You had me at Walla…

Feb 28 2010

When my friend/roommate told me she had never been wine tasting, the ideas just kept running through my mind. Should we make a weekend of it? Where should we start? Just the two of us? Tri Cities, Woodinville or Walla Walla? I have a dear friend, Toni, that I haven’t seen for awhile so I decided on Walla Walla and when I got a Saturday off (which NEVER happens) I decided it was fate, and captured Miss Kendra.

On the road by 11am, ok 11:15, we put on John Mayer and hit the road. First stop – L’Ecole 41 right outside of Walla Walla. The story is fun and I’ll give you the basics: old schoolhouse transitioned to a winery in 1975-1980 and was most recently named Regional Winery of the Year in 2009 by Wine & Spirits Magazine. I figured it was a good place to introduce Kendra to wine tasting because it has a rich background, the staff has always been very friendly towards me and they have a wide selection of wines. She ended up buying their 2008 Columbia Valley Semillion ($13) and our tasting room attendant(s) were very helpful in pointing us in the right direction for food and wine, even drawing unknown locations on our map. Yes, we had a map. Yes, I felt very touristy.
We had planned on eating at Aloha Sushi, one of my favorites in Walla Walla, but since our next winery was only open until 2pm, we had to get there quickly so lunch was put on hold. Besides, who needs lunch when you have wine!?

With map in hand and wine on the mind, we headed out in the country to Rulo. Thank goodness for our drawn in map because this is a winery you do not want to miss! They have 3, almost 4, white wines (Viognier, two Chardonnays and a Sauvignon Blanc that isn’t quite finished) and 4 reds (Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrca – 70% Syrah 30% Cab, and Silo – which is another Syrah). These are wines you must try when you go to Walla Walla. The owners/winemakers/distributors/tasting room attendants Kurt & Lisa are wonderful and make you feel like you are a part of the process. The wine pairing they mention is fun also; their Viognier with “a spoonful of Jif extra-crunchy peanut butter- – no bread involved.” I got to taste their Sauvignon Blanc out of a beaker and wow, it is so interesting. Key word – interesting. It smells so beautiful and floral but then when you drink it, kind of kicks you in the ass. It has typical Sauvignon Blanc taste multiplied by 10. Very acidic, very lemon and very much a food wine. My favorite of theirs is most definitely the Syrca. I’m a huge fan of Syrah, and this is blended with Cabernet and just has such richness to it, I felt I was drinking 70% gold and %30 diamonds. Cheesy, yes. Delicious, yes.

After many thanks, and 4 more bottles to add to our case box, Kendra and I were sent down the road to Isenhower Cellars. I was happy right away, because I saw that they had Syrah and also a Roussanne/Viognier blend called Snapdragon. Roussanne is a varietal you don’t see too often, but is one I enjoy so I started there, with Kendra right behind me. It had a great aroma full of mandarin orange mixed with bright floral notes, and the taste was right there to match. Very smooth and we both really enjoyed it and went down the whole list, still on an empty stomach. The tasting room attendant, Dary (sp!?), was very sweet and if you go in there, I’m sure she will treat you right.

We found our way to meet up with Toni, where she was the lucky recipient of the Snapdragon and she sadly informed us that Aloha Sushi closes for a few hours on Saturday and we were in that few hour period. Disappointed but still hungry, and desperately needing wine we took her advice and headed to T. Maccarones for lunch. We had a beautiful cheese and meat plate, macaroni and cheese, and obviously wine, red for me, white for Kendra. Our server was great and compiled a list for us to hit in our last hour-ish before the dreaded 5pm when things shut down.

We went to one of our final destinations, a wine shop downtown, Walla Walla Wine Works. The great thing about this place is that you can taste from a bunch of wineries, without having to go to each of them. Their list changes regularly and it is organized very well, guiding you through your tasting. Our tasting room attendant was full of coffee and ready to help us drink; I mean taste, a bunch of wine. Since I was the driver and had already been to several wineries, I skipped the whites and went straight for the good stuff. We had a great Temperanillo and several yummy Syrahs before skipping to a tasting I’ve never even done before, sparkling wine. I’ve had sparkling wine before, but never done a tasting with it. I just buy and say “Hope it’s good!” The sparkling wine was from Covet, made in the Columbia Valley and they have a Riesling, Syrah and another wine that I cannot for the life of me remember but we walked away with 2 bottles of sparkling Riesling, and 1 sparkling Syrah. I also took home a bottle of 2008 Originals Syrah and Kendra picked up a 2008 Originals Riesling.

Last place, Otis Kenyon. If you love history, wine, and good stories, this is the place for you. Otis Kenyon, the man, burnt down a dental office, had his family abandon him, and generations later, his grandkids found him living on the Oregon coast, reunited and now his great granddaughter, Muriel, runs the tasting room. They give out matchboxes instead of business cards, and their red blend is called Matchless Red. They have some delicious wines, in fact, I’m drinking the Matchless Red right now and it is full of dark cherry, with a nice structure and some light tannin in the back jaw area.
Heading home at around 630pm, we had bought 11 bottles of wine and were ready to fill our wine rack. On the drive home, I thought about all the stereotypes of Walla Walla, and how I find them mostly false. The wine ranged in price from $15-$40 and hardly anyone had their nose in the air. Maybe it’s the places I chose to go but Walla Walla is a great place for any wine drinker, beginning or old.

As always, remember to enjoy every glass and every taste, because the bottle empties quicker than you think.

Cheers!

This Just In…

Feb 13 2010

We’re back!

PalateBomb.com is your number one spot for wine reviews, event commentary, and THE place to check out what’s coming up in the local area. We’re going to be working hard over the next few weeks to update the events calender, get some reviews up and just get things moving again.

PalateBomb.com is all about you! If you have a wine you’d like us to try, feel free to suggest away by sending us an email or leaving a comment on an existing article. If you know where the next winemaker dinner or awesome event is going to be held, let us know and we’ll help spread the word! Got a hot topic you’d like us to discuss? Start the conversation…we’re listening…

Oh, and just to get you started, here’s a hot new event that’s coming up very soon:

Click Me!

20what? 20something? See it to believe it.

Dec 2 2009

People have often told me, “You have the best jobs ever!” and I’d have to say that I absolutely, positively agree.  All of them include wine, great people and more wine. My most recent adventure was to the Fremont Studios in Seattle, Washington where I attended 20something.  This event focuses on the younger wine community, which luckily, I’m a part of.  It’s nice to see people my age enjoying wine, instead of downing gallons of Carlo Rossi or playing ‘slap the bladder’ with bags of Franzia.

The idea of 20something is perfect – lots of wine, phenomenal food, awesome DJ, and wine education all in the cool downtown Fremont community in Seattle, WA.  This was my first big wine event outside of Tri Cities. I was bringing Palatebomb to something other than my local tasting rooms, bars and restaurants.  The flashing lights and line for will-call made me realize I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.  Big city – big event – and I had work to do.  I had done a bit of research beforehand and knew that both my favorite wine (Jones of Washington 2006 Cabernet) and Pikes Brewery would be there, and that I would be more than satisfied with the food selection (Picazo 717, Muckleshoot Casino, Rays Café).

As we walked in and got our glasses and notepad necklaces – a great idea from Seattle magazine – I was ready for action.  First mission – wine! But where? Soon a man appeared from Balboa Winery, with bottle in hand and asked if I would like some wine.  It took a second for me to realize the set up – the winery reps were walking around and pouring, making it a great social event.  I chatted with him a bit, tried the red blend and unfortunately didn’t care for it.  I poured it into Bens glass (he’s so helpful) and went on my way to find the next wine to try.

I decided to try the whites first, while eating, moving on to red wine later.  The next person to come up to me was from Cave B Winery right outside of George, WA. They were pouring a Riesling that met my white criteria.  It had great bright fruit without being extremely sweet, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice holiday wine, as a gift or to drink.  With wine in glass, I made my way to the main room to find some grub.

The first thing that caught my eye was Executive Chef Frank Magana of Picazo 717 and his chorizo stuffed prawns, a favorite.  We snagged some prawns, chatted with Frank and his wife, Trish, then continued on the food journey.

I would have never thought to eat at a casino, but after reading the menu online the night before, I was ready to try Muckleshoot Casino’s food. Their burrata mozzarella cheese wrap with hamachi or big eye tuna on a shoyu pipette were phenomenal! I was a little intimidated at first but remembered that I was in a big city and had to eat like a city girl.  So in it went and the sauce in the pipette was quite the experience.  I can’t write about it without it sounding dirty, so you’ve been warned.  The first sensation I had was the slimy, tender feel of the fish, and then the creamy taste of the mozzarella and right as it was about down, you squeeze the pipette and this burst of flavor is shot into your mouth.  It was a bit tangy but so so good! I tried both of the flavors, the big eye tuna and the hamachi, and although I preferred the hamachi, I would have either any day.  Feeling proud of myself for eating so grown up, I went back to what I know and love – wine.

I found a winery/wine I know and love with Jenna from Mercer Estates and got back on track with my white wine adventure.  The 2007 Pinot Gris ($15 a bottle) is full of peach and pear nose and palate – a wine I recommend to anyone.  It went well with the seafood I was having and would also pair nicely with chicken.  This wine would be good to take to the sensory booth in the Geek Lounge.  There was a husband and wife team there; he was a sensory scientist and wine maker and she was pouring the wine.  He had about 20 dixie cups out on the table, each full of a certain object (grapefruit, oak, black pepper, currant, tobacco, etc) and you brought your wine over and smelled the cup, and then smelled the wine.  It really helped me pull out certain flavors, and for people who are new to wine, it would be a great experience.

The only frustrating thing about this event is that half the time I didn’t know what I was drinking.  I could tell red or white, and sometimes the varietal, but people would came up and continually kept my glass full then dash off to fill the next glass.  My notebook necklace was used in the beginning, but then it got darker and louder and it faded out, as did my soberness.

One very smart winery, Northwest Cellars in Kirkland WA, made business cards with the wine description, awards won/points scored, price point and a coupon for a complimentary tasting. The wine was fantastic and the man pouring it talked about the wine like he knew what he was doing – what a relief!

Lucky me, one of the sponsors of 20something was Fiji water, and I snagged bottles throughout the night.  One of the themes of this event was ‘hip2spit’, suggesting people spit some of the wine as to not get too toasted throughout the night.  You generally need spit buckets to be able to spit, and I counted five. At the entire event. And placed in the middle of tables, where people were sitting or standing.  “Excuse me as I spit over your shoulder and try to not spill all over you.”  Although I didn’t spit as much as I probably should have, I had water, food and a sober ride all lined up.  If I hadn’t made prior arrangements, the taxis were lined up for blocks, so I would have had another way to get home safely.

Taxi or no taxi, wine or beer, seafood or elk, I had a blast! For the avid wine lover or for someone just starting out, I would recommend this event.