The Oregon Wine Blog

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes: WestToast.com

2011-05-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Turn and face the strain.

While I'd like to think David Bowie was thinking of The Oregon Wine Blog when he sang those iconic lyrics, he probably wasn't. Since it's launch on August 3, 2007, TOWB readers have been privy to 368 posts...11 different writers...2 site redesigns...1386 days of blogging awesomeness and a topical focus that has been bursting at the seams for many nears now. Let's be honest, we've covered more than just Oregon and more than just wine for quite a while now - it's time to be real, yo. Today I'm pleased to announce the launch of the future of The Oregon Wine Blog:

WestToast.com
Semi-pretentious enthusiasts of wine, beer, and spirits of the West Coast.

The West Coast is a special place - the connection between people, place, and the spirit of wine, beer, distilled beverages, and culinary excellence in the region tell a compelling story. From this story comes WestToast.com, a new online publication with a mission to make fine wine, craft brew, local spirits, and regional cuisine fun, sexy, and approachable for the next generation.

WestToast unifies the editorial vision and history of The Oregon Wine Blog and the [BW] Beer Blog, featuring good beer since 2006. With the same writing staff and conversational format of The Oregon Wine Blog, WestToast recognizes a broadened scope both geographically and topically by covering wine, beer, spirits and cuisine in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

When we started nearly four years ago, we were a rag-tag group of hooligans in Corvallis, Oregon who wanted to chronicle our journeys in the Willamette Valley. We never anticipated some of the experiences that have made the Blog what it is. Wende taking us through the cave at Col Solare, Keith opening bottle after bottle after bottle at Terra Blanca, Frank bringing out one dish after another at Picazo 7Seventeen. Those experiences epitomize the relationships that make the Blog special to us and hopefully to you, the relationships and experiences we'll continue to feature on WestToast. Four years later, we represent a group of friends spread among Seattle, Portland, Salem, Corvallis, and Sonoma who will continue to share our passion, and hopefully you'll stick with us through this transition.

This is the last post on TheOregonWineBlog.com; look for new content on WestToast.com. Please redirect any links to the site, and you can find our hot asses on twitter @WestToast or facebook at facebook.com/westtoastblog.

Cheers!

Locals Out and About 2

2011-05-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Wine and food and food and wine...these are a few of my favorite things!

And if we're talking food here, lets talk about my favorites there...Asian cuisine, french fries, and anything associated with breakfast. So now that you know what to do with me on our first date, I'll quit free-associating and let you in on what I've been up to. It has nothing to do with french fries (sadly), could have something to do with Asian cuisine (if I so chose), and has everything to do with breakfast food and wine (yeeee haaaaw).

Locals about the Willamette Valley...we (Chris, Jason, and I). Decided to take on a beautiful day in wine country. The day started at Eola Hills Winery in Rickreall, OR. Why Eola first??? Well I'll tell you this is where the breakfast food comes in - SUNDAY BRUNCH!!!

The winery space was filled with tables and sparkling lights. The effect was one that made me feel we were at a country wedding reception - clean, bright, and lacking pretension. Our hosts gave us a tour of the dining options - a series of cooking stations where we could watch our meal being made right before us (this was done in conjunction with Simply Delish Catering). We were able to choose from foods such as fried oysters, carved beef, eggs benedict (3 different kinds), crepes, waffles, and omelets. There were also tables featuring fruit, desserts, and pastries along with hot items such as biscuits and gravy, ham, and potatoes. It was a lovely and beautiful feast.

Part of our meal price was a drink ticket for a glass of wine or champagne. The three of us opted to pool our resources in order to get ourselves a bottle. We went for the 2009 Oregon White Riesling as our designated breakfast wine. It had a lovely nose - melon, peach, and pear with hints of citrus. I found it crisp and bright, with a sweet/tart punch at the start and a soft finish that gave me a lovely pear flavor. Chris and I decided to mix our first glasses with orange juice, making a beautiful quasi mimosa.

Fun and funky gifts like this wine holder were in the gift shop

The brunch was fantastic - we definitely got our money's worth. My favorite was the eggs benedict. There were three kinds - veggie, seafood, and traditional - and I opted for the traditional. The egg was done perfectly, the ham thinly sliced and flavorful, and the sauce was creamy and full. I also sampled the crepes, made thin and light with a wide variety of fillings including fruit, cheeses and sauces. I tried the 'Vin d' Ete' dessert wine on a cheese crepe and found it amazing! The waffles were also good - small enough to try a couple with toppings that included flavored butters and fruit sauces.

Filled with goodness, and enjoying happy sipping, all three of us gave the Eola Hills Sunday Brunch (9:30-2:00) a big thumbs up, and have made plans to make plans to go back again!

The name is Merry...Cellars that is.

2011-05-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

"You take North Grand out of town. Turn at the last stoplight, you know, the one that leads towards the engineering lab. Drive around the bend, through some wheat fields, and you'll find it," I overhead the clerk tell my friend Kyle as I was browsing through the shop. We were at the Old Post Office wine shop in Pullman, Washington, having recovered from a Ludacris concert at Beasley Coliseum the night before. By the way, if you'd like to be hip the kids call him "Luda". We knew there was wine in them there hills, and we were on a mission to find it. Stat.

Merry Cellars was the destination du jour, a winery that we were all tangentially familiar with from our time living in Pullman. Back in my day, Merry Cellars was located at the Old Post Office, so you could understand the confusion when we walked through the door and found a wine shop and production brewpub but no winery tasting room. Unfazed and armed with directions, we hopped back in the car and headed to the other side of town...all of a 5 minute drive...to find the man they call Merry and drink his wine.

Founded in 2004, Merry Cellars seeks to craft age worthy and approachable wines, those which are elegant yet casual enough to serve at the family dinner table. Winemaker and owner Patrick Merry finds a sense of place in his wine, capturing the essence of the Palouse region through small lot productions. The winery uses a minimalist, hand-crafted approach through the entire wine-making process, and as we were soon to discover, produces some outstanding wines from varietals that are relatively rare but up and coming in Eastern Washington. And talk about fruit! Sourcing from some of the finer vineyards in Walla Walla and Columbia Valley, most of the wines in the Merry Cellars portfolio are backed with Les Collines, Pepper Bridge, Seven Hills, Stillwater Creek, Stone Ridge, and Echo West offerings.

We turned at the last stoplight, you know, the one that leads to the engineering lab. We drove around the bend and through some wheat fields, and there it was. In an otherwise unassuming building, with simply some sandwich boards announcing it's presence stood what was to be the start of a great afternoon of wine tasting. We walked through the door, a rag-tag group consisting of Rick and myself, blog regulars Alyssa and Kyle, and my brother Chris. Immediately we were greeted with a smile and some glasses by Joe, a relative newcomer to the Merry Cellars family but certainly an asset to the tasting room, and Bruno, the Merry Cellars puppy. At 12-weeks old and adding an incredibly cute and cuddly attribute to our experience, Bruno was conked out on a pillow in the corner of the tasting room after reportedly lapping up spilled Carmenere off of the floor. I'd guess we tasted 6 or 7 wines, although my notes are sketchy in that arena. In fact, they don't exist so I'm going to profile a few wines that stuck out among the crowd and we'll go from there:

2008 Crimson: Merry Cellar's interpretation of a Bordeaux blend, the Crimson brings about 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the balance in Cab Franc to the table. Smoky and masculine as described by the winery, this one has long been Kyle's favorite Merry wine.

2008 Carmenere: This one was a nice surprise to our group, many who were completely unfamiliar with Carmenere as a varietal. Entirely from Seven Hills Vineyard, spice and pepper was evident on the nose but we found a very well-balance wine on the palate. Yum.

2007 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Merlot: This is the one that I took home and for good reason. A deep, rich, but moderately tannic wine, the merlot has been critically acclaimed by everyone and their brother. It's classic Columbia Valley, delicious every time. In fact, my brother did enjoy it.

After tasting through, Joe asked if we were interested in seeing the back room as they were in the process of bottling. Never ones to turn down back room tours or back door deals, we were in. He led us through a gorgeous barrel room, which is available for events by the way, to the bottling line. When I say bottling line I mean a group of Merry Cellar's closest friends hand bottling each and every drop of the wine with care and attention to detail. It's definitely cool to see.

Merry Cellars is one of those places that is a bit off of the beaten path, well at least in Pullman terms, so really not much. Firmly planted in a college community, they have a phenomenal opportunity to help in our mission of making wine more approachable to the next generation, and the winery is a great place to spend a hot Palouse summer afternoon sipping wine on the their patio. There's also a puppy.

Locals Out and About 1

2011-05-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Though I have been here in the Willamette Valley for a few months now, I had not really gotten out and about to some of the local wineries. The hubbub (not to mention the cost) of moving and settling in kept me pretty close to home. The times I did get out of town were to head off to faraway places such as Portland, Jackson, and Mt. Shasta. I was quickly getting myself into that rut where a person can be in one place for years, but never take part in the entertainment close to home - kind of like growing up in NY but never seeing the Statue of Liberty, living in Washington and never seeing Mount Saint Helens, or living in Utah and never going skiing (not that I know ANYONE for whom all of these apply).

So it was great when my friend Chris suggested a trip into wine country last weekend. We rolled out semi-early, and wined and dined our way through the area around Monmouth for the day, enjoying lovely wine and vittles where ever we went. Instead of writing a loooong piece about the whole day, I have decided I will break it up and highlight my favorite parts as to give them a bit more credence.

One of the wineries we went to was Firesteed. Just off of 99W North of Rickreal, we spotted Firesteed on our way to another location, and decided if we had time we would check it out. With the firm belief that you really always have time for wine, we made sure to stop in on our way back by. We climbed the hill up to the massive warehouse and tasting room, and wondered for a moment if it was open as there seemed to be no cars there. Upon entering the tasting room we met our hosts, John and Kristen, who greeted us with friendly smiles. When hearing we were there for a tasting, John replied "suh-weet!" We knew we had come to a great place.

Modern and edgy with a rustic flair, the tasting room was comfortable and posh without seeming pretentious. I especially enjoyed the wine rack that seemed to be made out of old barn wood standing behind the counter. A large window behind the bar allowed us to sneak a peak at the barrel room that included a massive German-style barrel with a stainless steel door on the front. We were informed that this was used for short-term white wines in place of stainless steel fermenters. Don't get me wrong however, there were still the big steelies there as well, towering to one side and making me want very much to climb in for a nice swim (yeah, I am strange - I'm OK with it). We joked warmly about that for a bit, and learned that the only way to clean them out was to actually get inside and scrape and spray - so perhaps I might get a chance to see the inside of them after all...add it to the bucket list - HA...no pun intended.

The lighting provided beautiful shadows around my glass as I tasted

We tried a number of wines while at Firesteed, here are the ones I enjoyed the most!

Our tasting started with their 2008 Pinot Gris. I found it to be light and silky on the nose with a large dose of melon and peach. There was a citrus-y topnote that promised crispness along with hints of wild honey. I found it tart and crisp with a silky smoothness that was cool on my tongue. There were hints of melon and peach that came through a strong green apple flavor. It made me dream of summer heat, honey barbecued chicken, and sweet corn roasted on the grill in the husk.

We also were able to try the 2008 Chardonnay - W3. The W's in W3 stand for Walla-Walla and Willamette where the grapes are grown. I found the nose toasty and cool simultaneously along with a high sharpness that suggested the wine would pack a punch. I found it to be the exact opposite upon tasting it however - it was smooth, mellow, and silky. The oak flavor was soft and subtle, hitting me gently at the finish. I noted a floral aspect at the top of my palette along with a balance of tart and sweet fall fruit - pear and apple. Not a huge fan of chardonnay, I was pleased to find this wine highly drinkable. Its strength and complexity would be wonderful by the glass, or paired with foods that are sweet and spicy.

I really enjoyed trying the 2005 Cayalla RTW (red table wine). This wine continued my current love affair with Oregon red varietals. The nose was rich and earthy and filled with dark fruity notes along with chocolate and vanilla. I found the taste equally deep with cherry at the front, an oily and peppery cocoa at the middle, and a long finish filled with mineral, earth, and moss. If there ever was a wine I would call a comfort food, this would be it. I'd drink it on its own, but really wanted to have it with my mom's macaroni and cheese followed by chocolate chip cookies. Despite the homeyness of this wine, I think it would stand well in a fine dining situation as well.

Another wine I noted well was the 2006 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The nose opened into a strong and complex mixture of berry and spice - deep and clear - blackberry, clove and pepper with almost a citrus flash that lingered late, opening up my sinuses and asking me to take another whiff. A long-time lover of the mountains, I found this wine to be the olfactory equivalent of springtime in the peaks just below the snow line. The taste was fresh, full, and tantalizing, and completely matched what I had just smelled. I enjoyed the acidic texture and the greenness of the finish. I loved loved loved this wine. I doubt I would pair it with anything lest I lose something from my experience of it, but if forced to choose I'd eat it with Greek food - feta cheese, olives, and smoky roast lamb.

All in all the experience at Firesteed was one of hospitality, fun, and great wines. I walked out with a bottle of the Cayalla RTW and (duh!) the 2006 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. As the weather improves here in the area I intend on hopping on my bicycle and visiting them again!

Erath 2008 Prince Hill Pinot Noir and 5lbs of Ham

2011-05-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last Thanksgiving, I really took a chance and exposed the inner workings of my family with what a typical holiday looks like. Instead of the usual drunken complaintfest we normally experience, it ended up being one of the best Thanksgivings ever thanks to Josh joining us, some Castle Crashers, and Erath's 2008 Leland Pinot Noir.

While Josh didn't join us last weekend, I tried to replicate as much of the experience as I could for Easter dinner. Nobody in my family is very religious, so Easter is more or less an opportunity for us to get together and stuff our faces with ham and ham accessories. To fully accessorize the ham while also partaking in the requisite alcohol consumption, I decided to make another one of Erath's Pinot Noirs a part of my holiday experience. This Easter I decided to open a bottle of Erath's 2008 Prince Hill Pinot Noir.

For the sake of disclosure, this was a promotional bottle sent to me by Erath. Like all wines we review, I'm still going to be just as critical as I would otherwise.

Picture this scene: It's about 3pm and Alyssa and I have just arrived at my parents' house. Grandma is spaced out on the couch staring into oblivion, my mom is busy in the kitchen, my sister is on a laptop, and my dad isn't anywhere to be fouOH THERE HE IS! Alyssa and I are greeted with a big group hug out of nowhere and one thing is obvious; he's been hitting the sauce for a few hours. If there's anything that makes his loud ramblings any easier to bear, it's having a few drinks yourself.

To counter this, I realized it was the perfect time to have a glass of Pinot Noir before dinner and then another once dinner was served. As I popped its cork, I immediately picked up the aroma of sweet cranberries. My dad must have been fascinated too as he asked whether this wine was "sweet or dry". I don't even know how to respond that anymore as I'm pretty sure he doesn't know the difference. Instead, I read the wine's tasting notes to him:

This traditional offering from Dick Erath’s home vineyard reflects the classic Dundee Hills Pinot Noir style – bright red fruit with a soft body. Vibrant cranberry aromas with an ethereal hint of violets provide a pleasing introduction to juicy, cinnamon-spiced, strawberry flavors – laced with a streak of rich mocha – that build to a satisfyingly prolonged finish

Dad: "Is this expensive?"
Me: "It retails for about $45"
At that point he took the liberty of grabbing the bottle and taking a swig from it.
Dad: "Let's drink it like it's cheap!"
Me: "No."

I got the bottle back and my mom took it upon herself to usher him out of the dining room. Finally I could start pouring. Erath's 2008 Prince Hill Pinot Noir pours a very bright, translucent ruby color that is much lighter than your typical Oregon Pinot Noir. As the tasting notes state, you're immediately greeted with powerful cranberry hues followed by what I identified as red fruits and cocoa. That said, the tartness of the cranberry really steals the show as other flavors are somewhat over powered.

The tartness was somewhat subdued when paired with ham and more savory side dishes. Although Erath suggests pairing this wine with savory duck and pork dishes, I disagree only because this wine paired like peanut butter and jelly when paired with cheese cake. The rich, creaminess of the cheesecake both subdued the tartness and combined with its lesser hues to really bring out its full flavor.

In short, I would definitely recommend trying this Pinot Noir if given the opportunity, but I would urge you to ignore its pairing suggestions and instead have it with some sort of rich dessert. Wine and dessert? I know, life is rough sometimes.

A huge thank you goes out to Erath for providing the wine as well as an apology for probably writing the least-classiest way to review an otherwise phenomenal Pinot Noir.

Up next on my series of wine for the holidays: Memorial Day weekend and whatever my dad agrees not to take pulls of.

So Long, & Thanks for the Memories...

2011-04-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

One October evening in Yakima about a year and a half ago, over dinner and a bottle of Plaza Socievole Syrah, Josh asked me to consider becoming the Washington Correspondent for The Oregon Wine Blog. My wine knowledge and experience at the time was significantly limited. I had been to Yakima and the Rattlesnake Hills a handful of times, had been volunteering at Delille Cellars for about 4 or 5 years and had made it down to Willamette Valley once or twice. From my visits to Delille I understood a bit about crush, bottling, and portions of the wine making process from a friend who was formerly their cellar master. I knew that I loved the wines of the Northwest, and I had seen my wine budget slowly creep up to the point where we’d occasionally stretch for a $30 wine.

Everything has changed. I’ve enjoyed writing about wine; from my very first post,
an awkwardly worded attempt to capture my thoughts on a DiStefano Cab Franc (wow that was poorly written), to my recap of the Wine Blogger’s Conference on Red Mountain to my most recent guest post on Drink Nectar about wine and its relation to Cognac. Writing for the blog has been a whirlwind. I’ve met some amazing folks and tasted some brilliant and some … not so brilliant wines. I’ve made great friends in winemaking; including, among many others, Ryan Johnson, Sheila Nicholas and Neil Cooper and I’ve visited some of the finest vineyards, cellars, and wine folk's living rooms in both Oregon and Washington.

The wine blogging crowd can be an odd one. Among us there are some awkward cats, some people with odd behavior and habits and one or two jerks completely without tact. There are some really good people with various palates and writing abilities - some of them spot on in both arenas and some who are way off in both fields as well. Every one of those people accepted me among them, particularly in the greater Seattle area, and through them I’ve learned a bunch. Folks like Sean Sullivan, Doug Haugen and Susie Curnutte have generously shared wine and knowledge with me.

I learned to tweet on the twitter machine. I have to be honest; I had no idea what the hell the point of this was at first. I’ve become pretty handy at it and you might say a bit addicted. I’ve developed relationships with people all over the country and we “talk” (if you can call it that) nearly daily about a variety of things, most of them unimportant. I’ve participated in “tweet-ups,” created hash-tags, and learned about and tasted wine from all over the world.

All of this has a purpose: to tell you that I’m hanging up my spurs as the Washington Correspondent on The Oregon Wine Blog. Recently the blog’s founder Josh - the same guy who invited me to take up the reigns here in Washington - has himself moved to Seattle. He’s worked hard to build the blog over the years and as a newly transplanted Washingtonian has graciously agreed to assume the Washington duties

for The Oregon Wine Blog. I may still do an occasional piece here and there for TOWB.

To borrow the worn out line: this is not goodbye so much as “see you later.” I can’t walk away from the relationships I’ve built, the wines I’ve learned to love, and the curiosity within me, and the opportunity out there to learn more. So, sometime this spring look for me to be coming back around. Ugh, another wine blog? That’s just what we need, right? Well I’m not so much concerned with that, but look for The Northwest Wine Anthem sometime later this Spring.

Where the Frick is this place?

2011-04-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

It has only been in the last 6 months or so that I have really been discovering and developing a love for Rhone grapes. There is a lot of buzz in the wine world about Rhone style wines as the next big thing. Most people know Syrah but until recently, grapes like Grenache and Mourvedre were only seen as blending grapes. In northern California, if you are looking for great Rhone style wine, there is no better place to explore than the Dry Creek Valley. I was already appreciative of Rhone grapes as single varietal wines, particularly Grenache, but after a recent trip with my family who introduced me to Frick Winery, I am ready to drink the kool-aid.

We turned down the road towards Frick and it didn’t take long for me to start wondering if there was an actual winery out there. Driving along the dirt and gravel road with no visible signage encouraging me that I was almost there, I also began wondering if anyone could hear me scream out here. Thankfully, we overcame our doubts and finally came upon the cottage-like building used as the tasting room. To get a picture of the size of this place, Frick explains that groups of 6 may be difficult to accommodate.

When I joined the staff at The Oregon Wine Blog I wanted to showcase small, family-owned wineries in California. Frick Winery is the epitome of what I wanted to showcase. Listed as the owner, founder, winemaker, vineyard worker, bottle washer, tasting room staff, and cellar rat, Bill Frick does it all and is literally a one man show, handcrafting single vineyard rare Rhone varietal wines. Bill told us that when he was a kid he visited a winery and it was from that moment that he was bit by the wine bug. While talking and tasting with Bill, that genuine love for wine was easy to feel. A relatively simple approach, Bill focuses his attention on these uncommon wines “because that is what grows best on the mountain.”

We first started with the 2008 Grenache Blanc. Like many of the wines we had at Frick, I had never tasted Grenache Blanc and found it to be incredibly refreshing. Flavors or pear and apple were the most prominent in this fruit forward wine. The crispness of the wine would make it perfect with light seafood or spicy food...or just to sip while sitting on the porch on a hot day. Having not tasted Grenache Blanc before I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I found this wine to be very complex, with new flavors appearing throughout the lingering finish.

Our next wine, another uncommon varietal was the 2007 Owl Hill Vineyard Counoise (pronounced coon-wahz). Only 2 acres of this grape exist in Sonoma County, compared with the 10,192 acres of Pinot Noir planted in the county. The rarity made it feel very special to be enjoying this wine with someone like Bill who really appreciates these rare varietals. Upon pouring I first noticed the deep purple color of the vino in my glass. The Counoise was very soft with wonderful flavors of blueberry, cranberry, plum, and many other delicious fruits. I found a slight hint of spice and pepper on the finish but nothing that overpowered the wine and made me forget about the fruit in the first part of the wine. A very drinkable wine when you are looking for a fruity red wine with a little bit of body.

Frick is not only rare in the wines he produces, but also in that tasting there carries no charge. As such, we were able to taste through several other wines including the cherry-laden 2007 Grenache, the 2006 Carignane, and the very earthy 2005 Syrah. My favorite however, and the wine receiving the overwhelming popular vote among the family was the 2007 Cinsaut (pronounced sahn-so). With only 7 acres planted in Sonoma County (Bill owns 3 of them), the Cinsault is another wine you will not see on most tasting menus. The Cinsaut had a very balanced body with mild tannins. I found this wine to be very jammy on the front with mostly red fruit and a more detectable finish of spice than the Counoise.

Going to Frick was an exploration into unfamiliar territory. When you go to Frick you won’t find a new take on the Cabernet that you love or the Chardonnay you open on a hot day. You go to Frick because you want to try some new things, expand your palate, and support a true family winery in Sonoma County. Going to Frick also gives you the chance to taste with the person involved in every process of the winemaking process. His winemaking processes are true to the grape and allow you to experience the unique qualities of each grape without any unnatural processing to alter the characteristics. Frick is a hidden gem in Sonoma County and is worthy of any wine tasting itinerary.

A special thanks to Katie’s Uncle Jim and Aunt Zee for introducing us to this treasure and to Bill for taking such great care of me and my family!

Taste Washington's Dirty Little Secret: The Vineyards

2011-04-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

This year was my first Taste Washington! experience, well, primarily because it's my first year back in Washington after five years in Oregon. Makes sense, eh? Clive was well-versed in the wonderfulness of this particular event, so I was pretty stoked to have the opportunity to attend and see what the hub-bub was all about. I spent many days agonizing over my approach to the event. With over 200 wineries and 60 restaurants, there was no way I could come even close to tackling them all lest I stumble out the door never to be seen again. Should I take the Disneyland approach and start in the back corner of the room, opposite the crowds? Should I only visit wineries that I had never tried before? Should I connect with old winery cronies such as Heather from Terra Blanca, Neil from Cooper, Frank, from Picazo 7Seventeen, and Wendi from Col Solare? Halfway through my deliberation, my friend Paul agreed to attend with me so my mission was clear: show him the best that Washington wine has to offer. It certainly wouldn't be hard with the cast of characters at the event.

Gametime came...and Paul couldn't make it. Don't worry, friends, he wasn't just blowing me off for booze and hookers; he legitimately couldn't make it so it was time to rethink the strategy. As I flipped through the brochure, a section caught my eye: TASTE! The Vineyards.

Hmm, tell me more oh magical brochure of wine.

"Try a new approach to wine tasting. This area is organized by vineyard, so you can compare and contrast the wines that several different wineries have produced from a single source," it whispered seductively into my ear.

Klipsun, Sagemoor, Tapteil, Upland...damn, these jokers weren't fooling around.

A new game plan was solidified; taste a variety of wines from the best vineyards in the state. Swirl, sniff, sip, spit, and move on to the next. Maybe swallow a little every second or third taste. Have I mentioned how tough of a life it is to be a wine blogger?

Why is this Taste Washington's dirty little secret? It's actually not dirty at all, but the secret is that there were no lines whatsoever in the vineyard area of the event, despite being near the front of the room. While every Tom, Dick, and Sally were elbowing their way to get a sip of the awesome Betz Syrah, I sashayed right on up to the Klipsun table and had the place to myself.

Klipsun, Chinook Indian Jargon for Sunset, is one of the preeminent vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA. You may know it as one of the primary sources of fruit for Quilceda Creek's run of 100-point Cabs back in the early 2000's. From my count, at least 37 wineries used their fruit for the 2009 vintage, all of them notable in one way or another. I had the opportunity to taste 5 different Klipsun wines at this event, all were amazing in different ways. Don't ask me what they were, I didn't take notes and swallowed more than I should have. Point being...awesome interaction with the pourer, awesome wine...no crowd. Next I saddled over to Sagemoor, then Tapteil. Same experience.

Interested in another protip for Taste Washington 2012? Winery Association Tables. Again, smaller crowds, more wine. I spent more than my fair share of the event at the Red Mountain AVA Alliance and Horse Heaven Hills Wine Growers tables. That was when I wasn't chowing down on some great food with Picazo7Seventeen or these awesome little mini-cupcakes from The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. The Pancakes n' Bacon cupcake is to die for, no joke.

By the end of the event, I was well satiated and did have the opportunity to connect with Heather, Neil, Frank, and Wendi. I even got to skulk around with Clive a bit, and friends of the Blog - Andrea and Craig - showed up before I left. I'd had my fill of wine by that time, as you can tell by my wine lips. After reading this are you sad that you missed Taste Washington? Well, don't fret Oregon friends, because I have a deal for you! Taste Washington is coming to you...Portland style. Sunday, May 1. Do it.

Water to Vintjs

2011-04-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have decided I may try to have people over on a monthly basis for wine tasting. Being new to Corvallis (and knowing that wine can make fast friends), I want to increase my social interactions and connect with other people who like wine as much as I do. The challenge is that I am new to town, and at the moment my social connections are relatively low...but i'd imagine a nice bottle of vino could get things going...

I picked up Vintjs - a2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir bottle by Wine by Joe in Dundee, OR. I'd had a hankerin' for a good pinot noir as recently I've been dabbling in red varietals and trying to branch out. Familiarity won out in this case, and I decided this was the first bottle for wine night (which I think will be the second Saturday night of each month - come on over!).

I got on Facebook and invited all 10 people I know here in Corvallis, plus a number of folks in Portland I know won't make it just to feel better about the number of invitees (a move as silly as the length of this sentence). I'd set the bottle on my bookcase while looking for my camera, and when I returned I realized I'd set it right next to Buddy Christ (not the REAL Buddy Christ, but close enough). I decided the hook for the party was, "Buddy Christ wants YOU!"

Hours later only one person had replied to my little Facebook invite. Ironically, my friend who decided to join me, Megan, a) did not like wine, and b) was Jewish. That shows me for being sacrilegious and ridiculous. Eventually my friend Matt RSVP'd as well, and it was ON. He suggested to go along with the time of year and the Jesus-themed invite that we dye Easter eggs as well. So a Jew, a gentile, and I got together for some water-to-wine hijinks.

We went to the wine first, Matt and I each ready to take one for the teammates who did not make it (Megan enjoyed a flurry while she watched the festivities). The color was pale and thin - light reddish-almost like dark red raspberries. It took a while to get the nose to open up, but when it did Matt noticed a light fruitiness that he decided was raspberry. I first got heavy plum, followed by berry fruit, with a sweet floral note high in my nasal cavity - oily and violety. Matt dove in first, stating that the taste was much stronger than it smelled. He found the strongest flavor in the middle of his tongue - an unnamed tang that followed a weak start and drifted to a weak finish. He noted that the flavor was not bad, just not complex enough to hit in any place but the center. I found fruit at the front - plum and cherry - with a bitter center note like fruit tea. The finish had the sense that the wine had been sitting out for a while and had oxidized, but carried a bit of vanilla along with the watery clarity.

Both Matt and I felt that the wine would be better with food rather than drinking on its own (of course we then proceeded to drink the whole bottle over the course of the night). Matt noticed that when he had it with the guacamole and chips he'd brought that it brought out some of the peppery spice one expects from a pinot noir. I stated that I thought the wine would go well with a light custard and berries, or grilled chicken and sweet corn. I did not think that it would stand up well to bolder flavors, but carried a light essence of summer. I noted I might even chill this wine (gasp!) to capitalize on its clarity and almost thirst-quenching properties. Matt disagreed on the light flavors, preferring to pair it with pork done with a mustard spice rub. He felt that pairing it with spice would increase the wine's potency. We both agreed that this wine was good but not amazing, tasty but not mind-blowing. We then each poured our second glasses and moved on to dye our eggs.

I will say that egg-dying is much more fun with wine. 9 out of 10 Buddy Christs agree!

Gone Walkabout, Pinot Walkabout

2011-04-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

In the Aboriginal cultures of Australia, the term walkabout refers to a rite of passage. When males reach adolescence they step outside of their daily routines to honor and follow their family's ancestral customs and history. Young men would live and wander the outback for as long as six months as they traced their ancestor's stories or "songlines."

IPNC, which has become an annual rite of passage for Northwest Pinot Noir fanatics, has finally come to its senses and is allowing us the opportunity to celebrate Pinot Noir more than once a year starting on May 1st with the Pinot Walkabout: The People's Pinot Event. The Pinot Walkabout brings Oregon Pinot Noir literally to the streets. Or at least very near to the streets, as they'll be inside various restaurants on Portland's Eastside. (Actually taking Pinot out on the street could result in an open container citation.)

Portland's Beaker & Flask Noble Rot and Simpatica will each be hosting five Willamette Valley wineries pouring Pinot Noir for a very limited 100 ticket holders. Participants will receive an assigned starting place with their ticket and will stroll, saunter, swagger and or strut to each location to sample and savor Oregon's finest contributions to the world's palate.

IPNC has also partnered with Portland's Pedi-Cabs for those less inclined to the actual Walkabout portion of the event, for you it would be the Pinot-Sit-While-Someone-Else-Pedals-About. Tickets can be had HERE.

Participating wineries include: Adelsheim Vineyard, Amity Vineyard, Archery Summit Winery, Bethel Heights Vineyard, Elk Cove Vineyards, Erath, The Eyrie Vineyards, Lemelson Vineyards, Ponzi Vineyards, R. Stuart & Co., REX HILL Vineyards, Sokol Blosser Winery, Soléna Estate, Stoller Vineyards, Yamhill Valley Vineyards

Part 1.5 of Day 2 of Walla Walla Birthday Extravaganza: The Drinkening

2011-04-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

As Josh mentioned in his previous article regarding our recent trip, March was a month of birthdays and wine tasting in Walla Walla. Because he already covered days 1 and 3 and I'm all about chronological order, gather 'round as I share what we experienced on day 2!

The first stop on our trip was to Zerba Cellars where we were greeted by Marilyn Zerba herself. Unbeknownst to us, Zerba had just been announced as the Wine Press Northwest Winery of the Year. Josh and I have been huge fans of pretty much everything they make, so this wasn't a surprise and a very deserving accolade. The rest of our party had very little exposure to Zerba beforehand, so in the name of investigative journalism, we had to do some tasting to prove the point.

What makes Zerba Cellars such a great wine tasting spot is that they make a little bit of everything. We tried whites, French reds, Italian reds, and even a port. After tasting through about ten wines, it was unanimous that Zerba was a big hit. Some of the bottles we left with included their Wild Z Red, 2008 Barbera, 2008 Dolcetto, 2007 Merlot, and (my personal favorite) their 2008 Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre Walla Walla Valley Blend. Josh and I had the pleasure of opening this about a week ago and it is easily one of my favorite red blends of the year. Zerba's tasting notes is 100% spot on:

This medium-bodied Rhone blend has a rich bouquet of cherry, vanilla, and cedar backed by a peppery spiciness. The smooth coating flavors again display pepper, and dark cherry that fade into blackberry and a light toasted oak finish.

Up next was Dusted Valley, where Gordon found this doggy! While the dog was both entertaining and adorable, the real winner at Dusted Valley was the wine. Like our previous destination, Josh and I have had the opportunity to try many of Dusted Valley's offerings and knew we were going to enjoy what came next.

Of the eight or so wines we tasted, the first winner with the group was their Viognier. Kathryn and Alyssa especially loved its light fruit hues and easy drinkability. Definitely a perfect white for a hot summer day. Dusted Valley has made somewhat of a name for itself with their Stained Tooth Syrah and it became evident why. For a mid-tier priced syrah, you don't get a whole lot more bang for your buck than this big, spicy Syrah that just screams Walla Walla. What I left with, however, was their Grenache. It's plum-like jamminess (although they would disagree with that statement) laced with a bit of spice completely won me over.

We had some time to kill before our final appointment for the day, so we decided to randomly stop by a nearby winery. Unfortunately, this experience was a reminder that not all wineries in Walla Walla produce world-class wine. That's ok, though, as what came next was incredible.

Behold: Stella Fino Winery! Ok, so that's not entirely fair. Stella Fino is much more than a Toyota fork lift with some wine on it. In fact, it's the best Walla Walla winery you've probably never heard of. Matt and Marlene Steiner are the husband and wife couple responsible for 100% of Stella Fino's mission to create excellent Italian-varietal wines that pair well with savory food. The production may be small and they're only using about 1/3 of the space you see in these pictures, but their wines wouldn't convince you of that.

Our experience with Stella Fino started with Marlene meeting us during an absolute downpour at a small building owned by another nearby winery. Matt arrived soon after and we were then led into the facility you see above. At the time the forklift above was supplied with an array of wine glasses and we were immediately greeted with a glass of their Pinot Grigio. I'll be the first to admit that Pinot Grigio doesn't usually do it for me, but this one really won me over. It's crisp with a bit of tang and honey-like hue that screams to be paired with some seafood.

Up next was their Barbera. Alyssa and I were especially excited to try this as Stella Fino's 2006 Barbera is the wine that essentially got Alyssa into enjoying red wine. Their 2008 varietal certainly didn't disappoint with its light hues of black fruit and medium drinkability. While great on its own, it too would open up even more with food.

Also from the bottle we had the opportunity to try their 2007 Rosso Sangiovese/Barbera blend. While leagues away from what you would call a table wine, this seems to be Stella Fino's utility wine that will pair with almost anything. It delivers exactly what you expect from the blend and does it at an absolute bargain price of $19.

We had one more bottle to try, but Matt and Marlene insisted we take a break to do some barrel tasting. I've said it before, but barrel tasting never gets old as it's never the same experience twice. We had the opportunity to try a little bit of everything from their barrels, but the highlight was when he created a Sangiovese blend for us in our glass! I've never had a winemaker take multiple pulls from barrels and create a blend in my glass for me, so that was a first. We were also lucky enough to be drinking wines almost ready for bottling,

Our final pour was their 2009 Columbia Valley Dry Orange Muscat. It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. If you're a big fan of orange muscats and are ok with it being on the dry side, you should love this wine. Kathryn did!

I know I must sound like a broken record with my multiple endorsements of great Italian varietals, but Stella Fino is a sure thing if you're looking for great Italian varietals from the Pacific Northwest. A HUGE thank you goes out to Matt and Marlene for not only providing us an incredibly fun afternoon, but for being so kind and willing to take the time to share their story, insights on wine making, and their wine.

All in all, day 2 of our Walla Walla Birthday Extravaganza weekend was a huge success. We left with a bunch of incredible wine, some great experiences, and new friends.

They're Not Foolin'

2011-04-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

Apologies all for the poor quality of my photos in this post - I forgot my camera and apparently my phone does not cut it...

Despite the fact I LOVE that writing for this blog can often consist of hanging out in my bed drinking wine (I mean, what else does a girl need?), I was thrilled to get out and about this past weekend on self-imposed assignment (oh...poor me).

The Mission, Should I Choose to Accept It...

I get to hang out with all the coolest fermentation enthusiasts - my friend Chris being one of them. It was he who invited me to the 3 Fools' Annual April 1 Party (thanks buddy). The promise was a chance to taste some good wine, eat some good food, and listen to some good music (lots of goods apparently). After doing a double check on Facebook to ensure that this was not some elaborate prank among pals, I planned to make an evening of it. The day was BEAUTIFUL beforehand, so I was very excited to get to wear cute shoes and a sundress that evening. I may be a girl who plays in the dirt and climbs mountains, but I LOVE a chance to get pretty!

Welcome to the Main Event

The party was out at Emerson Winery in Monmouth, a long, rambling shed of a space that was half-barn, half airplane hanger, and all amazing. I was greeted immediately at the door with what I can only imagine is true 3 Fools style. A giant blackboard sported mad-lib style fill in the blanks where patrons could plug and chug amusing combinations of verbs and adjectives. I was encouraged to sign in and get tickets for door prizes (canvas bags, shirts, and amazing hand-made cribbage sets in the shape of the number 3). The band, Wild Hog Gumbo was pickin' and wailin' up a storm despite the deadening acoustics, and at the back there was a table sporting finger foods by Block 15.

Oh...and there was wine!!!

The Wine

There were three wines offered by the Fools for tasting. I worked through them throughout the evening and enjoyed each one:

'08 Pinot Noir: generally what I love about pinot noir is that it is delicate, thready, and forces me to focus my attention onto it fully in order to gain a sense of what I am drinking. This pinot did none of these, but I loved it anyway because it totally surprised me. Darker and richer in color and texture than what I know of pinot noir, this wine sported a deep maroon that was almost purple. The nose was musky and deep - right in my face with strong cherry and plum and a spiciness that did not seem peppery, but more of a clove. There was an overall sweetness in the nose that lingered after I'd stopped smelling. Upon tasting I found those cherries and plums to be powerful initially, giving way to smokiness, and a tart finish. While sipping and talking I detected a light sense of sweet clover in my mouth that hung at the top of my palette. I had a very strong emotional reaction to this wine. It hit me hard in the gut because I was expecting the high-falootin' sensibility of what I know of pinot noir, and instead I got his accessible, blue-collar wine that made me feel comfortable and kicked back. I instantly wanted hot grilled sausages and mustard with a thick, crusty roll. I could drink this wine all day and then some!
'09 Syrah/Viognier: This was the second wine I tried, though at that point I was ready to just stop and get myself a bottle of the first! I noted its cloudy and rich color and the satisfying way it clung to the sides of my glass and was instantly bought in. The nose had a green, herbal aroma - kind of like blackberry bushes after rain - that combined with dark fruitiness. I found a lovely topnote of violet that danced with a sweetness I never could identify but loved. The taste was deep and sensual - berry fruits, chocolate, and vanilla with a sharp dankness on the finish. This too was an amazing comfort wine - one I would happily eat with a big plate of spaghetti, cheesecake, or late-night munchies...maybe all three.
'09 Pinot Noir: This pinot was served to me straight out of the barrel, and its clarity and delicate appearance promised a more traditional flavor. I was so entranced by the color - a deep near-violet - that it took me a while to even get to the tasting. The nose took a while to open up, but when it did I got tart cherries, pepper, and dark fruit. It hit me hard with a peppery punch that flirted with cherry and black raspberry. The strong sense of oils and tannins conjured the idea that the wine tasted like how my best-loved baseball mitt smelled (and I mean that as the highest compliment possible). The finish was long and grassy with hints of blackberry leaves and herb garden high up in my nasal cavity and deep into my throat. Closer to traditional, this wine still gave me a pleasant surprise with its rich complexity and vivid flavor. I could just as easily drink it with a classic steak dinner as I could a ballpark frank with extra relish - it was accessible enough to make me feel at home, and intricate enough to take me places.

In Summation...

I was very pleased by this event - it was a great way to spend a Friday night! The people were warm, the music lively, and the food delicious and creative (who does not like bacon-dusted brownies!?!). Mostly though, I was incredibly impressed by the 3 Fools' wines. I found them to be remarkably creative, terribly intense, and beautifully executed. At the end of the night I got to meet the "Fools," and have a short chat. Once having met them and sampled their wines I can say that their love of whimsy, dedication to their art, and appreciation for the fun things in life play out in their wines. I'd gladly uncork anything they throw my way!

Mountains to Metro

2011-04-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

Not that kind of metro, silly.

No, I'm talking about over 30 wineries, top restaurants, one night. On May 6, 2011 Chehalem Mountain Winegrowers are going to pillage and plunder the Governor Hotel as the mountains come to you, metropolitan Portland friends. Mountains to Metro is an unparalleled tasting featuring wineries from the 100 square mile AVA on Portland's doorstep.

A Blooming Hill Vineyard, Adelsheim Vineyard, Alloro Vineyard, Anam Cara Cellars, Anne Amie Vineyards, Archery Summit, Artisanal Wine Cellars, Beckham Estate Vineyard, Bergstrom Wines, Blakeslee Vineyard Estate, Carabella, Chehalem, Colene Clemens Vineyards, Cooper Mountain Vineyards, Dion Vineyard, Et Fille Wines, Gresser Vineyard, J.K. Carriere, K&M Wines, Lachini Vineyards, Le Cadeau, Longplay Wine, Ponzi Vineyards, RR Wines, Raptor Ridge Winery, Redman Wines, REX HILL, ROCO Winery, Terra Vina Wines, Triseatum, Utopia and Vidon Vineyards. Maybe you've heard of a few? Add in food offerings from Jakes Grill, Davis Street Tavern, OBA, Gracie’s, Vino Paradiso, Thirst Wine Bar and Bistro, Aquariva, Food in Bloom Catering and The Painted Lady and just reading about this event is enough to make one salivate.

Chehalem Mountain and Ribbon Ridge are home to some of the oldest vineyards and most diverse terrior in the State of Oregon, and if you're too lazy to drive out there you have simply no excuse to not head down to the Governor's Hotel. Oh yea, did I mention that the Chehalem Mountain Winegrowers is a non-profit? Well it is, so you're supporting charity, sorta. When was the last time you visted 30 wineries in one night? May 6 from 5:00 - 9:00 PM.

If you buy your tickets by April 22, they're only $35. I'd do that because they increase to $40 after that. Tickets are available online at www.mountainstometro.com or you could check out their facebook page, twitter machine, or smartphone app.

I just need somebody to looovvveeee....yea...ohhh whoa...

An Afternoon at Cana's Feast

2011-04-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Since meeting Winemaker Patrick Taylor almost a year ago at Edgefield's Celebration of Syrah, Josh and I have been increasingly intrigued with his approach to winemaking at Cana's Feast. While we absolutely love the phenomenal Pinots that come from the Willamette Valley, it's refreshing to see something different brewing in the heart of Pinot country. While I had the opportunity to visit Cana's Feast for their Southern Mediterranean Festival last Summer, none of us had actually had the opportunity to do a full tasting and winery tour. This had to change.

On a somewhat cold and dreary Saturday morning, Josh, Alyssa and I started the trek to Carlton, OR. Patrick was slated to meet us upon arrival and while Josh and I were certainly excited about tasting some incredible wine, we were equally excited at the prospect of figuring out where Alyssa's wine palate lies. While we had initially expected more wine newbies to join us, Patrick had been warned ahead of time that the primary mission of this visit was to expose people new to wine to different types of varietals. Alyssa had shown much interest in Italian varietals in the past, so hopefully this trip would confirm what Josh and I had suspected.

Now that we're here, it's time to taste some wine! Patrick was stuck behind a tractor, but the fine folks behind the counter weren't going to let us stand their thirsty. We started with some of their Italian varietals; Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, and a red blend. After that, a Syrah and even a Pinot Noir graced our glasses. While Josh and I were loving every pour, we especially paid attention to Alyssa and her reaction to what she was drinking. It turns out we were absolutely correct. Patrick greeted us at just the right time and quickly explained to Alyssa in completely understandable terminology that the reason she typically likes Italian varietals over French ones is a lower amount of tannin. With each pour he further dug deeper into her reactions and explained why she tasted certain flavors and why her palate either agreed or disagreed with a certain varietal. It was incredible to watch and Alyssa especially learned a ton.

With our science lesson out of the way and armed with a sense of confidence, it was time to do some barrel tasting! Did you know that in his spare time, Patrick works on his ninja skills in the barrel room?

Accompanied by a couple who have been long-time wine club members, Josh, Alyssa, and I had the privilege of trying Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Counoiuse, Cinsault, Sangiovese, and I believe I recall a Syrah. In short, Cana's Feast has a ton of varietals fermenting at any given time. While wine from a barrel at such a young state is hardly refined, it's always a fun experience tasting something in the process of achieving greatness and then trying it again when finished.

You'd think we'd be finished after tasting released wines and then hitting the barrels, but oh no. Patrick had something else for us to try in the lab. It's called Chinato and you've probably never had anything like it. In a sense, it's Cana's Feast's take on vermouth.

We had the opportunity to try it straight up without any sort of mixer, so I can't speak to its taste if you prefer vermouths that way. My explanation isn't going to do Chinato the justice it deserves, but picture a heavily herb-infused wine with an extra alcohol punch and a lot more bitterness. I told you I wouldn't do it justice, so I'll turn to Cana's Feast's description:

A base of barrel-aged nebbiolo renders this vermouth earthy, rich and ruby red, with notes of gravel, graphite and dark chocolate. This chinato includes many of the botanical infusions found in the Imbue, with the additional spicy warming notes of black pepper, cinnamon, fennel, lavender, mace, rose petals, sarsaparilla and vanilla. Drink on the rocks with soda and an orange twist, blend with whiskey to make a vermouth-y Old Fashioned or a Manhattan or serve straight up, alongside chocolate, for dessert. 17.4 percent alcohol by volume.

See, much better. While I can't say I'm a huge fan of it straight up, Patrick heavily recommended splitting it with club soda and perhaps an orange rind. I can see how this combination would be much easier to sip and look forward to trying it in the future.

Did I mention that Cana's Feast also has a gourmet restaurant attached to it? Oh, I didn't? We did that next.

Cana's Feast's Cucina restaurant is headed by Executive Chef Lisa Lanxon. Attached directly to the tasting room, the Cucina is the perfect way to indulge one's self in local Willamette Valley cuisine inspired by the Mediterranean. I could write an entire article on the Cucina alone, which is exactly what I'm going to do since it is completely deserving of one. In the mean time, I'm going to throw out that the braised short rib empanadas are incredible and Alyssa ordered the best lasagna I've ever had.

With a case worth of wine now in our possession, we left Cana's Feast incredibly satisfied and with smiles on our faces. This winery is truly a gem in the Willamette Valley serving up a ton of varietals you won't find elsewhere. If you are planning on being anywhere near the Carlton area, you owe it to yourself to stop by and expose yourself to their non-traditional take on Northwest wine. A huge thank you goes out to Patrick as well as the entire staff at Cana's Feast.

The Grand Discovery and Taste Washington

2011-04-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

I drink a lot of Washington wine; probably 65% of what I consume minimally, and maybe closer to 80%. My wine rack is loaded with Washington wines and honestly I love the stuff.

Having said that, there's a lot of wine being made in Washington. Over 700 wineries now call this great wine producing state home, and Taste Washington for your general consumer, is a way to really explore what the state can offer. The event hosted over 200 of Washington's wineries. The food that was showcased was an added bonus (or perhaps a necessity given all that wine). About 60 of the state's best restaurants, many of them from around the Seattle area, provided bites of varying sizes to pair with the wines.

Taste Washington is truly a remarkable event and a great celebration of the state's most interesting and delicious product: Washington wine. In addition to the tables of food and wine, there are educational opportunities for attendees as well; seminars where vineyards of some acclaim poured wines made from their fruit and highlight the vineyard characteristics that show up in different varietals. The Viking center stage had chef demonstrations and interactive audience opportunities.

What many people don't know is that Taste Washington really begins on Friday with the Restaurant Awards where The Wine Commission takes the time to recognize the restaurants, sommeliers, and service industry professionals that do their share to spread the word and love of Washington Wine.

Notable awards this year were given to The Oregon Wine Blog's favorite wine country restaurant; Picazo 717 of Prosser, which was recognized as the Winemaker's Choice. This (well-deserved) award is selected anonymously by winemakers for the restaurant that they deem the most supportive of the wine industry. The first ever Washington Wine Ambassador award was given to long time industry supporter Lars Ryssdal, most recently of Tranche Cellars. Kristen Young of the Waterfront Seafood Grill was honored as Sommelier of the Year and legendary Seattle eatery Canlis was given the grand honor of Restaurant of the Year, and the cool looking goblet that goes along with it.

Saturday follows Friday, at least on the Roman calendar, and Saturday brought the Taste Washington Seminars. For reasons that are becoming increasingly unclear to me, for two years running I have missed the seminars so I could race my bicycle in the Independence Valley Road Race. I'm not sure why because both years I have had my ass handed to me. What did I miss?

The seminars covered the gamut from food pairing with celebrity chef Michael Mina to a look at Washington's up and coming varietal, Grenache, to a panel exploring the 100 point system. Had I gone to the seminars, I would have likely gone to the Grenache and point system seminars. Washington Grenache is really promising and with examples from Maison Bleue, Grand Reve, and Syncline, there is real sense that this varietal shows Washington's ability to blend both new and old world style in wine. The point seminar included a discussion of the 100 point wine scoring method and included the Washington Wine Report's Sean Sullivan, Rebecca Murphy of the Dallas Morning News, and Blake Gray, most famously the guy who started all the dust storm that had Charles Smith of K Vintners suing people. As someone who doesn't subscribe to the scoring system but understands its place in the market, this would have been a fascinating debate to overhear.

As the weekend ended for many, it was just beginning for most as Sunday brought the Grand Tasting. This is a wine event that you should make a point of attending at least once. The sheer scope of it, combined with the overall quality of the wines, just boggles the mind. It's proof positive that Washington may just be the perfect climate for wine.

Though I'm no stranger to Washington wines, the scope and breadth of the Grand Tasting means that even I got to make some new discoveries. The most impressive wine I tasted was also the first, the Betz Family Cellars 2009 Cote d' Patriarche Syrah. Betz, of course, has one of the finest reputations in the state and so this wasn't a discovery per se, but it was indeed the finest. I did however taste some wines that I'd never had. Here are of some of the day's most impressive findings:

Cadaretta Cellars SbS is a Bourdeaux style blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. It may have been the best white wine I've had in a long while, with great acidity and a really nice mouth feel. The nose was a beautiful example of floral and bright fruit notes. Very young and new winemaker Brian Rudin is especially proud of this release as it's his first wine to be made to completion as the winemaker at Cadaretta.

JB Neufeld are the initials and last name of Justin Neufeld and his wife Brooke and is a relatively new winery. Justin, however, has been making excellent wines at Gilbert Cellars for quite awhile. JB Neufeld makes two Cabernets from two of Washington's most sought after vineyards, Artz Vineyard on Red Mtn and my favorite of the two the Dubrul Vineyard Cabernet. The Dubrul is the more elegant of the two Cabernets and has an excellent finish. The flavor profile is nuanced, layered and compliments the nose of this wine beautifully.

aMaurice Cellars Syrah/Grenache blend. Anna Schafer easily the prettiest person making wine in Washington state and has made a reputation for herself with her Malbec, but I really liked this Syrah and Grenache blend. It was less of a big, bold example of Washington Syrah and more true to some of the elegance of its ample but not 100% Boushey vineyard fruit. The wine spoke of fruit and herbal characters and shows the range that Rhone varietals have in the state.

The final highlight was the Tranche Cellars Rose. While I've had Tranche Cellars wine before, I hadn't had this Rose. There was a time when I would claim, hands down, that the Rose coming out of Delille Cellars was far and away the best in Washington. That day has passed. The rose that Tranche is making is dynamite. It’s very light in color and has a crisp old world style. It’s a Syrah based wine that includes Cabernet Franc; this is a rose that will make serious wine drinkers proud. With this offering Tranche continues to shock Washington wine fans with amazing wines at affordable prices that boggle the mind.

Walla Walla, Washington's Woodward Canyon Winery; It's a mouthful!

2011-04-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

A mouthful of deliciousness, that is. A few weeks ago, in celebration of not one, not two, but three birthdays in the month of March, a group of bloggers and friends converged on Walla Walla, Washington for a long weekend of wine, food, and friends. If your first thoughts upon hearing Walla Walla are, “isn’t there a prison and some onions there?” then perhaps you are reading the wrong blog. If, on the other hand, the sweet sweet city so nice they named it twice connotes an instant drool effect, makes you giggle like a school girl, or creates the unexplicable need to hold your bookbag in front of you like in junior high boy standing at the chalkboard, read on friends.

The trip to Walla Walla comprised 2.5 days and 6 people: blog notables Me and Rick, friends Alyssa, Kathryn, and Gordon, and special guest from Minnesota Dominique. Four years ago I never would have imagined Walla Walla would be the locale of choice to celebrate my 30th birthday, but that's exactly what happened. You see, I grew up just 40 miles from this magical town, but my only memories were of a small town that was the destination for field trips and basketball tournaments. Red wine came into the picture, and the rest, they say, is history. Since then, I've made a point of hitting the "WW" every year or two and have a blast every time.

The first day of our trip was winery free due to travel, however, that didn't keep us from enjoying the local bounty. Sweet Basil Pizzeria was the perfect setting for a low-key dinner, a few pitchers of beer, and a bottle of wine as we all caught up with each other and noshed on some mad grub. Pizza, that is. Awesome pizza. And breadsticks. We followed dinner with a bottle or two at The Vineyard Lounge at the Marcus Whitman Hotel and retired to the house for the evening for a rousing game of Uno with some more wine. We dove into winery land the next day, an awesome day that Rick is going to chronicle in a coming attraction on the blog. If you bat your eyelashes seductively, you might even convince him to talk about our awesome dinner at Brasserie Four. What I'm going to focus on is what I lovingly refer to as "day 3", also known as Sunday or Woodward Canyon day.

I'll be honest, Sunday started a little slow for me. Well, not really. I woke up with a spring in my step and a gleam in my eye, made coffee, cooked pancakes for everyone, ate said pancakes, and promptly started to feel like crap. You see, as legend holds, Rick and I were matching everyone else on the wine 2 to 1 the night before. Given that Rick has a solid 10 pounds on me, I took the brunt of the damage. It was the dreaded delayed hangover. Ugh. Well, virtually nothing was going to make me miss the day so while the ladies were buying us pie and Gatorade, I took care of business and was ready to rally and hit the wine trail. We started the tasting at Cougar Crest Winery, ALWAYS a winner (pssst, I hear they're looking at a Woodinville tasting room), and progressed to L'Ecole 41. Both were awesome, but the highlight of the day was a tasting we had scheduled at a local favorite, Woodward Canyon Winery.

Located in an 1870's farmhouse in Lowden, Washington, Woodward Canyon Winery was founded in 1981 by pillars of the Walla Walla wine industry Rick Small and Darcey Fugman-Small. When I say pillars, I mean that Rick is currently the Chairman of the Washington Wine Commission and Darcey was one of the authors of the original petition for the Walla Walla AVA. That kind of pillar. Our group was quickly greeted by Tasting Room Associate Taylor Oswald, who led us into the reserve house for what was to be a transformative tasting for our group. As we entered the reserve house, we were greeted with a table set with customized tasting menus for us. That's right, our own pour list.

An aside on the reserve house...talk about a gorgeous facility! A literal conference room of wine, this building in the backyard of the winery also holds the owners offices, a full catering production kitchen, and the Woodward private wine cellar. Taylor had pre-poured a selection of four reds for us and poured 2 whites on demand. This particular day we tasted through a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, NV Red Wine, Barbera, Red Reserve. and Artist Series Cabernet. Throughout the tasting, we playfully bantered with Taylor and basked in both his knowledge of wine and the winery, and the quality of the juice in our glasses. At the end of the day, there were two unanimous favorites that emerged:

2009 Washington State Chardonnay: I'm pretty sure this is the best darn Chardonnay on the market right now in the state of Washington. Based on what I heard at Taste Washington, I'm not alone in this opinion. I'm not a white guy and I'm still salivating thinking about this one. Crisp and clean with a nice balance of acidity, this wine integrates the oak in a very refreshing way. Simply put, it's a must have even at the $44 price point.
2008 "Artist Series" Cabernet Sauvignon: The clear winner for the big red fans of the group, the Artist Series Cab is balanced with 6% Petit Verdot and 4% Syrah. Primarily sourced from Champoux Vineyard, this cab has some nice earthy notes and has a fine portfolio of tannins. Fruit forward with a finish of cocoa and chocolate, it's worth every penny of the $49 and I'm still trying to figure out how to convince Rick to open the bottle he purchased next time I visit.

So...great wine, great company, great staff...what more could we ask for? Well, a trip the cellar hit the spot. Described as the owner's private collection, the Woodward cellar reminded us of the Airfield "batcave" experience we had last February. I was speechless in awe as we were lead down into the room with a small, intimate table, large chandelier, and thousands of bottles of wine dating back to the early '80's. In fact, it appeared there was representation from every vintage Woodward has produced in this room. I tried to talk them out of a 1981, the year of my birth, but none of that was to be had. We were incredibly lucky to see this special place.

Next time you're headed to Walla Walla, stop in Lowden and say hi to the nice folks at Woodward Canyon. Taylor and Marlene will take great care of you...and the wine speaks for itself. If you run across the Chardonnay, you'd be silly to not pick it up.

From Willamette's East Valley; Hanson Vineyards

2011-03-31T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hanson Vineyards is one of 16 wineries that make up the East Valley, a Willamette Valley wine producing region that lies east of the I-5 corridor. While the area is a relatively new wine destination, some of the families have been farming that side of the valley for a good long while. Hanson Vineyards is one such long-standing winery and has been growing Niagara and Concord grapes since the 1920s. The wine making got serious in 2000 when Clark Hanson started to plant vinifera root stocks.

The Hanson family, Clark and his son, Jason, are looking to make a wine accentuated by their terroir. The vineyards are planted along the cool water Cascadia creeks, which elements add a unique character to their wine. Clark and Jason are currently making four wines: a Pinot Noir, a Chardonnay, a Pinot Blanc, and a Riesling. Though they generally agree on how the wines should be made, they disagree on Riesling, as Clark prefers a sweeter Riesling while Jason likes them really dry. As a compromise they change the style every year, alternating between about 2% residual sugar and a bone dry Riesling.

Hanson Vineyards is a small winery and they plan to stay that way, with designs on maybe making a few hundred cases of each varietal. In addition to being small, Hanson does their own thing, not pressured to follow any particular formula or style that may have become fashionable in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Hanson Vineyards makes the wine that their vineyards give them, not pursuing in your face, inkier Pinots. The Pinot Noir that's coming out of Hanson Vineyards is lighter in color and body.

I found the Hanson wines were certainly lighter than some Oregon Pinot. While they didn't have the dark fruit or earthen characteristics often associated with Pinot, the wines communicate lighter fruit and herbal notes. The nose on the Pinot Noir was very classically Burgundian and the wine was lighter to medium bodied and had very little oak influence. The Chardonnay was a fine example of what Oregon can do: lighter fruit and some herbaceous notes. France would have been proud of both of these varietals from the New World.

Hanson Vineyards gives Oregon Pinot and Chardonnay fans the opportunity to see the versatility that the Willamette Valley offers in the form of a small family operation that has no designs on overthrowing the giants of Willamette Valley or converting Pinot drinkers to their more Old World style. The Hanson family is happy to be able to create the wines their vines give them and Jason and Clark have agreed that the wines they're producing are as they are intended.

Underdog

2011-03-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Less than a minute to go in the VCU/Kansas game. Definitely glued...

Time out - less than 30 seconds. I will say that one of the best parts of coming back to civilization from the wilds of Southern Utah (I was there for nearly 5 years!) is March Madness. Oh...back to the game...VCU is going to pull this one out!!!

Killer - what an amazing upset! I make it my own personal rule to root for the under dog - unless we are talking Seahawks, UW, or anyone from the Patriot League (and I will admit that I came to cheer for several of these teams/schools BECAUSE they were or are underdogs). I was thrilled when Butler took out Florida yesterday. I mean, who does not like seeing the little guy win???

The first game of my day started at 11am - after moving West from NY I realize how East-centric our country really is. It being a Sunday I decided to call it a lazy day in bed with my computer watching the games in live feed. As early as it was I decided to forgo the game-day drink and sip on some coffee, but as the day continued, and the game got more and more interesting, I decided to find myself something a bit higher octane.

In the spirit of backing the underdog I chose a label off my rack that sported a pic of golden retriever - Rascal, a 2007 Pinot Noir bottled by the Great Oregon Wine Company. Pinot Noir is by far my favorite kind of red. I love how it is simultaneously simple and complex. I love how the Pinot grapes are finicky and it takes a lot of work and love and time to produce a good wine. I think also I love places that are best for growing these lovely grapes - particularly New Zealand and the Willamette Valley. On any given day I'll roll with the Pinor Noir before any other choice.

I found that it took a little longer than usual to open the nose, which seemed weak to me. I found light aromas of cherry as well as a sour topnote - something acidic and almost citrus which threw me. I worried that the flavor would be off. I was pleased when I tasted it to find that worry unfounded. Smooth and crisp, it first hit me with tart cherry, followed by a spicy, acidic bite and a smoky finish. As I continued to sip I found the flavor profile heightened to include a slow and delightful peppery burn that hit me high in the palette, and a darker green flavor that I still can't identify low in the back of my tongue.

Summit gave this one two ears up

Interestingly, when I spent some online research time trying to learn about the Great Oregon Wine Company, I could only find this page and a couple of reviews on other wine sites. There was a phone number on the back of the bottle. When I googled it I was led to the site for Lindsay Wine in McMinnville. Upon calling the number I got a message of a woman's voice saying, "Thank you for calling the winery..." Very helpful - thanks. So I suppose at this point the Great Oregon Wine Company will remain a mystery at least to me. If you know anything about it please drop us a line!

All in all I found Rascal to be a nice wine that I will be happy to continue drinking by the glass as I head into watching the UK/UNC game. By the time this posts the outcome will be determined, but at the moment you all know who I am cheering for...

GO UNDERDOGS!!!

Dining Around Seattle...with Oregon Wine

2011-03-24T09:30:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, Chris and Megan made the journey from Corvallis to Seattle to check out the new digs. Knowing that they were both relatively familiar with the area, the typical tourist agenda just wouldn't do. As I racked my brain for some neat activities, I remembered an event that a coworker had mentioned to me, Dine Around Seattle, so I got on the trusty intertubes to do a bit of research and solidified plans for an awesome night out.

Dine Around Seattle is actually less an event and more a month of awesomeness. In it's tenth year of existence, Dine Around Seattle is a bi-annual promotion wherein during the months of March and November many of Seattle's finest restaurants offer a three-course gourmet dinner for only $30 (tax, gratuity, and beverages not included). Oh yea, the promotion is Sunday - Thursday as well, but totally a great an excuse to go out more than just Friday or Saturday. As I scanned the list of nearly 30 restaurants participating, a little bird in the back of my head kept saying "Rays, Rays, Rays." Sure enough, there it was, Ray's Boathouse, a fine seafood establishment in my neighborhood that many friends had recommended. I quickly made a reservation and we were all set.

The marketing pitch: Ray's Boathouse is world-renowned for its impeccably fresh Northwest seafood. The culinary professionals, led by Executive Chef Peter Birk, hand select the best products from local purveyors and then prepare them simply to enhance the naturally fresh, clean flavors and succulent textures. My analysis: Spot on, mate. We arrived for our reservation and were led past some prominently displayed Wine Spectator Award's of Excellence to the back of the restaurant, a gorgeous table overlooking the sound. We could see the seagulls out the window looking at us longingly, knowing that we were in for a phenomenal experience. I grabbed the wine list and dove in, poring over nearly 700 wines primarily with a Northwest focus. Where to start! Feeling a bit nostalgic for the Willamette Valley and knowing seafood was on the menu, I flipped to the Pinot Noir section and was pleased to see an old favorite: Spindrift Cellars Pinot Noir. Spindrift has been on the agenda for Le Tour de Pinot and have always been good friends to the Blog. I was sold and the wine was showing beautifully. Now was the difficult part, choosing the dining selection.

Ray's was offering 3 - 4 choices for each of the 3 courses for Dine Around Seattle, all of them looking amazing. After much deliberation, I selected the following:

Sweet Potato Soup, Chorizo, Cilantro, Orange Crema
Panseared Coho Salmon, Coconut Rice, Mango, Chiles, Thai Basil, Lemongrass Syrup
Pistachio Cake, Roasted Pear Cream Cheese Filling, Chocolate Sauce, Candied Pistachios

The soup was creamy, spicy, and exuded fresh, local, and seasonal with every spoonful. The salmon was definitely the showcase of the evening, prepared medium rare with the lemongrass syrup and mango adding some nice accentuating notes. It paired perfectly with the wine I had selected (no big deal), and left me feeling full but just wanting a little more. The pistachio cake is not something I would normally order, however, it came highly recommended from the server and I learned long ago that it's good to push outside my box and listen to the expert serving staff. It was worth it.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end as this meal did. You, however, still have the opportunity to experience Dine Around Seattle for one more week, and you'd be a fool not too. Ray's was great, as I'm sure a number of other restaurants are as well. Do it, and drink some great Northwest wine while you're at it!

Wine Road Barrel Tasting 2011

2011-03-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

I have always found barrel tasting to be something magical. It isn’t something you get to do on the typical visit to a tasting room if you don’t live in an area that produces wine, you may never get the chance to taste directly from the barrel. That is what makes Barrel Tasting Weekend so special in Sonoma County. For the first two weekends in March, wineries opened their doors and their barrels to thousands of visitors from around the country to have this unique experience.
While the event spans three different AVA’s (Alexander Valley, Dry Creek, and Russian River Valley) Katie and I decided to spend our time in the Alexander Valley. After getting a few recommendations on places to visit, we started off at Field Stone Winery.

Field Stone Winery
The event took place in the cave and we were able to enjoy two wines from the barrel. The first was their 2010 Syrah which will be released in May 2012. The dark fruit and jam flavors were quite prominent in this wine and I was surprised at how drinkable it already was. As expected it was still young but it will be one to watch for on its release in 2012.

Another wine to watch for will be the 2009 Petite Sirah from Field Stone. This big and bold wine will not be for the faint of heart as it definitely takes on the depth and richness you expect from this varietal. The earthiness was really starting to come through and with patience and time spent in the cellar, the complexity of the 117 year old vines will fully develop into a truly special wine.
After finishing our barrel tasting experience in the cave we went into the tasting room to try some of their reserve wines. Upon entering we got distracted by the row of bottles lining a shelf with some very familiar logos. Close to many of the writers here at The Oregon Wine Blog, the Beavers and Cougs were prominently displayed.

Hanna Winery
From Field Stone we made our way up to another winery we had not previously visited. The staff at Hanna had decorated the tasting room into a baseball theme and even though it was all about the SF Giants (Go A’s), it created an atmosphere that was fitting of an event weekend in Sonoma. The environment at Hanna is what I have come to expect from Sonoma county wine events and what attracts people from all over. While most of the crowds were at the tasting counter, their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon was being thieved from the barrel in the opposite corner. Being released in January 2012, this Cab was noticeably young and was very tannic. However, if it resembles the ’06 Cabernet when it is released it will be one to grab. While some of my friends in the Northwest may not enjoy this full-bodied wine, California wine drinkers should definitely stop by Hanna now and in the future.

Hawkes Winery
While some wineries, particularly those with small tasting rooms, had trouble providing the experience of tasting out of the barrel (several had already transported the wine into empty bottles and poured from those), Hawkes Winery met and exceeded all of our expectations for the weekend.
A very small, family run operation, Hawkes provided visitors with a chance to taste 3 different single-vineyard Cabernets. All made in the same style, this tasting gave people the chance to understand the effects the terroir makes on a wine. The 2009 Cabernet from Stone Vineyard featured a chocolate and smokey profile whereas the Cabernet from Red Winery Vineyard was much more subtle in its notes of cherry, spice, and leather. The third wine was from Pyramid Vineyard, a young vineyard with plenty of soil diversity within the same vineyard. This Cabernet will continue to mature and will highlight complex flavors that complement a rich body.
Both Katie and I really enjoyed Hawkes as our final stop of the day. While talking with winemaker Jake Hawkes, we also met a wonderful couple who were visiting all the way from Maryland specifically for this event. They attend each year and purchase futures that get them through the year, until the next Barrel Tasting Weekend. Stories like this were not uncommon. We heard of one married couple who returns each year to celebrate meeting each other at this event many years ago.
Sadly, this event can be tarnished at times by overly-excited over-consumers of wine who use it as an inexpensive way to drink too much. While I experience this at any of my stops, I have heard some horror stories of people stealing tickets, yelling at tasting room staff, and disregarding requests for no limos or buses. However, this is such a small amount of the 25,000+ visitors that come to Barrel Tasting each weekend. My experience with Barrel Tasting was friendly staff, friendly volunteers, and a great chance to preview what to expect from Sonoma County in 2012. This event, with such low ticket prices ($20 in advance, $30 at the door) gives everyone from the seasoned oenophile to the most recent box-wine graduate a chance to explore, discover, and fall in love with the world-class wines of Sonoma County.

Cheers!

Passport to Dundee Hills

2011-03-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

The Dundee Hills is a very special place for Pinot Noir, nestled as it is, almost dead center in the Willamette Valley. It’s home to many of the Valley's biggest names and the red Jory soils make a Pinot Noir that can be called signature Oregon style. In a recent Oregon Wine Blog tasting, the Stoller Vineyards Pinot Noir from Dundee Hills was a group favorite. It sounds like to me that anyone within shouting distance of the Dundee Hills should hustle down there for the Passport to Dundee Hills.

The Passport Tour of the Dundee Hills allows Pinot lovers to not only experience the wine they've come to love, but it will also work to connect restaurants, inns and, most excitingly, wine education. While many tasting or touring events swing open the doors to eager wine drinkers, the Passport to Dundee Hills will teach attendees about the history and tradition of this sub-AVA as well as the unique growing conditions, soils and geography that make the Dundee Hills special in an educational seminar that's included in the passport package.

The Passport grants access to special weekend-only pours and you'll find many of the Dundee Hills’ smaller and more exclusive wineries - those that typically only open their doors to the public on rare occasions - will also be participating. I highly recommend that attendees make their way to Anderson Family Vineyards, a personal Dundee Hills favorite of mine. They're making Pinot Noir, but I find their Chardonnay to be some of the best in the Valley. Check out their views and some of Oregon's steepest vineyards.

The $15 passport grants you access to 50% to 100% discounts on tasting fees at participating wineries, discounts and specials at restaurants and hotels and the educational seminar.

Passport Tour Information:

When: April 16-17th, 2011. Hours vary by location (generally 11am-4pm)
Where: 30 DHWA members
Price: A $15 passport provides discounts of 50-100 percent off tastings.
Purchase: Online at www.dundeehills.org

When Thunderbolt Strikes Seafood

2011-03-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

I recently took some time after a conference and spent the weekend in Seattle. Josh made note of our adventures in one of his recent posts. On that trip, with Josh, Kyle, and some alums from the places I have worked, we stopped at Airfield.

I was first introduced to Airfield last winter when we took the now infamous trip to Prosser, Washington area. While Rick made a great post about the experience there, I left there with several

bottles of wine, and the trip to Woodenville, Washington a couple of months ago was no different. Since Josh was gracious enough to be the DD, I took advantage and did the full tasting that was filled with both their whites and reds. Elise, Tara, Neil, and Stacey (the alums who were joining us), also participated in full tasting. That Saturday I would leave Airfield with 10 bottles - some would say "Why not just do a full case?" While I think about it, I just cannot answer that question with a decent response...shame on me!

I fancy myself a fairly decent cook. I am always willing to try new dishes, and frequently do with varying degrees of success, and I have a few staples, which I am sure you all do. I also LOVE seafood, I grew up on it. Now that I live in the Pacific Northwest, I usually have seafood several times a week. One of the dishes I have been experimenting with are spicy stir-fryes.

After coming back from Seattle, I decided I would try out another stir-fry for a recent dinner guest I had. I made a spicy shrimp stir fry that was had red, green, and orange bell peppers and asparagus. The stir-fry was then placed over rotini pasta. I am still fine tuning my rice cooking skills. Not going to lie - cooking rice still intimidates me a bit with the rice to water ratio and such. Anyway, I digress.

In deciding what to drink with dinner, I decided to open the bottle of 2009 Airfield Thunderbolt Sauvignon Blanc. This was one of the bottles I had just procured during the above mentioned trip to Seattle. I could not have done a better pairing for this dinner! Both my dinner guest and I found that the balance between the chilled, dry, lightly sweet Sauv Blanc with the warm and spicy stir-fry dish was perfect.

The Sauvignon Blanc was crisp and refreshing with hints of tropical fruit including lemon seemed to enhance the flavoring for the spices used in the stir-fry. The way it landed on the palate provided an alternative to the stir-fry. The Thunderbird was really just very enjoyable. I don't recall buying more than one bottle, but by the end of dinner, I definitely wished I had several. You will too after you give this bottle a try.

Until next time...

Organically-Grown Girls’ Night

2011-03-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Editor's Note:

This post is the second from our Corvallis guest blogger, Clare Cady, author of the Semi-Urban Homesteader blog. Help us convince her to become a permanent member of our team!

I have to admit, I was very excited to have a posting as a guest writer here on The Oregon Wine Blog - so excited that I created a companion post on my blog, Semi-Urban Homesteader. I wanted to talk to my audience there (a small group of faithful!) about the intersection between winemaking and sustainability. I decided to do a simple write up on what makes a wine organic. I thought I would share that here along with my most recent sampling which comes from the organic (and local!) category.

From the blog posting…

“Often in liquor stores (and more often in food co-ops) we will see areas designated "organic wine," but the term "organic" is often so overused that it often becomes meaningless beyond green packaging and Pollanesque supermarket pastoral. I will admit that I have not really spent time figuring it out (I generally go for local first, organic second when it comes to wine).

For starters, there needs to be an acknowledgment that along with confusion around what it means to be "organic" in our supermarkets, each country in the world has a different standard. This is important to think about when dealing with wine seeing as so much of the wine in this country is imported (other food as well). What is agreed upon across the board is that the way the grapes are grown is very important. There should be no pesticides or chemicals and all other methods of growing need to be earth-friendly.

Where things start to become hazy is the position on sulfites. Sulfites are a naturally-occurring product of fermentation, and an excellent wine preservative. However, because many people are allergic to them, in order to be considered an organic wine there can be no added sulfites. This is the US standard, so if you have a sulfite allergy be sure that the organic wine you are about to drink is domestic. That said, there is no such thing as a completely sulfite-free wine…”

And on from there…

I enjoy wine of all kinds from all places (even that blueberry wine from New Hampshire I sampled with Josh a while back), but my personal beliefs often color my wine selections. Generally I go for a local wine over one that travels a long distance, and when I get the chance I roll with something organic. That said I am not allergic to sulfites, so certified organic is not that important to me. For example, the Early Muscat from South Stage Cellars I wrote about recently was not certified organic, but it was local to where I was and it made sustainably. All in all I have a code I try to stick to, but in the end there are amazing wines that totally trump ideals.

I decided to review an organic wine for this post (duh – why would I do anything else at this point?), and decided to fold it in with Washington Wine Month. I went with a pick I found at my local co-op: 2007 Ruby Red Wine from Klickitat Canyon Winery, a small family business in Lyle, WA with a dedication to sustainability and wine. At Klickitat, vinter Robin Dobson and his partner Kathleen Perillo have created a system of growing and harvesting they call eco-dynamic farming. This includes using native plants in the vineyard as a means for pest control, and harvesting in a way that does not disturb the local ecology. Using no pesticides, not adding sulfites, and avoiding any other additives to their wine, the folks at Klickitat are committed to creating a quality product in line with their ideals.

Tasting organic…

I spent the weekend up in Portland visiting friends, and decided that was a great time to open the Ruby Red with my friend Jess – girl time, if you will – after taking a hike in the beautiful Forest Grove Park. The bottle promised a dry varietal that was ‘completely free of residual sugars,’ and was an unsulfured, unfiltered, vegan extravaganza. I will say that after reading the label for a second time I was feeling a bit wary about the wine. I spend a fair amount of time doing things that might be classified as crazy-hippie-new agey (you know, building houses out of mud, tanning deer hides…the usual), but this seemed even a bit woo woo for me.

In the glass the wine was a beautiful brownish-maroon, dark and muddled looking in a way that belied the unfiltered nature. Upon tilting the glass we found the sediment coating the bottom. The nose was delightfully complex with strong aspects of blackberry, mineral and moss. Jess commented that she found it earthy and smoky with a hint of floral sweetness that overlaid the whole aroma. The whole thing brought back to us the hike we’d just finished – earthy, loamy, and filled with forest bounty.

Unfortunately the taste did not stand up to the lovely nose. Initially all that I got was a strong punch of sour cherry and cranberry with little else in the mix. Jess noted that she found it very bitter on the tongue and that the tartness was in the middle. There was no finish. The wine tasted not like it had just been uncorked, but that it had been left out for a time and had oxidized, giving it a flatness and lack of complexity that did not match our olfactory experience.

Don’t get me wrong, it was not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It had a lovely dryness and the tart flavor and smooth texture made it beautifully mouth-puckering and intense. However Jess and I agreed that this was a wine that would be better with a meal rather than a stand-alone to drink by the glass. We also were in accordance that it would not stand up to more powerful flavors, but would be nice with a classic steak – probably not what was intended by creating a vegan wine, but what you gonna do? What Jess and I did was sip, enjoy, and get ready to clean up and go out for a night on the town!

We tried to take a nice photo, but that's not really in our nature (no pun intended)

Wine & Social Media; What's the Connection?

2011-03-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Wineries, like many businesses, are trying to tap into or harness the so-called mystery that is social media. There are workshops, conferences and summits on how wineries can leverage the ins and outs of social media and laugh all the way to the bank. Social media in general, and in wine specifically has spawned companies, and brands, how-to videos, books and workshops seeking magic bullets and that ever-elusive ROI.

While I personally find the use of social media to a be a positive and almost too easy relationship building device, many that I've spoken with in the wine industry remain skeptical about the time commitment. "It takes too much time." "It's hard to get started." "I'm not a tech person." While I don't want to make any claims about the undeniable value of the use of social media, I do have a story that I want to relay.

On December 12th, 2010 Neil Cooper of Cooper Wine Company loaded his truck and was making his way to 106 Pine, a wine shop in downtown Seattle. He sent out a tweet that the "sled was loaded up" and "he was on his way." Somewhere between Red Mountain and Seattle, the folks at 106 Pine got in touch with Neil to let him know that they had fallen victim to the incredible week of rain that saw flooding all over Seattle. The shop was inundated with water; the tasting needed to be canceled.

Neil contacted the 1200-odd followers between his personal and business pages. Together, they started reaching out to other wine shops, and within an hour a new location had been selected at the relatively new Wine World Warehouse. While a new location was being settled, the twitter machines were a-twitter (see what I did there?) with what had happened to Neil's original tasting and the subsequent relocation. Folks who had no idea about Neil's original plans were now clued in to the small bit of adventure for Neil and the new location.

When I got to Wine World later that afternoon, there were four wineries pouring at the bar in the center of the store. The traffic was heavily weighted to the far right side of the bar where Neil poured. While we were there, 30 to 40 people came and went to Neil's side of the bar, and maybe 4 to 5 people visited the other three combined. At one point one of the other winemakers walked over and said, "Well, I might as well join the party." Neil was his usual affable self: joking, smiling and laughing with folks. Hugs and handshakes preceded glass pours of Neil's Pinot Gris, L'Inizio, or his variety of Cabernets. There was a party atmosphere on that rainy Sunday in Wine World and Cooper Wine fans and friends of Neil were the reason.

When I talked to Neil about it later, he mentioned that every single one of his wine club members made it to Wine World. He had about 75 folks come through that day, many were club members but many were not. The twitter traffic had also generated interest from other wine shops in Seattle, enabling Neil to parlay what could have originally been a royal pain into a gain. Neil credits one of his twitter followers (@wawineman) for reaching out to Wine World and helping to make that tasting happen. Other followers re-tweeted the new location and times, drumming up attention and promoting the Wine World tasting for folks who don’t follow Cooper Wine on Twitter or Facebook.

So what does Neil Cooper know about technology and new media that others in the wine industry fail to grasp? Nothing, really. It's not a technology thing. Neil Cooper knows people. He knows how to make people feel welcome, valued, and he loves to talk to you. That's his big secret. Social media isn't about being cutting edge; it's about engaging people and building - and more importantly - maintaining relationships. So while Neil benefits from having natural charisma he also benefits from the relationships he's built.

When I hear a winery or winemaker waxing cynically about the real value of social media and things like Twitter I think of that rainy day in December, a flooded wine shop, and the smile on Neil's face when I saw him at Wine World. The ROI was pretty easy to measure that day.

March is Washington Wine Month

2011-03-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

March is Washington Wine Month, a perfect occasion to both celebrate and learn about the quality, variety and personalities of Washington Wine. The accolades and recognition for the wines coming from Washington continue to mount and national and international wine publications and wine authorities are fully aware that Washington is making some of the country's and really the world's best wines.

Washington Wine Month and its culminating event, Taste Washington, are aimed not at these media outlets or industry types, but rather at the consumer, and specifically the consumers within Washington. Washington is the country's second largest wine producer, but only a fraction of the size of California, which is a very good thing in my opinion. Washington's 160,000 tons crushed in 2010 pales in comparison to California, where they crushed 654,522 tons of Chardonnay alone, but California produces a lot of wine, much of it bad, and some of it in boxes. When you look at the higher quality California regions, Sonoma and Napa, who crushed 189,897 and 138,379 tons, respectively, in 2010, then Washington is in good company for quality wine production.

The Washington Wine Commission hopes consumers will educate themselves about the high quality wine that that's being produced here in Washington - often close enough that you can more or less throw a rock and hit a vineyard or winery. The hope is that consumers in Washington are at the very least, shopping for, ordering and actively seeking out the wines that we make right here in Washington.

For those of you who may be - somehow - still in the dark about Washington wine, shame on you, but what are you waiting for? This month gives you the perfect opportunity to brush up on your familiarity with Washington wine. As a primer here are a few tidbits you can use to get yourself ready for Taste Washington on March 27th.

The AVAs
Washington has eleven federally recognized AVAs including one on the western side of the Cascades. The fruit coming from each of these AVAs varies and when wineries produce an AVA or vineyard designate, that wine gives you an opportunity to focus in on one of the characteristics and qualities that define these eleven regions. As a consumer and budding Washington wine connoisseur, take the time to sample wines from each AVA, it'll give you a sense of Washington's range when it comes to wine growing.

Urban Wine
Wineries and tasting rooms are popping up in Seattle and Spokane and they give consumers a great opportunity for easy access to the kinds of experiences those visiting wineries often come away with. Wineries like Domanico Cellars in Ballard and Laurelhurst Cellars in SoDo/Georgetown do all of their production on site. You don't need to leave the big city to meet the winemaker and see what they're doing.

Exploring Varietals
Washington has become known for Riesling, Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah and for good reason: we produces some of the best in the world. Increasingly, though, growers and wine makers are also stretching themselves and exploring a variety of varietals. For examples, check out Washington Tempranillo by Gifford Hirlinger, a Lemberger from Kiona, Gruner Veltliner and Pinot Noir by Syncline and Petit Sirah by Thurston Wolfe.

World Class Vineyards
Some of the best fruit in the world is growing right here in Washington and the growers and winemakers are doing a wonderful job of working together to really push the boundaries and make improvements to what they've done. Look for vineyard designate wines that will allow you to see what these sites can do. Vineyard designates are indicated on the wine label, and vineyards to look for include Boushey Vineyard, Champoux Vineyard, Ciel du Cheval, Conner Lee, Dubrul Vineyard and Klipsun Vineyard.

Taste Washington
The greatest tasting event on earth is quite simply Taste Washington. There is nothing else like it. The event spans three days beginning with the Restaurant Awards on Friday, the amazing and once in a lifetime seminars on Saturday and wraps up with the greatest tasting extravaganza of all time on Sunday at the Qwest Event Center. Over 200 wineries and 60 Seattle area restaurants are coming together to give you the opportunity taste the best Washington has to offer. There are a lot of options, and it’s easy to go too far. Instead, make a plan, pace yourself and figure out exactly what you hope to get out of the experience. “Plastered” should not be at the top of that list. I'll have more on Taste Washington for you soon, but if you're not excited about March now, I'm not sure you can be helped. For tickets click here.

Pre-Event - Barrel Tasting 2011

2011-03-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

One of the first times I had the chance to taste wine from a barrel was when I was living in Washington and went to a tasting at Merry Cellars. Tasting wine at this very raw state was fascinating and I have enjoyed each opportunity to taste from the barrel I have been given. Tasting wine before the bottle allows for some prediction and mystery of what the wine will become. For the first two weekends in March I get to play fortune teller again while participating in the 33rd Annual Barrel Tasting. Over the two weekends of March 4-6 and March 11-13,over 150 wineries will be participating in this spectacular event that drew over 25,000 attendees from 47 states in 2010. A ticket costs just $20 in advance and $30 on site covers one weekend and gets you access to three days of barrel tasting from all the wineries and the opportunity to purchase wine that will be available upon bottling. Often, these "futures" purchases will be deeply discounted and may only be available for sale in that form. While purchasing wine only tasted from the barrel involves some risk, it is no different than buying a bottle and holding it for years while it develops.

Wineries from the AVA’s of Dry Creek, Russian River Valley, and Alexander Valley will showcase some of the best wines that Sonoma County has to offer and what you can expect to see in 12-18 months. I will be providing coverage on the first weekend and focusing primarily in the Alexander Valley AVA. Known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Syrah, the Alexander Valley features common names such as Clos du Bois, Rodney Strong, and Coppola, but is also home to many small family owned wineries as well.

Watch for tweets along the way and future posts detailing the event.
Cheers!

The Top 100 Oregon Round Up

2011-03-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah, I know it was awhile ago that the Top 100 wine list came out, but now that all the votes are in, lists have been compiled and pontificators have pontificated I wanted to remind everyone how Oregon fared with the most recent release of Top 100 wine lists from Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast and the San Francisco Chronicle.

I'm not usually an enormous fan of the wine magazines, but they certainly play a crucial role in the ability for wine drinkers beyond the Pacific Northwest to consider Oregon Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and all of the wonderful varietals coming out of Southern Oregon. The credibility their publicity garners cannot be understated, even as wine bloggers the world over try to overthrow their stranglehold on wine journalism. Here at the Oregon Wine Blog we have no such delusions; we all have day jobs, for Pete's sake. Far be it for us to play the role of player hater. The San Francisco Chronicle's Jon Bonne has serious credibility as far as I'm concerned and is always worth a read. While it's true that you'll find his offerings California heavy, it's hard to fault him since he's in California, and we've been accused of being Oregon and Washington heavy ourselves. And so, we run it down for you:

The Wine Spectator Top 100
90: Elk Cove Pinot Gris 2009, Willamette Valley, $19
75: A to Z Wineworks Pinot Noir 2008, Oregon, $20
71: Roco Pinot Noir 2008, Willamette Valley, $30
32: Evening Land Pinot Noir 2008, Eola-Amity Hills, Seven Springs Vineyard La Source, $65

The Wine Enthusiast Top 100
100: Scott Paul 2008 Audrey Pinot Noir, Dundee Hils, $65
One? There's only one wine coming out of the state of Oregon that made the top 100 in the Wine Enthusiast? I'm a bit shocked by this, but hey - different strokes for different folks I suppose. I noticed a lot of California Pinot Noir on the list, particularly from the Russian River Valley. While slightly discouraging, it's nice to see the wine that they're making at Scott Paul get some recognition. Overall though the Enthusiat was far from enthusaistic about Oregon's offerings. Oregon did, however, fare better in their Top 100 Cellar Wines, wines that can look forward to serious promise with some aging.
70: Chehalem Statement Pinot Noir 2006, Ribbon Ridge, $99
69: Ken Wright Cellars Pinot Noir 2008, Canary Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, $50
35: Adelsheim Pinot Noir 2007, Boulder Bluff Vineyard, $58

The San Francisco Chronicle
So the San Francisco Chronicle does their listing of top 100 West Coast wines, so no old world magic to hog the spotlight. They break the list down further by varietal, or varietal and types, for the most part. For example they list out Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and then, other whites and roses. Due to the West Coast focus, Oregon did some serious butt kicking in this top 100 list. There are no number designations given, at least that I could find, so I'll list them at the Chronicle does:
Other Whites and Roses
Brandborg 2009 Umpqua Valley Riesling, $16
King Estate 2009 Signature Oregon Pinot Gris, $17
Pinot Noir
Adelsheim 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $32
Alchemist Cellars 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $25
Anam Cara Cellars 2008 Nicholas Estate, Chehalem Mountains, Pinot Noir, $29
Bergstrom 2008 Bergstrom Vineyard, Dundee Hills, Pinot Noir $78
Brooks 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $25
Chehalem 2008 3 Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $27
Cristom 2008 Mount Jefferson Cuvee, Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir, $30
Phelps Creek 2008 Cuvee Alexandrine, Columbia Gorge, Pinot Noir, $42

A great showing for the 2008 class of Oregon Pinot Noir in the San Francisco Chronicle. I do think that as we see the rest of the ‘08’s released this spring, we can expect to see a little more Oregon Pinot in the top 100 lists of 2011, as well. Heck, maybe even in the Wine Enthusiast.

Double Winetendre: South Stage Cellars 2009 Early Muscat

2011-02-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

Editor's Note: At The Oregon Wine Blog, we're always scouting new talent in the wine blogging world. Really, we just have a lot of friends who like to drink wine and show some interest in writing for the Blog. In that spirit, we bring you this guest post from Clare Cady of the Semi-Urban Homesteader blog. Who knows, she may be our next staff writer.

Just recently my partner Jason and I trekked south to Jacksonville, OR, to visit friends who have a natural building school. Between climbing in the mountains, grinding wheat with a bicycle, and drinking homebrewed beer, we slipped out for lunch and a chance to check out the town. Jacksonville prides itself in its history, so it was only fitting that we stop in at a local landmark. Built in 1865, the then private residence of Patrick Ryan has been host to more local businesses than any other building in town. Currently it is the home of South Stage Cellars, a vineyard-based tasting room and wine garden.

We walked away with a bottle of their 2009 Early Muscat, sold on the promise from the woman in the tasting room that it served both as a delightful dessert wine as well as an aromatic white. It felt like a big claim to me and so was intrigued. I was impressed with the quaint, cozy feel of the tasting room along with the rows of medals and awards that lined the wall behind the bar. The 2008 incarnation of the Early Muscat won Best of Show at the 2009 World of Wine Festival.

We were also excited to see how committed South Stage is to supporting the local economy and community. The grapes come from owners Don and Traute Moore’s vineyard, Quail Run, a local 300 acre operation that utilizes no insecticides and utilizes cover crops as a means to enrich the soils. We noted that there were several events aimed at locals providing discounts and entertainment. Our friend Coenraad had been there just the night before performing at a local’s night.

Some weeks later we decided to give our southern belle a try. A pale straw color, I expected something touted as a potential dessert wine to be more syrupy, but it seemed more like an aromatic in the glass. The nose consisted of honey and a tropical fruitiness that we were initially unable to identify along with hints of clove. I found the taste to be powerfully sweet on the tongue with a slight sparkling texture and a lightly bitter finish, almost like grapefruit. Jason noted that he found a “zing” at the top of his palette that was just as much texture as it was flavor. After exploring this further we decided that this was the tropical fruit we’d gotten on the nose – guava. The whole experience was threaded with the light spiciness of clove that carried through from start to finish.

We decided that the claim that this wine could be either a dessert wine or enjoyed by the glass with food stood up to the test. The Early Muscat provided more than enough complexity and crispness to drink chilled with a citrusy piece of fish or a mild Thai curry. However, its bold sweetness and bitterness would make it an excellent complement to dark chocolate or summer fruits. I definitely enjoyed this versatile wine and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys sweet wine with a kick.

Diving Headfirst into Woodinville

2011-02-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

I have a good friend who grew up in Snohomish, Washington. When we were in college back in the day, we took a spring break journey to the Westside one year and a highlight of that trip was a tour of the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville. Two freshly minted 21 year old dudes, $1 tour, an amusing guide with an Australian accent, and all the samples we could drink? Um, OK! Well, for years after that I associated Woodinville with beer and it wasn't until I became a wino many years later that I realized there was more to Woodinville than met the eye back then. Much more. It actually went down more like this:

Clive: The shit is real up here in Woodinville, yo.
Josh: OK.

Fortuitously, as many of you know, I just moved to Seattle and my condo is a short short 17 miles from this wonderland of wine and this weekend I had the opportunity to make my first appearance. Nestled in the Sammamish River Valley, wine has been in Woodinville since 1976 when Chateau Ste. Michelle set up shop there. In the years since, the small community has become home to over 70 wineries and tasting rooms. The majority of fruit you'll find in Woodinville comes from Eastern Washington, with a good mix of winemakers that produce in Woodinville balanced with Columbia Valley wineries who have opened a second tasting room. It's going to take a long time to hit all 70, woe is me.

Micheal was in town visiting after a non-wine conference and we made plans to meet some of his former students in the wine mecca. After texting Clive for some suggestions resulting in, "There are too many good wineries to pick one.", the party we were meeting suggested starting out at Columbia Winery. I think I twitched a little when Micheal announced that was where we were headed, but not one to rock the boat, off we went. Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Columbia, it's just so big and probably crowded and I was hoping to hit some boutique wineries that weren't out on every grocery store shelf. Luckily, the second winery would provide that opportunity. Columbia was as anticipated; a large impressive tasting facility with a bunch of people coming in by the busload and high production wines on the tasting menu. Regardless, we had a nice tasting, good conversation, and settled on old favorite for our next venture: Airfield Estates.

Rick profiled Airfield about a year ago after our visit to Prosser; if you recall we had a simply amazing experience at their main facility. I was excited to check out the digs a little closer to my new home, would this be my new backyard tasting room? Perhaps. We arrived at the tasting room and to my chagrin, it too was packed to the gills. I noticed immediately that they had done a great job of sticking with the aviation motive present in the Prosser winery. Don't worry, I quickly elbowed my way up to the bar and was greeted with a tasting list with many of my old favorites. I'm a sucker for their blends and jumped right into the reds (I was driving after all), and the Spitfire, Mustang, and Aviator were just how I remembered them -- awesome. In fact, I want to crack open a bottle right now. I'm a sucker for unique red blends and to refresh your memory, here's the rundown on two of them:

2008 Mustang: 53% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 8% Cinsault, 2% Counoise, 2% Mourvèdre

2008 Spitfire: 60% Sangiovese, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 5% Petite Verdot

Delicious. A nice unanticipated surprise was the bonus pour of 2009 Tempranillo, a recent gold medal winner at the San Francisco wine competition. I'd actually had this wine at a local wine bar a few times recently, but was taken by it in the tasting room. We closed down the place, and as we walked to the car our stomachs were growling. Where should all good trips to wine country end? A hot dog cart. Luckily there was one right across the street at DeLille and we bought everything they had left.

So, there's a start. I have a feeling that I'll be making my way to Woodinville quite a bit in the future and look forward to sharing it's wonders with my Oregon friends.

Walla Walla to Portlandia: Will the Dream of the 90s Survive?

2011-02-22T07:17:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard by now, the Dream of the 90s Is Alive in Portland. Young people retire there, you can sleep until 11:00am and all the hot girls wear glasses. Besides its earnest hipness, Portland also plays the role of urban guardian to the Willamette Valley wine country just to the south. They know their wine in Portlandia, and they’re particularly fond of the world class Pinot Noir that grows just to the south. But Pinot Noir is grown elsewhere, and Walla Walla’s wine association is hopeful that Portland will give some of the world class wine from Walla Walla a try for a change.

Taste Walla Walla in Portland, on February 28th, gives those Portland Pinotphiles an opportunity to sample world class Washington wine from more than 50 of Walla Walla's 120 wineries. The event, at Venue Pearl, is a great way for Washington's neighbors to the south to be neighborly and check out what's going on in the Walla Walla Valley, a part of which is in Oregon. Tickets are available at the door for $65, and the event will feature Walla Walla food and wine and an opportunity for Portlandia to open its mind.

They say in Portland that world class Pinot Noir flows out of faucets and falls from the sky. They also say you can go to clown college. As much as I love Portlandia, I am still an outsider amidst its city streets. That's partially because I'm living in Seattle and partially because I'm a bit on the masculine side for Portland. So I had to get an insider's view. I wanted to know how Portlandia would deal with these world class iterations of Rhone and Bordeaux style varietals? Could these wines, nuanced and elegant compared to their New World counterparts, but big by Willamette Valley standards fit in; in this Mecca of skinny jeans? Could they play nice together? Was the Dream of the 90s prepared for one of the finest AVAs in the country coming to town?

All the hot girls wear glasses

Jenny M is my Portland insider and she wears glasses. In case there was any question about her credentials, Jenny pours world class Pinot by day, but her day doesn't really get started until around 11:00am. When I told her that Walla Walla was coming to Portlandia she was beside herself. "Walla Walla in Portland?! What do you think they're trying to do? "In Your Face," I think that says it all, doesn't it? It’s obviously just another facet of the Cabernet industrial-patriarchy takeover. It just sounds so violent, right? Why does it have to be in my face? Have you even seen what most of those bottles look like?! Those "big" Washington wines are just part of varietal-phallocentrist oppression."

Jenny continued, “Think about it: How many women winemakers are even IN Washington? There are like, a lot in Oregon. I think that says something about how progressive Pinot Noir production is here, comparably. I mean, it's like really progressive."

Free Range Lifestyle
Jenny was concerned that in addition to the lack of feminism there was a lack of in touch with naturism, and I tried to assure her that we had both amazing woman winemakers in Walla Walla like Marie Eve Gilla of Forgeron Cellars and Anna Schafer aMaurice Cellars and really nature-y type people too. She wasn't hearing it.
"Pinot Noir is soooo superior to those big masculine, hot-climate wines. It's feminine, nuanced, and in-touch with mother nature. Walking in the vineyard, I can put my hands in the soil and hear what the wine is trying to say. It CAN do that, I read about it in a Native American History class I once took. I might try it eventually.”

We Put Birds on Things
What I did find was that despite her initial reaction, Jenny had a weak spot for Portlandia-centered marketing, which basically amounts to the artful use of bird imagery. "I was in Whole Foods today, buying this really yummy spelt bread, when I happened to see some Washington Cabernet with a pretty bird on the label. Like, do they think that's all it takes?! I mean, yeah, I bought it! But that's not the point! The point is, "Bordeaux-style"? More like "Bour-don't style to me"!

While the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance has work to do to convince this particular Portlandia die-hard, I do believe there’s a good chance that they’ll make a serious impression on the hipster Pinot guzzlers. If nothing else, Walla Walla is going to throw one heck of a party in the fashionable Pearl District and hell, Portlandia likes parties.

A big thanks to Jenny for bringing the humor and the hip to this post.

Taste of Terroir: 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir (2 of 2)

2011-02-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

Part 1 of our most recent Taste of Terroir began in the Northern AVAs of the Willamette Valley, examining 2008 Pinot Noir from Oregon's Chehalem Mountains AVA and Ribbon Ridge. We also covered a little bit about the 2008 growing season in the Willamette Valley. You can read all that here.
But time waits for no man, and so we must continue our journey South through the Willamette Valley and onto the Yahmill-Carlton District.

Yamhill-Carlton District
The Yamill-Carlton District was designated an AVA in 2004. Its vineyards are predominantly planted on the south-facing slopes of the ridges that surround the district in what resembles a horseshoe pattern. In order for a vineyard to fall within the Yamhill-Carlton District AVA, not only must it be within the proper geographic location, but it must also be between 200 and 1,000 feet of elevation. The soil types are comprised mostly of marine sedimentary soils (Willakenzie), as well as some of the volcanic soils known as Jory. Yamhill-Carlton has some of the oldest soils in all the Willamette Valley.

Our Yamhill-Carlton wine came from Luminous Hills. It was not a winery I knew much about, but it’s a sustainably farmed and LIVE certified winery and a part of the Seven of Hearts winery. Byron Dooley is the owner and winemaker of both labels. The particular Pinot clones for this wine were 115, 667 and Pommard. The 2008 Estate Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir had one of the most, if not the most, beautiful aromatics of the wines we had that evening. In fact, the nose of the wine was a dead ringer for a 2004 Chambolle-Musigny, by Jacques Fredrique Mugnier, which I had recently had the good fortune to taste. The aromatics, beautiful and Burgundian, gave way to a palate that many of us experienced as a more steely minerality and spice than fruit or earthen characteristics. This wine retails for $28 and is a very small production at only 142 cases. (I should also note that I sadly poured some of this wine all over one of the guests. Sorry, Michelle.)

Dundee Hills
The Dundee Hills are probably the wheelhouse for visitors experiencing Willamette Valley. They’re located, right down the middle of the corridor and encompass some of the biggest names in all the Valley: Erath, Sokol Blosser, Argyle and Ponzi. When people think of Willamette Valley, whether they know it or not, they often think of Dundee Hills. The Dundee Hills is made up entirely of the Jory volcanic soil type and it's rich in both iron and a red hue that are a signature of the Dundee Hills. The AVA was designated in 2004 and it has 1,300 planted acres. The Dundee Hills are often thought to be a bit more protected weather wise than some of the surrounding areas, so a bit drier and warmer may certainly help in such a cool climate.

The Dundee Hills wine we had was the 2008 Stoller Vineyards, JV Estate Pinot Noir, which was also the third wine of the night (of four total) that sported a screwcap The JV Estate, or Jeunes Vignes, is a showcase of the vineyard’s newest vines. The wine is made to be drinkable and approachable right away, and folks found it to be just that. The Stoller 2008 Pinot Noir was a rounded wine with pleasing aromatics; some of the oak character coming through in sweet spice notes. The wine provided plenty of red berries and a bit of oak on the palate. A couple of our guests described an almost effervescence. This was a very comfortable Pinot Noir for our guests and made it the most popular among many of them. The wine retails at $25

McMinnville AVA
The McMinnville AVA was designated in 2005 after a successful petition by Kevin Byrd of Youngberg Hill Vineyards. The AVA lies within the rain shadow created by Oregon's Coast Range and it therefore generally sees less rain than many of its neighboring AVAs The proximity to the Van Duzer corridor, and the coastal wind it brings, keeps the vineyard sites a bit drier. The soil composition is primarily marine sediment but basalt and volcanic soils also underlay much of the McMinnville AVA. Only 600 acres of vineyard are planted.

Our wine from McMinnville comes from Noble Pig, a new winery. The 2008 McMinnville Pinot Noir is their first vintage released. The wine is comprised of three Pinot clones, Pommard, 114 and 115. This wine had very active aromatics, and was almost perfume-y. The oak made a slight and positive impression on the wine, and the bright red fruit made this an impressive first vintage from Cathy Pollak, winemaker and proprietor. This wine retails at $34

Eola-Amity Hills AVA
Continuing south in the Willamette Valley, on towards Salem, we reach the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. The fruit of the the Eola-Amity is known for its almost pitch perfect acidity, higher than much of the Willamette Valley. Its proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor and those cooling winds from the Pacific play a major role in that acid retention. Designated in 2006, the AVA consists of mostly volcanic soils, as well as nekia, which is a soil comprised of exposed basalt. The Eola-Amity hills holds some of the most famed Pinot vineyards in the Willamette Valley, including Temperance Hills, Seven Springs, and Elton vineyards. Some of the signatures of the AVA include darker fruit profiles on both the palate and the aromatics of the wine.

The Brooks Winery 2008 Rastaban Vineyard Pinot Noir is a deep, dark Pinot Noir. This wine had far darker fruit character than any of the other Pinots we tasted. It was a bolder wine, a big, luxuriant Pinot Noir. The oak program used on this wine, 50% new French for 18 months, resulted in aromas of smoke and earth and represents a bit of a departure from many of the Burgundian styled Pinots that Oregon is known for. This wine was a lot of dark rich velvet, and it retails at $50.

Umpqua Valley
Next, we did what many people consider the unthinkable: we left the Willamette Valley. We left it behind and continued south to the Umpqua Valley. The Umpqua Valley was designated in 1984, and contains the basin area of the Umpqua River. In conjunction with the much warmer Rogue Valley AVA, it makes up the Southern Oregon AVA, designated in 2004. The Umpqua Valley is warmer than the Willamette Valley and sees plantings of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Riesling and some occassional Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of those warm weather varietals grow beautifully in its neighbor to the South, the Rogue Valley AVA. The soil composition of the Umpqua Valley is often sand and clay loams.

Our final and southernmost wine, the Brandbourg 2008 Ferris Wheel Estate Pinot Noir. This wine gave us a bit of toasty oak on the nose and certainly the palate held much more spice, with hints of chicory and cola than the Pinots to the North. While many of us found this Pinot slightly different than its neighbors, with its spicier fruit profile, this was still an elegant, balanced Pinot Noir and demonstrated capably that Pinot can, in fact, be grown outside the confines of Willamette Valley and still demonstrate great varietal integrity and beauty. This wine retails at around $30.

Our conclusion, the 2008 vintage is a great one for Oregon Pinot Noir fans. In many cases wineries are still releasing their 2008s, particularly when it comes to single vineyard Pinots. In other cases some of the 2008s have been completely sold out. The buzz about the vintage has had impact on both pricing and availability, but don't be deterred. Gather up and drink as much of it as you can, you'll thank us later.
These wines were provided as samples.

Taste of Terroir: 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir (Part 1 of 2)

2011-02-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

Oregon’s recently released 2008 Pinots are garnering some serious buzz. "In the 2008's, you've got the best vintage Oregon has ever produced, the kind of vintage Oregon winemakers always hoped they could produce." Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator.

With that in mind, the time was right for The Oregon Wine Blog to explore this vintage in our Taste of Terroir series. To many wine drinkers, Oregon Pinot is Oregon Pinot, but that's too large a generalization. The Willamette Valley is certainly what people think of, but there's so much variety within the Valley itself that the sub AVAs provide an exploration of the valleys, elevations, soil types and micro-climates - and that's just what we hope to do with the 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir tasting. We've even got a Pinot from the Umpqua Valley.

This two-part post will start on the Northern end of the Valley in the Chehalem Mountains. As we progress, we'll pass through Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton District, the Dundee Hills, McMinnville and the Eola-Amity Hills AVAs, and as we work our way South we’ll end in the Umpqua Valley.

What kind of growing season was 2008? Here’s a description from our friends at Stoller: “In retrospect 2008 was the ultimate cool climate vintage, but it began rather apprehensively. A frost arrived when bud break, already a few weeks late, began. Everyone seemed to survive that frost and the fruit was right on track by late summer. Concerns about a wet harvest forecast never came to fruition as the end of summer and early autumn saw cool breezy days that allowed the necessary hang time to produce Oregon's world class Pinot Noir.”

Oregon’s Willamette Valley, 100 miles long and about 60 miles wide, was first declared an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1984. Since then, it's become known as one of the greatest places in the world to grow Pinot Noir. Other varietals that do well in the Willamette Valley include Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.

Chehalem Mountains AVA
The Chehalem Mountains AVA rests on the far North end of the Willamette Valley and serves as the guardian to the rest of the Valley of the harsher weather that comes in from the Columbia River Gorge. The area is marked by great variation of soil types within the AVA, with volcanic basalt creating the foundation for much of the area's clay and silt, marine sediment and sandstone. The area’s soil is also comprised of a windblown silt, or loess. The AVA was granted designation in 2006 and has around 1,600 planted acres of vineyard. The AVA Association has a great website here.

Our Chehalem Mountains representative was a personal favorite: Anam Cara Cellars 2008 Nicholas Estate. The Nicholas Estate vineyard (LIVE certified) is probably one of the most distinctive vineyards I've sampled in Oregon when it comes to displaying terroir. The site is a former hazelnut and walnut farm, has unique characters that are present, particularly on the nose of the wine. The 2008 was no exception. The wine started out with a smokey, earthen nose, hints of moss and forest floor as well as pepper and toasted spice that speak more to the site than the use of newer oak. This wine saw less than 20% new oak. This elegant Pinot delivers brighter red fruits and a hint of that spice from the nose on the palate. The Nicholas Estate is a blend of 5 clones, nearly 40% 667, though Pommard, 115, 114 and 777 all make up the wine. The wine was named in the Top 100 by the San Francisco Chronicle and will retail at around $30.

Ribbon Ridge AVA
Within the Chehalem Mountains AVA lies Oregon's smallest AVA, Ribbon Ridge. Ribbon Ridge was planted in 1980 by Harry Peterson-Nedry, owner and winemaker at Chehalem Winery. The AVA is only three and half miles long and 1 and 3/4 mile wide and it sticks up out of the valley floor at 683 ft of elevation. Its comprised of a younger soil, a silty clay loam of the Willakenzie type, drains exceptionally well and is perfect for viticulture. There are only 350 acres planted in Ribbon Ridge and the first vineyard was Ridgecrest, at 55 acres, Ribbon Ridge was designated in 2005.

We sampled two wines from Ribbon Ridge, the Chehalem 2008 Reserve and the Chehalem Ridgecrest Vineyard Pinot Noirs. Both of these wines exhibit a bigger style and excellent acidity that come across right away. These are wines that will lay down that much is clear. The Ridgecrest Vineyard 2008 came across with spice and smoke from oak on the nose. The palate gave way to prominent tannins, certainly in comparison to the Anam Cara. The wine is really well put together and we found it to be one of the favorites among the guests. The dark red fruit on this nicely balanced wine made it a beautiful example of Oregon Pinot.
The Chehalem Reserve 2008, is not yet released and was even bigger than the Ridgecrest and exhibited significant tannins. Bright fruit notes and even some of the oak on the palate, guests found the nose to have herbal notes, and fennel or licorice came up many times. This is a big and really impressively structured wine. Certainly drinking very well now but this wine held the most promise for tomorrow of the 2008s we tasted. I would love to taste this wine again in a few years. Both of the examples from Ribbon Ridge were nice examples not only of what the AVA has to offer but also spoke to the experience and innovation of Harry Peterson-Nedry and the amazing things that are coming from Chehalem. Wines with incredible structure and finish. Impressive.

Our journey through the 2008 vintage Oregon Pinot Noir continues in Part 2 coming later this week.

Through the Eyes of Newbies: Willamette Valley Vineyards

2011-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Since beginning The Oregon Wine Blog, one quality we've strived to stick to is breaking down the wine industry in a way that makes it accessible to young people who don't know anything about wine. These folks are usually intimidated by the thought of driving their Honda up a long, winding driveway and parking it in front of a beautiful chateau just to belly up to the bar and not know what to ask for. We know this feeling, but the truth of the matter is it just isn't the case in the Pacific Northwest. We've broken this down numerous times, but it's time we prove our point in person.

To do this, I'm going to dedicate more time dragging people who don't know Chardonnay from Syrah out to wineries I enjoy. This provides three incredible benefits:

1. My
guinea pigs
friends get to experience Oregon wine first hand, find out what they like, and hopefully become lifelong wine consumers of Oregon wine
2. You, the reader, get to hear about their reactions
3. I get to pick wineries I already enjoy and drink great wine either way

For our first journey, Josh and I took Alyssa, Cole, Shannon, Laura, and Chelsea to Willamette Valley Vineyards. Why Willamette Valley Vineyards? For one, they make a little bit of everything. I had no clue what kinds of wines were going to be popular with this group, so it was a safe bet bringing them somewhere that produces pretty much the entire gamut of wines. Not only does this help my friends decide what kinds of wine they like, but it selfishly helps me narrow down what to bring to gatherings. I'm not saying that I particularly minded drinking an entire bottle of Latah Creek Petite Syrah by myself, but I also don't want to be that guy.

The second reason is even more important than the first. We weren't just getting any tour; oh no. We were getting a tour from Willamette Valley Vineyard's very own Wende! Wende is super rad and guided our tour during the Le Tour De Pinot Finale, so we knew our friends were in for an awesome experience.

After quick introductions, we were guided into the main hallway and given a brief history of the wine industry in Oregon as well as the story of how Willamette Valley Vineyards came to be. We even heard about how cork is harvested! While I'm sure our group didn't retain absolutely everything, it was really great hearing an explanation about the industry from somebody who actually works in it. For me, the industry itself is almost as fascinating as the wines it produces and from the feedback I got, everybody in our group really appreciated hearing about it.

With our history lesson over, it was time to hit the wine making facilities! Here we got to walk through their cellar, wine making facilities, and even saw a bottling line. Wende broke down the complicated methodology of making world-class wine into terms so simplistic that Cole even started throwing out questions regarding creating hybrid and custom grapes. While he probably won't end up changing careers to winemaking, it was clear that everybody left with exponentially more knowledge than they had when they showed up.

With the tour out of the way and one glass of Pinot Gris down, it was time to do some tasting!

Instead of bellying up to the bar and going down a tasting list, Wende had other plans for us. Upon walking out of the bottling room, we were lead into a separate event space and had a private table laid out with gourmet cheeses and five different bottles of wine.

Have I mentioned how awesome Wende is yet? Because it's a lot.

For our palate's pleasure, we all had the opportunity to try their regular Pinot Noir, Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir, Merlot, Frizzante, and Viognier. This provided quite the range of wines and lead to some surprising results. I would have guessed that the Frizzante and regular Pinot Noir would have won the crowd over, but here's how things played out:

Pinot Noir: Ranked towards the bottom of peoples favorites of the five. I was kind of shocked because WVV's Pinot Noir is fairly light, fruit-forward, and not at all offensive. It turns out that while they're all wine novices, it was actually too simple for their palates. Even Cole, who can often be found with a Coors Light, shrugged it off.

Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir: This was a home run with the entire crew. Everybody seemed to love how bold it was and how the flavors changed as each sip evaporates off the palate. Wende also showed us a cool trick of rolling a pinot glass on its side with wine still in it, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Griffin Creek Merlot: This was about as varied in opinion as I thought it would be. Surprisingly, this was one of Shannon's favorites. Shannon tends to drink Rieslings and Pinot Gris, so I'm still a bit perplexed as to how her palate works. That said, she really enjoyed the medium spiciness from this Southern Oregon favorite. I may just have myself a new red wine buddy!

Tualatin Estate Frizzante Muscat: Not at all surprisingly, this was a hit with everyone. It's practically wine soda!

Griffin Creek Viognier: This was perhaps the wine of the day. While our guests didn't have experienced enough palates to express every nuance of this wine, they all had the realization that there was a whole new dimension to white wine that they didn't know was there before.

Whole Cluster Pinot Noir: This wasn't one of Wende's wines, but I made everybody try this on the way out. This ended up being a big winner as well, which still has me scratching my head as to why the regular Pinot Noir wasn't. Oh well.

After our incredible tour and tasting session, we hit up the tasting room once again and each picked a few bottles. I was really excited to see that our wine newbies purchased a little over a case worth between themselves. While those guys were picking out their favorites of our tasting session, Josh and I got a little distracted by a few cellar wines on display:

Somehow we resisted the urge to buy the 2000 The Griffin as well as a magnum of port; instead leaving with a few bottles of Griffin Creek Cab Franc. As a somewhat regionally-respected wine journalist, it is my semi-professional opinion that you can never have enough Cab Franc on your rack.

All in all this trip was a huge success. The Oregon wine industry just gained itself five new customers and I got an excuse to visit one of my favorite wineries. A huge thanks goes out to Josh for coordinating the reservations and another out to Wende for being WVV's Senior Executive Director of Awesomeness.

Look for more of these posts as I drag my non-enophile friends to other wineries!

Willamette Valley is for Lovers on Valentine's Weekend

2011-02-09T10:11:00.000-08:00

When it comes to wine, at least for this guy, there's nothing sexier than those earthy Oregon Pinot Noirs. They seduce the hell right out of me. I know I'm not alone and so that's what makes February 12th and 13th (the weekend before Valentine's Day) a perfect time to succumb to those urges and head on down to Willamette Valley. It’s not just the wine that comes out of Oregon that’s sexy, it’s the Willamette Valley itself. There’s something ethereal about the Willamette Valley this time of year: the mist hangs along the valleys slopes and vineyards, the dark green of the Valley’s flora, the varying aromatics of world class Pinot Noir and the real love that is being shared in the glass and over tasting room counters up and down the Willamette Valley. Ironically, I won’t be there because I’ll be celebrating love at a friend’s wedding, but you, those without some other plans who need a little more Pinot in your life, get down to Willamette Valley.

There are several events to highlight the most amorous weekend on the calendar. In keeping with the theme, there are several Pinot Noir and Chocolate tastings, and as we all know chocolate is one of the world's most ancient aphrodisiacs. There will be chocolate pairings at Johan Vineyards, Youngberg Hill, and Torii Mor, to name a few. Additionally, there are a plethora of Valentine dinners all up and down the valley, including at Cana's Feast, Cubanisimo, and Ankeny Vineyard, among many others. To top off the festivities, after gorging yourself on chocolates, Pinot and delicious meals, you can take advantage of Library sales at J.K Carriere and bring some of that sensual stuff home. After all, you should be “getting it on” like this all the time, not just this weekend.

To cap off the romance-a-thon that is this weekend of romance, Pinot, and food, you might just need to "get a room" at The Allison or The Inn at Red Hills. If Cupid has struck you between the eyes with such a force that you're considering some sort of weird romantic move like bathing in Pinot, don't do that. If you must, don't waste the good stuff; buy a couple cases of Pinot from California and fill that tub to the rim, save the good stuff from Oregon for drinking. With weekends like this, November of this year may just see us greeting babies with Willamette-themed names. Archer or Cara, anyone? (Archery Summit and Aman Cara)

It's for charity...really.

2011-02-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

You've probably noticed a marked decrease in the frequency of posts lately, especially from yours truly. If you are observant, that is. I moved to Seattle a week ago and have been getting settled in. With the move wrapped up, on Friday I resolved to kick it into gear and get a post knocked out this weekend. This post. The problem was that I didn't have a vision in mind, and while I have a ton of wine on the rack, nothing was jumping out for the post.

Saturday morning I connected with Andrea of Le Tour de Pinot fame, and we set off to explore my new neighborhood (Ballard). We ended up at the local wine bar that Rick and I had found the previous week, and fortuitously they had a complimentary tasting going on. California tasting, that is. While I enjoyed the tasting, I didn't take any notes or pictures so you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for a post dedicated to Portalis Wine Shop in the coming weeks. Andrea and I parted ways for the evening and I was left reconsidering my options for a post. The first thing that came to mind was the next in the "They Make Wine There?" series, with a bottle of Utah chardonnay in the hopper. I wasn't feeling white that evening, so a bust on that one too. What was a boy to do?

Wait a minute! Right about then I remembered something that had jumped out at me twice per day every day for the past week on my foray into the public transportation world to work. Wine World Warehouse. It's right there on NE 45th right off of I-5 in Seattle, tantalizing me with 23,000 square feet of wine through the bus window. Yes, I would go there and find a bottle of wine to drink and review. I needed to be more specific because trying to find a bottle among the 6000 Wine World carries would have been seeking a needle in a haystack. With that in mind, I set the following ground rules for my selection: the wine would be obviously from the Pacific Northwest, one that I hadn't tried before, under $20, and something with a story behind it.

I drive the 3 miles from my condo to Wine World (how convenient), and was welcomed with dedicated parking and a shop that is open 11 AM - 9 PM on Saturdays with free tastings every day of the week at the gorgeous bar in the middle of the shop. I had missed the tasting, but was immediately drawn to the Washington section in front of me. Wine was organized by geographical region, then varietal, then vintage; a strategy that might be a bit challenging for a wine virgin but I very much enjoyed the layout. There were some wines that stuck out right off the bat. The Leonetti Merlot was tempting, but at $89 it was a bit more than my $20 limit. Kiona and Terra Blanca are always winners, as is Cougar Crest, but I couldn't fall back on the familiar. It needed to be new and unique. I circled around the store a few times, and found myself back in the Washington Merlot section. In front of me was a Heaven's Cave Inspiration. It looked unique, was $19.99 (fine, a little more with WA tax), and was single-vineyard designate from Alder Ridge in the Horse Heaven Hills. Done.

Heaven's Cave Inspiration 2007 Merlot

Heaven's Cave Cellars is a for-benefit winery that chooses to donate a portion of its profits from wine sales to cover 100% of the operating expenses of the Make the DASH Count Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit dedicated to both developing the next generation of community leaders and benefiting at-risk youth. Heaven's Cave owner Hope Moore additionally partners with vintners from Alexandria Nicole, Hedges, DeLille, and Reininger in the Dash Wine Project. The Make the Dash Count foundation, with a vision of To creating an army of youth philanthropists who will serve as community leaders throughout their lives, was the perfect reason to crack open the bottle. See, I really was drinking for charity. Here's what I thought.

After allowing the wine to open up while cooking dinner, I found a very jammy and fruity nose packed full of red fruit. Upon sipping, the mouthfeel was very smooth and it was apparent this is a well-structured wine. As the wine coated my palate, I got a punch of tannin and heat on the end. My immediate thought was that this would be a better food wine. Good thing I had dinner in front of me. As I started to eat and continued sipping the wine, it paired extremely well with the raspberry chipotle bbq pork chop on my plate.

This Merlot earned an Excellent rating from Wine Press Northwest with fruit 100% sourced from the Alder Ridge Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills. With a production of 112 cases, pick up a bottle and make pour your own glass for charity. I'm going to have to make it a practice to pick up some wine now and then that I haven't tried; this was a a winner and Wine World Warehouse will undoubtably provide me endless opportunities to do so.

Upcoming Event: Seattle Food & Wine Experience; What's Not in a Name

2011-02-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Food & Wine Experience is coming up soon, and will be held on February 27th at the Seattle Center. The title “The Seattle Food & Wine Experience” is a bit of a misnomer when it comes to the food and wine you get to experience. Although since it is in Seattle, I suppose that part is spot on. What the title doesn't tell you though, is the full scope of that experience. It has a reach well beyond the wines of Seattle area wineries, though Woodinville’s Convergence Zone Cellars and Hestia Cellars are represented. The wine experience though goes further: to Wenatchee and St. Laurent Winery, to Red Mountain and Hightower Cellars, and further afield to Walla Walla and the wines of Glencorrie.

I suppose they could have called it “The Washington Food & Wine Experience in Seattle,” though that really doesn't do it either. The wineries are coming from outside Washington, including Idaho. Yes, that Idaho. There are, of course, wines from our neighbor to the South, Oregon. Ten Oregon wineries will be showing their wares, including Anam Cara Cellars, Cayalla and Archery Summit. There are also plenty of wineries from California. Somehow there are more California options than the Northwest put together. Maybe there's a good deal on Jet Blue for those folks flying in from California? In any case, there are close to 50 California wineries. Perhaps a more appropriate name would be “The Northwest (Plus California) Wine & Food Experience in Seattle?” If you’re still playing, I switched up the place of “wine” and “food” because I don't believe the food is coming from anywhere but Seattle, but it was really just a precaution.

In addition to the fact that the more appropriate name has gotten a bit lengthy, it's also not complete. Italy, you hear me, Italy is also in the house. So is France, and maybe Germany. There's also breweries, the kind that brew beer, and cider. It's gotten a bit out of hand actually, and now we’re looking at “The Northwest (Plus California And Also Some European) Wine, As Well As Beer/Cider & Food Experience in Seattle. I plan to pitch the new name to Jamie Peha who's thrown this party together. I do think adopting the new name may take some time, and so I highly recommend you get should go ahead your tickets to the event (available here). Regardless of the name, it's going to be a helluva good time.

Seattle's Urban Wineries Part 8: Vintner's Annex

2011-01-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

In the last little while, the Washington Wine community has been creeping westward, though some of them have always been here in Seattle, or points west. Well-established wineries like Andrew Will, Cadence and McCrea Cellars have been making wine on the west side for a long time. Newer wineries like Bartholomew Wine, Laurelhurst Cellars and Domanico Cellars have called Seattle home from the beginning.

Recently, there has been movement afoot as established Eastern Washington and Woodinville wineries are moving west, opening tasting room locations in Seattle. One such example is Vintner's Annex in Ballard.

Vintner's Annex best described as a secondary tasting room for four Woodinville wineries from the busy Warehouse District. Alta Cellars, Barrage Cellars, Cuillin Hills and Des Voigne Cellars have paired up to bring their Woodinville wines even closer to Seattle by coming...to Seattle. We decided to swing by on a Thursday night and check out the space.

Gwynne and I arrived at the hip looking Ballard spot, located across from arguably the world's greatest bakery, Cafe Besalu. We were greeted by Karen Wagner, one of the proprietors of the Vintners Annex and sister of Darren and Derek DesVoigne. The four wineries at Vintner’s Annex consist of mostly a family affair, Derek's Cuillin Hills, Darren's DesVoigne and Karen and her husband make the wine under the Alta Cellars label. Barrage Cellars proprietor and winemaker Kevin Correll is a close family friend (and in my opinion a very nice guy). In talking to Karen, I learned the Des Voigne family is from Ballard, so this site was a natural choice.

When friends Michelle and Andrew arrived, Michelle did the honors of selecting a bottle of the Des Voigne Montreaux. Michelle is a sucker for Syrah and this one is a 100% varietal blended from four vineyards: Stillwater Creek, Snipes Canyon Ranch, Meek and Wahluke Slope Vineyard. The wine, like all the Des Voigne I've had, is a hedonistic wine that's velvety smooth, like the jazz musicians that grace the labels.

Karen tasted me through the Alta Cellars releases as well, and I think the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon was the best of the bunch. The wines made by Alta Cellars are seeing substantial amounts of oak, with the Cabernet spending 22 months in 80% new French oak. The wines is bounding with red fruit and substantial oak tannins. In addition to the 2007 Cabernet, Alta Cellars has released a 2008 Cabernet Franc and a red blend called Escape, also from 2008, which is a Bourdeaux style blend, with Cabernet, Merlot and a bit of Petit Verdot.

While it was quiet on Thursday night, Karen told us that the joint is jumping on the weekends, and there's always live music on Saturdays. As spoiled as I feel like we are in Seattle with Woodinville so close by, Vintners Annex makes it that much easier for the lazy amongst us. If I were to recommend two wines that you must try I'd say the killer Rhone style blend that is the Cuillin Hills "Shackled" and The Duke, a Zinfandel based blend by Des Voigne Cellars. Get to the Vintner's Annex, the wines are at retail by the bottle. The winemakers will take turns making appearances and bring a little bit of the Woodinville Warehouse District to Ballard.

They Make Wine There? New Hampshire Edition.

2011-01-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought we couldn't get any more obscure than Indonesia or Texas in our "They Make Wine There?" series, we've done it. New Hampshire. Live Free or Die? Well I don't know about that, but I do know about wine so here we go.

The Story

At the Block 15 Beer Dinner, Matt and I were talking about this particular series on the blog and he mentioned that there were a few wineries in his home state of New Hampshire. I chuckled. More of a guffaw, really. Well, next thing I knew the holidays had passed with Matt's obligatory trip home and my wine rack was suddenly graced with the presence of two bottles of New Hampshire's finest. Matt's only stipulation in sharing this delight was he be invited when I cracked it open. With a pending move to Seattle at the end of January, I needed to get rolling and drink some wine.

Sunday night I invited Matt and Chris over to play some scrabble, but I had ulterior motives. It was the perfect time to crack open the first of the New Hampshirian selections. Jason and Clare, new friends of the Blog, joined and we had us a party. I asked Clare to bring some "snacks" suitable for wine expecting a hunk of cheese and some crackers, boy was I surprised when she unloaded a veritable cornucopia of awesomeness on a platter in my kitchen. On the pairing menu included:

Whole grain herbed bread with dill, cumin, flax, and sunflower seeds
Organic extra virgin olive oil with cracked pepper and rosemary
Herbed Utah chevre and Salem bleu cheese
Moab apricot and nutmeg preserves
Roasted garlic hummus
Balsalmic vinegar and honey reduction

With snacks, friends, and a few words on the Scrabble board we were ready to taste.

The Location and Winery

New Hampshire is relatively new in the world of wine production, starting in 1994 with vintages produced by 2 wineries. While still small with 5 vineyards and 15 wineries, the state produces primarily white and specialty varietals. A number of the wineries use imported fruit from New York, California, and Canada.

Located in Amherst, New Hampshire, LaBelle Winery produces wines made with grapes and other fruit from New Hampshire and New England that reflect the orchard spirit. The winemaker, Amy LaBelle, is a corporate attorney turned winemaker, a pursuit of her lifelong passion.

The Wine

LaBelle Winery Blueberry Wine

When Matt brought the wine too me, he mentioned that it had been marketed as a merlot-like style despite it's blueberry roots. My only experience with blueberry wine was from the Flying Dutchman Winery on the Oregon coast, a super sweet dessert wine. I really didn't know what to expect. Here's what LaBelle has to say about the wine:

This wine is not sweet… it’s like a dry, light Merlot in body and style. A light red, meduim bodied wine, it pleases the palate with rich but soft notes of vanilla and fresh fruit. Made with 100 % New Hampshire wild blueberries and aged in French oak, this light dinner wine has something for everyone with a hint of sweetness and a lingering, dry finish. LaBelle Winery Blueberry Wine is light and refreshing for spring and summer, yet full bodied enough to accompany pork, turkey, chicken, pasta and even grilled meats.

We found a fruity bouquet of cherry and clove on the nose. If we didn't know better, none of the tasting crew would have predicted blueberry origin based on the aroma of the wine. A deep gorgeous purple graced the glass and upon first taste, Jason declared the wine to be different. That matched Chris' initial reaction of unique. It was dryer than expected, however, had we read the description of the wine beforehand I think our expectations would have been a bit different. On the palate the cherry and fruit-forward characteristics continued, although the finish was relatively mellow and almost flat. When sipped with some of the bleu cheese, the wine picked up some depth and complexity that led Matt to the analysis that it would pair well with traditional Vermont style apple pie, cheddar cheese and all. We had pie later in the evening, but the wine was gone by then.

All in all, the wine was good although I was slightly disappointed. Based on comparisons to either merlot or a dessert wine, I was looking for something close to one or the other when I tried this wine. Finding neither, my expectations weren't met although in reality I should have been looking for an entirely different wine all together. Darn those preconceived notions! I'll still take Oregon or Washington any day!

Next up in the series, Utah.

Vino Collabos 3: You Can Go Home Again...and Make Cabernet

2011-01-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

While the Vino Collabos series has been all about the hip-hop collaborations with other musicians up to this point, bear with us as (get it?) we make a foray into American classical literature.

In the Thomas Wolfe novel You Can't Go Home Again up and coming author and main protagonist George Webber depicts his hometown in way that doesn't necessarily please those he's left behind in Libya Hill. At the end of Wolfe’s novel, Webber exclaims "You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood ... back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame ... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time — back home to the escapes of Time and Memory." To that Kyle Maclachlin says, "Don't be such a whiner, home is where the heart is, and where some of the world's best wine is being made, get back there and enjoy it." (Kyle never actually said that, but he might have thought it.)

Famous son of Eastern Washington Wine Country, Yakima's Kyle MacLachlan left the Evergreen State for the draw of Hollywood, the tutelage of David Lynch and a long lived career in film and television. Kyle, however, has gone home again, and when he went back home he partnered with Eric Dunham of Dunham Cellars to produce one helluva Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend.

The wine, Pursued by Bear ($65), is more than just a hobbyist’s passing go at making wine because he can. This wine is for real as is Kyle's focus on a serious and world class Washington wine. It's a substantial expression of Washington fruit, a big bold wine and yet another example of the skills and knowledge that Eric Dunham brings to the wine-making stage. MacLachlan and Dunham met when the actor was in the market for some large format Walla Walla wines for his wedding. The two hit it off and when Kyle, who’d been a serious wine drinker for quite sometime, decided to give making wine a go, his collaboration with Dunham seemed a natural and easy way to “go home again.”

The 2006 vintage of Pursued by Bear is 75% Cabernet, 17% Merlot and 8% Syrah. The fruit is sourced from Lewis Estate Vineyard and Phinny Hill Vineyard within the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The wine sees 100% new oak (and some two years in the barrel, plenty of time.

The result of this collaboration, besides the great name and label(borrowed from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale) is a beautiful dark plum colored wine. There is a roasted coffee nose - compliments of the oak program - and tons of layered dark black fruits including plums and berries on the palate. The most impressive feature of the wine is its excellent structure and balance. I enjoyed the hell out of this wine, think of it as Purple Velvet, instead of Blue Velvet. The impression this wine leaves is not that of a new guy's foray into wine making. It's clear that the skill and experience with Washington vineyard sites and fruit on the part of Eric Dunham is on display. As Kyle and Eric continue to develop this wine, from blending, to the oak program I imagine it will only get better. That thought alone is impressive.

(Wine was provided as a sample.)

Red, White, and Green.

2011-01-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

No, this isn’t a tribute to Dr. Seuss and as far as I know, Heinz is the only company to experiment with making a product unnaturally green, and we all know how that worked out. No, this is about the wine industry going green with their practices and philosophies. In a previous post, I discussed Quivira Vineyards, located in the Dry Creek Valley and mentioned how they practiced the principles of biodynamic farming and winemaking. I recently had the chance to take an extensive tour of Quivira where I learned much more about biodynamics as well as taste through their wines with winemaker Hugh Chappelle. Here I offer a very simplified explanation of their practices and why it is important.

Starting out in the gardens, General Manager Nancy Bailey explained that the 3 core values of biodynamics for Quivira are biodiversity of the land, a closed loop system, and giving back to the local community. The gardens consist of 120 raised beds of organic produce that were built and planted by the current Farm Manager, Andrew Beedy. The beds are on a 4 year rotation which changes the properties and adds to the richness and diversity of the soil. I don’t claim to understand all of the science that goes into this, but I can tell you that the fresh from the ground carrot I got to try was delicious. In addition to the vegetable gardens, Quivira also maintains multiple bee hives and a chicken coop. These are all part of creating a self-sustaining closed loop vineyard farm.

While exploring the farm a bit more we came across the pig pens. While talking about them Nancy referred to them as “workers on the farm.” I was really struck by this comment but it was explained that they are destined to restaurants or events Quivira hosts. While this may be tough for some to hear, it helps to demonstrate the closed loop principle. Everything and every animal on the farm have a role that contributes something to the winery. Manure used in composting, vegetables used for events and to provide nutrients into the soil, and the solar panels are all part of a self-sustaining vineyard farm.

Perhaps what I love most about Quivira is their commitment to the community. Many of their vegetable beds are on contract with local grocers. Rather than being paid for the produce, the grocers work on credit and then donate money to charity when their credit limit has been reached. Additionally, Quivira partners with many organizations and agencies on restoring Wine Creek, which serves as a spawning ground for Coho salmon and Steelhead trout.

I admit that I am passionate about sustainability and efforts to go green so it is really easy for me to get excited about what Quivira is doing. But I don’t think you need a passion for going green to appreciate what they do. All of these practices result in some really great wine, which I had the chance to taste through. Because of the health of the soil, the balance of sugar, acid, and flavor, and the distinctiveness of each terroir, the wines are well balanced and vibrant, including my "Best of 2010" pick, the 2008 Mouvedre.

Is this a new direction for winemaking? Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but I can tell you that if you are looking for a place that values the land as well as the great wines they produce, Quivira is a must stop on any trip to Sonoma County.

Cheers!

Powered by Pinot Noir: Panther Creek Cellars

2011-01-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

Panther Creek Cellars, a mainstay in the Oregon wine industry, began production in 1986 under Ken Wright. Their tasting room and production facility, located off the main street in McMinnville in a power plant dating to 1923, adds a unique element, as a combination of beautiful brick and woodwork greets guests. The occupation of the former power plant is both a novelty and a nod towards sustainability. Oddly enough, they moved to the plant location in 1989, the same year as the release of LL Cool J's Walking with a Panther release. (That's really just a coincidence.) During a visit to McMinnville, we received an invite from Panther Creek sales and social media maven Kendra Wessels to come by and check out the wines.

On to the wines: Panther Creek makes a fair bit of wine, and they make wine from a variety of Oregon's best vineyards. Panther Creek looks for a few characteristics when they source grapes. They are looking for interesting Pinot Noir and also for grapes that show the variety that Oregon's Willamette Valley is really capable of presenting in that varietal.

Kendra gave us the rundown on the Panther Creek approach. Of the nearly 8,000 cases that Panther Creek makes, 3,500 of those are their Winemaker’s Cuvee. This Cuvee is comprised of a variety of barrels and single vineyards, and is selected first, blended, and put away. The barrel selection changes from year to year with the goal being a wine that is a bit fruit forward and accessible now, as it's always the first release of every vintage.

After the Cuvee is chosen, Panther Creek turns their attention to their single vineyard designate Pinot Noirs. Panther Creek has been in the Pinot game for a good long time and have long-standing relationships with a number of vineyard managers and growers. They've honed in on the blocks they're interested in and focus on lower than average crop yields and fruit that really reflects the unique terroir of the site.

We tasted the 2007 Vista Hills Pinot, from the the Red Hills of Dundee. The wine was brighter than the other Pinots we had tasted. There were marked red fruit characters and a tinge of the earthy elements that are considered signatures of the Dundee Hills.

The 2007 Shea Vineyard Pinot from the Yamhill Carlton AVA followed. Panther Creek is the first winery to make a Shea Vineyard designate Pinot; and after tasting it, it’s clear why this was a good move, which many winemakers followed. The wine exhibits dark fruit, pepper and spice and is a darker, more full-bodied wine that can likely lay down a long while.

The 2007 Verde is not a single vineyard designate but rather a blend of "green" vineyards, or vineyards with LIVE certification. This Pinot blends Momtazi, Temperance Hill, and Elton Vineyards in an homage to sustainable viticultural practices. 2007 was the first year that Panther Creek produced the Verde and it's a brighter Pinot, with some minerality and young red fruit characters.

We also sampled the 2008 Pinot Gris, which blends fruit from the WIllamette Valley and Southern Oregon. The Pinot Gris is fantastic, and brings the structure structure from the Willamette Valley and the acidity from Southern Oregon together into a damn fine wine. We also had the opportunity to sample the 2006 Reserve 20th Anniversary Pinot, which is an enormous wine and could likely lay down into eternity.

Panther Creek has been bringing Oregon Pinot Noir to us for a long time, and their 8,000 cases are very well distributed and can be found throughout the country. They clearly have their stuff together. Kendra is another example of that: she has an extensive knowledge of the Valley, the vineyard sites and AVA characteristics, and she goes out of her way to give you an opportunity to try what Panther Creek offers. She opened up the tasting room for Gwynne and I while on her way to enjoy a day off. If you're in the Willamette Valley, or most places in the country you can likely find Panther Creek's Cuvee. Give their single vineyard wines a whirl, and go see them in McMinnville if you get the chance, they've got a great location, great wine, and some of the nicest tasting room staff we’ve come across.

2010 From Our Glass to Yours

2011-01-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

2011. It's here. I have a feeling that the coming year is going to be an awesome one for all associated with The Oregon Wine Blog. 2010 was a pretty rad year also, and in true TOWB style, I'm going to spend a few sentances pontificating on some of the highlights of the year in a general sense and then get down to the nitty gritty...the "Best of 2010" selection from each of our contributors.

The past year has been huge for us here at the Blog. In the way of quantification of 2010, our staff has made 154 posts, nearly 1000 tweets, attended countless events, and cleared and refilled our respective wine racks a number of times over the last 12 months. We successfully completed the second annual Le Tour de Pinot. We released the Taste of Terrior and the They Make Wine There? series', the Blog was converted to the [yellow tail] Wine Blog for a magical day, and who can forget the Voodoo Donut pairing of last New Year's Eve? Our California office got up and running, we did our first review of Sake, and we chronicled a legendary winemaker's battle with a large crab. Who can forget our Picazo 7Seventeen experience, time at the Taste Washington, or the Sonoma Wine Country Weekend? We had a writer on the judging panel of a wine competition, and oh yea, released a new layout and logo for the Blog. It truly has been a banner year, and I'm just scratching the surface of highlights.

With all of that excellence swirling around, what whet our palates in 2010? Following the format of last year's Best of 2009 post, I didn't want to provide too much structure for our year in review. For this post, each writer could "do whatever the hell they want" as long as it involves wine and 2010; it could be the best bottle, best experience, best varietal, most handsome blogger, best pair of spandex...what? *Cough*, back to wine. Without further ado, I bring you the Best of 2010 Picks from the Staff at The Oregon Wine Blog.

Jesse's Pick:

2008 Quivira Vineyards Mourvedre

It’s hard to believe that we are already at the end of 2010 and talking about our “Best of 2010” post. I have been blessed to be a part of the team here at The Oregon Wine Blog and have made some great friends here in California wine country. I have been fortunate to taste a lot of great wines and to attend a lot of great events so coming up with just one pick is not an easy task. I decided to think about a couple things when defining what “best” meant for me. Obviously, the wine must be good and it must stand on its own. After a day of tasting I like a wine that I can easily go back to and remember everything about it. Next, the wine must change over time, even in the tasting room. This shows complexity and richness of the wine. Lastly, it must be accessible to everyone. I’ve had some really great $100 bottles of wine this year, but not everyone, including myself, can afford those on a regular basis. When I take all that into account, I came up with a wine from a place that I will be writing a couple in depth posts about in early 2011. My best of 2010 is the 2008 Mourvedre from Quivira Vineyards.

Quivira Vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley has become one of my favorite places to visit. Practicing biodynamic winemaking, Quivira takes great pride and is intentional about every step in the winemaking process. On a recent trip I had the chance to tour the farm, meet some of the animals, and chat with the Nancy, the general manager, and Hugh, the winemaker for almost three hours. The 2008 Mourvedre was fifth on the tasting list but stood out amongst all the rest. With flavors of blackberry, plum, and vanilla, this wine felt very rich upon first sip and then stuck around awhile on the finish, which was just fine by me. The care and craft that must go into harvesting Mourvedre comes through and is very apparent in the wine. Rarely seen as a single varietal wine, likely because of the challenges it presents during harvest, Mourvedre is slowly popping up around the Dry Creek Valley as more than just a blending grape and I highly recommend giving it a chance if you can, especially from Quivira.

Josh's Pick:

2001 Griffin Creek "The Griffin"

Boy, this was a tough choice. For me, wine is often defined by the experience in which it is consumed, and 2010 had some phenomenal experiences and wines to draw from. The Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages from my Sonoma trip, the Cooper L'inzio from Picazo 7Seventeen, and the Harris Bridge Sarah's Story from our winter wine pairing dinner stick out in my mind. Spindrift's Pinot Blanc and barrel samples of the 2008 Tyee Pinot helped define Le Tour de Pinot, and Gordon Brother's Six Reserve Cabernet was just a damn good bottle. An awesome day at Pend d'Oreille Cellars complemented their Malbec, and how could I forget perhaps the best Thanksgiving ever with the 2008 Erath Leland Vineyard Pinot Noir? Ringing in the new year with Coeur d'Alene Cellars Boushey Syrah, Barnard Griffin Ciel du Cheval Merlot, and Gilbert Estate Malbec was a pretty rad time as well. I was racking my brain trying to figure out how on earth I was going to narrow my pick down to one and then I remembered March, and definitely my Best of 2010: The 2001 Griffin Creek "The Griffin", produced by Willamette Valley Vineyards.

Rick and I are both children of March, and for our birthdays in 2010 we decided to go big or go home. We wanted The Griffin and we wanted a magnum of it. It was the perfect gift for each other. We each pay for half, crack it open, and get to have a hell of an evening drinking the creme de la creme of wine in celebration. Easier said than done. Turns out, there hadn't been a vintage of The Griffin released in a few years and it was not readily available. After some finagling, wheeling, dealing, and enjoying the perks of being a long-time member of Willamette Valley Vineyard's wine club, a magnum of the 2001 vintage was located in the library and was tucked away behind the tasting room counter with our name on it. The morning of the celebration, we walked into the tasting room and found Mickey Bellman, founding shareholder, working the counter. He pulled the bottle out, got a wistful look in his eye, and said: Wow, how did you get this? This is a really special bottle, you know. It was our first magnum, and it was indeed a special bottle.

The Griffin, a mythological creature that is half eagle and half lion, traditionally carries a duty to protect the treasures of the gods; it is the namesake of Griffin Creek's best effort, a meritage blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (71%), Merlot (21%), Cabernet Franc (7%), and a sconce of Malbec (1%). From the Rogue Valley's best clones, vineyard lots, and barrels, The Griffin is barrel aged for 11 months, assembled into a four barrel lot, and aged for another 8 months prior to bottling. A well-balanced wine with a wonderful nose of berry and a bit of minerality, this blend is as smooth as silk and left us wanting more. The bottle is pretty sexy, too, with simply a gold Griffin on the front. This one will always hold a special place on my palate.

Rick's Pick:

Non-Traditional Wines of the Pacific Northwest

I've been thinking long and hard about what I consider the most stand-out wine of 2010. This was a year of incredible variety and we hit up a ton of events, so it's not like I don't have much to choose from. Instead of picking just one one, however, I'm going use a strategy Time magazine has used in the past as a cop-out to make all sorts of people winners. My winner as the stand-out wine of 2010 is a fairly broad category: the nontraditional varietal.

Hear me out. While going through the process of identifying just one wine, wines such as Cana's Feast's Counoise, Airfield's Mustang and Lightning blends, and Zerba's Cab Franc all ran through my mind. That made me realize that what got me excited about wine in 2010 was more of a consistent theme of Northwest winemakers pushing the envelope and working with new grapes. Sure, this doesn't always mean a non-traiditional grape will outshine a cab sauv (and it most cases it won't), but it's going to grab my eye and I'm going to be more prone to wanting to try it.

What I'm really trying to get at is that if you're reading this blog, you're probably a somewhat experienced wine drinker at this point. You know your reds from your whites (beyond just color) and have settled into the varietals you enjoy. Instead of complacency, however, I highly urge you to go out and find a bottle of something with a grape you've never heard of. Maybe it's a blend at first, but the point is there are dozens of other varietals out there that we normally don't see in the Northwest that are finding their way into some of my favorite wines. I expect this trend to continue, so do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of Tempranillo, or Counoise, or Marsanne, or Mourvedre, or...

Clive's Pick:

2007 Waters Winery Forgotten Hills Syrah and 2006 Forgeron Cellars Zinfandel

I tasted a lot of great wine this year too, there were some real stand outs, the 2007 Solena Estate Domaine Danielle Laurent Pinot Noir, Pursued by Bear Cabernet, Cote Bonneville Chardonnay and an entire flight of Terra Blanca's Onyx, 1997 through 2006. There were two particular wines that I kept coming back to this year. The first wine I tasted at the Washington Wine Commission's Restaurant Awards in the days leading up to Taste Washington. The 2007 Waters Winery Forgotten Hills Syrah, is a stinky, gamey earthy Syrah. An expression of that vineyard site that is consistent vintage to vintage. This is a style of wine, similar to those stinky Syrahs from Cayuse and the Reynvaan Family that you either love or hate. Put me down for love on this one. It is a profound example of the variance you get from Washington's Syrah, which has me time and again claiming this state as the best place to grow Syrah.

The second wine I really fell in love with this year was the 2006 Forgeron Cellars Zinfandel. It's a beautiful wine with different berry and cherry elements that pop out at you but what I love is the spice that comes across in the wine. Marie Eve Gilla came from France to Washington over a decade ago and she makes her wines in a style that blends old world technique with Washington's world class fruit. The wine is a blend of three different vineyards from three AVAs, Walla Walla's Les Collines, Wahluke Slope's Clifton Vineyeards and Alder Ridge of the Horse Heaven Hills. These two wines have nothing in common except that they're both very beautiful examples of incredible winemakers and the world class wine that is coming from Washington.

Micheal's Pick:

2007 Cristom Vineyards Louise Vineyard Pinot Noir

2010, like some years before it is one that found me not drinking lots of wine. Correction, I am drinking wine, but not writing about it. I don't know if it is writer's block, or what, but I am just not writing about the wines I am drinking. I am hoping that 2011 will find me finding my mojo for writing about wine the way I had before. As a result of a "hiatus" I find myself nervous about recapping my favorite wine from the last year. I am finding myself having to balance this post with an upcoming post that I have been working on since Thanksgiving weekend, and when I finally make that post, you will hopefully see why it took me so long. But nonetheless, my selection for 2010 wine of the year is the 2007 Cristom Vineyards Louise Vineyard Pinot Noir. Because I am sitting on a post from Thanksgiving, this entry may not be as clean and obvious as one might hope.

Josh and I went to Cristom Thanksgiving weekend, and I think they have become one of my new favorite wineries. When I tasted this wine, I was in love with it, literally. One of the very first words to come to mind with it was pure "elegance." On the nose you get a fragrant fruit and spice. The burst of flavor that erupts on the palate is something I find as a hallmark of Cristom Pinot Noirs. The colour, the legs, everything about this wine makes it a top tier wine. Whether you enjoy it by itself at the end of the day, or with a meal, the perfect balance of fruit and spice, and the way the flavors linger on the palate makes this wine my top of 2010.

So where do we go from here? Glass by glass into 2011, of course. Related, I have some news to share with our wonderful readers. After nearly 5 years in Oregon, I will be moving to Seattle at the end of January. Now you probably are thinking the same thing that has been vocalized a number of times as I share this exciting development with various people, "But Josh, what about The Oregon Wine Blog?" What about it, I say. We're certainly not going away, if that is what they are wondering. With Rick in Portland and Micheal in Salem, we still have strong roots in Oregon in addition to Clive and I in Washington, and Jesse in California. Will we become the Pacific Northwest Wine Blog? Maybe. We kind of already are in terms of content, huh? Long story short, I don't know what the next year will bring but I do know that you can count on us for another year of our life as not-really-snooty up-and-coming winos in the Pacific Northwest. Beyond that, I'm not really worried about labels and it's a heck of a lot of work to rebrand.

Vino Collabos 2: Wine Giants Cast Long Shadows

2010-12-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

The Vino Collabo series takes its inspiration from the music industry’s recent tendency towards putting talented artists in the same room and seeing what comes out of that natural synergy. While many times it’s the musicians themselves, (read winemakers) it’s often the producers of the collaboration who are the real stars. They bring a vision, an understanding of complexity, and a knack for spotting talent. Allen Shoup is just such a “producer;” a man who has a knack for seeing talent and has a vision for what Washington wine can be.

Long Shadows Vintners is the ultimate collaboration when it comes to bringing the world to Washington wine. The project is the brainchild of true Washington wine pioneer Allen Shoup. To try and encapsulate all that Shoup has done for Washington, and really the global wine industry, would take up pages and pages, and this is a blog, not a legitimate source of news like a magazine or newspaper. Let me put it to you like this: Allen Shoup is a baller. He was a Chateau Ste Michelle pioneer, involved with Columbia Crest, and it's not too much to say he is one of the people who built Washington wine. Baller.

What Shoup brings to the table in Long Shadows is his considerable clout and his understanding of the talent of the world's most talented winemakers as they try their hand at crafting beautiful wine from Washington fruit. But that's what Shoup does; he laid the groundwork for the Antinori & Chateau Ste. Michelle partnership in Col Solare and is working with Ernst Loosen and the Eroica Rieslings as well.

The Long Shadows Vintners program has a broader approach. As a result, we see partnerships with renowned winemakers from California, Germany, Australia, France and Tuscany come together in Long Shadows’ nine wines. I'll focus on four wines specifically as those were the ones I tasted through.

The Poet's Leap Riesling 08 is made by Germany's Armin Diel, a man who has Riesling in his blood. His family has been making wine in Germany since 1802. That's a little while. This Riesling is a beautiful example of what Washington can produce; it has great acidity and residual sugar below 1.5. The wine's hint of sweetness allows the citrus elements and minerality to really show themselves. The wine retails around $19. While it’s a bit more than what you might usually pay for Washington Riesling, pick one up and experience what old world deference can do with this state's fruit.

The Pirouette 2006 is a Bourdeaux style blend that's crafted by Augustin Huneeus Sr. and Philippe Melka, a Frenchman who's made his mark all over Napa Valley. Melka's reputation for technical expertise and his ability to blend wines to a beautiful conclusion was paired with Huneeus's philosophy of allowing the terroir to show itself. The resulting Pirouette is a deep dark blend anchored by more than 50% Cabernet. The Wahluke Slope Cabernet gives the wine tannic structure and ripe fruit characteristics and lots of ripe dark fruit characters on the palate with a tobacco and earthen nose. This wine retails around $54.

The Sequel Syrah 06 is a what winemaker John Duval sees as the follow up to his career crafting the legendary Australian Shiraz, Penfolds Grange. John started at Penfolds 36 years ago and among his accolades are a Winemaker of the Year award and Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator in 1995. The man knows his way around Syrah, or Shiraz, whatever you decide to call it. The Sequel, also around $54, contains 2% Cabernet and exhibits a lot of the fruit character of Washington Syrah: loads of dark fruit, plum and a savory nose.

The last wine we looked at from Long Shadows was the Saggi 2006. I’m not sure how to sum this up except to say it's one of the best wines I've had in some time. The wine, crafted by Italian father and son, Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari, is a Super-Tuscan wine, and, in this case, is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Syrah. The wine is superb, with complex fruit characteristics, a impression of the oak that was used and as a result, has a beautiful nose with one of the most luxurious finishes I've ever experienced. This was my favorite of the four samples Long Shadows provided. This wine retails at $45. Go get it, it's easily worth the price tag.

The Long Shadows collabo is a fascinating one. It’s an opportunity for those of us who tend to favor the wines of Washington to see how some of the most talented winemakers in the world approach the world class fruit grown here. It’s also a validation that this is indeed a special place for wine to grow.
(These wines were provided as samples.)

Oregon's Oldest Vines* The Pines 1852

2010-12-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

Down in the Columbia River Gorge there are some old Zinfandel vines that are giving Northwest wine fans a look at what old vines in this part of the country can do. At the heart of the estate vineyards at The Pines 1852 are Zinfandel vines that are over one hundred years old.

A stalwart in the growing of vinifera grapes here in the Northwest, Lonnie Wright is the proprietor of The Pines 1852. Lonnie got his start working in 1978 beside some of Washington and the Northwest's viticultural pioneers they planted the original vineyards at Chateau Ste. Michelle's Columbia Crest. Lonnie spent time throughout Washington and Oregon and became known as a skilled and knowledgeable vineyard manager. In the early 80s Lonnie started working with someone who was planting vineyards on their property which included some old and neglected vines in The Dalles, Oregon.

Lonnie worked on that project all the while continuing to plant vineyards for others. Fruit from these various vineyards was going to notable wineries in the Northwest like Sineann, Owen Roe, Maryhill and Cathedral Ridge. Lonnie eventually bought that land in The Dalles that he had long been working and leasing, including those old neglected Zinfandel vines from the late 1800s. These Zinfandel vines were originally planted by Louis Comini, an Italian immigrant and stone mason who brought the vines from his homeland of Italy. Most of the wine producing vineyards in the Northwest were eradicated during Prohibition. Those old vines survived by being used to make sacramental wine. In addition to time and cultural change, the vines also survived severe neglect. With Lonnie's care and knowledge they were revived to the point where they were producing fruit again. Lonnie was selling that fruit to Sineann's Peter Rosback; this is the fruit used in that winery’s Old Vine flagship wine.

In 2001 Lonnie decided to keep some of that old Zinfandel and make a wine of his own out of it. He started his own winery and solicited the help of longtime friend and partner Peter Rosback to make his wine for The Pines 1852. Lonnie and his daughter Sierra are now selling their wines in their tasting room in downtown Hood River, Oregon.

The Pines is producing a Merlot and Syrah and two Zinfandels from their estate vines. Of the two Zinfandels one is from the old vines as well as a wine from a block that was planted in 1987 from cuttings taken from that old vine block. In addition to the estate wines, The Pines is also making wine from other vineyards and blending their estate fruit with wine from other sites. The most notable wine of course is that Old Vine Zinfandel, but the Big Red is a well done blend and their Pinot Gris is a food wine with a load of acidity. A look at their full catalog is available here.

Part of what makes Northwest wine so exciting is that it's all so young and still figuring out what works and what doesn't - from choosing the right grape clones to how to best orient the vineyards. The style of wine being made at The Pines - while New World - speaks to terroir and character that reminds many of the Old World wines. With all this new and exciting potential ahead of us, it's great to try such a rare example of some of the Northwest's oldest vineyards and wonder where we might be if it weren't for Prohibition.

* I don't know if these are actually Oregon's oldest vines, quit being so damn literal.

What's this, a Beer Dinner?

2010-12-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, a beer dinner. I had decided to attend this particular at the last minute, but as I sat at our table at del Alma Restaurant perusing the menu for the Block 15 Beer Dinner, I was sure glad I did. I was prepared to enjoy the evening with friends as simply a consumer of fine beer and cuisine free of any responsibility for taking "notes" or "photos" as a blogger, then Nick Arzner stopped by. The owner of Block 15 Restaurant and Brewery in Corvallis, OR, and a good friend, Nick said "Hey, this would be a great opportunity to compare a beer dinner to some of the wine dinners you have written about." As with most ideas that come from the brain of a brewer, it was a great one so I broke out the trusty pen and iPhone camera and got ready to eat.

Located on the Corvallis waterfront, del Alma is a New Latin restaurant inspired by the flavors and cuisines of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain. Chef Mitch Rosenbaum (previously of Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in Las Vegas) brings a passion for the fresh, vibrant flavors of Latin America and pairs it with the offerings of the Northwest to create an exciting and unique menu. Followers of the Blog have certainly read of Block 15 previously. As a refresher, Block 15 specializes in locally sourced casual food and premium, from the source, craft brews. The food is good...and the beer is unreal.

Background out of the way, it's time for the food and beer. The format of this particular dinner was one that was reminiscent of a wine dinner: four courses and an intermezzo, all paired with a different craft brew selected by the the chef to complement his food.

First Course

"Nu IPA" paired with Moule Frites Exotique
Red curry coconut mussels and yucca fries and green plantain tostones with lemongrass aioli.

NuIPA is brewed with Citrah, Sorachi Ace, and Simcoe hops deviating from the traditional IPA hops. Aromas of mango, lemon, and jam. Full hop flavor with a nice bitter finish. 6.5% ABV, 65 IBUs

After a wonderful appetizer of sweet potato bread with a bourbon honey jalepeno cherry butter, the red curry coconut sauce complementing the mussels was quite delicious. The star of this course, though, were the yucca fries dipped in aioli, followed immediately by a sip of beer. The crisp yet light characteristics of the NuIPA were perfect.

Second Course

"La Ferme de Demon" paired with Five Spice Pork Belly and Diver Scallop
Pan seared served with papaya slaw and sesame sweet soy vinaigrette.

La Ferme de Demon is a black farmhouse ale brewed with Belgian Pilsner malt, French malted wheat, Candi Sugar, roast malt, and farmhouse yeast. Aged for over 8 months in three barrel types: Pinot Noir, Oregon Oak, and Bourbon with Brettanomyces. After barrel aging and blending, this dark ruby black ale is further matured wiht a touch of Oregon Tart Cherry. 8.75% ABV, 31 IBUs.

The immediate consensus from our table was that the beer was "so good", like "drinking scotch without the bad parts" according to friend Matt. I don't know what he's talking about as I can't identify a bad part of scotch, but I digress. The dish was like a deconstructed bacon-wrapped scallop with some succulunt pork belly and a nice spicy slaw. Nom nom nom.

Third Course

"Figgy Pudding" paired with Galantine of Duck
Sundried bing cherries, pecans, and andouille sausage accompanied by Congnac fig jam and Aboriginal Ale mustard.

Figgy Pudding is brewed with English Pale and specialty malts and molasses. Matured in freshly empties brandy barrels and conditioned with mission figs. Gently spiced with Ceylon cinnamon and nutmeg. Complex aromas and flavors of port, figs, spice, brandy, oak and vanilla with a velvety warm finish. 11% ABV, 43 IBUs

So the velvety warm finish on this definitely has a little something to do with the 11% alcohol content, pushing that of wine, and after the 8.75% La Ferme we were definitely feeling good by the third course. The Figgy Pudding is definitely an amazing beer; count yourself lucky if you picked up a bottle before they sold out. The course was somewhat of a menagerie of different things on the plate, the fig jam being the shining star when paired with the beer.

Intermezzo

"Wonka's Wit" with a Prickly Pear Sorbet

Wonka's Wit is a Belgian style white ale spiced with orange peel and coriander. Matured in Pinot Noir barrels for 7-14 months with wild yeast and Pedicoccus and Lactobacillus. Refreshingly sour with citrus, tropical fruit, and farmhouse notes. 5% ABV, 20 IBUs

The beer was tart and sour, the sorbet was super sweet - a perfect combination. The sorbet. Wow. And, another beer aged in Pinot Noir barrels, it's almost like wine! In reviewing my notes, I found a poorly drawn heart next to this course without much else. It was that good.

Fourth Course

"Super Nebula" paired with Braised Lamb Shank
Dark chocolate mole and orange basil risotto.

Super Nebula is 100% aged in freshly emptied bourbon barrels and additionally aged on house roasted Cocoa nibs. Deep black brew with a brown creamy head. Heavy bodied with complex flavors and notes of molasses, vanilla, bourbon, coffee, roast fig and wood. Huge depth with a warming balanced finish. 11% ABV, 58 IBUs

Another 11% brew. Heh. The lamb was wonderfully prepared and fell off the bone. The mole was mild and complemented the coffee and cocoa notes on the beer. Unfortunately, the risotto was woefully undercooked; Chef Ramsay would have sent it back with some colorful euphemisms. After the final course, we got a little surprise to enjoy while we finished the Super Nebula - a house made stout truffle with bitter cocoa powder. The truffle hit a homerun in a major way.

So...how did it compare to a wine dinner? In many respects, a perfect pairing so to speak. Both events feature local craft beverage producers showing their wares with local gourmet cuisine. Food and wine...food and beer...they go together like Bert and Ernie. So, if you get a chance, hit up a beer dinner for a change in pace, and next time you are in Corvallis, del Ami and Block 15 are musts.

Coeur d'Alene Cellars: Idaho's Washington Wine

2010-12-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

On a recent business trip to Coeur d'Alene, Josh and I decided to meet afterward at some of Idaho's wineries. I'd done some research for the blog several months ago and I knew they were making wine in Idaho. It usually takes on one of two forms; folks are making Idaho wine, typically from the Snake River Valley, or they're sourcing fruit from Washington. In the second case, it's hard to blame them. A couple examples of wineries that are sourcing Washington fruit are Coeur d'Alene Cellars and Pend Oreille Winery.

I contacted Coeur d'Alene Cellars owner and proprietor Kimber Gates and let her know that Josh and I would be in town and that we'd love to get a look at their wines. Kimber was happy to hear from us and we arranged a time to come around. When we arrived at the tasting room we were greeted by Hana-Lee, tasting room manager and Coeur d'Alene native. She explained a little about the retail operations between the tasting room facility and their downtown wine bar, Barrel Room #6. The tasting room is a newer, slick-looking facility on the outskirts of Coeur d'Alene about ten minutes from downtown. As we talked, Hana-Lee got us started with the two Viogniers that Coeur d'Alene Cellars makes, L'Artiste, named in honor of Sarah Gates, Kimber's mother (who does all the paintings on the label), and the other Viognier, named Viognier. The three of us concurred that of the two, we preferred L'Artiste, which was fermented in stainless and had excellent acidity and tons of bright fruit.

While we were waiting for winemaker Warren Schutz to join us, Hana Lee explained that Coeur d'Alene Cellars released their first vintage in 2002. They only did two wines at the time. They’re a family operation owned by the Gates family, not of Microsoft, but of Idaho. Kimber is the operating partner and manager with her father, and her mother paints all the labels. The tasting room and winery facility opened in 2004. Hana Lee continued us down the 6 for 6 tastings that they do for tasting room guests. We moved to the 2007 Cloud Nine, which is mostly Syrah with some Viognier and Mouvedre in there, a very reasonably priced and smooth drinking wine.

As Warren joined us, he explained that he came on board in 2004. Warren got his wine education at UC Davis and did some work in California as well as Washington before coming to Idaho. He was in Spokane when he got word from friends at Spokane winery Arbor Crest that Coeur d'Alene Cellars needed some assistance for crush. Warren went from 10 hours a week to the winemaker within a year.

Nearly all of the sites were selected when Warren joined the group, but they have since expanded to other vineyards, such as Lonesome Springs, while moving away from a few others. They get the preponderance of their fruit from Horse Heaven Hills, specifically McKinley Springs. Warren credits that hot dry climate, known for being Washington's windiest AVA, for the concentration and intensity Coeur d'Alene Cellars can get in their wines, particularly their Syrah.

As Warren has been able to get out to the sites more often, he’s become more in touch with the fruit, able to work with the growers and to figure in variability as Coeur d'Alene develops their style of wines. The next two wines we drank (both from 2006) were a testimony to that. The Envy was grown from some of the newer Syrah plantings at McKinley Springs, and resulted in a wine that was structured and masculine, with dark fruits and pepper. In contrast, the Opulence, from the older vines, demonstrated elegance and hints of the co-fermented Viognier, with a nose that also whispered it's new French oak influence.

We left Coeur d'Alene Cellars impressed with the wines they’re producing. The Washington fruit, the commitment to making great wine, and their refusal to waiver from that commitment shows itself in the styles and seriousness of the wine they're making. Located in a tourist location, it would be easy for Coeur d'Alene Cellars to put some plonk in a bottle and sell it to the the summer visitors in one of the NW's seasonal playgrounds. Instead they're making beautiful wines, particularly the Rhone style releases that speak to Washington terroir and commitment from Warren and Kimber. Our only regret was that we weren't in town while Barrel Room #6 was open to check out that operation.

Varietally Correct Soda; Vignette Wine Country Soda

2010-12-20T10:54:00.000-08:00

The foodie revolution we've undergone these last few years has resulted in a significant uptick in quality restaurants, more imaginative cuisines, and a serious look at what many of us may have considered casual fare. The trickle down effect has caused some serious advances in street food as well as more attention paid to things like soda pop, candy, and chips. If you're me, this translates to awesome.

You may recall that not too long ago, I wrote a piece on the new Pinot Noir soda being released at this year's upcoming IPNC. On the heels of that piece I received an email from Patrick Galvin of Vignette Wine Country Soda. Patrick wanted me to know about the soda that he was making out of Berkeley California, using California fruit. Naturally, after the publicity he'd received in both the New York Times and the Oprah magazine, The Oregon Wine Blog was the next logical step. Patrick sent along a bottle of each of his sodas. He's currently making a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a Rose soda, with the Rose soda made from Grenache, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

Following proper tasting protocols we started our soda tasting with the Chardonnay varietal soda. Gwynne chuckled and shook her head at me as I poured the soda into the stemware. A couple swirls and sips later and I could tell that this wasn't your ordinary soda. The nose was sweeter, as this was soda, but there were serious ripened pear and honeysuckle on the nose of the Chardonnay soda. The soda has a nicely balanced sweetness to it that’s complimented by the crispness. It was very refreshing. The Rose was next. It received similar stemware treatment, and swirling and sipping revealed a whole lotta strawberry on this wine, er, soda.

We wrapped up tasting of the Vignette sodas with the Pinot Noir. There were lots of berry flavors, and so much blackberry that it probably could have passed for a blackberry soda. Again, the soda's sweetness is light and balanced, though Gwynne found the Pinot Noir to be the sweetest of the three.

These sodas? They're really, really good. As Patrick noted, they don't taste like wine, they taste like the grapes themselves. They're all naturally sweetened by the grapes, and are comprised of sparkling water and concentrated juice from the particular varietal. Without the fermentation that wine goes through they lack the complexity in flavor that you'll find in wine but there are certainly a few things going on in the way they smell.

The biggest thing Gwynne and I took away was that these sodas were really refreshing. They had light fruit flavors and were a great change of pace.

Patrick told me that he had developed his Vignette sodas after he and his wife had their first child. He'd noticed that there weren't a lot of great non alcoholic options for her during her pregnancy. The Vignette Wine Country Sodas are luckily available in wine country down in California and they're starting to pop up in Oregon as well. If you're out doing some tasting, these beverages are a great way to let kids, pregnant women or designated drivers feel a little more like they're part of the experience.

Vignette sodas have been around now for four years and have made their way up to Oregon. You can find them at The Allison Inn & Spa, Immortal Pie & Larder and Foster & Dobbs. You can also buy directly from Vignette here by the 12 pack. The next time you are in the mood for a change of pace but can't bare the thought of a day without Pinot Noir, pop the cap on a well chilled Vignette Country Soda and thank me later.

You Can Find Me In the Club...

2010-12-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

50 Cent is, in some people's eyes, an icon. He was shot a bunch of times and lived through it, he also made a song out of the classic nursery rhyme "you can find me in the club, rub a dub dub, three men in the tub." But this post has nothing to do with him, except the title. The last thing I want is to get into a "beef" with 50 Cent. The guy has massive pectorals and guns, and I don't have either. While classic hip hop beefs have only augmented an emcee's career (see Nas, Jay Z, Kool Moe Dee, and Big Daddy Kane) others have ended in tragedy. The most compelling and tragic ending being that between Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. Basically I wrote this post to begin a discussion about wine clubs, and now here I am going down a tangent that could get me shot. On to wine clubs, then.

Wine clubs serve a variety of purposes for wineries and winemakers. Neil Cooper of Cooper Wine Company gave me the skinny on what wine club members mean to him. For one; they provide a stability in sales. Wine clubs often have various tiers of commitments, but even the lowest tier often commits a member to a case of wine annually. For smaller production wineries who typically have a nominal marketing budget, this guaranteed and repeat customer base certainly helps you sleep better at night. At a recent wine club launch by Laurelhurst Cellars, who only make a couple hundred cases of wine per vintage, there were about 60 people in attendance. New club members were in committing to either one case or two with Laurelhurst Cellars, which means they sold somewhere between 20 and 25% of their release just on this club launch.

Another thing that Neil talked about is having club members act as "brand ambassadors." Club members are obviously invested and as such, they're likely to spread the word about your wine to their friends. If I believe in something to the point that I’m willing to make a substantial commitment, I'm likely to share it with my friends and even passersby, whether it's the wait staff at a restaurant or diners who may have taken note of the bottle. Neil says that club members are also more likely to buy more wine simply because they come by the tasting room more often and purchase wine above their club commitments. Another element that you may notice is that club members often develop a relationship with the wineries and the staff. That relationship, particularly in the case of the smaller production wineries, is a very personal one. While they're financially invested they're often emotionally invested in the success of the winery or winemaker and so they bring friends, coworkers and acquaintances to a brand of wine.

As a customer and someone interested in a wine club, the question I asked was which club should I join? I know and have lots of great personal relationships with several winemakers. For the past four years I'd been a member of one wine club, as a gift from my brother-in-law. The Barnard Griffin Reserve wine club was a great club of which to be a member. The wines were very good, particularly their Merlot, and they did a lot of things really well, including offering club member-only wines. They make such a variety of wines, and the reserves are all so good that it provided a really well-rounded experience.

What was missing for me, however, was the personal relationship. The people in the tasting room were very nice, but as they’re in the Tri-Cities and given their size, I never got to know those folks. The other missing component was exclusivity. Excepting the member-only wines, the reserve wines I received in my shipment were also available at the state store and local groceries. Finding the wines in grocery stores for less than I paid as a club member didn't necessarily make me very happy. Having said all that, I enjoyed my four years as a member, particularly the year my brother-in-law paid for.

I recently changed clubs and am now a Silver Level member of Laurelhurst Cellars. I made this decision for a few reasons. For one, they offer different levels of commitment and I can afford one case of wine a year while still having a wine budget with which to sample other wines. Secondly, they're going to do wine club member-only releases and first offerings. These guys are only making a couple hundred cases and they sell through all of their wine each year. My membership guarantees me access. Thirdly, I have a personal relationship with them. I met Greg, Gabe and Dave through the course of writing a piece for the blog. Their story is inspiring, and it's easy to relate to them because they're a small operation and they're likable down-to-earth guys. Fourthly, as an additional bonus, they're not far from my house. I can get to the club events; I can pick up my wine and avoid shipping costs; and while I know I can find their wine around Seattle, I'm not going to see it deeply discounted.

So what wine club is right for you? How the hell am I supposed to know? I write a wine blog, I'm not a psychic. I'd certainly recommend the Laurelhurst Cellars club. If I had an unlimited budget, there are a few others I’d definitely join. Some clubs of note: Syncline Wines, Anam Cara Cellars, and Kiona. The first two because they make such great wines, and Kiona probably has a leg up on everyone when it comes to awesome club shipments. Their Spring 2010 shipment was all Merlot, 1993, 1996, 1999 2001 and 2005 Merlots. Awesome.

20 Something by the Washington Wine Commission; a stroke of genius

2010-12-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

You hear about it all the time - what will the wine industry do to court the millenials? I've seen some of their attempts at the local grocery store or wine shop. There are wines for girls who are girlie or wine for people who like labels with animals, or the often popular really cheap wine. Unfortunately, many of these attempts seem like they were conceived of by someone in a dark basement somewhere who's completely out of touch with what people want. "Put a pink label on it because young people like pink." "What you need here is a kangaroo. Young people love kangaroos, makes them think of petting zoos." "Young people don't really care about what wine tastes like, just as long as they can drink lots of it. Make it cheap."

While there may be some truth to those statements, they miss the mark. The Washington Wine Commission recently tried another tack to bring young people to the wonderful wine being made in Washington, and it was simply brilliant. In fact, they pretty much nailed it. What follows is either a formula for you to copy if want the youth of today to begin to think seriously about your wine, or an obituary for those ugly pink girlie, kangaroo-baring cheap wines. At least we can hope.

The first lesson of 20 Something is that the Washington Wine Commission is not making that square peg round hole mistake. If you want the younger generation to think about wine seriously, you bring it to them in a setting where they feel at home. The venue for 20 Something felt very much like a bar or a night club, and winemakers were making the rounds, rather than being stationed behind tables. This allowed them to approach the attendees as opposed to making it the other way around. If guests expressed interest in a wine, they were given a card with the name of the winery, the wine, and where they can find them online. Guests could collect the cards of wines they really liked without needing to remember all the details.

The old guard in wine is often left wondering why young people aren't coming to their chateau-y castle-y winery in ye olde countryside. That's simple: they're too busy texting. You expect them to put down their smartphones long enough to drive out to wine country, and get past the gated entrance to your chateau? Au contraire, mon frère. Young people are busy; or at least they think they are. 20 Something's event, held in Seattle's cosmopolitan Fremont neighborhood allowed them to make the scene without having to head out to wine country, and they could do it in very tight clothing with their texting machines in hand.

You cannot expect people to make wholesale changes and 20 Something offered the younger demographic the wine without (what can be) a stodgy or confusing tasting room or winery experience. Think of the night club atmosphere, the dark room and the lit up dance floor as training wheels. If these young folk start to think about wine as a beverage that they can associate with having a good time, then when they get to be my age and having a good time has them in bed by 10, they'll probably have a glass of wine with their sit down dinner in domestic bliss.

I spoke with Phil Cline of Naches Heights Vineyards at the event and he was having a great time. Phil told me that "consumers make decisions about what kinds of beverages they're going to drink, usually by the time they’re 26." While they may change varieties, brands, or styles, if they're a beer drinker, wine drinker, etc, they've come to this conclusion by then. 20 Something allows them to consider wine in an arena that is comfortable for them.

The Geek Lounge gave these young people a quick educational rundown on wine, offering attendees the opportunity to explore wines that may have been flawed by using sight, smells and tastes. Riedel stemware was on hand to demonstrate how different glasses can impact how you experience a wine. There were also opportunities to sample many examples of one varietal and wines that were chosen for some of the specific food pairings.

It wasn’t just wine, though. Some of Washington's best restaurants with a wine focus were on hand to provide small bites and allow guests to further explore how a wine might be changed by pairing it with food. Blog favorite Frank Magana of Picazo 717 as well as Seattle's Ponti Seafood and Brasserie Margaux joined other establishments provided imaginative and delicious small bites.

This event was a smashing success, and all the winemakers and wineries representatives I talked to really enjoyed the format. Seattle Wine Gal and Darek Mazone kept people entertained with music and a dance contest. But most importantly Washington wineries got the attention of the young whippersnappers that make up the millenial demographic, and while it was only one night, the focus and the good time that was had will certainly bring them back to some of the wines they had on this evening and Washington wine in general.

Spokane - Near Nature, Near Wine.

2010-12-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

After spending some time in Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint a few weeks ago, (cough...official Wine Blog business...cough), I capped off the adventure with a world wind visit to Spokane. Now, I used to know Spokane as well as every hair on my chest, spending my formative college years there. I knew every back alley, bar, dumpster, and honky-tonk, and had powerful connections who could get me backstage and behind the scenes wherever my heart desired in the Lilac City. Things have changed in eight years though, and this was a new Spokane. One with art, culture, wine, and a populace who was left to wonder, "who the bleep is this Josh Gana fellow?" A city where despite all best efforts I most definitely was not able to get a ticket for the Tosh Tour 2010 even though I tried with tens of minutes of notice before the start of the show. Nonetheless, I was excited to become reacquainted with downtown Spokane and the wine scene I have been hearing so much about.

I arrived in Spokane mid-afternoon and promptly checked in to my accommodations for the evening. The fine folks at the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau hooked me up with a room at the newly-renovated Hotel Ruby, an urban chic former motor inn espousing comfort, style, and value in a downtown environment. Located in the shadow of one of my favorite restaurants, the Steam Plant Grill, the Hotel Ruby instantly reminded me of the Hotel Jupiter in Portland. My room had a hip and fresh feel, with amenities such as complimentary internet access, continental breakfast and coffee, and a fridge and microwave in the room, at a price point of around $70 you can't go wrong. Oh yea, a darn comfortable bed and cool lighting. Did I mention the location? Next door you'll find Dempsey's, for all of your heteroflexible drinking and dancing pleasure, and across the street are concert venues for rocking late into the night. Even better, the Hotel Ruby was within walking distance of my two winery destinations for the day: Grande Ronde Cellars and Robert Karl Winery. To the wineries!

Grand Ronde Cellars

Located in a cooperative tasting room on Second Avenue in Spokane, Grand Ronde produces single-vineyard and Bordeaux Blend wines from two of the finest vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley - Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills. Producing wine since 1997 under the GR label, I was lucky enough to stumble in the tasting room on release weekend for the 2005 vintage and got to taste some nice wine. While the single vineyard stuff was nice, the biggest surprise was the 2006 Cellar Red:

A Bordeaux Blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Carmenere, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Merlot, I knew the Cellar Red was my style before I stuck my nose in the glass. With all Seven Hills fruit, this wine was fruit forward with a sharp peppery finish. 100% french oak aging comes through in a delicious way at a value price-point.

With my first tasting under my belt, it was off to the second stop of the day for some more wine.

Robert Karl Cellars

On West Pacific Avenue, Robert Karl blends the concept of tasting room and production facility into one. That is, the tasting room is a table set up in their production facility. It had an awesome feel. I walked through the door and was greeted by co-owner Rebecca Gunselman, who had ironically been following my twitter traffic all day. Robert Karl has been producing wine in Spokane since 1999 after Rebecca and husband/winemaker Joe moved to Washington to start the winery. A family business with all hand-picked and manually punched fruit, the 2500 case per year production is a delicious labor of love. I was thrilled to find 5 reds open for tasting, all with Horse Heaven Hills fruit. All HHH all the time? Sold. I enjoyed all 5, but the 2008 Syrah stuck out as extra-good:

Co-fermented with 8% Viognier in a classic style, the syrah poured a gorgeous purple and was a medium, well-balanced wine on the palate. With relatively smooth tannins, you get plenty of smoke, berry, and spice on the tongue and next thing you know the glass is empty. The fruit is from McKinley Springs Vineyard aged in french oak for 15 months. With a production of 150 cases there won't be enough to go around.

A barrel room tour capped off the trip to Robert Karl, and with that I stumbled back to the hotel to enjoy a pleasurable night sleep.

If you are planning a trip to Spokane, really any time is good. Averaging 260 days of sunshine and at least 16 wineries in the area, the proximity to plenty of outdoor activities provide a nice break when you need to give your palate a rest. While we weren't able to connect on this trip, the Nectar Tasting Room is also going to quickly become a Spokane mainstay worth checking out. Oh, while I'm on the topic, the Steam Plant Grill is Spokane's home to Coeur d'Alene Brewing Company, who make a mean Vanilla Bourbon Stout.

Why on earth would you not visit Spokane? Heck if I know. Great wine, plenty of nature, awesome food, and some sweet lodging options such as the Hotel Ruby. Oh, a killer college basketball team as well. The Zags, perhaps you are familiar with them?

Thanksgiving with Erath's 2008 Leland Pinot Noir

2010-12-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

To many, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the things you're thankful for while sharing a large meal with your family. For my family, Thanksgiving is typically one of those pesky holidays where you're guilted into spending time with family members you'd never spend time with if you weren't related, but feel like you need to meet some sort of quota for the year. The grandparents will endlessly talk about who-gives-a-crap, the cousins will spend the entire time repeating how awesome their new Gameboy is as close to my face as possible, and my dad will get obliterated drunk by 3pm. Everybody is then reminded why we never spend time together and they're all gone by 8.

But not this year. No sir, this year was different!

For one, my family completely spared ourselves of the extended family commitment. We also had over my sister's husband and his parents, who are actually pretty damn cool. To top it off, freezing rain prohibited Josh from making it to Eastern Washington, so he joined us as well!

What were we to do to spend the time? Easy: Castle Crashers and Erath's 2008 Leland Pinot Noir. I'm not going to dig into Castle Crashers too much, but I highly suggested buying it if you have a PS3 or X-Box 360 and also have friends.

As for the Leland Pinot Noir, I want to first express that our bottle was a review sample sent to us from Erath. Erath was generous enough to send us two different single-vineyard Pinot Noirs and what better holiday to enjoy a pinot than Thanksgiving?

For those of you unfamiliar with Erath, they've been producing wine out of the Dundee Hills for over 40 years. While mostly acclaimed for their breadth of incredible Pinot Noirs, they also happen to make a handful of whites and dessert wines. With a portfolio ranging from incredibly affordable to special occasion-only, you're bound to find a Pinot Noir that you'll love at the price point you're looking for.

Our 2008 Leland single-vineyard Pinot Noir happens to be a bit on the higher end. At a suggested $45 per bottle, it's not something we'd pop without a reason. This is Thanksgiving and not only do I want to make sure we're pouring something special, but I also wanted to use this as an opportunity to get feedback from my sister and her father-in-law. They both enjoy wine, but are by no means enophiles. Before we get to tasting notes, however, here's a bit about the Leland Vineyard itself

Located near Oregon City in the north Willamette Valley, owners Bruce and Ginny Weber planted the Pommard and Wadensvil clones of Pinot Noir in 1982. Leland vineyard consistently produces a complex and age-worthy style of Pinot Noir.

This single estate pinot noir immediately gives off hues of plum, cranberry, and currant on the nose. When sipped, it comes off as very light, slightly fruit forward, and very inviting. Josh and I both agreed that it is fairly complex for a pinot noir, yet everything about it is very unified. Pretty much a classic Oregon pinot that will win over almost any fan of great wine.

Josh and I liked it, but what about the people who aren't wine nerds? My sister, as depicted above, was immediately won over. While not an exact quote, I believe she said something to the extent of "this wine is friggin amazing!" Jim, her father-in-law, immediately noticed the drastic difference between Erath's 2008 Leland Pinot Noir and the Red Diamond Cab Sauv he had been working on. "I don't know much about wine, but this one is damn good!"

So there you have it. Not only did you learn a little bit about my family and how we operate (or don't) at family gatherings, but you also have yet another incredible wine to put on your list of bottles to pick up. A big thank you goes out to Erath for sending us the sample bottle and look forward to hearing about another of their offerings soon. Another big thank you goes out to Josh for making this Thanksgiving the best ever!

A Serious Wine Cellar: Coeur d'Alene's Beverly's Restaurant

2010-11-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

I was in Coeur d'Alene on business, a town that is quite difficult to spell. I knew there were a few wineries out that way and had spoken with Kimber Gates of Coeur d'Alene Cellars about arranging a visit before I left town. Unsure of what kind of wine options existed in town for dinner or drinks I hadn't planned on much - then I got word from the man known as Wild Bill.

A phone call came through and on the other end was a man whose voice was as gravelly as my own; the one and only Wild Bill. "Clive, the restaurant in the Coeur d'Alene resort is deadly serious about their wine, get up here. Get to Beverly's." As Bill hung up there was a crackle at the end of the line, giving me a moment to think about just how serious it might be. This was Coeur d'Alene after all, a resort mecca for the outdoors inclined. The Northwest's well-heeled needed a scenic place to play in the summer and this place fit the bill. But how serious might this wine list be? I hit the elevator like a man on a mission.

When I arrived at Beverly's, Wild Bill had already cased the joint and he was seated in the lounge with two colleagues. The blog's own Josh Gana and a cat named Jeff whose family has been making wine for decades. Bill knows a classy joint when he sees one and this was no exception. As I greeted the fellas, Bill nodded at the waiter, "Sir, we'll have two of those buffalo carpaccios and this guys gonna order us some wine."

I asked everyone at the table what they were in the mood for and Bill said "Show us what Washington can do." I turned straight to the Washington Syrah section of Beverly's 89 page wine list and settled on a Bunnel Family Boushey-McPherson Syrah from 2006. Having had the Bunnel family wines before and seeing Dick Boushey's name on the label was all I needed to know.

The sommelier Eric came out to take our order and since we had missed the 4:30 tour time of the cellars, we asked if it might be possible to get a tour of Beverly's cellars. Admitting that he needed to go down there anyways to pick out our wine, we were invited to come along.

Along the way Eric shared that Beverly's has an inventory of around 10,000 bottles and if they sold it all at dinner we'd be talking about 2 million dollars worth of wine. We descended a tight spiral staircase and entered a dark room surrounded by bins of wine. Burgundy, Oregon, Washington Syrah, Rhone and Chateauneuf du Pape were all around us. There may have even been some wines from California. Eric rummaged around and pulled out our Bunnel Syrah and popped the cork. If you've not had this wine it's a beautiful example of Washington Syrah; you can spend a night just on the nose thanks to the toasty Hungarian oak program. The wine itself is very savory, with dark fruit and earthen elements.

Eric gave us the rundown of their operation and talked about the wines he loves to carry and introduce customers to. When Josh and I asked if he had a hard time getting resort guests to give Washington and Oregon wines a try his response was, "Not at all." The folks staying in Coeur d'Alene are well aware of the wine the Northwest is capable of, and they're enjoying some serious bottles at Beverlys. When I asked about the best wine in the Beverly’s collection, Eric pulled out a 1978 Chateau Rayas CdP, priced at $1930.00, telling us this was the best wine in the cellar, though not their most expensive.

We headed up stairs to the second cellar, this one loaded down with Bourdeaux, and Washington and California Cabernets, including Leonetti, Pursued by Bear, Doubleback and plenty from Dunham Cellars and Andrew Will.

When we retired back to the lounge for our appetizer, Bill asked Eric about a pairing for the buffalo carpaccio. Eric said I was on the right track with the Syrah, but during our tour we had taken care of that Bunnell pretty quickly. Eric recommended the Delille Cellars Doyenne Aix, from 2005. This is a wine I really enjoy and it was a hit with the fellas as well. The carpaccio was accompanied by crostini and horseradish and it disappeared pretty quickly.

Should you find yourself in Coeur d'Alene and on the lookout for some serious wine, check out Beverly's. The wine list is impressive, and what really stood out for me, besides Eric's knowledge and willingness to indulge us, was the mark up. The wine mark ups at Beverly’s are often well less than 100%, which is highly uncommon in restaurants. The Bunnell Syrah retails for $42 and was priced at $65; similarly, the Aix which comes in at $35-45, and was priced at $65 as well. So give Beverly’s a try: the selection of Northwest wine options is impressive, the food is delicious, and the staff knows the wine from here in the Northwest and beyond.

They Make Wine There? Idaho Edition.

2010-11-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

Last week, Clive and I took a jaunt to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on non-wine related business; well, mostly non-wine related if you want to be technical about it. Clive will be posting soon on our awesome experience at Coeur d'Alene Cellars, an Idaho winery that uses exclusively Washington fruit. After that visit, I had the opportunity to visit another Idaho winery that uses both Washington and Idaho fruit and as such, is the focus of this Idaho edition of our "They Make Wine There?" series: Pend d'Orielle Winery in Sandpoint, Idaho. You may have read about it...right here on this blog, in fact. Rick and I have written about Pend d'Orielle here, here, here, and here. If you hadn't noticed, we're quite fond of their wine and I was excited to visit the place where the magic happens.

I rolled into Sandpoint, Idaho in the early afternoon and was immediately struck by a cute, quaint, yet somewhat hip downtown area in the town of approximately 6800 residents. Despite spending 4 years in the Spokane area, the only time I had seen Sandpoint was from the backseat of a car when I was 15 on a 24 hour run to Canada while working at a Northern Idaho summer camp. That's a story for a different day. Like many small communities in the Pacific Northwest, Sandpoint is steeped in Native tradition, with Lake Pend d'Oreille serving as a summer encampment site for the Salish Tribes. In the early 1900's, railroads and timber drove the economy and in 1963, Schweitzer Mountain Resort opened nearby turning Sandpoint into a tourist mecca. Presently with the lake and the resort, Sandpoint is an interesting collision between hip, urban, outdoor tourism and old-fashioned timber culture. Sandpoint is quickly becoming an arts and culture capital of Northern Idaho, and yes, they make wine there!

Pend d'Oreille Winery, founded in 1995 by Steve and Julie Meyer, is the only Idaho winery north of Coeur d'Alene. By the way, if you're going to visit Northern Idaho, better practice up on the use and pronunciation of apostrophes. I walked into the PO tasting room at the appointed time and was immediately struck by an environment that was reminiscent of a urban environment; a hip tasting bar area surrounded by a small restaurant and lifestyle store with hints of country charm. It could have easily been Portland or California. I was met by the Pend d'Oreille's cellarmaster and jack-of-all-trades, Jim, who poured two different 2007 Malbecs from the Terrior Series, one from Washington and one from Idaho. We'll get to that in a minute. After the Malbec, Jim asked if I wanted to head back to the cellar for some barrel samples. After rearranging my extremely packed (nonexistent) schedule for the rest of the day, I was in. Jim started pulling the 2010 vintage out of the barrels and by time we had made it through some very promising Viognier and a few strains of Chardonnay, the man himself, Steve Meyer, joined us.

As Steve and I thieved into the 2009 vintage of PO red wine, I had the opportunity to ask him some of the questions that you are probably thinking right now - why Idaho being at the top of the list. Steve started sharing his background and I quickly got a glimpse inside the workings of a visionary winemaker and winery. Steve started making wine in Burgundy 25 years ago during an errant ski trip. After cutting his teeth in France and California, a wife from the area and proximity to some of the best fruit in the world brought Steve and Julie back to Sandpoint. With a dual-mission of creating the greatest wine in the Northwest and invigorating a wine culture in the Sandpoint area, Steve takes his role in the industry very seriously as he creates wines of smaller varietals to both educate consumers in the area and promote business during the shoulder seasons of a tourist town. Pend d'Oreille surprises many as Sandpoint isn't exactly wine country, but a quick drive to both Eastern Washington and Southern Idaho growing regions makes it the perfect locale. Always pushing boundaries, Steve has placed a heavy emphasis on sustainability in operations with a "Think Green, Drink Red" motto. To that end, the winery has implemented a refillable bottle program out of their tasting room. Think of a growler in the beer world. For an initial $25 bottle purchase, customers can have a refill of either Bistro Rouge or Bistro Blanc for just $16 at any time. In the first year of the program, Pend d'Oreille kept over 10,000 pounds of glass out of the landfill and averages 350 fills per month. How cool is that?

On to the wine! While at the winery, I probably tasted 15 different wines from bottles or barrels so can't possibly speak to all of them. I can say they were all good, and if you've read our previous coverage we love pretty much everything PO puts out. One of the cool things that Steve does is called the Terrior Series, a side by side varietal comparison from two different winegrowing regions. For 2007, Malbec was the varietal of choice with representation of vineyard designated Washington and Idaho fruit, presented with identical winemaking styles. Here's the rundown:

2007 Malbec, Freepons Vineyard, Yakima Valley, Washington: With a lot of dark fruit on the nose, this wine has a mellow tannin structure and a smooth mouthfeel. A relatively classic Malbec, it would pair well with some bolder food such as chili. Very nice. Case production of 74 with a very reasonable price point of $28.00.

2007 Malbec, Wood River Vineyard, Snake River Valley, Idaho: Tasted second, I found the Idaho Malbec to be a bit more tannic with some rose petal on the nose. Hints of plum and vanilla on the palate meld into a very delicious wine and a quite pleasant surprise coming out of Idaho. This is a gorgeous representation of the Snake River Valley. With a case production of 73 and the $28.00 price tag, it won't stick around long.

My preference leaned slightly towards the Idaho Malbec for this vintage. The 2010 and 2009 vintages are showing a lot of promise, keep your eyes open for the Primitivo and Zinfandel to hit the streets.

So...Idaho, huh? An often-forgotten area of the Pacific Northwest, wine grapes were introduced to Idaho in the late 1800's and were grown until Prohibition. For those familiar with the area, the old Potlatch Lumber mill site near Lewiston was a vineyard in forgotten days. In the 70's, Idaho saw a resurgence of vineyard development and the area is now home to 38 wineries. Many believe that the Southern Idaho area is ideal for growth, with high heat summers and cold winters. With over 1500 acres of grapes, and AVA designation for the Snake River Valley, Idaho is staking it's claim in the marketplace with primary production of Chardonnay, Riesling, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

After 2.5 hours in the tasting room and cellar with one of the most visionary winemakers in the region, it was time for me to leave and experience the rest of Sandpoint. When you visit, other highlights of the area include Eichardt's Pub for a great beer selection and elk burger and the Coldwater Creek Wine Bar for a nice by-the-glass selection. Yes, it's the same Coldwater Creek that sells women's clothing. The Best Western Edgewater Resort offered comfortable, reasonably priced accommodations with a fantastic hot tub. If you're looking for a scenic and fun place to visit with some awesome wine, put Sandpoint on your list. If you want to avoid the tourist mobs, November is a great time to do it. Be careful, though, as you may wake up to snow on the ground as I did the next morning.

Pinot Noir is for the Children

2010-11-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

You’ve heard me say it a million times, there’s nothing like Oregon Pinot Noir. Nothing. It’s a thing of beauty, complexity, elegance and strength all wrapped into one, granting you magical access to the soil, wind and spirit of the Willamette Valley. When it’s done well it can be a religious experience and when done poorly it’s still hard to screw up. If there’s a downside to Oregon Pinot Noir, it’s that there’s a drinking age.

Thankfully though, IPNC (the best tasting event on this mortal coil) has teamed up with Hot Lips Soda to make Pinot Noir Soda, which means that now you can supply Pinot to the younger generation. In what is probably the most earth shattering invention for the children since the Weebles, which wobble, but don’t won’t fall down, IPNC and Hot Lips Soda have struck gold. There is a rumor afoot that this soda will make children smarter, taller and more eloquent.

Fruit for this first release of Pinot soda comes from Archery Summit and Rex Hill wineries and comes from 2010’s tempestuous growing season. This lovely beverage was brewed in McMinnville, home to the annual mecca that is IPNC. What this earth shattering development means is that the wild-eyed youth clamoring for terroir-driven Oregon Pinot can now have their way, because Pinot Noir soda has finally arrived. Punk ass Willy Wonka has nothing on Hot Lips Soda. Booyeah.

The Hot Lips/IPNC Pinot Noir Soda will make its debut at IPNC 2011. If you didn’t have a reason to go before, now you do. And you don’t need a babysitter.

No Cork, No Worries: Folin Cellars

2010-11-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

As previously noted on the Blog, I've been doing a bit of traveling lately - both wine related and not. A few weeks ago I was at a student leadership conference in Ashland, Oregon for my day job as a higher education "professional". While happy to be in the heart of the Rogue Vally, my oenophilia was tempered by a relatively tight schedule and an alcoholic-free conference. Yep, no glass of wine at the end of the day for me. In true blogger style, I promptly emailed Christine from The Southern Oregon Wine Blog and asked, "If there is one winery I have time to visit on my way home, where should I go?" Christine responded, "Don't be stupid, I've been telling you to hit up Folin Cellars for months." Folin Cellars it was.

Folin Cellars is a family owned and operated winery producing estate-only rhone style wines from the estate winery in Gold Hills. Don't worry Portlandites, they also have a tasting room in Carlton if you're too lazy to roll down I-5. Folin is currently a small production winery, putting out around 500 cases per year and emphasizing a self-sustaining operation on their 25-acres of vines and new tasting room and winery facility. The estate just happens to be at the same latitude as the Rioja region of Spain, predispositioning Folin's signature tempranillo to a status of awesomeness right off the bat.

It was approximately Noon on a Sunday when I rolled through Medford on my way back to Corvallis, knowing that Folin was open weekends from Noon - 5:00 PM weekends through November, I rolled off of the freeway and headed east for the 10-ish mile jaunt to the winery. After some twisting and turning in the beautiful Oregon foliage, I pulled up to the gate of Folin Cellars and could see the 15-month old tasting room down the road. The gate was closed. Were they open? Please? After some jockeying of my cell phone to find good enough service to call the tasting room, Steve from Folin promptly came and opened the gate and returned to the tasting room to give me a warm greeting as I walked through the doors. Whew, there was wine in my future.

While we're on the tasting room...it's gorgeous. Lot's of natural light, amazing views, a classy bar, and a window where you can look down into the production facility. While a bit off the beaten path, this is one of those stops you can't miss and with the proximity to Del Rio and Cliff Creek, you can hit a few in an afternoon. Steve poured me a taste of the first wine, a 2009 Tempranillo Rose, and I immediately noticed that he hadn't pulled a natural cork out of the bottle. In fact, there was nary a cork to be seen in the tasting room. No screwcaps either. Turns out, Folin uses all glass corks, the winemaker being one who wants the wine to taste just as he intended whether you pop the bottle the next day or 5 years down the road. This philosophy results in the moniker of "No Cork, No Worries" which you'll find on every bottle they put out. Steve took me through the tasting series of 7 wines; 2 whites and 5 reds. I can honestly say I enjoyed every one of the seven, however there were two that particularly stuck out:

2008 Miseo: Miseo, a latin word meaning blend, is Folin's signature red blend consisting of 50% Syrah, 30% Grenache, and 20% Mourvedre. I immediately got a bright and deep nose off the wine with some delicious dark fruit and a tad of earthiness on the palate. I took a second sip, and damn, it was good. Real good. The finish was even better and I wanted to pour a full glass and go to town, but that will have to wait until another day. With an inaugural vintage production of 150 cases, this was my favorite wine of the day and you better pick some up while you can.

2007 Tempranillo:A pleasant black cherry nose complements a comfortable mouthfeel, nice acidity, and notes of plum and chocolate on the palate of this very classic tempranillo. Aged 100% in french oak, this wine is what put Folin on the map and shows that Oregon can do more rhone than just syrah. Do I sound like a wine snob yet? This is solid at $30/bottle and a case production of 150 or so.

As I finished my tasting experience, Steve took me down to the production facility to show me around a bit and I was pleased to see that Folin has the production capacity to grow in coming years. As I walked back to my car, I looked out upon the gorgeous territorial view and took a moment to reflect about the experience I just had. 7 great wines, an awesome facility, and friendly staff. That's what the Oregon wine industry is all about and it's beautifully demonstrated by Folin. Salud!

They Make Wine There? New Mexico Edition.

2010-11-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, they make wine in New Mexico. Continuing our "They Make Wine There?" series after this summer's feature on Texas wine, we bring you the finest New Mexico has to offer. I'm not talking about Alamogordo, of nuclear test fame, or Roswell, home of Area 51 either. My wine horizons have certainly been broadened through the crack investigative reporting of The Oregon Wine Blog Special Correspondent Chris Heuchert, and I hope yours are too.

This shit got real a few weeks ago when Chris was driving on a rural highway near Santa Fe heading back to his rustic mountain getaway. Between the rumbling of his stomach from hunger, the blazing sun, a mild headache, it appeared on the side of the road as if a desert oasis: the Estrella Del Norte Vineyard. Wait, what? New Mexico, right? He had to stop and see what this foolishness was all about.

It was true, there was wine inside the quant stucco southwestern style building. And a nice lady who made Chris and his posse feel quite welcome throughout the wine tasting experience. They tasted 6 reds in short order, sharing the experience with a quite engaging staff who clearly knew a lot about the wine. After tasting through the big reds one might expect from a dry, high-heat region like New Mexico, Chris saw something on the menu that literally turned his world upside down: Pinot Noir. But Josh, you ask, isn't Pinot Noir rather a fickle varietal? One that likes a cooler, moist climate? Why yes, it is, thanks for asking. You can understand Chris' surprise to find it in the middle of one of the most extreme climates in the US. Unfortunately, there wasn't a bottle open for him to try to compare to the love of our lives, Oregon Pinot. Chris was so intrigued by the experience, he took the red pill and was a member of the wine club when he got back in the car. Fast forward two weeks, you'll find a case of wine from New Mexico delivered to his apartment, and an enterprising Managing Editor of The Oregon Wine Blog on the couch ready to see what Estrella Del Norte is all about.

As an aside, did you know that New Mexico is the oldest wine growing region in the United States? The first grape vines were brought to Senecu, a Piro Indian pueblo, in 1629 by a Franciscan and a Monk. No, this isn't a variation of a "Franciscan and a Monk walked in to a bar..." joke. By 1880, there were 3150 acres of grapevines in the state, and by 1884 New Mexico was producing almost a million gallons of wine per year. Currently, New Mexico boast 42 operating wineries and tasting rooms.

To kick off my New Mexican experience, Chris popped open a bottle of the 2007 Estrella Del Norte Cabernet Sauvignon, one of my favorite varietals. Not quite knowing what to expect, I gingerly swirled the wine in my glass and took a big old sniff. I immediately detected notes of....booze. Once I got past the boozy features on the nose, I found a rather pleasant cacophony of dark red fruit. Upon taking the coveted sip, we detected an immediate heat related to the boozy nose, with an otherwise rather mild and dry profile laced with dark fruit and a peppery finish. The winery describes it like a "starry Northern New Mexico evening", and while I'm not sure I agree with that, I can definitely attest that it was better than expected. I'll be the first to admit that my palate has been shaped around Eastern Washington cabs, hard to beat, I know. All things considered, "better than expected" is a glowing endorsement for a non-Washington offering.

So, there you have it. We brought you Texas. We brought you New Mexico. What's next in the "They Make Wine There?" series? You're just going to have to wait to find out, because frankly, I don't know yet. Any suggestions?

We're on the Air for Washington Wine

2010-11-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

David Wilson of Grape Encounters Radio has basically taken over the state of California. His radio show has a similar format to what we're doing here at TOWB: he approaches wine without pretense, focusing on the experience, and he has a top secret location. Every time I check in with David there's a bevy of new stations that are carrying him all over California. One of the things I appreciate about David is that he looks at wine from every perspective: envelopes are pushed, corks are popped (and screwcaps are twisted, perhaps begrudgingly) and a general good time is had on Grape Encounters. If you're not currently listening, check them out on the interwebs or on iTunes. One of his biggest markets is actually Seattle, which is fortunate for me because it allows me to work a Northwest angle when I appear on his show, as I did recently to talk about Forgeron Cellars and our all too fleeting youth.

David recently invited me back to talk about millenials and wine and to give the wines of Forgeron Cellars a whirl. If you spend time talking with new wine drinkers you'll encounter a lot of "I only drink reds" or "I only drink whites." You'll also encounter a steadfast unwillingness to spend more than $15 on a bottle of wine. The result is often the safe $8-15 blend that has some nice oak elements and red fruit notes. The wines are comfortable, simple, and in many cases they even score pretty well according to the fancy magazine people. At that price point you "can't go wrong," and there's nothing wrong with that. What got us down the road towards Walla Walla's Forgeron Cellars is the idea that there are wines available for twenty to thirty dollars that will give younger wine drinkers a look at what the world of wine can really hold for them.

David and I spent some time talking about going a bit outside the comfort zone, and maybe spending just a little bit more, closer to the $25 dollar neighborhood and really opening yourself and your palate up to a new experience. In an effort to illustrate that, David and I tasted through three brilliant wines from Forgeron Cellars priced between $19 and $26.

I first encountered the wines of Forgeron Cellars in the spring and met the charming winemaker, Marie-Eve Gilles. Her wines, particularly the Zinfandel and Chardonnay, are, in my opinion, among Washington state's finest examples of each. Marie Eve marries her old world education in Dijon with the fruit and potential of Washington wine in away that gives her wine personality, elegance, and in many cases, grace.

I have said it on Twitter and I’ll say it again here: her Zinfandel is one of my top two wine discoveries of 2010. You may have picked up on this, but I get to try a lot of wine; this Zin is excellent. David was a big fan of the Zinfandel and found it to be a big bold wine, spicy and not raisiny, and well-integrated with an alcohol percentages hovering in the mid-14s.

Where Marie Eve may have won David's heart ,and what may be described as her wheelhouse, were the two whites we tasted, a Chardonnay ($19), and Marsanne ($26). What I love about the Chardonnay and where I feel Marie Eve hits the mark is on the mouthfeel of this wine, it's full and rounded. You get a lot of well-rounded Chardonnays in California, but they're usually so buttered over with oak that you don't get to enjoy any of the fruit elements. David said it best: this Chardonnay is indeed beautiful. It's crisp and bright and even a bit floral but it really fills the mouth well with a great finish. The Marsanne furthered David's appreciation for Marie Eve's winemaking. The floral elements and the bright fruit flavors had us both muttering compliments between tastes that included "absolutely beautiful” and “fantastic." There were only three barrels of the Marsanne, so if you’re able to get your hands on this beauty, you definitely should.

The point that David allowed me to make is that spending a bit more on wine allows you to really begin to see what the fuss is all about. So I encourage young people skip a few of those $5 lattes, pool your money with a friend or two and drop a bit more coin on a small production bottle of wine. In a perfect world, I'd prefer it be from Washington so you get a glimpse as to why those of us in the secret location of TOWB are so enamored with Northwest grape juice.

Listen to the show here.