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

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.

Bringing NW Wine to the California Airwaves; Grape Encounters Radio

Not long ago, I noticed that Seattle Wine Gal had been on a radio show talking about screw cap wines, boxed wines and the youth wine demographic. I gave a listen to the show and agree with some of what she had to say, particularly about screw cap wines. Unfortunately, her argument for boxed wine did not sway me. Sorry, Barbara.

The gentleman on the other side of the radio sounded like a nice guy, for someone from California. He was, however a bit dismissive about the idea that there were wines in screw capped bottles worthy of serious consideration. Worthy of a fancy meal, a special occasion, a night of romance, etc. This California wine wizard said it just wouldn't do, and that bothered me a little bit. Nay, a lot bit.

So I fired off an email to this guy and said, "Hey Fella, let me say, you're wrong." It was actually a much longer email than that. All the same, my point was that there are great screw cap wines, and that I felt he, as an AM Radio wine king of the west coast, as well as folks like Barbara and even myself need to be careful about being dismissive of wines. That includes wines from odd places, varietals, or wines in a bottle topped with a screw cap. For some reason, people might actually listen to what we say, and so as wine lovers, we need to be a bit more open minded.

So this guy, David Wilson, writes me back. Considering I was a bit rough with him, he's very nice and he says, "Come on my show, man." That's not a direct quote, mind you, but more or less. So, I started thinking, well, I know for a fact that there is some wine being made right here in the Northwest in screw capped bottles that is to die for. I send out the word on the street, aka the internet, to the Dusted Valley crew, and Argyle Winery that I would like to have some of their wine sent to this California character to set the record straight. After all, they say that your word is your bond. More or less.


What followed was a great experience, and I have to give David Wilson and Grape Encounters a lot of credit. They do a fun radio show for wine fans and have a very similar philosophy to The Oregon Wine Blog. That is to say, wine is about the experience, and wine is about having fun. There was nothing too serious and nothing pretentious about him. At one point, he even did a show with topless women who were painted up like mermaids. So, while I decided to leave my clothing on for the show, David and I and his friend Tom talked about wine. (To hear the actual show, click here.)

David set the scene for how we ended up with these two wines on the radio. He mentioned the email I had sent him and serious reactions to his comments on screw capped wines. This led me to explain a little bit about the philosophy behind The Oregon Wine Blog, and how we're about making wine approachable for the younger crowd. Being snooty about the different closures may not only turn some folks off, it may relegate some really brilliant wines to the proverbial scrap heap.

We opened and tasted the two wines on the show. We started with the 2006 Argyle Nuthouse Pinot Noir. This wine is a real treat; a big rich and ripe Pinot Noir owing to that warm growing season of 2006. David said that while this wine was much bigger than the Pinots he was used to drinking out of the Santa Rita Hills area, he was thoroughly impressed. I said, yeah, I know. From there we moved on to the Dusted Valley Cabernet from the same vintage, 2006. This wine is a game changer for Californians who enjoy those big over the top Cabernets. The complexity, layers and nuance that Washington Cabernets offer was a welcome change for David and his colleague. Again, David's reaction was, "This is a great wine." My reaction was, yeah, I know.


In one fell swoop, I settled the score that not only are the Northwest Winemakers keeping it real, as the kids would say, but some of them are keeping it real with a screw cap. David had to concede. I had come up with two screwcap wines that David admitted were worthy of a romantic evening, they were that good in his estimation.

I couldn't leave it well enough alone though, and may have gotten myself in a jam. I told David that I loved Oregon Pinot Noir so, and it was such a unique expression of terroir that I could pick it out of a crowd any day. He said, "You're on." David is in the process of arranging a blind tasting of 10 wines, 5 from the Northwest and if I guess right, I get a case of California Pinot. I better get practicing.

Check out David's show each week on Grape Encounters Radio, he has a very similar philosophy to our blog, and a great radio voice. Plus he called me handsome.

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.

Dusted Valley...And A Secret Society of Wine Operatives

I received a top secret message via the twitter machine that Dusted Valley, the Washington Winery of the Year was having an event, and they were asking for my participation. As the Washington Correspondent for The Oregon Wine Blog, sometimes these things happen to me.

The event was billed as a special opportunity for wine media to check out the Woodinville tasting room and meet winemakers Chad and Corey. There were several staff pouring the whites and reds as well as media folks like the guy from winefoot.com, Duane.

I started out sampling their Viognier and Chardonnay, both of which were very good.

After the whites, I moved over to the bar in the tasting room, which only opened last summer. The bar showcased an extensive line of red wines available that evening; I started with the Grenache. Of the reds, two that really stood out for me were the Wallywood and the Reserve Syrah. Wallywood is a play on their two locations (Walla Walla and Woodinville) and the Reserve Syrah is a true gem.

Chad Johnson, one of the two winemakers, came over and we chatted about how often he hears the Ocho Cinco jokes, and then I went and made one more. We talked about the wines, and about the fact that they recently changed the Squirrel Tooth Alice to a blend more in the style of a Chateauneuf du Pape. Chad and I also talked about their move from cork to screwcaps, which took place after their first release came out in cork.

It was then that I started to feel a little funny. As I began to pay closer attention it occurred to me that something else was going on. All of the tasting room staff were attractive blonde women, like in the spy movies. I had found out about the event through a top secret message via the twitter machine. It was all becoming clear to me.

I looked around and noticed that the other media people were gone. It was just me, Chad and Corey, the blonde staff, and two poets who approached me with a cache of supplies. I was being asked to join their secret society of highly trained, almost ninja-like wine operatives: The Stained Tooth Society. I agreed to the offer - I felt it was one I couldn't refuse anyways.

I looked at my cache. It included a CD with special operative instructions, which I was to destroy after learning my mission details. My charge was to spread the word that a quality fine wine out of Walla Walla could be made by Midwesterners, and could come in a bottle without a cork.

My other supplies included a stained tooth top secret garment, to be worn only at our secret meetings. A stained tooth brush, as I could not risk being discovered. After sharing this Dusted Valley treasure with the doubters, I was to brush my teeth, and erase all trace of my affiliation. There was also a bottle of 2006 Reserve Syrah. If we were going to convince someone of cork free quality, this special potion would do the trick. Finally, there was a rock. I'm still working on figuring that one out. Should I use it to start a signal fire in case of an emergency? If I'm apprehended should I try to swallow the rock? It's easily the size of my fist.

If you haven't had Dusted Valley wines, keep an eye out. It could be that one of the members of The Society is sitting across from you at the dinner table; pouring at your local wine bar; or the wine steward at your local grocer. We're out there, and you may not know who we are. But we know who you are and we're coming for you.

Non-Traditional Wines: Cabernet Franc

Like that last bottle of wine you popped, our series of non-traditional wines of the Northwest must too come to an end. It's been a blast and we've learned a lot, but our huge stockpile of review bottles is down to only one varietal.

The final wine in our series of non-traditional wines of the Northwest is one that's actually very common on our wine rack. While we've covered multiple cab francs in the past, it's still a wine that is very much off the radar for the average wine drinker. Cab franc is actually what sparked my interest in wine in the first place, so I anticipate this is going to be a lot of fun.

Joining us for this event are two new friends to The Oregon Wine Blog; Lizz and Rob. Lizz and Rob are at that awkward phase where they know more about wine than your average fan, but don't feel completely confident in their ability to write about it. After one night with Josh and I as well reading some of our articles, I'd bet the anxiety just flew out the window.  I'd even wager they immediately felt smarter the second we opened our mouths. Look forward to hearing more from these two in the future.

Without further ado; wine!

About Cabernet Franc

As with our previous posts, we'll be consulting the fine folks at Wikipedia for the majority of our vast knowledge. For starters, cab franc has historically been used as a blending grape. It's lighter than a cab sauv, which is typically used to mellow out cab sauvs and merlots. In some regions of the world, the grape has even been flat out mistaken for cab sauv.

In recent times, it turns out some of the earliest plantings of cab franc in California were mistaken for merlot. Once wine makers were convinced the grape could hold up by itself, many wine makers in the Northwest have been planting it due to its relatively low level of maintenance and early ripening.

In short, you may have had cab franc without even knowing. That bottle of merlot? Maybe cab franc. Or maybe it was a cab sauv. It probably isn't a riesling. Not sure? Just say "cab" and cough/mumble a bit.


The Wine
Like the rest of the wine in our non-traditional wines series, all of the following wines were sent to us for free. A huge thank you goes out to each vineyard for sending us the following wines: Kestrel Vitners 2006 Winemakers Select Cab Franc, Pend D'Oreille 2005 Cab Franc, Dusted Valley 2007 Cab Franc, Tamarak Cellars 2007 Cab Franc, and Gamache Vitners 2006 Estate Cab Franc. Perhaps the coolest aspect to this tasting is that each wine comes from a different AVA. While all of the wines were great, the four of us have narrowed it down to two favorites:

Kestrel Vitners 2006 Winemaker's Select Cab Franc Hailing from Yakima Valley, Kestrel's offering won over all four of us. Our self-reported tasting notes indicated hues of strawberry, dark fruit a sweet yet bold aroma, and pairing well with some mango we had cut up. We all also agreed that this wine holds up by itself just fine, so it's completely up to you whether or not to pair it with food.

Kestrel's own tasting notes indicate that this 100% estate-grown cab franc presents what we mentioned as well as "dark spice, herbal, and floral layers that are typical of the variety." Kestrel's offering definitely stands out as one of the best offerings out of the Northwest and at only 250 cases produced, it won't be around for very long.

Pend d'Oreille 2005 Cabernet Franc: Pend d'Oreille has officially become the biggest surprise of this entire series. Once again their offering was unanimously agreed upon as one of the best of the night. We noted a sweet nose that Lizz especially really enjoyed. This wine prevented a medium fruit profile that was noted as not very complex, but very comforting and true to the style. While it was great straight from the bottle, the wine's more complex flavors came out after opening up for a while. Looks like we definitely need to make a trip out to Sandpoint.

Final Thoughts
Cab Franc is an incredibly versatile wine that appeals to a very wide audience of red wine drinkers. By itself or paired with food, it's very hard to go wrong with a good bottle of cab franc. Thanks again to Lizz and Rob for joining us for this review and everybody else who gave feedback for previous posts. Thanks as well to every winemaker who helped make this series a huge success. We hope you've learned a little something about non-traditional varietals and feel more confident is picking one up at your local winery. Look forward to our next upcoming series that will be as educational as it is creative (or just weird).

Fit for Ceres: Dusted Valley Comes to Woodinville

Dusted Valley, Walla Walla's 52nd winery, has been making wine since 2003. Brothers-in-law Chad and Corey, originally from Wisconsin, decided to pursue their love of wine by moving to Walla Walla and are now making 4,000 cases yearly.

Dusted Valley recently changed labels with their 06/07 releases and in one man's opinion, this was a huge move in the right direction. I know it's what's in the bottle that counts, but marketing does matter and it would appear that given a lot of their recent moves, Dusted Valley has really got the marketing line down. There is a lot that's new with Dusted Valley: the newer labels, the most brilliantly named wine club in Washington, the Stained Tooth Society, as well as the new Woodinville location are making Dusted Valley a name and wine that should be on everyone's lips.

The Dusted Valley tasting room opened in Woodinville this past July, located in the small plaza with Purple Cafe, right off of the roundabout (behind Brian Carter and DeLille's tasting rooms).

The Dusted Valley space is a store front and is very well decorated on the inside. Their emphasis is on maximizing the space, meaning there's not a ton of wine on hand, but they've been able to have a cozy tasting room in the front of the shop, and a space that's large enough for small private events as well.

The wines are very well done and they showcase the Washington fruit very nicely. Dusted Valley makes wines out of Walla Walla, Columbia and Yakima Valley fruit. While Dusted Valley is a smaller operation, they make a variety that is enviable. The tasting room had on hand the 2006 Chardonnay, the 2007 Grenache, Cab Franc, Mouvedre, three different Syrahs, and the Barrel Thief Red, a Sangiovese and Tempranillo blend.

All of the wines were good. My favorites were the un-named Syrah ($27), the Grenache ($28) and the Barrel Thief Red ($26). The $8 tasting fee can be applied to a purchase (Dusted Valley waived my fee. Thanks, guys!)

Dusted Valley is "cork-free" on all of their wines which is not only about protecting their investment, but it also had to do with their commitment to sustainability and the impacts of cork harvesting.

Dusted Valley has an interesting barrel project in the works, using oak from the winemaker's home state of Wisconsin. If you're in Woodinville you should make the Dusted Valley tasting room a must do; they're open daily from 12 to 5pm.

Non-Traditional Wines: Grenache!

Friends, readers, and critics...thanks for sticking with us for the longest feature series published to date on The Oregon Wine Blog!  Without further ado (well, perhaps just a *little* ado) we bring you the next and second to last in the Non-Traditional Wine Series -- Grenache.  The day of this tasting started as one of wine, fun, and fellowship; the night culminated with some greater insight into Pacific Northwest wine.

A sunny afternoon spent at Willamette Valley Vineyards enjoying the Mo's Crab and Chowder Festival was just wrapping up and Rick, Zac, Micheal, and I had finished demolishing four large plates of crab, a tablecloth, a bottle of wine, and our hands in the process.  Not quite ready to end the day, I mentioned that the crew should come over and assist with our tasting of Grenache.  Zac immediately said, "gesundheit."  Thankfully, it wasn't a sneeze, rather, the name of one of the most widely planted red wine grapes in the world.

About Grenache

Our friends at Wikipedia were more than happy to provide an overview of Grenache for you. We didn't actually ask, but we're sure they won't mind. A late ripening grape requiring hot, dry conditions, Grenache flourishes in Spain, the South of France, and the San Joaquin Valley of California. Conveniently for all of us, Eastern Washington is aptly hot and dry. Often used in fortified wines due to a high sugar content, it was one of the early grapes planted in the Washington wine industry with notoriety in the Yakima Valley as early as 1966. It is a growing local varietal as part of the Rhone Ranger movement in the state. A side effect of high sugar content? Often a high alcohol content.

The Wine

We received two bottles in the Grenache genre for review as part of this series.  As with a few of our other tastings, this panel presented two wines that were completely opposite and both quite delicious; quite representative of the terrior of origin.  In alphabetical order...

Dusted Valley 2008 Columbia Valley Grenache:  This wine immediately presented some tantalizing aromatics with notes of cranberry, cherry, pepper, and cinnamon.  All of us found this wine very approachable, fruit-forward, with the ability to completely stand on it's own or pair with a medium-red appropriate culinary delight.  Zac noted that it was "good" and Micheal made a comparison that I cannot decipher from my notes...probably because the wine was so tasty I focused more on drinking than transcribing.  All in all, we loved this wine and I particularly enjoyed the prominence of black cherry.  With only 175 cases, this wine "is about as rare as a Sasquatch."  At $28 per bottle, this gets a "highly recommended" from us as an everyday wine.

K Vintner 2007 "The Boy":  Described by the winemaker as "Truly a vineyard in the bottle", The Boy is actually a blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah - and wow does the Syrah add some complexity!  With Walla Walla Valley fruit, we got an earthy, gamey nose that Zac noted, "took command of his nostrils."  The weak of heart may be off put a bit by the aromatics, but it would be a mistake to give up there.  Upon taste, we found a bolder, passionate wine that had spice with a sweeter finish.  This is definitely a food-pairing wine that would be awesome with a steak.  It's another limited production at 340 cases, so if you run across one at $40 this gets a "highly recommended" from us with a slab of red meat.

There it is: a journey on the Grenache train through two bottles -- one delicate and fruity, one bold and brawny -- both delicious in their own special way.  We all walked away with a new appreciate for Grenache and the variances in the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley terrior.  Props to K Vintners and Dusted Valley!

Non-Traditional Wines: Malbec & Halloween

Epitomizing the spirit of both The Oregon Wine Blog and our series on non-traditional wines of the Northwest, we decided to do our tasting of Malbec in a unconventional fashion - at least when it comes to the classical method of reviewing wine. That's right, we paired the tasting with our Halloween party, and invited our rag-tag group of friends and fellow bloggers to participate. After all, most of you aren't professional wine drinkers, so why would you want to read reviews from them? Who are we kidding anyway?

Before we dive in to the Malbec, I have three disclosures to make: I'm half a bottle of Lemberger in as I write this post, we tasted 6 different Malbec's in one sitting [and we don't believe in spitting, unless of course, we're driving], and all the wine was supplied by the wineries. So, take it for what it's worth!

About Malbec

Wikipedia, being the bastion of all that is known in the universe, has once again served as our trusty reference as we explore the wonders of Malbec. One of the six grapes allowed in the blend of Bordeaux wine, Malbec is an inky dark grape with robust tannins, found primarily in the Southwest region of France. A think skinned grape, the fruit needs more sunlight than Cab or Merlot to mature, fitting for Eastern Washington or Southern Oregon.

Malbec has traditionally been used in making Claret, it was a significant variety in California prior to the prohibition used in blended bulk production wine. After the prohibition, Malbec became popular in Meritage blends and US production has increased seven-fold in the last 20 years. Seven Hills Winery planted the first Malbec vines in Washington in the late 90's, and a number of Washington and Oregon wineries have been experimenting with 100% varietals in the last 10 years, primarily in the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla AVA's.

The Wine

As I mentioned, we combined the Malbec tasting with our Halloween party. As a result, a number of our closest friends provided tasting notes that contributed to this post. Free wine, right? The methodology was simple -- Rick and I tasted through all 6 samples prior to the party to get some baseline reviews, and then we provided the bottles to our guests to drink throughout the night, only asking that they jot some notes down on each wine they tasted for our review. Scientific...not so much, but we got some unique and varied perspectives that reflect the diversity and tastes of each individual. Thanks to Drew, Micheal, Chris, Kathryn, Gordon, Andrea, Craig, Megan, and Zack for joining us!

The six wines sampled were:

• Dusted Valley 2007 Malbec
• Gamache Vintners 2006 Estate Malbec
• Kestrel 2005 Winemaker’s Select Estate Malbec
• Maryhill 2006 Proprietor’s Reserve Malbec
• Pend d’Oreille 2006 Wood River Vineyard Malbec
• William Church 2007 Katherine’s Vintage Malbec

Five were from Washington, one from Idaho. In reviewing these wines, we found that all had appealing qualities, and all had some characteristics that didn't resonate with some of our audience. It ultimately comes down to taste and the experience one is looking for. All in all, though, two clear favorites emerged:

Dusted Valley: This was my personal favorite. We found a jammy, fruity nose with raspberries and cherries quite prominent. The taste built on the nose and added some cranberry with a bit of tartness on the finish. This was a very refreshing wine and didn't require a food pairing to be successful - although would do well with pasta. One of our guests picked up some leather and black pepper on the nose, although I didn't see it. I definitely drank my fair share of the Dusted Valley and I'd suggest picking up a bottle for any time drinking if you can get your hands on one. At $35 per bottle, I believe it is only available to wine club members.

Pend d'Orielle: Our only Idaho wine in this flight, it was a pleasant surprise (although shouldn't have been a surprise based on our previous experience with PO Wine). With a prominent nose of rose petals, some red fruit, and licorice, we picked up cocoa in the flavor profile with a pomegranate finish. This was an extremely drinkable wine in which some of our guests noted hints of leather, berry, and a bit of sweetness. With a price point of $29 per bottle, this is highly recommended.

The other four were well received by various members of our tasting panel. One interesting note was the prominent leather on the Maryhill offering. It definitely wasn't as off-putting as it was on the Barbera; it seems that leather is a feature of the Maryhill Gunkle vineyard. Flavors of raspberry and cranberry seemed to stay constant throughout, and we noted some differences between AVA's in the smoothness of the wines.

So there you have it -- Malbec and Halloween, The Oregon Wine Blog style. Stay tuned for the continuation of this series, some book reviews, a feature on the Southern Oregon wine tasting event from a guest blogger, and some Yakima Valley coverage. What were you drinking on Halloween?