The Bottle That Was Meant To Be - Del Rio Claret

Have you ever found a bottle of wine that, seemingly like fate, ended up on your rack after such an odd and absurd chain of events that it was almost meant to be? The 2007 Del Rio Vineyards Claret recently filled that niche for me, for had the day I purchased the wine gone a different path at a number of junctures, it would have meant no wine for me.

At the end of August, Micheal and I took a much needed vacation to Bend and Crater Lake. When it comes to travel, I'm a planner. I'll have reservations, maps, agendas, bottles of wine, and tickets finalized months prior to the trip. This trip was exactly opposite of that philosophy. The epitome of spontaneity, I hadn't had the time to think about this particular vacation until about 2 weeks prior. The result? Lodging reservations about 45 miles from the lake at the Historic Prospect Hotel, and tickets for the Crater Lake Boat Tour on a day that had a marginal weather forecast.

We arrived at Crater Lake on a gorgeously sunny Friday afternoon. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, and has a transfixing deep blue color even on the worst of days. On a sunny day, the lake literally sparkles. After driving around the 33-mile Rim Drive (he he, Rim Drive), we headed into Prospect to eat at the Dinnerhouse at the Historic Prospect Hotel where we were staying. After an awesome prime rib paired with some wine from Crater Lake Cellars, Micheal and I reviewed our plans for the next day. Drive to the lake...hike a quick little jaunt down to the boat launch at Cleetwood Cove...and head out for a 2-hour spin around the lake with park rangers. Awesome. The revised weather report indicated a high probably of rain and a moderate temperature. Not so awesome. It was Oregon though, so a little rain wasn't going to stop us.

We hit the road to the lake on Saturday, the day in question, and the drizzle started. It was about 50-degrees and a little foggy, but no big deal. As we started gaining elevation, the temparature started dropping. And dropping. And dropping. By the time we ascended about 2000 feet to the parking lot for the boat tour, it was 30 degrees. And snowing. That's right, snowing. In August, in Oregon. And we were scheduled to go on an open-top boat in the middle of the deepest lake in the nation. Brrr. The ticket attendant looked at our light jackets and noticeable lack of gloves or hats, and intelligently talked us into a refund. We decided to still do the hike down to the boat launch, the only place at Crater Lake where you can access the water. The little jaunt wasn't so little. Despite only a mile in distance, the hike dropped almost 1000 feet in elevation over that mile. It was steep, and cold. We did the loop and my seat warmers never felt so good. But, as it was only about Noon and still snowing and cold, we needed to find a way to occupy the rest of the day. What to do...what to do.

I thought back to dinner the night before, and it hit me. Crater Lake Winery! The drive was about an hour, how could we not go? We started heading towards the winery and decided to stop for lunch. Two restaurants and 3.5 hours later (yep, they that busy), we hit the small town of Shady Grove, Oregon and found the winery. As we walked towards the door, I saw an ominous sign on the door.

Yep, closed. Foiled again. By this time, it was about 4:30 PM and we were 30 minutes from the hotel, in one direction...and 30 minutes from Medford, in the other direction. The boat tour failed, the winery was a wash, restaurants were congested, and we had a decision to make. Across the street, I spied a grocery store and in a moment of clarity we decided to grab some sandwiches and head back to our hotel, where an open bottle of wine and some pie waited. We walked in to this little grocery store, and I was immediately drawn to the wine section, in all it's splendor. Well, it was actually pretty small but I always like seeing what these little places have. After picking up and putting back down a few bottles, there it sat. With a price tag of $19.99, marked down from $35.00, were about 5 bottles of the 2007 Del Rio Claret. I knew this was a great wine, and at that price, how can you say no? The purpose for the day of trials and tribulations became clear: I was meant to go home with this wine, and go home with it I did. As Clark Griswold best put it in Christmas Vacation,

Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?

A few weeks later after the trip to the Sakery, 2 wineries, a flat tire, and an awesome dinner at Chang's Mongolian, Rick and I opened the bottle that was meant to be. The Claret was everything I dreamed of and more, and at $19.99, my frugalness was shining after having worked so hard to get the bottle. I first noticed the deep, dark purple hues on the wine and Rick pointed out some delicous blackberry notes on the nose. The blend is one that we knew would be a homerun out of the Rogue Valley:

• 50% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 30% Merlot
• 10% Malbec
• 10% Cabernet Franc

That equals 100%, right? We swirled, sniffed, and sipped, and found some awesome flavors of currant and fig. The mouthfeel of this wine was lighter than I would have guessed based on the composition, but in a totally awesome way. The more we drank the more we liked, and this Claret is proof that Southern Oregon can stand up to Eastern Washington in the battle of the big reds.

Next thing we knew, the bottle was empty and the Del Rio episode was done. For now. Luckily, I have another bottle on the rack for the next time I want to have an absurd and random experience. Oh, and next time you want that awesome bottle at an awesome price, check out the grocery store in Shady Grove.  Don't worry about the name, it's the only one.  Cheers!

Matthews Estate: The Kids are Alright

In conjunction with the release of their 2007 Claret, Matthews Estate recently had a barrel tasting of their 2008 Claret. I learned about the event through Twitter, an aspect of social media to which I'm relatively new. Matthews Estate, like many wineries, is making moves toward pulling in a younger demographic. They've thrown in with youth in hiring of winemaker Aryn Morrell who is not yet thirty and has cut his teeth at wineries down in Napa Valley including Silver Oak.

I was hopeful that this event would shed some light on how Matthews was utilizing social media to bring a younger crowd to their wines. Our first impressions were a bit auspicious - we parked next to a Bentley, not the typical car for the under forty crowd. The barrel room was packed with people. Overall, the crowd was quite young. I'd put the average age of everyone in attendance at around 40, which is pretty goodfor a private wine event for a premium winery in Woodinville.

I spoke with one of the owners, Cliff Otis, about the direction of Matthews Estate and the role he sees social media playing. Matthews has a presence both on Facebook and Twitter, as well as a web presence. The Matthews website is very interactive, with videos of the winemaker, Aryn, tasting through the wines. Matthews hopes to bring young people into the experience with them. Cliff explained that what fascinated him about wine was the "Ah ha!" experiences that comes from learning how wine gets from the vineyard to the bottle, from understanding the role that barrels play in the nose and palate of a wine, and how varietals blended can compliment and accentuate one another. The folks at Matthews want to share that "Ah ha!" moment with a younger generation of wine drinkers.

So, how was the wine? The 2008 Claret was showing very well and it will spend another year in the barrel. The Claret is 55% Cabernet and 45% Merlot. Aryn pulled the half of the pour out of new oak and the half from a one year old French barrel blending them in the glass. The wine was a dark cranberry color, with that new French barrel lending notes of currants and oak on the nose. The wine showed flavors of blueberries and bright cherries. This young Claret is very good, and will only get better.

Matthews is excited about the future, and what Aryn's winemaking will bring to their repertoire. They've got big plans for their brand, and for Washington Wine.