You Can Find Me In the Club...

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.

Fighting the Scourge of White Zinfandel; #WARose

image of actual heroes from www.sliceofscifi.com

Word came through the twitter machine that Paul Gregutt was assembling a taskforce to face off against arch-villain White Zinfandel. Summoned to the waterfront was a taskforce comprised of Washington Wine Heroes the likes of which California has never seen. It was Justice League of America meets X-men meets Voltron, which means it was pretty serious, and very hero-ish.

We assembled on our floating headquarters, the Randall PR Boat of Wine Justice & Ass Kicking. Paul had called forth some of Washington Wines most powerful blogosphere types: Seattle Wine Gal, the Wine Social Media Maven who could assemble an army of followers with a wave of her iPhone; Wine Peeps, who was a fast writer; Shona425 has the power of another area code, what? Write for Wine could write for wine; Washington Wine Report had the ability to unleash his encyclopedic knowledge of Washington wine, terroir, fruit traits, weather, soil composition, oak programs, etc. rendering listeners at a loss to understand how this man could possibly hold down any other job, or even have time to dress himself. Washington Wine & Beer had the ability to provide beer, a power that should never be underestimated. Yashar Wine Monger could blind evildoers by spitting wine at them at high rates of speed, after analyzing them for mouthfeel, balanced acidity and mid-palate character within seconds. I was clearly among a talented group, and my only power was to unleash funnyness, oh, and the handsomeness.

Paul took one look at us and shook his head. We clearly did not have the power to make White Zinfandel quake in fear. Aside from SeattleWineGal's ability to assemble large quantities of people, and Sean of Washington Wine Report's ability to astound people with an infinite amount of wine minutae, we were pretty much worthless. Our power to write stuff down did not intimidate. Paul hung his head, unsure of how to defend the world from swill and advocate for quality dry rosé out of Washington state. The situation looked grim. One of the emmissaries on the Boat of Wine Justice & Ass Kicking, Andrea, piped in, "Well, if the world is going to drown in icky pink White Zinfandel, we might as well open the incredible Washington rosé I assembled. You know, go out in style. Maybe even tweet about it."


And that, folks, is what we did. To counteract the global, or really just American prevalence of White Zinfandel, we popped bottle after bottle of high-quality, nuanced, layered and complex pink wine. Yes, I said pink. This was wine that was a crisp and refreshing summer option but had much of the complexity that makes people say things like, "I only drink red wine." While there are plenty of mindless sweet pink sippers out there, we didn't have any of these on the boat.

Trey Busch of Sleight of Hand Cellars joined us and brought his Magician's Assistant. This was his third Rosé, and he was out to make a light wine that could be enjoyed seasonally. Trey believes that Rosé is best between Memorial Day and Labor Day; that it's not meant to hang around long. Not sure what would happen if Trey lived somewhere without these two holidays, like anywhere but here, I suppose he just wouldn't drink or make Rosé in that case.

The Rosé of Sangiovese from Barnard Griffin is one of the most available Washington Rosés. It's very approachable yet still has a complexity in its off-dry profile. The Syncline Rosé from Columbia Valley was a Rhone style masterpiece. The wine was predominantly Cinsault and Grenache, as well as Mouvedre and Counoise. Chinook Wines Cab Franc-based rosé has been one of the long standing quality rosés in Washington for a long time. This wine has become a way for Washington wine drinkers to mark the changing of Spring into Summer.

Virginie Bourgue, the winemaker at Lullaby Winery from Walla Walla, also stowed away with us. Her Rosé was the most unique of the bunch, and the only 2008. She disagreed with Trey's idea that Rosé is meant to be consumed right away. She bottled this wine in the autumn and feels like it's just now ready. It may have something to do with the fact that she's from France and doesn't understand Memorial Day & Labor Day rules having to do with white slacks and shoes, and apparently for Trey, Rosé. Her 2008 Rosé was was made with Grenache and it came in a 500ml bottle. Being French, she uses the metric system or something so, smaller bottles. The wine was a beautiful light copper hue.

The Charles & Charles Rosé is a single vineyard effort from Wahluke Slope, done by Charles Smith of K Vintners and Charles Bieler who has made wine in Provence, France. The last two wines we drank were Rosés from Walla Walla favorites Waters Winery and Dusted Valley. These were two amazing examples of Washington Rosé that I'll talk more about in a separate post. The Waters Rosé was one of my favorites, and came from the Forgotten Hills vineyard, which I think ranks among the most distinct. It was 75% Syrah co-fermented with 25% Viognier. Amazing wine. The Dusted Valley Rosé from Columbia Valley, is a blend of Mouvedre, Counoise, Syrah and Viognier. The wine is a interesting and unique blend of Rosé that would be a great food pairing wine.


Washington Rosé was poured long into the evening as we all fought off the anxiety caused by the impending flood of White Zinfandel that would soon be upon us. We waited for the end that never came. As the sun came up, people were dancing in the streets with bottles of off-dry Washington Rosé. The evil that is White Zinfandel had been conquered, defeated by superior taste in summer wine and a superior effort from Northwest Winemakers to take back a wine that is an important part of the wine drinking tradition. We had prevailed and lived to drink another day.

Tacos, Red Wine, and Fire on the Mountain

Operation: Yakima Valley Spring Barrel Tasting
Report:  Field Observations, Day 1
Covert Agent: Joshua G. Gana
Status:  Declassified

In early April 2010, Agent Gana intercepted wire traffic on the twitter machine alluding to a bootleg gathering of winos in Eastern Washington. Early reports indicated a weekend of tacos, red wine, fire, and general carousing in the Yakima Valley area, under the guise of "Spring Barrel Tasting". Gana, with more than 10 years experience and specialized training as a wine palatification expert, recognized this as mere cover for what truly was sure to take place: a clash of twitterati, cougars, phenomenal wine, and down home hospitality.  Courtesy of the fine folks at Wine Yakima Valley, Agent Gana dispatched himself to the scene to infiltrate the winos, posing as a "Wine Writer" with "The Oregon Wine Blog," whatever that means. What follows is Gana's narrative of day 1.

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Friday was a gorgeous day for wine tasting, unfortunately, most of the day was spent traveling in the german carmobile to get from Corvallis to the oasis of the Tri-Cities. Upon arriving, I was welcomed with the warm hospitality of the staff at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in Pasco, a connection made through the graciousness of the staff at the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau. Now I'm a man of habit and have extreme loyalty to another hotel chain across the river in Richland. I'll tell you what, though, the HIEx in Pasco has it going on and gives them a run for their money. An all-suite property next to a convention center and right off the highway, the accommodations were spacious and well-appointed, the staff wonderful, and the breakfast...well you'll just have to wait until day 2 to hear about that. Literally a hop, skip, and a jump from I-182, I was in the heart of wine country minutes after leaving the hotel.

Barnard Griffin was the first stop on this fine Friday evening as I worked my way into the valley. After sipping some of their 06 Cabernet and peeking at the new bottling facility, I was on the road. There were bigger and better things on the docket for this particular evening. Next stop, Thurston Wolfe Winery in Prosser's Vintners Village. After picking up my Premiere Pass for the weekend, allowing access to reserve and special tastings at nearly 30 wineries in the region, I wandered around observing the sheer brilliance of the event organization. Take the vintners village, for example. A whole day's worth of wineries within walking distance, great wine, and porta-potties set up on the road to boot. What more does a wino need? Thurston was a nice surprise, with a fabulous petite sirah in the barrel and tempranillo that made me swoon.

Next up was a brief jaunt to Alexandria Nicole Cellars, where there was a noticeable buzz in the air as the crowd got larger and the winemakers had less time to chat. Great wine, great setting, and I had to keep reminding myself it wasn't a race to see how many wineries I could get to before the end of the day. I had to drive home, after all. ANC closed at 5, the "main event" of the evening wasn't until 6 PM at Red Mountain...can you say Picazo 7Seventeen? I could, and did. So did the cherry chipotle pork shanks I had as an appetizer. Yep. Frank, you are the man.

Main event time. Due to the generosity and kindness of one Neil Cooper, I found myself on the guest list for the Fidelitas Taco Wagon Dinner. Did you catch that? Fidelitas, Cooper, Tacos, and Wagons.  So the technical name of the event was the Feast of St. Fidelas, but there was legitimately a delicious taco cart carving pork off of a spit and serving up some gourmet mexican delight.  Paired with Champeoux merlot, I was in taco wine heaven.  Frequent Blog readers know that Clive (@clivity) has been firmly planted in the Washington Twitterati Hall of Fame.  Me (@OR_Wine_Blog), on the other hand, didn't meet many of the regular tweeters in person until the 'wagon dinner.  Coop (@coop_cwc) introduced me to @divatink, @heyjenk, and @littlebluest; icons on the machine.  And yes, we introduced ourselves by twitter handle.  A riveting conversation on social media and wine ensued.

The evening capped off with a soft opening of Cooper Wine Company, Red Mountain's newest winery. The event was a veritable who's who in the Eastern Washington Wine Industry. In the old Seth Ryan facility, Coop has made some significant transformations in the property and the wine, which is crafted under the tutelage of Charlie Hoppes. Cooper wine is for real. We tried three of his four offerings during our fabulous dinner at Picazo 7Seventeen in February, and this particular evening Coop was proud to share the fourth: a Walla Walla Cabernet. Amazing. I tried to stick a bottle in my jacket to take back to the hotel, to no avail. Can't wait until he opens in a few weeks. Oh yea, there was also a large bonfire.

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Agent Gana, signing off. Report on Day 2 of "Yakima Valley Spring Barrel Tasting" forthcoming.

Top 2 Value Labels

Wine Enthusiast's recent top 100 best buys list inspired us to finally write an article we've been thinking about for quite some time. If you're anything like us, chances are your friends have pegged you as their resident wine expert. Inevitably, your wine novice friends will ask you what wine they should buy. To complicate things, this friend doesn't even know if they prefer red or white wines. They also don't want to spend more than $15.

What do you say? Sure, you could create an abbreviated list of wines from Wine Enthusiast's list. You could even take a wild guess and tell your friend to get a specific wine. Another option, which happens to be one of our favorites, is to do something a little different.

We suggest an entire label.

That's right. Our wine newbie strategy is to give somebody a label and say "have at it." The following two value labels are what we consider to be the absolute safest labels to suggest where not a single wine would be considered sub-par.

Columbia Crest Grand Estates
Columbia Crest's Grand Estates line is the first thing that pops in our heads when somebody wants us to suggest a solid value line. It's one of the few we feel comfortable enough to tell somebody that they can grab anything with a Grand Estates label on it knowing that they'll be pleasantly surprised. If asked specifically what to pick up, we will usually suggest their Cab Sauv as a favorite.

Columbia Crest's Grand Estates wines usually range from $6-$10 for white varietals and $9-$14 for reds. Beyond price, the other added benefit is you can pretty much assure that Grand Estates wines will be available at almost any grocer.

Barnard Griffin Tulip Wines
Look for the label with the tulips, pick what sounds the best, and walk away with a great wine at a low price.

To be frank, Barnard Griffin doesn't mess around and this includes their Tulip wines. Like the Grand Estates line, Tulip wines include both reds and whites. One of my personal favorites is their non-vintage Cabernet-Merlot. Of the white offerings, it's worth noting that they offer a rather unique varietal in the form of a Fume Blanc. Your white wine loving friends will feel at least ten times classier!

Expect to pay a dollar or two more for reds versus the Grand Estates line, but also be aware that these tend to be on sale almost as often as they're not. Whites will usually run $9-$14 and can often be found on sale as well. Distribution is national, so chances are Tulip wines can be found at your local grocer.

So, there you have it! It may sound a lot lazier than painstakingly narrowing down your friends' tastes to a perfect wine, but there's also something to be said for giving somebody the freedom to safely experiment.

Anybody out there know of other value lines that you would suggest as universally great?

Barnard Griffin 2007 Grenache

Last week I made some general tso pork for dinner and wanted a wine to balance the spice. A white would be the natural inclination, perhaps something in the Riesling or Gewurztraminer arena. Having no white wine chilled and dinner being ready quickly pushed me towards the stock of red. At that point I ran across a bottle that came in a recent Barnard Griffin reserve wine club shipment -- the 2007 Grenache.

Many Northwesterners aren't familiar with Grenache as it isn't done too much around here, despite being one of the most prevalent red wine grapes planted in the world. California does some, but it is primarily a Spanish grape and is the dominant varietal of many southern Rhone

wines. The fruit, being late ripening, favors dry, high heat areas - Eastern Washington being one of those areas.

I had tasted this wine in the tasting room, so knew it's medium bodied fruitiness would work well with the spice. The best way I could describe it to my Willamette Valley friends was that it was sort of like a Pinot Noir, but not exactly. The vintage notes indicate a nose of mint, orange, raspberry, and brown sugar. I'll be honest, I found the nose to be quiet subtle and almost undersold the wine. Upon taste, though, it opened up and I could detect the flavors of orange and pomegranate. It was delicious and the perfect "light" red match for our spicy asian dish.

You can pick up a bottle for about $25.00 in the tasting room in Richland, WA or on their website. You don't see the Barnard Griffin reserve wines out in bottle shops too often because of the limited production, but their tulip label wines are fairly well distributed and they are worth checking out. BG is one of those wineries where I can honestly say that I've never had a bad wine.

Cottonwood Canyon 2000 Synergy Classic

Last night, Bob Woodshed of the [BW] Beer Blog and I were putting the final touches on a project that we had been working on, and the completion called for celebration. To the wine rack I went, were our choice was whittled down to three different options -- a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Kiona, a Dolcetto from Erath, and the 2000 Synergy Classic from Cottonwood Canyon. The Synergy hit the spot, so open it became.


If you recall from a post from some time ago, Cottonwood Canyon Winery is in the Santa Maria Valley AVA (California), and my aunt works there part time so I visited the winery in March of 2007 when I was down in the area. They focus on Chardonnay and Pinot, but put out some bigger red bordeaux varietals as well. The Synergy is a bordeaux blend -- 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. Interestingly, by taste I would have sworn there was some Syrah in there but of course then it wouldn't be a true bordeaux blend due to the Rhone origin of the Syrah.


According to the winery, the wine had a deep, warm blackberry color, and opened with a nose of pomegranate and smoke. I detected some leather in there as well. Flavors of rich, dark cherries come through in the mid-palate. Soft, smoky tannins and flavors of blackberry, blending into chocolate cherry repeatingly throughout, create the lingering, complex finish. It was very pleasant and very enjoyable for both of us -- thankfully, since Bob mentioned that he wasn't interested in Merlot that evening (and I didn't even think about it until we were well into the wine). Definitely a winner. I'm looking forward to opening the bottle of 1996 Synergy that's on the rack waiting for another special occasion.


We rounded out the evening with a Barnard Griffin 2005 Syrah (tulip label), always a standby winner and a great value wine.

2005 Reserve Barbera from Barnard Griffin

After weeks on hiatus, and many bottles of wine later, I am returning to the computer for the purposes of sharing with all, the joys of a delicious treat a friend shared with me this evening. Coming home tonight, a dinner of creamy pasta primavera with fresh from the store veggies was started for us. Three bottles of wine were taken off the shelf from which to choose for the evening's fare: an Erath Dolcetto (an old favorite), a Griffin Creek Tempranillo (extremely enticing), and the subsequently chosen bottle of Barnard Griffin Reserve Barbera.

Upon first tasting this wine, after a thorough decanting, I noticed a distinct raisiny flavor that hit the palette followed by some notes of cinnamon and citrus. After a while on the palette the raisin notes were replaced by a lingering flavor of cinnamon and other spices. This is an easy drinking wine that I will certainly be on the lookout for in the future, and for only $24.99 plus shipping Barnard Griffin will ship a bottle to you.

Barnard Griffin is a family owned and operated winery located on the east side of Washington state in Richland. Those who know me know I enjoy the varietals found only in the dry climates of southern Oregon and eastern Washington. For this reason, Barnard Griffin is one of my favorites, and atop the list of eastern Washington Wineries that I plan to visit in the coming spring and summer months.

Barnard Griffin 2004 Syrah

Are you looking for a nice syrah for under $20? Barnard Griffin's 2004 Syrah is the wine for you. Barnard Griffin is probably my favorite Eastern Washington winery, located near the Yakima River in Richland. Now, I grew up in Richland but unfortunately was under the legal age for enjoying wine at the time. I'm really digging where the industry is going in the Tri-Cities when I visit my family.

Barnard Griffin buys all of their fruit--and Rob Griffin, the winemaker, attributes much of his success to sourcing great fruit. They produce both tulip labels and reserve wines, and while the reserve are definitely the cream of the crop, tulip label wines are very respectable and reasonably priced.

For the 2004 Syrah, the nose has plum and blackberry notes with rich, full-bodied flavors. The grapes for this wine came from the Wahluke Slope, Columbia Gorge, and Columbia River areas capitalizing on the high heat climate of the Columbia Valley. We cracked it open with a nice steak and next thing we knew, the bottle was gone.

Next time you are in the local wine store, pick up a bottle. Even better, if you happen to find yourself in Richland--stop by the tasting room. They are quite hospitable.