Fortified (Port Style) Wine of the Yakima Valley: Final Episode

When a wine is referred to as 'fortified,' it means it's been made stronger (or 'fortified') by adding a distilled beverage, traditionally brandy. The brandy is added before the fermentation process is complete, which kills the yeast, leaving behind more sugar, which results in a stronger, sweeter beverage. As I mentioned here, to properly be called Port, the wine must hail from the Duoro Valley in Portugal. Since the wines I received were grown and bottled in Washington, they are more properly 'port-style' or 'fortified wines.'

The first stop in our Yakima Valley fortified wines was Cabernet Sauvignon followed by Syrah. Today's post will look at two very different kinds of Yakima Valley fortified wine. The first fortified wine will look at is a blend of three traditional Port grapes. The varietals used include; Tinta Cao, Touriga Nacional and Souzao. Thurston Wolfe sent two unique blends that contain some of the traditional Portuguese varietals, with Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon playing major roles. Finally, we'll look at our one unique port from Lopez Island Vineyards, the only Sangiovese we received.


We received only one completely traditional style fortified blend of 56% Souzau, 25% Touriga, and 19% Tinta Cao. The 2004 Hedges Family Estate Red Mountain Fortified, a regal and austere looking wine. The 2004 is a single vineyard blend from the North Block of Hedges Family Estate. Hedges blend is of course a recognition of the deep tradition of the fortified wines of Portugal's Duoro Valley. The wine, from bottle to flavor profile, means serious business. It speaks of deep dark wood and mahogany, and has hints of tobacco, earth and dark chocolate and cherries. While much of the Yakima Valley uses grape spirits, Hedges goes traditional with Brandy which smooths out the pallet on the wine and reminds you of that old world fortified wine. This wine is a serious one, and while it would go well with any chocolate desert it would also stand on it's own on the yacht or after closing the deal in the boardroom.

Thurston Wolfe sent two variations on the traditional Port blend theme. The 2007 JTW Port is a unique blend of Touriga, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and Souzao. The blending of the Cabernet brightens the fruit character and seems to mellow out the traditional Portuguese austerity. The JTW Port's final blend was created in 2008 and laid in barrel until bottling in the summer of 2009. The wine is a classic after dinner drink which tastes of chocolate and spices, Gwynne picked out notes of cloves. The JTW Reserve Port is a 2005 wine that has been selected for further barrel aging. The wine is a slightly different blend, with the Petite Sirah leading the way this time, followed by the Touriga, Cabernet and a tiny bit of Souzao. This wine is incredible, its smooth after two years in the barrel and two in the bottle. It's got dark fruit notes to spare. The extra time has made this a luxuriant example of Yakima Valley fortified wine.

The final fortified wine of our series comes from Lopez Island Vineyard, the 2007 Fireside Port is made of 100% Sangiovese. The wine is all Red Mountain fruit and the use of Sangiovese really makes it stand out from some of the other fortified wines we sampled. The fruit notes are more red than black and while it's very mellow, it's probably a bit more versatile with pairings. More strawberries and slight spice notes typical of Sangiovese. This wine is a sampling of Yakima Valley AVAs as the Sangiovese comes off Red Mountain but the grape spirits come from Wahluke Slope. Talking to Maggie, one of the owners, the attempt to make a fortified wine was more out of personal interest and curiousity but they're really happy with how it's turned out. So am I.

The wines we sampled over a three part series are just a small representation of what kinds of fortified wines are out there in the Northwest and for that matter just in Yakima Valley. I recommend you get out there and sample them before it gets too warm. Summer's coming and you'll have to wait until next winter or at least just until dessert.

Where's In a Name

Recently, while contacting several Washington wineries about an upcoming piece on Yakima Valley port, I got a thought-provoking response from Christophe Hedges at Hedges Family Estates.

When I contacted Hedges Family Estates regarding their Red Mountain fortified wine, I asked about their port. Christophe responded very clearly; Hedges Family doesn't make a Port. Those are only made in the Duoro Valley, in Portugal. Chrisophe sent me a link to Protect Place and let me know that Hedges is part of the coalition to acknowledge and protect place names. While this is not a new concept to me when it comes to traditional French wines, it's not something that you commonly hear about with regard to Port, port-style, or fortified wines. Based on my working knowledge of the wine industry, if an Oregon-based winery makes a sparkling wine, you make a sparkling wine. You definitely don't make a Champagne. Even the Treaty of Versailles says so.

The French went further with the AOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée), which had its origins in the 15th century regulations of Roquefort cheese. The wine element didn't come into play until 1935. The AOC dictates that in order for a wine to be given the name of a particular appellation, every grape used in that wine must come from within that appellation. In the states, an AVA (American Viticulture Area) designation works similarly, indicating that at least 85% of the grapes come from within that AVA. Because of the AOC and traditions governing wine, they certainly can't make Bourdeaux wine outside of Bourdeaux. There are several Washington wineries making Bourdeaux or Rhone style blends from grapes grown within their AVAs. I had always assumed that wine producers, even those in the 'New World' more or less played by these rules and honored this long-standing tradition in wine making. And in large part, they do. So why is port different?


Simple internet searches for "Washington Port Wine", "Willamette Valley Port" or "Yakima Valley Port" produces dozens of hits for wineries and Washington- or Oregon-made wines. In contrast, a search for "Washington Champagne" yields as one of the top hits Champagne Bureau, an organization to protect place names. In part, I think it's because fewer people in the states are drinking fortified wines and talking about them, so the information has less chance to get passed around. In addition, the movement to protect place for Port is not a long-standing tradition: the bodies that regulate Port were formed much later. It wasn't until 1995 that a governing body came into being that represented all farmers and trade professionals, and a similar cooperative mid-century movement included only 10% of regional producers.

Definitively, what is a port? From here, "Port Wine is a fortified wine, as defined in EU legislation. It is produced in the Demarcated Region of the Douro under very specific conditions resulting from natural and human factors. The winemaking procedures, based on traditional methods, include stopping the fermentation of the must by adding grape brandy (benefício), making up lots of wine and ageing the wine."

At the end of the day, consumers will use the terminology they know and are familiar with. Facial tissues are universally called Kleenex and soft drinks are very commonly referred to as Coke or Pepsi as opposed to cola. Sparkling wine may remain Champagne in the mind of many, just as a fortified dessert wine will continue to be called port by those who've never been to the Duoro Valley. As wine and fortified wine drinkers become more familiar with protecting place as the movement gains traction, that may change.

My role though has definitely changed, and as someone who now writes about wine, I should be using correct terminology. And as someone who reads about wine, if someone asks, you can tell them what a Port really is.

For more information on Port, visit Instituto do Vinhos do Duoro e Porto (in English) or The Port Wine.

2008 Wine Pairing Feature - Traditional Holiday Dinner

The Oregon Wine Blog staff is proud to present our inaugural Wine Pairing Feature – this edition detailing a traditional holiday dinner. This year we were privileged to have Willamette Valley Vineyards partner with us to provide the wine for the wonderful experience. Many of the staff writers here at The Oregon Wine Blog are members of Willamette Valley Vineyards’ Oregon Wine Guild, and thus have become very familiar with their wines.

In preparation for the big evening Meg Hursh, WVV's Wine Club Manager & Shelby Zadow, their Marketing Manager previewed our pre-planned dinner menu and selectively chose wines to match the courses of the evening. Our plan from the start was to provide you, our readership, with a wine-pairing guide for a typical holiday turkey dinner. Our hope is that you might take away at least one idea for a great wine pairing for your next holiday dinner whether it be with the entire family or just that one special person.

The Appetizer:
To start the evening off as our guests were arriving we enjoyed a delicious cream cheese based smoked salmon spread with dill, capers, and red onion on crackers. This was a dish prepared by Chris, our Culinary Specialist and will likely appear on the menu of a new restaurant soon to open in Corvallis. WVV paired a 2004 Griffin Creek Cabernet Franc with this appetizer. The Cab Franc was a “perfect complement” to the smoked salmon dip most agreed. The subtle creaminess of the salmon spread was accompanied well by the peppery finish of the Cab Franc.

The Salad:
To begin the main part of the dinner we gathered around the table to enjoy a candied walnut and bleu-cheese pear salad with Oregon mixed field greens and a red wine vinaigrette dressing prepared by our Public Relations Director Megan. For this salad, rather extravagant for mid-January in Oregon, WVV paired two wines a 2006 Willamette Valley Vineyard Riesling and a 2003 Griffin Creek Viognier. For those who found the bleu-cheese to have added a pungent and powerful flavor to the salad, the Riesling enriched it with a “soothingly sweet yet balanced” contrast. However, for those who do not care for the sweetness of the Riesling, the Viognier also added a balanced dryer perspective for both the bleu-cheese as well as the candied walnuts, and was noted as having a subtle taste of summer melons. Overall, our staff and guests were very evenly split between the two wines. Both were excellent pairings for the strong flavors found in this salad, both sweet and bold. In the end our recommendation for this salad will not be settled on one wine but rather recommend them both.

The Main Course:
Before I can begin to describe the delicious wine pairings available to us for dinner, let me take a moment to define the dishes which were brought by each of us that comprised the main course:

• Traditional Holiday Turkey – The turkey, stuffed with orange, lemon, onion and carrot wedges, had whole stocks of rosemary inserted under the skin of the breast, lightly sprinkled on top with salt and pepper.
  
• Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing – cornbread, cranberries, and thinly sliced onions.
  
• Garlic Rosemary Mashed Potatoes – Potatoes with finely chopped fresh rosemary, mashed with boiled whole garlic cloves.
  
• Roasted Green Beans with Prosciutto – Green beans lightly sprinkled with salt and pepper roasted with thinly sliced prosciutto and onions.

On the side we also had traditional homemade turkey gravy to each of these dishes as desired by our guests and staff.

WVV paired two wines for this dinner, a 2005 Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir and a 2006 Whole Cluster Fermented Pinot Noir. These two wines, albeit very similar, are indeed worlds apart in flavor, each with their own beautiful noses and palettes. Pinot Noir would not usually be a wine paired with a turkey dinner, as these fares are more traditionally paired with a subtle white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc or a Chardonnay. However, Meg and Shelby thought it appropriate to pair with a bolder wine like the Pinot Noirs because of the bold flavors we’ve added to the dishes of the evening.

Our guests and staff began enjoying the main course in silence for a few minutes as they savored their first wine selection and its balancing tones with each dish, followed by a change in wine to make an adequate comparison. After the personal enjoyment of the wines with the food the conversations began and lasted into the evening. At the end of the main course we regrouped to discuss our thoughts and provide comments on each of the Pinot Noirs.

First we examined and discussed the Whole Cluster Fermented Pinot Noir. It was unanimously agreed upon that this delicate wine needed time to air out and decant prior to enjoying it to its fullest potential, so heed that warning before you enjoy it too. This wine in particular matched the prevalent flavor of rosemary in the meal very well. We all agreed that this wine was absolutely meant to be a complementary wine to great cuisine, and not a stand alone wine. Pairing this with dinner made for a great experience, however, most having tried this as a stand-alone sipping wine agreed it needed some strong flavorful fare to augment it best.

Secondly we examined and discussed the Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir. This wine was a mellow and smoother wine than the Whole Cluster, however it did not pair as well with the food. A great wine, nonetheless it was much better as a post cuisine drink making it more of a companion to great conversations and less to the food on the table. This wine is among the staff favorites for everyday drinking because of its versatility, however all agreed it was best enjoyed alone, as it needed no complement with which to pair.

At the end of our course it was evident that the crowd favorite for dinner was the Whole Cluster Fermented Pinot Noir, followed up with a small sample of the Estate Vineyard to finish off the meal.

Dessert:
As our staff worked to prepare the menu we were equally torn between two wonderful, yet vastly different desserts for which we could choose. The first was a Pear and Ginger Galette, which is best described, for those who’ve never seen or had a galette, as a fruit pie made without the use of a pie-tin. The second delectable dessert was a chocolate-stout mousse, a menu item for the soon to open Block 15 Brewery in Corvallis, Ore. for which Chris, our culinary specialist, is the head chef.

So, rather than choose between two equally delicious desserts, we opted for the route requiring less self-control and kept them both on the menu. Meg and Shelby from WVV paired a wine with each, thus providing us once again with the task, and some may say burden, of sampling both desserts and accompanying wines, all for the sake of our readers and friends. Regardless of the burden for which we all undertook, we were happy to do it, and provide all those reading with our feedback.

First up for our reviewing, was the Pear and Candied Ginger Galette, with which was paired a 2006 Semi-Sparkling Muscat Frizzanté made by Tualatin Estate of Willamette Valley Vineyards. To nearly identically associate with the pear in the galette was the strong pear flavor and nose of the Frizzanté. These matching flavors provided for a perfectly logical pairing on the part of WVV. However, the truly amazing part of the entire pairing was the final anchoring point of the cuisine, and that was the matching of the traditional flavors of the Muscat grape with the candied crystal ginger pieces in the Pear and Ginger Galette. These two final flavors of Muscat and sweetened ginger were the capstone of the pairing.

For the Chocolate-Stout Mousse, WVV paired their amazingly delectable, and hard to find, 2004 Quinta Reserva Pinot Noir Style Port. This Port, which I’ve only found and tried once before is absolutely amazing. Retailing for approximately $50, this is a wine that if you ever find yourself in an opportunity to buy, do not hesitate. If you like Port, or know someone else who does, spend the money and buy this Port. Alas, I digress. The pairing of the mousse with the port created a warm feeling that made for a smooth and relaxing finish to a holiday gathering of friends and colleagues. Not much else can be said for the Port, other than pointing out the fact that with eight people present for the dinner, the only two wines we finished in their entirety were the Frizzanté and the Pinot Noir Port. This fact alone says something about these two wines. Even the few spouses in the group who are not as big of wine fans as their partners were able to enjoy both of these exquisite wines.

In closing, we’d like to thank our partners and friends Meg Hursh and Shelby Zadow from Willamette Valley Vineyards for their professional wine pairings and most especially for agreeing to be the sponsor for our inaugural Holiday Dinner Wine Pairing Guide. Look for this publication again, however next year it will be published by early December of 2008 so that its advise and ideas for both menus and wine pairings can be utilized to the fullest in the holiday seasons with friends and family. We are also kicking around the ideas of having a Summer BBQ Wine Pairing Guide, as well as a possibly others. So look for more to come as we continue to be a source of wine enthusiasm and advice for people looking to enjoy the fruits of the vine with the fruits of the land.

Until next time, Cheers!

----------------------
Editor's Note: The staff of The Oregon Wine Blog plan to run quarterly feature length articles on various topics, including the previously noted Summer BBQ Pairing feature, as well as in depth looks at local wineries of the Oregon and Washington viticulture.

Inaugural Holiday Pairing Guide - COMING SOON!

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukkah, Happy Kwanza, and Happy Festivus to you all! As this season of holidays is well underway, we at The Oregon Wine Blog have done little to recognize the season. That is because as you may have already read we are planning an inaugural Holiday Dinner and Wine Pairing Party! This is a staff celebration for the Holiday Season that will take place in early January. Timing and schedules did not allow for a pre- or mid-season Dinner Party, thus a post-season party is the result.

Alas, this is no regular holiday party, it is indeed a party worthy of a wonderful partner. For our inaugural party we are proud to announce that Willamette Valley Vineyards has graciously partnered with us to provide you, our readership, with the 2007 Holiday Pairing Guide. The pairing guide will provide wines to be paired with a traditional holiday turkey dinner from appetizers all the way through to dessert! Some of the staff favorites from Willamette Valley Vineyards will come out; look for wines like the Whole Cluster Pinot Noir, the Pinot Gris, and even the ever elusive Pinot Noir Port will appear (so elusive no link can be provided!).

Soon after the Holiday Party, when we've all had a chance to confer and compare notes, a summary of the party and subsequent pairings will be posted for all to read. Should you have any questions or comments please feel free to let us know! Our emails can all be found to the right in the staff contact list.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season and take time to enjoy some wonderful wine with family and friends. Also, give the gift to someone that keeps on giving and teach them to enjoy the wonders of the viticulture of the Pacific Northwest.

-Cheers!

Edgefield 2001 Fireside Sweet Dessert Wine

We cracked open some Edgefield 2001 Fireside Sweet Dessert Wine, a zinfindel port style wine, as a nightcap and I must say that I am enjoying it. Edgefield Winery, a venture of McMenamins (famous for their beer and unique properties) is located in Troutdale, Oregon. I haven't been to the estate yet, but it's certainly on the list next time I head over to Eastern Washington.

I'm not a port expert, beyond enjoying drinking it, so I'll just give you the description from their website: "Our traditional Port-style wine is strong, sweet, and "raisiny," expressing quintessential Zinfandel characteristics from which it is made. "

It retails for $19 per bottle and is available by the glass at many of the McMenamin's restaurants in Oregon and Washington. From my experience, it's a good mid-priced port. I've certainly had better (on my shelf) but also had much worse. And, I'm always a fan of local companies so this is a winner.