Cheers To You

Yes we know that green beer will likely be the alcoholic beverage of choice for many of you out there celebrating the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday Sunday.

And while we might have recommended this in the past, we’re raising the bar this year, offering instead an Irish-born winemaker’s wine for this week’s pairing.

We’ve recommended this winemaker’s wines before, but sometimes a good wine bears repeating.

For Ann Vogel’s Pot o’ Gold soup, Ireland-born David O’Reilly’s 2012 Crawford-Beck Vineyard Pinot Gris would offer you a chance to drink a glass o’ gold instead of fizzy, green beer.

The wine is aromatic with hints of honey, lychee and banana, according to its tasting notes. Fruits like grapefruit and pineapple are balanced with acidity and a clean finish. The wine was fermented in stainless steel, keeping a crispness in the wine.

O’Reilly has been making great wine for a number of decades from his winery Owen Roe, located in Dundee, Ore. He has an uncanny ability to find a magnificent source for grapes — he rehabilitated a 75-year-old Zinfandel vineyard 15 years ago.

Many of his fabulous red wines produced under the Oregon-based Owen Roe label are made from grapes sourced from the Yakima Valley. He recently purchased an old dairy farm in the Sunnyside area of Washington. In addition to 280 acres of the Outlook Vineyard, O’Reilly has a 50-acre vineyard in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA. This is great news for the Washington wine industry.

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Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate and what better way to toast the mother in your life than with a glass of bubbly?

If you’re planning to do a brunch this year for your celebration we’ve got a great recommendation that isn’t your run of the mill bubbly, and it’s made locally.

Ann Vogel’s Mother’s Day recipes for yogurt parfaits and apple Dutch babies calls for a partner in wine with lots of fruit flavor to echo the fruit in the dish; the bubbles will contrast the creamy yogurt.

This is where the Olympic Peninsula’s Finnriver Farm and Cidery enters the picture.

An artisan cidery and organic farm located in the Chimacum Valley, Finnriver produces its ciders from heirloom apples and berries grown at the farm. They also glean apples from old homesteads in the valley and from a family farm in Eastern Washington.

Cider has a long history — it was the drink of choice for the colonists. Cheap and easy to make, it was consumed for any event imaginable — weddings, funerals, Mother’s Day, baptisms, barn and church raisings and even breakfast.

Ciders can and do vary in style from a drier, more traditional style from Normandy and England, to the sweeter sparkling blends made with berries in Washington.

Finnriver’s award-winning ciders are handcrafted from the orchards to the bottle. They like to experiment with small-batches fruit blends to see what Mother Nature has offered them at harvest.

The sumptuous sparkling hard ciders are made with apples, pears and berries. Perfect for this Mother’s Day menu.

A few suggestions include:

The Artisan Sparkling Cider. Fermented using the traditional, labor-intensive méthode champenoise this wine is perfectly balanced, crisp with distinct apple aromas and flavors. The bubbles are small and make a bright, champagne-style cider.

The Sparkling Pear Cider is made from heirloom apples, blended with sweet pear. A soft sprightly sparkle accompanies the definite pear aromas and semi-sweet pear flavors of this cider.

The Sparkling Black Currant Cider is lighter is body and has a pretty blush color. It’s a blend of sweet heirloom apples and tart black currant. This one is also semi-sweet.

Finnriver is located at 62 Barn Swallow Road in Chimacum. A trip to their tasting room gives you a chance to sample their wines — and decide which you might want to serve mom this Mother’s Day.

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Brynn writes:

Tonight Mary and I had the privilege of being invited to the private inaugural release party for Mosquito Fleet Winery.

We, along with more than 200 other wine lovers, filled the Belfair winery to get a taste of its three 2009 releases. Being that it was the first time the public was tasting the varietals, you can imagine how excited winery owners Brian and Jacquie Petersen and Scott and Jacy Griffin were to showcase their hard work.

The three wines being poured were a Meritage Blend, Petersen’s take on a left bank Bordeaux-style wine; a 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon; and a barrel tasting of a 2010 Touriga Nacional Port.

We were impressed with everything we tried. Sourced from Pepper Bridge Vineyards, the Cab definitely carried the signature Pepper Bridge flavor profile. The nose on this wine was amazing. With each sip we uncovered more layers of flavor — this is definitely a complex wine. Being it was harvested in 2009, you can tell the wine is still quite young, so it’s one we’d recommend buying now and cellaring for a few years to let some of the flavors mellow.

In contrast the Meritage felt flat initially — in hindsight we should have tasted this first. After letting it sit on our palates and letting it breathe, we discovered this wine had a softer, rounder mouthfeel than the acidic Cab. There were hints of Carmel on the nose and with more exposure to the air, notes of cherry on the nose and the finish became much stronger. This wine, like the Cab, is one that should age well with time.

The last wine we had a chance to sample was the Touriga Nacional Port, which seeing that it came straight from the barrel, obviously was still quite young. Its characteristics were similar to the Cab in that there were layers of complexity. I noticed pomegranate on the nose and finish, while Mary experienced Carmel and herbal spices. Also like the cab, this wine needs more time to age, but all the components are there to make a truly excellent wine. The grapes for this wine are grown in Washington, but have Portuguese origins. This wine won’t be bottled until November, so for now they’re selling advance bottles.

Because this is the first release from the winery, quantities are limited. In fact they’re so limited — they only made 200 cases in 2009 — Petersen expects they’re likely to sell out after their grand opening Saturday. (Yes Saturday as in tomorrow). So if you’re interested in checking out the winery and trying their wines — which we highly recommend you do —you better make your way to Belfair between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. tomorrow. We’d recommend getting there earlier rather than later.

If you miss out tomorrow they will be offering their wines through the website but they won’t be opening the winery after Saturday for tastings until the next round of wines are ready for release. Which will be next year when the 2010 vintage is ready. And instead of 200 cases, there will be 1,000 cases up for grabs.

The winery is located at 21 Old Belfair Highway, across from the QFC in a warehouse space next door to Seabeck Pizza.

Finally, here’s a little blurb on the winery itself from its Facebook fan page:

Mosquito Fleet Winery is a relatively new winery going into it’s fourth year of production. We are located at the tip of Hood Canal in Belfair, Washington, only miles from the state’s first bonded winery, The St. Charles Winery of Stretch Island. We are a small winery that prides ourselves in developing Bordeaux-styled wines aged for 20-24 months in French oak barrels. With our 2011 crush behind us, we are now eagerly awaiting our first release of our ’09 Vintage in February of 2012. Cheers!!!

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Mary writes:

Harbinger 2008 Sieg-MA is a delightful blend of two German grape varieties — Siegerrebe and Madeleine Angevine — grown in the Puget Sound Appellation. Harbinger Winery is located in Port Angeles and it’s a brewery too!

I enjoyed this delightful wine at the recent Holly Ridge Vino in Kitsap tasting and scavenger hunt. Vintner Sara Gagnon has her way with blending. A passage from Harbinger’s website puts it beautifully: “The white wine pixies were flitting mischievously through the winery.”

The wine is very aromatic with a bouquet of flowers and spice. At 10.6 percent alcohol, it is sweet but the acidity keeps it clean and crisp. Gagnon’s description of the wine, a “balance of fruit and acids that leave you feeling as invigorated as a glacially fed river plunge”, is a perfect imagery.

This wine pairs beautifully with spicy Thai or Chinese and fresh fruits and sharp cheddar.

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The weather could not have been better for last weekend’s third annual Kitsap Wine Festival.

Luckily we didn’t listen to our own advice of leaving the sunscreen at home and bringing our umbrellas. Instead we slathered on the 30 SPF and hit the Bremerton waterfront for the three and-a-half hour wine tasting event.

The crowd seemed about the same from the year before, and the food offerings were just as delicious.

And of course the wine was good too.

Like last year we arrived at the gate and quickly made our way to the back of the tasting area, avoiding lines and seeking the cool breezes off the water.

But this strategy to get away from the crowds put a bit of a whammy in our plans to hit the wineries on our “Must Taste List.”

Anam Cara Cellars was the first winery on our list, and the first winery when we walked in. As a result there was a long line and we never made our way back to the front until it was time to leave.

So we started at the Summer Sippers Bar where we tasted Kana Winery’s Katie Mae White — a Riesling — Masset Winery Le Petite Blanc 2010, Vortex Cellars Rattlesnake Hills Rose, Maryhill Winery’s Rose of Sangiovese and an Italian sparkling Riondo Pink NV from the Veneto region.

Although these wines were refreshing, it was difficult to really taste them as they were chilled to the bone. But they were well chosen for the hot afternoon.

Our favorites of the bunch were the Riondo Veneto Pink NV for Brynn and the Maryhill Rose of Sangiovese for Mary. Both are refreshing dry pink wines with body and flavor. Both are made from the Italian red grapes, the first Corvina and the other Sangiovese. The Riondo was especially refreshing for the hot day with its bubbles that provided a nice effervescence.

Other wines we tasted and would recommend are Maryhill’s Zinfandel, Robert Ramsay Cellars’ 2008 Mourvedre and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and Pondera Winery’s Sericus, a 2008 Bordeaux blend that picked up a double gold from the 2011 Seattle Wine Awards.

Oregon was represented by Lange Estate Winery and Vineyard’s Chardonnay and Reserve Pinot, which paired wonderfully with Anthony’s salmon on a bed of roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

Mary thought Dubindil Winery’s 2008 Syrah was really good. This boutique winery out of Snohomish, doesn’t filter their Syrah but it’s still smooth and silky with layers of flavors. Situated in the heart of the Puget Sound AVA, they focus on small batches of handcrafted wines made from grapes in regions around the state.

Kiona Winery and McCrea Cellars were Brynn’s favorite wineries of the day. That’s because she loved almost everything they poured.

Kiona offered a 2010 Chenin Blanc, 2010 Rose of Sangiovese, 2008 Estate Lemberger and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Her favorites of these were the Lemberger and Cab, although the chilled Chenin Blanc was nice for the hot day.

McCrea poured its 2009 Sirocco Blanc (a white Rhone blend), a 2009 Rousanne, 2008 Grenache and 2006 Syrah.

Once again these whites were Brynn’s favorite, especially the Sirocco Blanc, a blend of 43 percent Grenache Blanc, 41 percent Marsanne, 10 percent Picpoul and 7 percent Rousanne.

Robert Ramsay Cellars was another one of Brynn’s favorites, largely because of its Cab made from old vines and its Mason’s Red — a blend of Syrah and Mourvedre with a co-fermentation of Viongnier, which gave this wine a lovely nose.

All in all we had a wonderful time and are already looking forward to next year’s event.

Cheers!

Brynn and Mary

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Saturday is the 3rd annual Kitsap Wine Festival (held from 2 to 5:30 p.m.).

Like last year, we are compiling a list before we head down there of the wineries we don’t want to miss. With 36 wineries pouring, we suggest if you plan to go that you make a list too, before picking up your glass at the Harborside Fountain Park.

We went to last year’s event and had a wonderful day — the setting was absolutely gorgeous, but it was also hot, hot, hot. While our advice for last year was to wear sunscreen, we think with this year’s weather we’re better off to advise attendees to bring an umbrella.

We don’t know what wines will be poured at the event, so in the interest of time we’ve instead compiled a list of the wineries we hope to visit — including a number of newer ones that have us intrigued. After we talk with festival goers to find out the wines we should try, we’ll move on to the wineries we know and love to see what their new vintages offer.

Here’s our list in alphabetical order:

Anam Cara is Celtic for “friend of my soul” and anything Irish has some kind of magic. They are out of Oregon so we are looking forward to their Chehalem Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Noir.

Ginkgo Forest Winery is the newest and smallest winery near Mattawa, Wash. We just did a tasting of wines that came from grapes sourced from the winery’s vineyard and would love to see what this Wahluke Slope AVA has in common. The desert heat in this area suggests high grape sugars. Wines include: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, a red blend, dry Gewürztraminer and a late harvest Gewürztraminer.

Isenhower Cellars Denise and Brett Isenhower spent two years researching where to make wine in the Western United States. In 1999 they founded Isenhower Cellars in Walla Walla. Isenhower Cellars has “by the acre” contracts with seven excellent vineyards. Those farmers are growing in an environmentally sustainable manner. Their wines are based on Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Roussanne, Tempranillo, Mourvedre and Syrah. We hope they bring on the El Conquistador a blend of 47 percent Tempranillo, Mourvedre and 20 percent Syrah.

NW Totem Cellars Mike Sharadinis the owner, operator and winemaker. This winery also has contracts with some great Washington vineyards like Chandler Reach (also attending the festival), Elerding Vineyard, Sagemoor Farms and their Bacchus Vineyard block of Cabernet Franc. Wines include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, a Bordeaux Blend (reminder: Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec are the five red grapes allowed in Bordeaux), and the Potlatch Red which is a blend of Syrah, Tempranillo and Petit Verdot.

Other wineries new to us are Barrage Cellars, Angel Vine, Dubindel, Masquerade, Stottle, Syzygy, Trust, Twelve and Winston Church Winery.

We hope to see you Saturday! (If you’re planning to attend send us your list, or comment here, with the wineries you don’t want to miss).

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Brynn writes:

This is the perfect wine for a hot summer day when your dinner menu includes a fresh catch from Puget Sound — especially oysters.

The grape, Madeleine Angevine, dates its origins to the year 1857 when a nursery in Angers, France crossed Madeleine Royale and Precoce de Malingre vines. The result was a white grape that grows well in France’s Loire Valley, but also the Puget Sound AVA — making it one of the few grapes that thrive during our cool, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

We bought a bottle of Mad Ang (as its called) while visiting San Juan Island last summer for a few days. We swung by the San Juan Vineyards winery and tasted this wine while on our stop. (You may remember we also tasted the winery’s Cab Franc, which I also recently reviewed.)

We liked it enough we bought a bottle. We chilled it Sunday and enjoyed it with a baked mahi-mahi I prepared with a Thai sauce that included lime juice, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Since it’s kind of similar to Riesling, I thought the wine would be a good compliment to the sauce’s spicier pepper notes, since it’s often recommended to pair Riesling with spicy Thai dishes.

The appearance of this wine is a faint yellow, almost clear color. The nose is crisp and the mineral notes blend well with hints of fruit, making a crisp finish that leaves your mouth watering and slightly puckered.

I’ve had this wine with raw oysters and would definitely recommend it as a pairing with oysters or a salad with a shallot/vinaigrette dressing. It would also go well with Dungeness crab, especially lump crab meat dipped in butter — the acidity would cut through that richness, making a nice compliment.

Here’s what the winery has to say about the wine:

Summer melon and a wet slate nose offers citrus and stone fruit flavors with a clean finish. This Puget Sound grown varietal is perfect with oysters on the half shell.

The 2008 Madeleine Angevine was harvested on October 18, 2008, and released on October 1, 2009. It received an Excellent review by Wine Press NorthWest and Silver Medals from the Riverside International Wine Competition and the Jerry Mead International Wine Competition.

583 Cases bottled April 7, 2009

Alcohol: 11.2% with residual sugar of .05%.

Retail Price: $12

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Brynn writes:

On a recent three-day excursion to Vancouver, British Columbia Jeff (the husband) and I took a stroll around the Robson Street area downtown. On our walkabout we stumbled into a couple cozy wine shops to see what the wine market looked like across the border.

I knew nothing about the wine scene in British Columbia, so it was fun to ask some local winos about the growing regions and wines produced.

It sounds like they have similar success as Washington wine growers with grapes like Merlot and of course the red Bordeaux blends. One shop employee told us they were also doing well with Syrah in their warmer regions.

Like Washington, a bulk of the BC wines are grown east of the Cascade Mountain range to take advantage of the rain shadow and desert heat in the summer.

According to one website I found (winesnw.com), about 50 percent of all BC wine is grown in the southern portion of the Okanagan Valley. This designated viticulture area stretches north from the Washington/Canada border about 155 miles. In that span it covers multiple micro-climates, ending far enough north that only grapes that like cool climates can thrive.

We also learned that BC is known for its ice wines — which are made from grapes that stay on the vine until the first freeze and then are harvested and pressed while frozen, resulting in a concentrated syrup-like juice that produces often a great balance of sweet, yet acidic dessert wines.

It was at the second wine shop that we got to try a BC Merlot, produced by Hillside Estate Winery. We also gave their Pinot Grigio a try — another varietal that does well in BC.

Jeff liked the Merlot enough he decided we should buy a bottle — this from a man that previously proclaimed Syrah his favorite grape. (I’ve noticed sine we’ve lived in Washington Jeff’s palate is changing, and so is his reaction to Merlot).

For $20 we bought a bottle, thinking we’d enjoy it in our hotel. With a screw top we knew even if we didn’t drink it all, it would safely cross the border without fear of spillage.

While Jeff enjoyed the wine, I was so-so about it. It was good, but didn’t live up to what I was expecting. That’s probably because I enjoy Merlots with noticeable oak that leave the wine soft and full in my mouth on the finish. This was a dry Merlot with a lot of crisp fruit notes. I felt the finish was a bit flat.

A look at the tasting notes on the website confirms my impression — the grapes were fermented in American oak and stainless steel, after a three-day cold soak and time spent on the skins before being drained and put in the barrels.

Here’s what the winery says you can expect from the wine:

Tasting Notes: The fruit for this well-crafted wine was sourced from selected terroirs throughout the southern Okanagan Valley. This elegant and refined Merlot is filled with aromas of cassis, caramel and coffee, which are mirrored in the palate, alongside flavours of ripe cherry, damson plum with hints of cocoa powder. The tannins are soft and silky, fashioning a lingering finish.

Aging Potential: 3-5 years
Date Bottled: December 9, 2009
Release Date: October, 2010
Residual Sugar: dry
# Cases Produced: 680
Alcohol Content: 13.8%

Even though it doesn’t epitomize what I like in a Merlot, I would drink this again. So the next time you’re in Vancouver and you see it, consider grabbing a bottle to enjoy in your hotel like we did.

If you want to read more about the Okanagan Valley and BC’s wine production, this Wine Spectator article sums it up nicely.

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Sunday we took advantage of the sunny weather and made the trek to Bainbridge Island. We were lucky enough to have the company of Food Life blogger and now freelance journalist Angela Dice as we made our way to three of the six Bainbridge wineries that were open for tastings.

Not to worry, no winemaker will be overlooked. We hope to attend the next winemakers weekend, slated for May 28, 29 and 30, to visit the wineries we missed this time around.

Our first stop Sunday was at Rolling Bay Winery, which is along Murden Cove and surrounded by beautiful gardens. Winemaker Alphonse de Klerk was on hand, as was David Verwolf, also an owner of the winery. We had a great chat with them about their wines, as well as what they are planning for upcoming releases.

All of their wines come from Snipes Mountain in the Yakima Valley, one of the state’s oldest vineyards and newest AVAs. It’s also the second smallest AVA behind Red Mountain.

We started the tasting with their 2009 Chardonnay ($20), which was aged for nine months in neutral oak barrels. Interestingly de Klerk uses two different yeast strands for the Chardonnay. One barrel gets D-47, while the other gets Montrachet. The D-47 leaves the wine with hints of mineral, stone and earth flavors, while the Montrachet hits the citrus notes of apple and pear — similar to flavors found in Burgundian Chards.

Next we tasted the 2008 Syrah ($25), which is the winery’s third release. De Klerk added 10 percent Merlot to this wine, which gives it a brightness not found in most Syrahs.

The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon ($25) was next, which aged for 22 months in new and 2-year-old French oak barrels. Brynn noticed the tannins on the finish. Mary found the black cherry and berry flavors delightful.

The last wine on the tasting list was the winery’s signature blend: 2008 Manitou Red ($26). The mix includes 55 percent Cab, 40 percent Syrah and 5 percent Merlot. The wine is aged 22 months in 2-year-old French oak barrels and then bottled unfiltered. The color is light purple, and the nose slightly sweet, hinting at the slight oak finish.

It’s no wonder this wine has won many awards for the winery. While we were there, the Manitou Red and the Chardonnay were the two wines that seemed to be selling like hot cakes. Interestingly, de Klerk said they’re not sure they’ll have a 2009 Manitou Red because they’re trying some new things.

Finally we ended our time at Rolling Bay with a taste straight from a barrel. De Klerk let us sample a Cabernet Sauvignon co-fermenting with 12 percent Cabernet Franc. They plan to bottle this around July or August and then release it in October.

De Klerk said 2009 was a hot year; every time they turned around during harvest they had grapes coming in. Eventually they ran out of space, so when the Cab Franc came in they didn’t know where to store it, so they threw it in with the Cab to co-ferment. We found this to be very approachable straight out of the barrel with a nice ruby/purple color and crispness. We’re excited to try it once ready for its release later this year.

Our next stop was Eagle Harbor Wine Co., just off Sportsman Road at the Coppertops business park. Winemaker Hugh Remash was on hand, along with a film crew that was working a 30 minute feature on the Bainbridge winemakers. (We’ll let you know when it’s supposed to air in case you’re interested in watching it).

We started the tasting with his 2009 Goldfinch ($17.50), a 50/50 Chardonnay/Viognier blend. The citrus of the Chardonnay is a perfect match for the floral Viognier, giving the wine complexity and balance. The finish is especially enjoyable, leaving you to wonder whether you’re tasting the described orange zest, or orange blossoms.

We moved into the reds with a 2008 Sangiovese ($27), which wasn’t on the tasting list, but was a great surprise. The color was ruby red and the wine’s dry tannins left a mineral impression. The grapes come from Kiona Vineyards, which were planted in 1975 and are located in the Red Mountain AVA. One technique Remash uses in all his reds is to not fine or filter his wines. This generally adds body and complexity to a wine.

The 2007 Founders Cabernet Sauvignon ($32.50), a 100 percent Cab was next. This was aged for more than 30 months before the best wine was selected and transferred to four, 300 liter barrels made up of 33 percent new Virginia oak.

Remash’s 2007 Patina Vineyard Syrah ($24.95), which is described to be similar in style to the Syrah’s coming from the Northern Rhone Valley of France. The nose on this wine could only be described as gorgeous.

Remash prefers to age his reds, which takes away the initial jammy impression most Syrahs can leave. Instead the fruit has time to mellow, allowing the complexity of the wine to come through. That’s definitely the case with the Syrah, which he recommends decanting before drinking. This was demonstrated when two of us were poured the bottom of a bottle and one of us got a taste from a newly opened bottle. The gorgeous nose was missing on the just opened bottle, indicating it needed time to open up.

Lastly we tasted the 2007 Condor ($29.50), a 50/50 Syrah/Cab blend. Brynn liked this wine just about as much as the Syrah, until Remash brought out a bottle of his 2008 Condor. Although just bottled two weeks earlier, the 2008 had hints of oak on the finish that smoothed the overall impression of the wine.

The blend is also different, instead of 50/50, it’s a 60 percent Syrah, 40 percent Cab. We’d like to try it again, after it gets over its bottleshock — which Remash described as the wine sulking after being pumped from a barrel through a tank and into the bottle.

Our next destination was to see Charlie Merrill at Victor Alexander Winery off Island Center Road. We ran into the television producers again, so didn’t want to stay too long because they needed Merrill’s time. But we did get a chance to try a handful of what he was pouring.

His 2009 Washington White Wine blend is an interesting mix of Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Semilion with a mineral hint balancing the pear flavors. This wine is crisp and unique. This is his theater edition wine, which means a portion of the wine sales goes to support the Bainbridge Performing Arts.

Next up was Merrill’s Semillon, which is one of Brynn’s favorite wines coming out of Victor Alexander. The 100 percent blend is aged in oak, giving in a round, full mouthfeel at the finish. While sipping the wine among the oak barrels in Merrill’s winery, we tried to conjure up visions of sitting on a back deck in the afternoon sun, Merrill’s Semillon in hand and fresh asparagus, zucchini and mushrooms grilling after a quick dip in a balsamic, olive oil marinade.

Merrill’s Merlot was next. He blends it with a little Cab and Syrah. Brynn didn’t try, but Mary and Angela enjoyed this smooth, very approachable blend.

Realizing the clock was quickly ticking toward 5 p.m. we hopped in the car and jetted over to our last stop of the day: Fletcher Bay Winery. Brynn heard winemaker Jim Wilford would have his “Super Tuscan” style red blend ready for the weekend, and was excited to give it a try.

Before getting to try the Tuscan we started with the winery’s 2010 Pinot Grigio ($14.50). The grapes are sourced from the Crawford Vineyard in the Yakima Valley. The wine had a hint of pink to its pale yellow color. We were told after fermentation, it was the color of pink grapefruit juice. It’s acidity was well balanced, making it another wine that would be great to enjoy while outside on a deck in the sun with a bit of grilled salmon.

Next up was the 2009 Battle Point Red ($16.50), which blends 39 percent Tempranillo, 35 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 9 percent Petite Syrah, 8 percent Merlot, 6 percent Cabernet Franc and 3 percent Sangiovese. The wine is aged 10 months in French and American oak. It’s approachable and offers a nice complexity that would saddle up nicely to steak or pasta with red sauce.

Our third sample was the 2009 Valvano ($19.83) otherwise known as the “Super Tuscan”. Super Tuscan is a traditional blend of the indigenous Tuscan grape Sangiovese with the French Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a blend of 54 percent Sangiovese and 46 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. The Sangio is from the vineyard of Zerba Cellars in the section of the Walla Wall Valley that dips into Oregon. The Cab is from three vineyards in Washington. The wine was aged for 16 months in French oak.

It was tasty, but a bit “dumb” because it had only been bottled two days earlier. We want to return in another month or two and compare notes. As we were told, some of the components were still getting to know each other after being all shook up during the bottling process.

We ended our time at Fletcher Bay, and our tour of the island, with some sips of the Blackberry Bliss dessert wine ($16.50), sourced from Kitsap County blackberries. The balance of acidity to sweetness is just right, making the wine a perfect compliment to a sliver of dark chocolate.

If you’re considering a visit to Fletcher Bay at an upcoming wine tasting, they’ll be releasing their 2009 Tara Rouge in June. This wine is a traditional Bordeaux blend of 54 percent Merlot, 33 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 13 percent Cabernet Franc.

For more on the next Bainbridge Island winemakers weekend, visit the group’s website, which lists the upcoming dates and a map of all the locations. Like we said earlier, we’ll hit up the wineries we missed this time around and write about them next time!

Cheers!

Brynn and Mary

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“Come quickly brothers, I’m drinking stars.” – Monk Dom Perignon after first drinking Champagne.

Bubbly. Sparkling. Effervescent.

These descriptors conjure up a perception of delectable bottles of wine. But have you ever wondered how they get those tiny bubbles to sparkle just right?

It’s all tied to carbon dioxide. And when it comes to sparkling wine, the tinier the bubbles the better the taste. That’s because tiny bubbles come from aging, and everyone knows “wine gets better with age.”

This prolonged aging is also why you’ll often find sparkling wines priced higher than their still wine (wine sans bubbles) counterparts. And, if you look at the price of Champagne — produced only in France’s Champagne region under strict guidelines — you can easily find bottles in the $100-plus range. (You can also find bottles in the $1,000-plus range).

These delightful little bubbles can tickle your tongue, but be wary of the big bubbles — they can feel like they’re erupting at the back of your throat.

So how do winemakers get those wines to sparkle? They have two options: do it naturally or artificially.

The natural way is to put wine through two fermentation processes. The first is the same as any wine — yeast is added to crushed grapes. Yeast eats sugars; the release of carbon dioxide makes alcohol.

It’s the second fermentation that separates the sparkling wines from still wines. During this process a “dosage” is added to still wine. The dosage can consist of a small dose of sugar and sometimes wine. This is added to the wine mixture that still contains yeast.

A sturdy cap, not cork, is placed on the bottle, which is stored in a riddling rack. This rack keeps the neck of the bottle titled below its base. Each day the bottle is turned, or riddled, slightly to shake the dead yeast cells into the neck of the bottle.

During this process, the active yeast is eating the added sugar and again producing carbon dioxide. But without the possibility of release, instead of creating a higher alcohol content, the carbon dioxide is instead creating bubbles.

For extremely large batches of wine, the artificial process is used, where gas is pumped into vats to create the bubbles. This process, called the Charmat method, does not make for tiny bubbles.

Unless a wine was made in Champagne, France, it cannot be labeled Champagne. However, that doesn’t mean that other wine-producing regions of the world don’t produce great sparkling wines — but they must be clear that what they’re making is just that: sparkling wine.

Often you’ll see a label from a wine made in the United States that indicates a sparkling wine has been made using the Champagne method, or “Méthode Champenoise.”

In other parts of the world sparkling wine goes by different names. The more commonly known include Spain’s cava, Italy’s spumante, Germany’s Sekt, and in France’s wine regions of Burgundy and Alsace it’s Cremant.

Now that we’ve given a brief explainer of how sparkling wine is made, the only logical question to be asked next is: What sparklers do we recommend?

Well, if you’ve got money burning a hole in a pocket we’d recommend purchasing a “Tête de Cuvée”, which is Champagne from the best vineyards and best years only.

These would be Moet & Chandon’s Dom Perignon, Roederer’s Cristal, Perrier-Jouet Fleur and Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame. And the older the vintage, the more you’ll shell out — we’ve seen some listed at over $2,000.

Now that we’re done dreaming, on to the wines most of us can afford.

While tied to the above-mentioned Roederer Cristal, Roderer Estate is an affordable sparkling wine that comes from a champagne house in California. Consider it the cousin of France’s Louis Roederer Champagne house.

This estate is located in one of the most-northern California vineyards, much like Champagne is one of the most-northern wine regions of France. Because it’s associated with Champagne’s Roderer, the wine must live up to its reputation.

Other affordable California sparklers include Domaine Carneros by Taittinger (located in Carneros, Calif., but also a cousin to a French Champagne house); and Gloria Ferrer, also of Carneros, Calif. They have a Sonoma Brut and Blanc des Noirs that both run about $20, and are a great price for the quality.

Moving up the coast to Oregon, notable bubbles from this state include Argyle Winery’s sparkling wine. This winery makes more than just sparkling wine, but their sparklers are considered some of the finest in the Northwest. They currently have six different sparkling wines available on their website, including different blends of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, stand alone Pinot Noir and standalone Dijon clone Chardonnay. These should be easy to find in Washington.

In Washington State, well-known winery Chateau Ste. Michelle produces a wonderful sparkling wine that is delicious, and relatively inexpensive. This would be the kind of sparkling wine that could be used to make cocktails — think pomegranate juice or mimosas — because of its good quality.

Across the state, just outside of Spokane, sits Mountain Dome Winery, which focuses primarily on high-quality sparking wines. They produce three styles, all from Washington grapes.

Once you find the perfect sparkling wine to enjoy this holiday season, you’ll want to make sure you serve it to guests — or yourself — at its peak.

Sparkling wine should never be served at room temperature. Instead it should be served cool, preferably around 43 to 48 degrees. (Once opened keep in ice and water to maintain cool temperature).

While you may throw other bottles of still wine in the freezer to speed up the chilling process, we would strongly recommend against doing this with sparkling wines, unless of course you want a science experiment-sized explosion going off in your freezer.

When it comes time to open the sparkling wine, while you may be tempted to pop the cork in all its glory, it’s actually better to hold in the pop. While we’ve been conditioned to think the louder the pop, the more fun the night, in reality the louder the pop the less bubbles there will be to enjoy.

Instead, hold the cork and twist the bottle to produce the quietest pop possible.

If you want to look like a professional while pouring the wine, follow these tips: Hold the bottle with your thumb in the punt (the depression in the bottom of the bottle) and spread your fingers across the barrel, tipping your wrist away from your body as you pour.

Start by pouring only a small amount, about a tablespoon, into each Champagne flute. Return to the glasses, filling each about three-quarters full. This technique keeps the wine from overflowing — leaving more for you to savor.

Now, raise your glass and repeat after us:

A votre santé! (French translation: To your health!)
Prosit! (German translation: Cheers!)
L’Chaim! (Hebrew translation: To life!)
Cin-Cin! (Italian translation: Cheers!)
Kampai! (Japanese translation: To an empty glass!)
Na zdrowie! (Polish translation: To your health!)

And last but not least:

Cheers to You!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Mary and Brynn

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