Duck, Duck, Chicken! Jones of Washington – Tri-Cities Wine Festival 09

Nov 17 2009

As I walked into a room full of over 100 wineries and several food vendors, I thought at first I should pinch myself.  All the food I want, all the wine I want, and my tickets was paid for by the Palatebomb Gods?  Hell, yes!

I had a few realizations as I walked in the door.  1: There was no way I would even try half of the wineries there, let alone a quarter of them.  2: I was in trouble. Big trouble.  3: I absolutely and positively love my job, the industry, the people in it and that I am part of such a great community in the Tri Cities.

I first went to wineries based on recommendations, and if I had tasted a wine before, I steered clear of their booth – this event was about discovering new wines from the beautiful northwest and I didn’t want to throw myself under the barrel by sticking to what I knew.   Also, if the label was attractive, I was stopping in.

I started off my evening with Abacela, alphabetically the top of the list, and was pretty impressed.  They are an Oregon winery, and I chose to drink their Malbec.  This wine is full of dark fruit and the nose just intrigued me to the point of no return.  I brought the glass up to my mouth and as soon as you could say “Cheers!” my first sip was down the hatch.  I was glad he had a heavy hand, because one ounce of this wine was not quite enough.  After I finished the wine, I found myself giving the thumbs up sign, something I do fairly often.  You can buy this wine online (http://www.abacela.com/) for $25 plus the cost of shipping and handling.

One of the next wines I had was from Barrister Winery located in Spokane, WA.  This winery was founded in a garage by Greg Lipsker and Michael White.  They are attorneys by day, winemakers by weekend, and what started out as a hobby has become a well known and well respected winery.  I had the pleasure of trying their wine several months ago, (I know, I broke my rule about not trying wines I already had), but this wine is so good! I couldn’t be there and not have just one teensy tiny taste of Rough Justice; their red blend consisting of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cab franc and syrah.  It has a complex nose, full of dark jammy fruit.  I got a huge aroma of raspberry and cherry and the mouth was just what I expected; nice tannins with a long finish.  They will be in Kennewick in early December for a wine tasting event at Zinful Panini Grill & Wine Bar (509.586.6100) and I know I’ll be there!

My favorite wine of the night was a big shocker.  It wasn’t a syrah, or red blend – my current favorites.  This wine caught my attention with its label, which is a hand-drawn chicken and tractor on a muted green and yellow label.  Jones of Washington has some standout wines, was my wine pick of the night, and the booth I sent everyone to.  They had two cabernet sauvignons that were out of this world, insta-tweet worthy.  Winemaker Victor Palencia poured both of them for me; the sexy cab and the bold cab.  The sexy cab is their 2006 Estate Cabernet and, wow, does it live up to its name.  It is so smooth and has this sensuality to it that is decadent.  The shocker, it sells for only 16.99! You can find it in local Yokes Stores, or on the Jones of Washington Website.  Their bold cabernet, Jacks Reserve, was my favorite of the night.  It is exactly what the winemaker called it, bold! It was full of dark fruit, and the tannins were enough to let me know they were there but nothing that knocked me on my ass.

As the night came to an end, and my wonderful boyfriend picked up Dan and me, I gave one last look into the room I had been so excited by and realized it wasn’t simply the wine or the food that gave so much excitement.  It was the fact that they all came together for the love of wine and competition (two of my favorite things!).  Tri City Wine Festival 2010, I look forward to your arrival.