Cheers To You

Mary writes:

At Taste Washington, we took advantage of a couple of the seminars that were available. Not only could we sit and sip fabulous wines at eleven in the morning but the panelists are industry giants.

Saturday I attended the Intro to the World of Wine seminar because Washington vs. the World was sold out. And amazingly after 27 years in the industry, I learned more about what makes Washington wines so special.

Dr. Kevin Pogue, geology professor at Whitman College has written a few papers regarding the soils of eastern Washington from a different perspective. He thinks Washington has a unique place in the world of wine. And the terrior, which includes soil, has everything to do with that uniqueness.

There are very few vineyards in the world planted on loess with basalt bedrock.  Pronounced luss, and loosely translated means loose. This is silt-sized sediment, which is the accumulation of wind-blown dust left over from the Missoula Floods. Basalt is heavy and creates a warmer climate. This is what makes Washington wines so special. And so resistant to phylloxera, the dreaded root louse.

Benches of basalt are now covered in vineyards. Great examples would be the Wallula Gap or Horse Heaven Hills.

Thomas Price, Master Sommelier at The Metropolitan Grill and Linda Murphy, author of “American Wine, An Honest Drink” talked about the deductive process of tasting wine.

“You have to build up the card catalogue in your memory,” Price said. And to each their own card catalogue.

This was emphasized when they both described the flavors of the Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2012 hailing from Ancient Lakes AVA’s Evergreen Vineyards. It’s composed of calcium carbonate that adds limestone to the soil. That limestone element results in more mineral than fruit flavors in a wine. It’s also important to note that the lime flavors Price was describing, Murphy described as tangerine.

Panelist Thomas Henick-Kling, Washington State University by way of Australia and Germany, explained how Syrah is the most expressive grape and the best at revealing the vineyard terrior. As a result, the flavor range varies by terrior.

Black fruits, smoky, bacon fat, violets, licorice, earth and black pepper are some of the typical flavor profiles found in a Syrah depending on the soil and whether it’s a hot or cool vineyard. The Proper Wines 2010 Syrah had the black fruits and smoky bacon flavors of the warmer Walla Walla region.

Other wines tasted with panel comments:

Novelty Hill Stillwater Creek 2011 Chardonnay is from a higher elevation in the Frenchman Hills and a cooler site.

Obelisco 2009 Merlot was sourced from Red Mountain AVA where the Missoula Flood cobblestone gravels produce wines with elevated tannins. Red Mountain is a small AVA with 15 different soil types.

Chateau Ste Michelle Canoe Ridge 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon was luscious with black fruits, black olive, baking spices and clove and vanilla from the oak barrels. Canoe Ridge produces succulent texture to Cabernets accessible when young, planted in 1992 200 yards from the Columbia River. With 30 to 40 mph winds there, the vines don’t get very big.

Syncline Columbia Valley 2011 Subduction Red is a blend with a base of Grenache. Grenache in cooler vintages is all white pepper nose and raspberry with a brilliant purple rim.

The final round was an interesting question about what varietal the panelists would like to see more of in Washington State. Murphy had consulted in Washington in the early years when Hogue had four Chenin Blancs available. Now this grape is hard to find.

Price thought the Picpoul grape has a place in the dry warm regions of the state. McCrea vineyards Picpoul was mentioned.

Henick-Kling, having spent time in Australia, would like to see more Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon planted here.

Curious, isn’t it?  With total wine production in 2012 at 12 million cases, the ratio of reds to whites is 50.3 percent to 49.7 percent. They all mentioned white grapes. Maybe to even things up?

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Mary writes:

Loess is an important component in most Washington wines. It’s an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, 20 percent or less clay and the rest equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate.

That blend adds to the complexity of our state’s wines. Many of Washington’s vineyards are located on gentle slopes or on valley floors. Almost all of these vineyards are planted in loess derived from sediments deposited by a series of glacial floods, known as the Missoula floods.

Underneath much of these vineyards is the other reason Washington is unique in the wine world. The bedrock is basalt alluvium or just plain basalt. At higher elevations the loess lies on top of basalt bedrock.

Because basalt is dark colored and dense, it keeps the average temperatures above average. And basalt keeps the root louse away.

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Mary writes:

Whether it’s ham, lamb or spam, we’ve got you covered. (OK so it rhymed and was kinda catchy, but we’ll take a rain check on the spam.)

Many families start Easter Sunday with the traditional Easter egg hunt — complete with the kids  running around eating candy out of someone else’s basket. When it’s time to convert those hard boiled eggs into deviled eggs, it’s Mimosa time.

Mix Domaine St. Michelle Brut with a dollop of fresh orange juice for a wonderful adult treat.

At the Easter feast, the best ham and wine experience is usually a pairing with Riesling. Since brined, smoked ham is usually glazed with something sweet like honey or brown sugar to balance saltiness of meat, a wine with sweet fruitiness balances the salty, spicy and sweet flavors of the ham.

At the recent Taste Washington tasting event (held last weekend in Seattle), one of the best Washington Rieslings we tasted that would fit this profile was the Silver Lake Roza Reilsing, from the Roza Berge Vineyard located in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA.

Founded in 1987, Silver Lake Winery is one of Washington’s pioneer wineries. Their Riesling has earned many awards over the years. The pear and lime flavors of this medium-bodied sweetie with bright acidity and a long finish would pair very nicely.

However, if you’re pining for red, try the Maryhill Zinfandel. There are not many Zins in Washington but this winery along the Columbia River has one of the best. This wine pairs with anything off the grill. This wine has the sweet fruitiness to balance the sweet sauce and the salty ham.

If you’re preference is a nice rack of lamb, rubbed with olive oil, garlic and rosemary grilled to perfection, you need a red with a modicum of tannin,  good structure, solid fruit notes and, of course, a fine finish. The best, the only, pair would be Syrah.

After attending a couple of seminars at Taste Washington where we learned at little bit more Syrah in Washington, we can assure you that one from a warmer vineyard will have the fruit and the structure to create synergy with lamb.

Try Walla Walla winery, Syzygy. (Pronounced “szz-eh-jee”); it means the alignment of three celestial bodies which usually occur during a solar eclipse. Owner and Winemaker Zach Brettler’s current release is a 2008 Walla Walla Syrah. It’s a rich, sleek, smooth quaff with a ton of black fruit flavors and hints of green olive and smoke. Because it has some age, it’s drinking very nicely right now. It also has garnered quite a few medals.

Cheers and have a happy Easter!

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Mary writes:

My last wine tour had a bunch of us walking around Woodinville. There is a boatload of wonderful wineries there, including an old, old favorite of mine.

A pioneer (1983!) of the Washington wine industry, Jerry Bookwalter, like many of Washington’s wine pioneers, migrated from California after years of working in the wine and agricultural industries. Bookwalter managed a couple of large corporate farms in the San Joaquin Valley before being recruited in 1976 to plant and manage Washington State’s Bacchus, Dionysus and Sagemoor Vineyards.

In 1983, Bookwalter Winery was established in Richland. The first wines were gold medal winners. The streak continued when Bookwalter Winery was recognized as one of three Washington Wineries to watch.

In 1997, son John started working with the family business after more than 10 years selling beverages for Seattle area distributors. Having a background in marketing, John found Zelma Long to do some consulting at Bookwalter. Zelma has a phenomenal reputation in the wine industry having worked for 30 years to put Simi Winery on the wine map. Success with their 2000 Columbia Valley Merlot as one of five Washington Merlots to score 90 points or higher was proof that things were going very well.

In 2002, the winery opened Washington’s first wine lounge in Richland, pairing Bookwalter wines with hand crafted cheeses.

They also have a presence in Woodinville, making it easier for those of us on the west side of the state to enjoy the fruits of their labor. They can be found at the Woodinville Tasting Studio, an open air picnic lounge that is both relaxing and educational at the same time.

Bookwalter Winery produces wonderful whites and classic reds. Here’s a few to become acquainted with:

Foreshadow 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon: With its wonderful aromas of red fruits and herbs, this wine is so well balanced and rich with cherries and raspberries and balanced by herbs and acidity.

Protagonist 2010: Another mostly cabernet/merlot blend, with a touch of syrah from a very cold vintage, which translates to balanced fruit sweetness and lower alcohol than wines from hotter years. Less fruit sugars to turn into alcohol. Lots of cherries and raspberries in the nose and on the palate with a bit of herbs and mocha.

And I can’t tell you enough to try the Riesling. Remember old wines make great wines. Bookwalter has been making very good Riesling for almost 30 years.

Snag a bottle and save it for shrimp season. You’ll see what I mean.

Cheers!

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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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This post really should be titled “What we hope to be drinking” because it’s our short list of wineries we hope to visit while attending the Taste Washington event at the end of this month. (If you want more details on the event or how to get tickets, see our previous post here.)

How is it time for Taste Washington again, you might ask? Good question — we’re asking ourselves the same thing. It seems like only yesterday I was 8 months pregnant, waddling around the CenturyLink Event Center with Mary and Jeff taking tiny sips (and spitting) some great wines.

Thank goodness this year I’m free and clear to do as much wine tasting as my palate will allow (the baby is being dropped off at Grandma’s so mom and dad can get some good wine tasting quality time).

Before attending these large-scale tastings we always create a game plan — review the list of wineries and what they expect to pour, and then decide who we just can’t miss. Last year Jeff’s plan was to taste all of the most expensive wines being poured. That was a lot of fun.

While we create a plan, we almost never stick to it — winery ADD takes over when we get into the building. Nevertheless, we still like to pretend we have a plan.

This is who we’re excited to visit this year:

Mary’s list:

• Doubleback: Only time I’ll get to taste the most expensive wine at this event.
• Desert Wind: Love their wines and want to see what they’re up too.
• Two Mountain: Really love the wines, the guys who run it and just tasted a homemade port made from Two Mountain grapes.
• Buty Winery: Love their wine and they are sooo affordable.
• Powers Winery: Here’s a winery that has been around forever and still produces quality, affordable wines.
• Smasne: Tough to find in Kitsap so here’s my chance to see what they’ve been up to.
• Robert Ramsey: Ditto.
• Rotie: Have to try these as they produced our favorite wine last year.

Brynn’s list:

• Canoe Ridge Vineyard: After recently drinking a cab from this winery I’d like to see what else they have.
• Cave B: At our first Taste WA experience I tried their chardonnay and fell in love, it’s time to rekindle that romance.
• Efeste: I see their label everywhere but have never given then a try, now’s my chance.
• Maison Bleue Winery: Tried the wines a couple years ago at the Rhone Rangers tasting in Seattle, loved everything he poured.
• Rotie: Tops my list because I have a few bottles of their Northern Red(which was my all-time favorite wine tasted at last year’s Taste Washington).
• Woodward Canyon: Last on the Taste WA list, but certainly at the top of my list, especially because one of the winery owners has Bremerton roots.

Tom Douglas at Taste Washington 2012

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Mary writes:

The recent sunshine, blue skies and warmer weather has many out toiling in their gardens. My own garden has many volunteers peeping out. Chives, sorrel, spinach and oregano are popping up in between the tulips, bluebells and daffodils.

Pairing these fresh spring vegetables with wine is a fun and educational endeavor.  Fresh, herbal and crisp are the qualities of a wine that would pair well with the dishes listed below. These are also the qualities that make a great sauvignon blanc.

Dilled smoked salmon pate, peak-season asparagus grilled to perfection and dressed with balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese, roasted thyme carrots and artichokes with hollandaise are other spring dishes that pair well with a sauvignon blanc.

Deviled eggs are a staple of many spring-themed brunches and pot lucks. Consider adding lemon juice to the mayonnaise and chopped chives or sage to add a little spring fresh flavor to this well-loved dish.

Our go to favorite wine to serve with the lemon-chive deviled eggs is Arbor Crest’s 2012 Sauvignon Blanc.

Arbor Crest has been producing exceptional sauvignon blanc since Bacchus was a kid. Grapes are sourced from the venerable Bacchus Vineyard in Columbia Valley.

The flavors are fresh and lively with appealing citrus, pineapple and spice with a smooth finish.

To preserve those fresh and lively flavors, malolactic fermentation or any contact with oak is avoided.

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Brynn writes:

It’s March, do you know what that means? Beyond our days staying light a little longer and the daffodils starting to push through the soggy ground, it also means that it’s Washington Wine Month.

And what happens during Washington Wine Month? Taste Washington, of course!

This year the event is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24. It will be at the CenturyLink Field Event Center — walking distance from the Colman ferry dock.

If you choose to go for two days, the ticket price for general admission is $125, or $80 for one day. Hours are 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Last year we loved that they expanded the event to two days. It gives you a chance to taste more wineries without overloading your tastebuds.

If you want to go all out, there’s a VIP package which includes an extra hour — 1 to 5 p.m. admission — and access to the barrel room, a VIP lounge; a “swag bag” and special giveaways during the VIP hour.

There’s also the chance to attend seminars on Saturday and Sunday, where you can learn about Washington’s wine industry from some of the state’s leaders. Seminars are 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day, and require an additional admission, which varies depending on topic. Visit the seminar page here for more information.

To buy tickets, or to see a complete list of wineries planning to pour at Taste Washington, visit the event website.

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Brynn writes:

What are you doing Monday, March 11? If you’re free in the evening from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. consider visiting McCaw Hall in Seattle for a Walla Walla Wine tasting.

Since it takes half a day to get to Walla Walla, this really is a great opportunity for wine lovers to get the chance to sample what the acclaimed wine region has to offer. Not to mention you save a lot of gas money, and you don’t have to drive from winery to winery — they’re all going to be under one roof.

More than 50 wineries from the Walla Walla Valley will be pouring wines. You not only will get the chance to taste these great wines, you’ll also get to meet the winemakers and winery owners behind the labels. These are the best kind of tasting events because you get to hear straight from the people who are in the field with the grapes and who put their heart and soul into making the wine.

Hearing from winemakers directly always help broaden an understanding of how wines are produced — and who knows it might even help you stumble on a new favorite winery. Appetizers will also be served.

Tickets are $50 and can be purchased from brownpapertickets.com. Or by clicking here.

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Brynn writes:

What a delicious, fragrant wine. I’ve not had Canoe Ridge before, so I was more than pleasantly surprised when I tried the cab.

The nose is fragrant and bold with a lingering sweetness. Flavors of black cherry and cedar follow with vanilla notes lingering on the finish.

I’ve decided I like cabs that have the juicy fruit notes and where the oak is noticeable on the finish. Cabs that leave my mouth puckered and feeling dry, while I might enjoy them, are not my first choice. (Of course I am sure that one day I’ll have a cab like this that will prove me wrong).

What I like about the Canoe Ridge cab is it is approachable. I can tell there’s a lot of flavors mingling, which keeps me wanting more without overwhelming my mouth.

This is a concentrated wine with spicy oak notes — it’s aged in barrels for 18 months. The barrel breakdown includes 7 percent new French oak, 7 percent new American oak and 2 percent new European oak.

Canoe Ridge is part of the Precept Wine group, which describes itself as the largest privately owned wine company in the Northwest. They own Sagelands, Canoe Ridge Vineyards, House Wine, Washington Hills, Red Knot and Waterbrook, to name a few.

The grapes that make up the Canoe Ridge cab — a blend of 85 percent cab, 15 percent merlot — come from the Canoe Ridge Vineyards’ estate vineyard which is situated along the Columbia River. Being this close to the river allows for longer time on the vine because the river moderates the temperature. Natural ridges around the vineyard also shelter the vines, keeping the wind out and damaging hard freezes at bay during the winter.

We found the bottle at Fred Meyer, so it’s readily available. It’s around $15 to $18.

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