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:

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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.

Wine as mouthwash? Yes please!– Barnard Griffin Syrah Port 2008

Nov 25 2009

I’m nervous.  I’m about to make the jump to the left of the page– to the “wine” section of the PalateBomb archives.  Always being immediately relegated into the “not wine” section on the right has left me with a constant feeling of inferiority I haven’t felt since the days of dodgeball.  It’s like the hot or not of the wine blogging world.  Now, this 2008 Syrah Port by Barnard Griffin is going to move me on over to the left for the first time.  The last thing to move me to the left had a Yale and Harvard education (supposedly), refused to use words from the English language, and choked on a pretzel once (well, only once that we know of).  I imagine this Port tastes much better.

I’ve held onto it for awhile ever since it was bestowed upon me to review.  It was a test in patience that I think I passed with flying colors.  But this Friday night, after going out with a friend fell through at the last minute, I needed something to do.  Naturally, I retired to my wine cellar and the Port stood out like an oasis in the Sahara.  Actually, it was at the foot of my bed as I went into my room to change into my cowboy pajamas.  The point’s still the same.  My patience ran out, I ripped the bottle out of the bag that had been protecting it from light for the past two months, and kept my clothes on because I felt that my outfit that day was especially wine reviewer-esque.  Even if no one was there to see me, I looked the part.  You’ll have to trust me because I refuse to take pictures of myself in the mirror or have a MySpace account– two things that go hand in hand.  Regardless, my outfit was more suitable for my big wine reviewing debut than cowboy pajamas would have been.

I took the bottle to my kitchen and was thrilled to see that I required no corkscrew, or shoe and hard building.  I only had to unscrew the top.  As I let that breathe, I considered some food to have with it.  I’m bad with decisions, so I pulled out a bit of everything.  I had some dark chocolate, some walnuts and almonds, and half of a bagel with Nutella.  I thought some fruit would go well with it as well, but it was the end of the week and the only fruit– although it’s not really a fruit either– remaining was a pomegranate.  I wanted to get to this wine; opening up a pomegranate would only keep me from it longer.  Next time.

I chose the walnuts because when I first tasted this, and it was my first Port at the time, I was told by an intelligent Port veteran that Ports taste like walnuts.  I quickly agreed, and not just out of politeness.  I honestly agreed, but afterward I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually eaten a walnut.  So I wanted to eat walnuts side by side with the wine to make sure I hadn’t simply been affected by one of the same fallacies of wine reviewing summarized in this sure-to-be controversial Wall Street Journal article which mentions that one California wine was described as “Dusty, chalky scents followed by mint, plum, tobacco and leather. Tasty cherry with smoky oak accents…” in one publication, and “promising aromas of lavender, roasted herbs, blueberries, and black currants” in another.

But sure enough, that taste is walnuts.  And the taste of walnut is much better in a wine.  I now know why I hadn’t eaten a walnut in a while.  The description provided by Barnard Griffin makes no mention of walnuts; apparently instead it’s “shadings of earth.”  I’m no marketer, but I’d prefer to call it walnut than dirt. They also say there’s cherry and plum in there.  I can taste the cherry just about as strongly as the walnut.  When sipped quickly, it goes down smoother than any red wine I’ve had.  I think the Syrah and cherry tastes blend to overpower the bitterness that usually comes with (and turns me off of) walnut, preserving only the unique and tasty meatiness of it.  When I keep the wine on my tongue for a bit– maybe that’s a strange thing to do, I wouldn’t know– it turns spicy, a completely different feeling than when I swallowed immediately.  It tasted like Listerine, if Listerine had come out with a delicious new wine flavor.  I did not swish it, but I did like achieving this spicy effect right after nibbling some of the chocolate.  Perhaps the spiciness came from the mysterious plums.  Are there spicy plums?

I have just one beef with this Port.  What’s with the bottle being so small?  Let’s make it a little bigger next year, okay?

As I’m trying more and more red wines, and finding ones that I like, this is the first one I can say I truly enjoyed.  Yes, I’ve found others I liked the taste of, but this is the first one I remember the taste of long after, just as I have long done with beers I truly enjoy.  This was an excellent introduction to Ports, and I hope it’s a gateway to many more.  Additionally, I hope the others know that the bar has been set high by Barnard Griffin.

Now that I’m done with my first review, I just have one question for next time.  Is there any sort of rule against reviewing the same wine twice?