We're on the Air for Washington Wine

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.

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.