hour and then poured a small amount in each of our glasses.  That is when the experience really starts taking hold.  We swirl the juice, looking at the color and consistency.  THEN, we gently, albeit eagerly, put our nose in the glass to see what we smell (hmmm, that doesn’t sound right.  We don’t ’smell what we see’, why do we ’see what we smell’?  Just wonderin’…).

This can take anywhere from a minute to 3-4 minutes depending on what we’re getting on the nose and the conversation that takes place.  FINALLY, after ALL of that, we get to actually taste the wine.  We slowly taste the wine, swishing it around in our mouth, trying to make contact with each part of the tongue, bringing in air to mix and activate the tastes within the wine…..and swallow.  All of that build-up for a swallow of wine!

After the initial taste we usually dish up and enjoy the meal with the wine.  The sadness comes with the last sip of the wine.  As I swirl the last sip, usually about ten minutes or more, I smell it often, seeing if I can tell any changes to the nose of the wine since I first opened it.  I finally, slowly, take the last sip, let it rest in my mouth until the last possible moment and then……I swallow it.  Reality sets in as I realize the wine is now gone.  It is truly a sad moment.  The only consolation is knowing I will once again be able to enjoy another bottle of wine, probably the next night.

With the Trutina, this was the case as I was very sad when it was all over.  I will wait with frustrating patience until I once again get to go through the process of tasting a bottle of wine.

That is what wine lovers “get” to go through when tasting wines.  Not all wines carry this long experience with them, but the ones that do are so fun because of that.  I hope you’ll get the opportunity to visit Dunham Cellars in Walla Walla.  If you can’t go THERE then bring them to you by purchasing a bottle of their wine.  You won’t be disappointed!

One more thing to note about Eric Dunham is he has collaborated with Kyle MacLachlan to produced a Cabernet Sauvignon under the Pursued By Bear label.  There are two vintages for sale, the 2005 and 2006, which both earned a 91 point rating from Wine Spectator.  If you don’t recognize the name, Kyle MacLachlan, perhaps you will better recognize the name, Orson Hodge, as the character he plays on Desperate Housewives.  Both those wines will run you about $65 a bottle.

You might have noticed that I’ve been writing about Washington Wines a lot recently, which is true.  I’ve been leaning heavy on Washington Wines because:

A)  They’re SO good and SO close and SO good.  And…

B)  …I’m trying to win a seat on the the road to Walla Walla to attend the annual Wine Bloggers Conference in June.  You’ll notice a badge at the top of the column on the left, just below where you sign up to be a member of General Wine Thoughts (which, why haven’t you done THAT already?) that is for the WBC or Bust contest.  It is sponsored by WineCHATr.com and I really want to win a seat on that trip because they will be stopping at all sorts of wineries from Seattle to Walla Walla and it will be a great opportunity to meet and talk with people in and around the world of wine.

And lastly, before I go, I want to ask you, “Are you a fan of wine?”  If you answered ‘yes’ to that then are you a fan of wine on Facebook?  If NOT, then just click here and you TOO can become one!   Thank you!

Until next time, bottoms up and thank you SO much for reading this!

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!

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!

And Now For Some Great Juice

  • Posted on March 31, 2009 at 4:11 pm

The past couple of posts I have written about some decent wines at rather low prices.  Not today.

 

Recently I had the privilege of tasting a couple of very good and well thought of wines and one very interesting one from a highly thought of winery.  I’ll start with that one.

 

I was having a conversation with the General Manager of Elliotts Oyster House in Seattle, Washington, one of the top seafood restaurants in the nation and I told him about this wine blog I write, the one you just happen to be reading right now.  I had asked him if he would consider being interviewed for a future post and he agreed.  So look forward to an interview with Tom Arthur coming up soon as we talk in depth about Pinot Noir, his favorite varietal. 

 

He then poured me a glass of a 2005 Syrah from McCrea Cellars.  McCrea has a great reputation for producing very nice Syrah’s.  He told me that this wine was returned by one of his guests as being corked.  (Be sure to read the next post which will describe what it means when a wine is corked).  “Well”, he said, “it wasn’t corked” but it WAS something and he asked me to identify what was wrong.

 

Oh, great, I thought, now he’s going to find out just how little I really DO know about wine!

 

It smelled fine.  (Oh, now, I’ve failed.)  He said, no the nose IS fine.  Whew!  Next the taste; Immediately I tasted what seemed to be carbonation and I told him just that.  He said, “Bingo!  You nailed it.”   Apparently the wine makers at McCrea Cellars goofed a tad on this wine and didn’t remove all the yeast and that caused it to be, as Tom said, “a bit spritzy.”  People just don’t expect that sort of taste in a red wine but it isn’t harmful and, actually, it was a very interesting taste.  I asked him if this might be the next style of wine, a red wine that you can chill a bit and have it be effervescent.  He didn’t think that would happen.

 

I tasted a couple of other wines, as well.  One was a 2005 Dunham Cellars Trutina which is a blend of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 13% Syrah and 5% Cabernet Franc.  Absolutely delicious.  Full, rich body and not too tannic.  Dunham Cellars has a history of producing very nice wine.  This one was well balanced and had great mouthfeel.  The nose was spectacular with hints of spice and pepper. 

 

The last one I tried was from Betts & Scholl, a 2005 Grenache from Australia’s Barossa Valley.  According to the winery, Grenache is the most widely planted grape in the world.  This wine had a lot of berry on the nose and wasn’t as complex as the Trutina.  It also had a fair amount of tannins.  It isn’t often I get an opportunity to have a Grenache and it makes me wonder why I don’t choose this varietal more.

 

Suffice it to say I enjoyed ALL three wines including the “spritzy” one from McCrea.  But these wines are hardly at the price point of the wines in my last two posts.  The McCrea and Dunham wines are over $30 and the Betts & Scholl is near $25.  But the value of a wine isn’t only about the cost of it but the quality related to the cost.  That is why we were so high on the Oak Leaf Chardonnay (see my post from March 20) which was UNDER three bucks but not on the Two Buck Chuck which is priced very similarly.

 

One thing that I’ve found in the world of wine is that it is sometimes difficult to find out what wine to serve with the food you’re preparing or, the other way around, what food you should make to go with the wine you want to open.  With that in mind, I just added a new widget to help you pair wine with food and you can see it at the bottom of the left column.  I’m not sure I will keep it as it’s rather small.  The regular size widget blows right through the words of the post and I can’t figure out (yet) how to make that NOT happen.  If you have a comment on this widget or anything else, please don’t hesitate.  Just click on the word “comment” at the bottom of this post and it will be directed right to me.  After the Ultimate Blog Party 2009 posts netted me many comments I felt very liberated.  So you TOO can help me feel that way with a comment.  Ok, enough begging.

 

Remember the next post I will write about what a “corked” wine is.  Until then, 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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