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