Erath 2008 Prince Hill Pinot Noir and 5lbs of Ham

Last Thanksgiving, I really took a chance and exposed the inner workings of my family with what a typical holiday looks like. Instead of the usual drunken complaintfest we normally experience, it ended up being one of the best Thanksgivings ever thanks to Josh joining us, some Castle Crashers, and Erath's 2008 Leland Pinot Noir.


While Josh didn't join us last weekend, I tried to replicate as much of the experience as I could for Easter dinner. Nobody in my family is very religious, so Easter is more or less an opportunity for us to get together and stuff our faces with ham and ham accessories. To fully accessorize the ham while also partaking in the requisite alcohol consumption, I decided to make another one of Erath's Pinot Noirs a part of my holiday experience. This Easter I decided to open a bottle of Erath's 2008 Prince Hill Pinot Noir.

For the sake of disclosure, this was a promotional bottle sent to me by Erath. Like all wines we review, I'm still going to be just as critical as I would otherwise.

Picture this scene: It's about 3pm and Alyssa and I have just arrived at my parents' house. Grandma is spaced out on the couch staring into oblivion, my mom is busy in the kitchen, my sister is on a laptop, and my dad isn't anywhere to be fouOH THERE HE IS! Alyssa and I are greeted with a big group hug out of nowhere and one thing is obvious; he's been hitting the sauce for a few hours. If there's anything that makes his loud ramblings any easier to bear, it's having a few drinks yourself.

To counter this, I realized it was the perfect time to have a glass of Pinot Noir before dinner and then another once dinner was served. As I popped its cork, I immediately picked up the aroma of sweet cranberries. My dad must have been fascinated too as he asked whether this wine was "sweet or dry". I don't even know how to respond that anymore as I'm pretty sure he doesn't know the difference. Instead, I read the wine's tasting notes to him:

This traditional offering from Dick Erath’s home vineyard reflects the classic Dundee Hills Pinot Noir style – bright red fruit with a soft body. Vibrant cranberry aromas with an ethereal hint of violets provide a pleasing introduction to juicy, cinnamon-spiced, strawberry flavors – laced with a streak of rich mocha – that build to a satisfyingly prolonged finish

Dad: "Is this expensive?"
Me: "It retails for about $45"
At that point he took the liberty of grabbing the bottle and taking a swig from it.
Dad: "Let's drink it like it's cheap!"
Me: "No."

I got the bottle back and my mom took it upon herself to usher him out of the dining room. Finally I could start pouring. Erath's 2008 Prince Hill Pinot Noir pours a very bright, translucent ruby color that is much lighter than your typical Oregon Pinot Noir. As the tasting notes state, you're immediately greeted with powerful cranberry hues followed by what I identified as red fruits and cocoa. That said, the tartness of the cranberry really steals the show as other flavors are somewhat over powered.


The tartness was somewhat subdued when paired with ham and more savory side dishes. Although Erath suggests pairing this wine with savory duck and pork dishes, I disagree only because this wine paired like peanut butter and jelly when paired with cheese cake. The rich, creaminess of the cheesecake both subdued the tartness and combined with its lesser hues to really bring out its full flavor.

In short, I would definitely recommend trying this Pinot Noir if given the opportunity, but I would urge you to ignore its pairing suggestions and instead have it with some sort of rich dessert. Wine and dessert? I know, life is rough sometimes.

A huge thank you goes out to Erath for providing the wine as well as an apology for probably writing the least-classiest way to review an otherwise phenomenal Pinot Noir.

Up next on my series of wine for the holidays: Memorial Day weekend and whatever my dad agrees not to take pulls of.

So Long, & Thanks for the Memories...

One October evening in Yakima about a year and a half ago, over dinner and a bottle of Plaza Socievole Syrah, Josh asked me to consider becoming the Washington Correspondent for The Oregon Wine Blog. My wine knowledge and experience at the time was significantly limited. I had been to Yakima and the Rattlesnake Hills a handful of times, had been volunteering at Delille Cellars for about 4 or 5 years and had made it down to Willamette Valley once or twice. From my visits to Delille I understood a bit about crush, bottling, and portions of the wine making process from a friend who was formerly their cellar master. I knew that I loved the wines of the Northwest, and I had seen my wine budget slowly creep up to the point where we’d occasionally stretch for a $30 wine.

Everything has changed. I’ve enjoyed writing about wine; from my very first post,
an awkwardly worded attempt to capture my thoughts on a DiStefano Cab Franc (wow that was poorly written), to my recap of the Wine Blogger’s Conference on Red Mountain to my most recent guest post on Drink Nectar about wine and its relation to Cognac. Writing for the blog has been a whirlwind. I’ve met some amazing folks and tasted some brilliant and some … not so brilliant wines. I’ve made great friends in winemaking; including, among many others, Ryan Johnson, Sheila Nicholas and Neil Cooper and I’ve visited some of the finest vineyards, cellars, and wine folk's living rooms in both Oregon and Washington.

The wine blogging crowd can be an odd one. Among us there are some awkward cats, some people with odd behavior and habits and one or two jerks completely without tact. There are some really good people with various palates and writing abilities - some of them spot on in both arenas and some who are way off in both fields as well. Every one of those people accepted me among them, particularly in the greater Seattle area, and through them I’ve learned a bunch. Folks like Sean Sullivan, Doug Haugen and Susie Curnutte have generously shared wine and knowledge with me.

I learned to tweet on the twitter machine. I have to be honest; I had no idea what the hell the point of this was at first. I’ve become pretty handy at it and you might say a bit addicted. I’ve developed relationships with people all over the country and we “talk” (if you can call it that) nearly daily about a variety of things, most of them unimportant. I’ve participated in “tweet-ups,” created hash-tags, and learned about and tasted wine from all over the world.

All of this has a purpose: to tell you that I’m hanging up my spurs as the Washington Correspondent on The Oregon Wine Blog. Recently the blog’s founder Josh - the same guy who invited me to take up the reigns here in Washington - has himself moved to Seattle. He’s worked hard to build the blog over the years and as a newly transplanted Washingtonian has graciously agreed to assume the Washington duties

for The Oregon Wine Blog. I may still do an occasional piece here and there for TOWB.

To borrow the worn out line: this is not goodbye so much as “see you later.” I can’t walk away from the relationships I’ve built, the wines I’ve learned to love, and the curiosity within me, and the opportunity out there to learn more. So, sometime this spring look for me to be coming back around. Ugh, another wine blog? That’s just what we need, right? Well I’m not so much concerned with that, but look for The Northwest Wine Anthem sometime later this Spring.

Where the Frick is this place?

It has only been in the last 6 months or so that I have really been discovering and developing a love for Rhone grapes. There is a lot of buzz in the wine world about Rhone style wines as the next big thing. Most people know Syrah but until recently, grapes like Grenache and Mourvedre were only seen as blending grapes. In northern California, if you are looking for great Rhone style wine, there is no better place to explore than the Dry Creek Valley. I was already appreciative of Rhone grapes as single varietal wines, particularly Grenache, but after a recent trip with my family who introduced me to Frick Winery, I am ready to drink the kool-aid.

We turned down the road towards Frick and it didn’t take long for me to start wondering if there was an actual winery out there. Driving along the dirt and gravel road with no visible signage encouraging me that I was almost there, I also began wondering if anyone could hear me scream out here. Thankfully, we overcame our doubts and finally came upon the cottage-like building used as the tasting room. To get a picture of the size of this place, Frick explains that groups of 6 may be difficult to accommodate.

When I joined the staff at The Oregon Wine Blog I wanted to showcase small, family-owned wineries in California. Frick Winery is the epitome of what I wanted to showcase. Listed as the owner, founder, winemaker, vineyard worker, bottle washer, tasting room staff, and cellar rat, Bill Frick does it all and is literally a one man show, handcrafting single vineyard rare Rhone varietal wines. Bill told us that when he was a kid he visited a winery and it was from that moment that he was bit by the wine bug. While talking and tasting with Bill, that genuine love for wine was easy to feel. A relatively simple approach, Bill focuses his attention on these uncommon wines “because that is what grows best on the mountain.”

We first started with the 2008 Grenache Blanc. Like many of the wines we had at Frick, I had never tasted Grenache Blanc and found it to be incredibly refreshing. Flavors or pear and apple were the most prominent in this fruit forward wine. The crispness of the wine would make it perfect with light seafood or spicy food...or just to sip while sitting on the porch on a hot day. Having not tasted Grenache Blanc before I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I found this wine to be very complex, with new flavors appearing throughout the lingering finish.

Our next wine, another uncommon varietal was the 2007 Owl Hill Vineyard Counoise (pronounced coon-wahz). Only 2 acres of this grape exist in Sonoma County, compared with the 10,192 acres of Pinot Noir planted in the county. The rarity made it feel very special to be enjoying this wine with someone like Bill who really appreciates these rare varietals. Upon pouring I first noticed the deep purple color of the vino in my glass. The Counoise was very soft with wonderful flavors of blueberry, cranberry, plum, and many other delicious fruits. I found a slight hint of spice and pepper on the finish but nothing that overpowered the wine and made me forget about the fruit in the first part of the wine. A very drinkable wine when you are looking for a fruity red wine with a little bit of body.

Frick is not only rare in the wines he produces, but also in that tasting there carries no charge. As such, we were able to taste through several other wines including the cherry-laden 2007 Grenache, the 2006 Carignane, and the very earthy 2005 Syrah. My favorite however, and the wine receiving the overwhelming popular vote among the family was the 2007 Cinsaut (pronounced sahn-so). With only 7 acres planted in Sonoma County (Bill owns 3 of them), the Cinsault is another wine you will not see on most tasting menus. The Cinsaut had a very balanced body with mild tannins. I found this wine to be very jammy on the front with mostly red fruit and a more detectable finish of spice than the Counoise.

Going to Frick was an exploration into unfamiliar territory. When you go to Frick you won’t find a new take on the Cabernet that you love or the Chardonnay you open on a hot day. You go to Frick because you want to try some new things, expand your palate, and support a true family winery in Sonoma County. Going to Frick also gives you the chance to taste with the person involved in every process of the winemaking process. His winemaking processes are true to the grape and allow you to experience the unique qualities of each grape without any unnatural processing to alter the characteristics. Frick is a hidden gem in Sonoma County and is worthy of any wine tasting itinerary.

A special thanks to Katie’s Uncle Jim and Aunt Zee for introducing us to this treasure and to Bill for taking such great care of me and my family!

Taste Washington's Dirty Little Secret: The Vineyards

This year was my first Taste Washington! experience, well, primarily because it's my first year back in Washington after five years in Oregon.  Makes sense, eh?  Clive was well-versed in the wonderfulness of this particular event, so I was pretty stoked to have the opportunity to attend and see what the hub-bub was all about.  I spent many days agonizing over my approach to the event.  With over 200 wineries and 60 restaurants, there was no way I could come even close to tackling them all lest I stumble out the door never to be seen again.  Should I take the Disneyland approach and start in the back corner of the room, opposite the crowds?  Should I only visit wineries that I had never tried before?  Should I connect with old winery cronies such as Heather from Terra Blanca, Neil from Cooper, Frank, from Picazo 7Seventeen, and Wendi from Col Solare?  Halfway through my deliberation, my friend Paul agreed to attend with me so my mission was clear:  show him the best that Washington wine has to offer.  It certainly wouldn't be hard with the cast of characters at the event.

Gametime came...and Paul couldn't make it.  Don't worry, friends, he wasn't just blowing me off for booze and hookers; he legitimately couldn't make it so it was time to rethink the strategy.  As I flipped through the brochure, a section caught my eye:  TASTE! The Vineyards.

Hmm, tell me more oh magical brochure of wine.

"Try a new approach to wine tasting.  This area is organized by vineyard, so you can compare and contrast the wines that several different wineries have produced from a single source," it whispered seductively into my ear.

Klipsun, Sagemoor, Tapteil, Upland...damn, these jokers weren't fooling around.

A new game plan was solidified; taste a variety of wines from the best vineyards in the state.  Swirl, sniff, sip, spit, and move on to the next.  Maybe swallow a little every second or third taste.  Have I mentioned how tough of a life it is to be a wine blogger?

Why is this Taste Washington's dirty little secret?  It's actually not dirty at all, but the secret is that there were no lines whatsoever in the vineyard area of the event, despite being near the front of the room.  While every Tom, Dick, and Sally were elbowing their way to get a sip of the awesome Betz Syrah, I sashayed right on up to the Klipsun table and had the place to myself.

Klipsun, Chinook Indian Jargon for Sunset, is one of the preeminent vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA.  You may know it as one of the primary sources of fruit for Quilceda Creek's run of 100-point Cabs back in the early 2000's.  From my count, at least 37 wineries used their fruit for the 2009 vintage, all of them notable in one way or another.  I had the opportunity to taste 5 different Klipsun wines at this event, all were amazing in different ways.  Don't ask me what they were, I didn't take notes and swallowed more than I should have.  Point being...awesome interaction with the pourer, awesome wine...no crowd.  Next I saddled over to Sagemoor, then Tapteil.  Same experience.

Interested in another protip for Taste Washington 2012?  Winery Association Tables.  Again, smaller crowds, more wine.  I spent more than my fair share of the event at the Red Mountain AVA Alliance and Horse Heaven Hills Wine Growers tables.  That was when I wasn't chowing down on some great food with Picazo7Seventeen or these awesome little mini-cupcakes from The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co.  The Pancakes n' Bacon cupcake is to die for, no joke.  

By the end of the event, I was well satiated and did have the opportunity to connect with Heather, Neil, Frank, and Wendi.  I even got to skulk around with Clive a bit, and friends of the Blog - Andrea and Craig - showed up before I left.  I'd had my fill of wine by that time, as you can tell by my wine lips.  After reading this are you sad that you missed Taste Washington?  Well, don't fret Oregon friends, because I have a deal for you!  Taste Washington is coming to you...Portland style.  Sunday, May 1.  Do it.