Cheers To You

Mary writes:

At a recent tasting put on by a long time friend and collector, a bunch of us tasted a vertical of Clerc Milon, a wine from the Paulliac region of Bordeaux. The wines were from 1996 through 2000.

This commune produces four of the five first growth Bordeaux wines.

Vertical tastings are really enlightening. You are given the opportunity to taste the differences in wine made by the same winemaker from identical vineyards and with the same cellar techniques. The only difference you taste is what hand Mother Nature dealt each year.

To show my appreciation for the invite, I brought along a little gem from my cellar, another Bordeaux but very, very different in so many ways. First, it was white; second, it was in a half, or split, bottle; third, it was sweet.

In France, the labels for sweet white wines from this region are known as Sauternes. In other wine regions, notably the U.S., a sweet white wine would be known as sauterne without the “s” at the end and not capitalized. However, French being French, the pronunciations for both are the same: “saw turn.”

The wine I brought was a Chateau Coutet. This lies within Barsac, located southeast of the city of Bordeaux where most of the white grapes are cultivated. Barsac lies within the Sauternes commune and is entitled to use either name on its labels. Other communes that can only use their own name are Monbazillac, Cérons, Loupiac and Cadillac.

Grape varieties used in the region are Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle.

My 15-year-old bottle had a lovely golden color and aromas of honey, ripe peach and apricots. And that indescribable aroma of botrytis cinerea. The flavors were dense, elegant and integrated with a weighty mouthfeel.

I loved the concentrated caramelized notes bouncing off the honeyed fruit flavors. The clean finish of mango and orange was long and luscious.

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Brynn writes:

I’m the first to admit, I have a problem with planning. It’s not that I don’t plan, it’s that I over plan — I just can’t help it, I need to know about events well in advance so I can get them on my calendar instead of scrambling last minute to juggle a busy schedule.

Seeing that I’m slightly OCD with my free time, I’ve decided to try and rub off on this blog and help you plan for some upcoming wine events. As you already know from a previous post, the Seattle Wine and Food Experience is this Sunday, while Taste Washington is planned for March 31 and April 1 in downtown Seattle.

But I also just learned about another Washington wine event, planned for Monday, March 12. Don’t fret, you won’t have to miss work to attend. The tasting is from 6 to 9 p.m. and it includes some top Washington wineries.

From my count there are more than 50 wineries from Walla Walla that will be pouring at Sodo Park, located along First Avenue in downtown Seattle. The event, Walla Walla Wine @ Sodo Park is $40 and includes the opportunity for people to meet the winemakers and of course drink some of the best wines coming out of Walla Walla.

For a full listing of participating wineries, for the address to Sodo Park, or to purchase tickets visit the event website.

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Brynn writes:

After tasting some delicious Bordeaux blends this weekend in Woodinville wine country, I decided it’s time to define this term.

Bordeaux is not only a type of wine, it’s first and foremost a region in France. But what people may not know is, Bordeaux has a left and a right bank and the wines that come from each side are made up of different dominant wine varietals.

Typically there are five grapes that go into Bordeaux blends, but it’s also not unusual to only see three of the five varietals in a wine. They include cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot.

Cabernet sauvignon and merlot are typically the more dominant role in Bordeaux blends while the remaining three varietals play a lesser role — but don’t discount their impact on a wine, they are responsible for adding the color, structure and body depending on how large of a percentage is used.

So how do you know if a wine is a right bank Bordeaux or a left bank Bordeaux? (The “bank” refers to the side of the Gironde River where the region sits.)

Here’s an easy tip: Wines that have cabernet sauvignon as the dominant varietal are from the Left Bank while those with merlot as the dominant grape are Right Bank wines.

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Ann Vogel has two options for how to serve her mole recipes, but we’re only recommending one wine, targeting her enchiladas over the muffins.

For this week’s pairing we opted for a jammy wine straight from the heel of Italy’s boot.

The wine comes from the town of Salice, located on the Salento peninsula. Grape vines have been planted in the region since the 6th Century BC, making it no surprise that Salice is the most prominent wine region on the peninsula.

The most prominent grape varietal from this region is Negroamaro — a red grape from Puglia. Translated, Negroamaro means dark and bitter. Negroamaro is the predominate grape in the wine we’re recommending, but the second varietal — Malvasia Nera — balances the bitterness with its softer, fruitier flavors.

The trick with matching a wine with mole is to find one with gobs of fruit to balance the spices of the sauce, while also pairing with the chocolate and peanut butter. We also wanted to find a wine with low alcohol content.

It’s for these reasons we recommend a Salice Salentino wine for Vogel’s delightfully spicy chocolate and peanut butter flavored mole recipe.

For a wine to carry the Salice Salentino label, Negroamaro must make up at least 80 percent of the varietal; Malvasia Nera makes up the remainder. It’s because of the Negroamaro that we chose this wine.

Medium bodied with a sun-soaked, dried black fruit flavor, the Salice Salentino has plenty of brightness from the Negroamaro’s acidity.

The complexity of flavors also includes smoke, plum and herbs. The mouth is striking with a felling of silk, but the weightiness of velvet that would go toe-to-toe with a heavy mole.

The wine is deep in color with a rich fruitiness, and is friendly and approachable to most any wine drinker.

The most famous Salice Salentino comes from Taurino Winery. The Patriglione is 90 percent Negroamaro and 10 percent Malvasia Nera.

Its Notarpanaro offers a slightly different blend with 85 percent Negroamaro and 15 percent Malvasia Nera.

Salice Salentino can be found at low prices but is sometimes tough to find. Ask your local grocery wine steward if they have any in stock. If that doesn’t work and you need the wine right away, you could also choose a zinfandel from California’s Lodi region to pair with the mole because it too has the weight and fruitiness to stand up to the sauce.

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Brynn writes:

You may have noticed that lately it’s rare for me to be the one writing our weekly “What We’re Drinking” segment. But thanks to a recent special occasion — my birthday was last week — I splurged and had a glass of wine (my first in seven months).

My husband and I went to our favorite “special occasion” place, Brix 25 in Gig Harbor. Normally when we visit Brix we treat ourselves and order a bottle of wine that we might otherwise consider out of our price range. But considering I am just over seven months pregnant, ordering a bottle this year didn’t make the most sense — although my husband would have had a designated driver had he wanted to polish off the bottle!

I debated whether to order a glass — so far through my pregnancy I haven’t missed drinking, nor have I been inclined to sample wine when it’s around. I was also worried my palate would be off because: a) Duh, I’m pregnant and some of my senses are out of whack; and b) I’m out of practice. (And of course there’s always the concern of drinking while pregnant, which I don’t want to downplay, but from what I’ve read a small glass of wine in the third trimester isn’t the end of the world).

After agonizing over what to do, I decided to treat myself. I ordered a glass of the 2008 Willow Crest Cab Franc to go with my flat iron steak, mashed potatoes and sauteed Brussels sprouts. The food was amazing, no surprise there, and the CF matched the flavors perfectly.

While I didn’t drink all of the wine in my glass — hey like I said I’m out of practice — I thoroughly enjoyed it and was happy to find that even with my palate being a little off, I was still able to pick up on its varying flavors.

The color was a a rich dark purple; the nose subtle at first but it opened with time. Flavors included heavier notes of herbs with hints of spices and red fruits. The wine was full-bodied, allowing it to stand up well to the weight of the grilled steak.

I tried it with the chocolate tarte I ordered for dessert, but I found the bitterness of the dark chocolate didn’t match well with the tannins of the wine.

All in all it was a good choice for a birthday splurge and is a wine I’d definitely like to try again when I’m not preggers and thus can enjoy the whole glass.

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Brynn writes:

This week’s wine term came to us while we were at a recent winery. While checking out the rows and rows of wine barrels lining the room we noticed not only where the barrels were sourced from — most of them France — but also that some of them were listed as being thin stave.

Unfamiliar with this term, Mary had to fill me in. As such, we decided it was a perfect candidate for our weekly definition.

So what is a Thin Stave, and while we’re at it, what’s a Stave?

A stave, well actually multiple staves, are what create a wine barrel. It’s the thin, narrow shaped piece of wood that form the sides of the barrel.

So you can only guess that a Thin Stave must mean the wood has been cut thinner than others.  This allows more oxygen to pass through the wood and into the wine during the fermentation/aging process. Beyond being used in the winemaking process as a barrel, a new trend has emerged to re-purpose staves as art.

You’ve probably seen the sections of wine barrels that have been varnished and painted with catchy phrases, or personalized notes to hang on walls, over doorways or in personal cellars. Those are staves.

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Since Ann Vogel has decided to keep it simple for her suggested Valentine’s Day recipe, we’ll do the same for our wine pairing.

A hearty meal like Vogel’s suggested Valentine’s Day Pot Roast deserves a wine that can stand up to the weight of the meat and its sides, while also delivering full-bodied flavor.

For this reason we’re recommending Celler de Capçanes Montsant’s Mas Donis Barrica, a blend of 85 percent Grenache and 25 percent Syrah from Spain.

The winery is located 100 miles southwest of Barcelona and 20 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It’s wine history dates back to the middle ages, and while its vines haven’t been around since the middle ages, they are much older than any found in the United States.

The Grenache in this blend comes from 60-year-old vines, while the Syrah from significantly younger vines — the winery gives their age as 5 to 15 years. The wine is aged in new to 5-year-old French and American oak for nine months before it is blended in a tank, where it sits for three months before bottling.

The result of these techniques produces an energetic wine with raspberry on the nose, slight oak spices in the middle and a strong finish. Brynn recently paired this wine with a similar pot roast recipe, which called for two cups dry red wine. She chose the Mas Donis Barrica to flavor the roast. It was a perfect pair.

The wine did well with the tender meat — it’s slightly tangy finish easily met the hearty weight of the meat and potatoes.

Another great thing about this wine? It’s only $13 — a steal for something that received high marks from highly regarded wine connoisseurs Robert Parker and Stephen Tanzer.

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Brynn writes:

Who doesn’t love chocolate? And if you’re reading this blog, I’m guessing it’s safe to assume you also love wine…so you’ll probably want to know about an event planned for this weekend that showcases both.

Bainbridge Island’s wineries are participating in a Wine and Chocolate Weekend Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Unlike other winemakers weekends were people can visit the tasting rooms and the wineries, this weekend’s event will be held at the wineries only — so if you head to any of the three tasting rooms on Winslow Way, while you’ll find wine, you won’t find chocolate.

Artisan chocolates will be paired with the handcrafted wines at the following wineries:

• Amelia Wynn Winery — assorted fine chocolates
• Eagle Harbor Wine Co. — Custom-made chocolates from Port Townsend
• Eleven Winery – Handmade chocolates by Tamas Ronyai
• Fletcher Bay Winery — assorted fine chocolates
• Perennial Vintners — Chocolates by Yukon Jacksons of Seattle, featuring dark chocolate truffles made with PV Frambelle ganache. Keith Jackson will be at the winery on Saturday.
• Rolling Bay Winery — Theo Chocolates paired with wines
• Victor Alexander Winery — assorted fine chocolates

If you visit Rolling Bay Winery they are also using this Valentine’s Day weekend to showcase the release of their 2011 Rosé — with each bottle purchased you’ll receive a free rose.

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Brynn writes:

February and March are great months for wine and food in Seattle. That’s when the Seattle Wine and Food Experience and Taste Washington events are planned.

The Seattle Wine and Food Experience is Sunday, Feb. 26 from 12 to 5 p.m. at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. More than 100 wineries are expected to be there pouring, and many of Seattle’s top chefs and restaurants will be serving up some of their best dishes.

While Washington’s wines will be featured, it looks like Oregon wine will be the focus of the day. Oh and for those of you who like more than just wine, beer and ciders and distilled spirits will also be showcased. For more information on the event, check out Wino Magazine’s online article. Tickets are $49 in advance.

Taste Washington will be held over two days this year, Saturday March 31 and Sunday April 1. General admittance both days will be from 2 to 5 p.m.

After spending almost 7 hours there last year, we love the decision to spread the event over two days. This allows visitors to map out what wineries they want to visit and not feel rushed, or as we experienced, frazzled by the end of the day after trying so many wonderful wines.

Like last year there will be more than 200 Washington wineries showcasing their wines inside the Centurylink Field Event Center at this year’s event. Tickets for general admission start at $99 for the weekend, or $75 for single day admittance. There’s also VIP packages, $125 for one day, $150 for the weekend. Visit the event website for more information on the wineries, restaurants and other offerings.

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Brynn writes:

Call us lazy, but yes we’re talking about Mosquito Fleet Winery, again. That’s because we were impressed with what we got to sip — especially for the first release from a winemaker who was trying his hand at winemaking for the first time.

We’ve opted to review the fledgling winery’s cabernet sauvignon, which was sourced from the highly acclaimed Pepper Bridge Vineyards — located in Walla Walla.

As we said before, this cab is reminiscent of Pepper Bridge’s cab. It has a beautiful nose full of oak and spices. It’s also a wine with a lot of complexity, which made it fun to sample. We’d sip, let the flavors linger over our palates, try some of the cheese, bread, olives and chocolate covered cherries, and then sip again. With time (and exposure to air) the wine continued to evolve, opening up new flavors that we didn’t notice before.

We especially liked the wine paired with the chocolate covered cherries, largely because the tartness of the cherry softened the edges of the wine, which had a slight astringent quality — not uncommon for wines with a lot of tannins. Because this wine is still quite young — it was harvested in 2009 — it’s one that will definitely mellow with time spent in the cellar.

There were no flaws in this wine, all the elements and components are there, it just needs more time to age and open up.

Here’s winemaker Brian Petersen’s tasting notes:

Dark fruit, berry, vanilla and Carmel notes with balanced acidity and silky tannins on the finish.

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