Hooray, Hooray for Cabernet!

Apr 5 2010

First and foremost, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you couldn’t be at this amazing dinner and I’m sorry for the jealousy you might feel at the end of this article. Final apology is me being sorry for the lack of photos. My glass was empty and my plate was licked clean before I or anyone else could get a camera out, and although I still have the gorgeous menu it is tattered from all the people who I’ve shown.

When I got invited to the Hightower Winemakers Dinner at Picazo 7Seventeen by Craig Sutton, I jumped at the opportunity! Chef Frank always makes divine food, and since I hadn’t had Hightower wine before I of course wanted to try it.

We started the evening with light appetizers; almonds, olives, and mussels, among other things. To accompany the appetizers, we drank the Murray Cuvee, a wine dedicated to their late dog, Murray. It paired nicely, and I might have gone back for a second glass. After chatting a bit and meeting some tweeters, we sat and got ready for the meal I’d starved myself all day for.

Stories filled the table and soon we were wrapped around Kelly & Tim Hightower’s wine finger. They are such great people and with amazing wine, it’s hard to not love them. My favorite Kelly quote of the night was “I used to live in a convent, and yes, my dates picked me up from there.” If you weren’t listening to her stories before, that one line perked a few ears.

First course was a beautiful salad with seared duck. I’d never had duck before, but liked it, and was proud of myself for maybe possibly growing out of my picky eater phase. After the salad, we had a spicy gazpacho with bread made from Hightower grape yeast, which I didn’t know could be done. The next thing I enjoyed was a mushroom gnocchi and once again, loved every bite. I even had the mushrooms which is again me growing out of my picky eater phase.

Now here it is – the best wine and the best food! Hightower brought their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon to pair with Frank Magana’s fillet of beef tenderloin and it was absolutely magnificent. The cabernet had a beautiful color, big spicy nose and the taste … ahh, heavenly. One of the people at the table described the wine as “cured peppered meat” and for me that meant a very classy, in no way offensive, peppered beef jerky. Imagine that – in a glass of wine! It had slight tannin which I love and it left my mouth wanting more, something that I think every wine should have. The tenderloin was so tender; it didn’t even need a steak knife. I tried eating slowly and with small bites, but it came to an end and I had to eat dessert, chocolate crème’ brulee paired with Hightower Merlot.
It was a rough night full of gourmet food, delicious wine, fabulous conversation and new friends but I survived it. I want to give an enormous thank you to Frank Magana, Trina Cortez, all of Picazo7Seventeen’s staff, Kelly & Tim Hightower and Craig Sutton. As always, I look forward to another wine maker dinner.

Cheers!

Winemaker Dinner – Picazo717 & Kiona Wines

Mar 16 2010

The evening started out with smiles on friendly faces & the smell of good things cooking……

Entering Picazo7Seventeen in Prosser at around 5:45 we were greeted right away with a smile & a glass of wine along with an invitation to dive right in to the appetizers.  Chef Frank Magana and his staff had everything under control. The Chef himself was out front, greeting guests along with his staff, making introductions and was very cool and composed the entire evening.

The smell from the kitchen was tantalizing, I could smell all sorts of good things cooking and I was ready to begin.

From here the Chef introduced himself, along with Scott & Vicky Williams, owners of Kiona Winery on Red Mountain.  The next 2 hours were filled with great food, great wine & great conversation with excellent people. I also had the pleasure of meeting Melodie Smith (@cellardoorgirl), the winner of our latest contest!

Here’s what was on the menu:

Course One: Strawberry, Cucumber & Feta Salad – The taste was crisp, fresh & light. Everything mixed well together, & I was left with wanting more strawberries. The feta cheese was a great touch, and tasted fantastic. The dressing mixed with the feta created a texture not to my liking, but my taste buds were happy anyway.

Wine Pairing: 2008 Kiona Estate Dry Riesling – The citrus notes here paired nicely with the salad. Green apple, pear, and a lemon/orange peel aroma were nicely presented. The slight “effervescence” of the wine along with the fresh cucumber in the salad were perfect together.

Course Two: Goat Cheese Souffle – Something I’ve never had, nor thought of trying that suprised me. It came served hot, in an espresso cup. The breaded outside had a wonderful spice to it, then I hit the warm goat cheese center…I could have gone back for seconds on this one.

Wine Pairing: 2005 Estate Chardonnay – When it comes to chard, i like ‘em steely and crisp. This wine took me by surprise. The slightest hint of oak yet lacking the “buttery” complexion that I try to steer clear of.  Turns out the winemaker aged this particular blend in both oak and steel, with steel being the prominent device. As for pairing with the souffle, the spice in the crust was a good friend to the light oak in the wine.

Course Three: Alligator Jambalaya – Yes, you read it correctly, Alligator! I had no idea what to expect here, but here’s the result. The gator had the consistency (and slight taste) of fish! The flavor is almost impossible to describe, but it was damn good! The jambalaya also had a spicy sausage with rice and other additions. An eclectic mix of flavors were a complete success here.

Wine Pairing: Kiona 2006 Estate Lemberger – A wine that holds it’s own with a blend of spice & old earth. A warm, soft body with currant and dark cherry flavors. Paired fantastically with the spicy sausage in the jambalaya, but was a little bit tough on our poor friend Mister Gator.

Intermezzo: Blackberry Sorbet – A nice palate-cleansing, chilled blackberry sorbet.  I’m a sucker for dark berry anything, & this did not disappoint.

Main Course: Rack of Lamb with Apple-Mint Chutney – Hoh-boy, this was a real treat! I love a good rack (of lamb) and this was no exception! Crisp on the outside, succulent and juicy on the inside. This Chef knows his meats! The risotto as well, was perfectly cooked for my tastes, slightly sticky but not at all hard or grainy, with plenty of flavor. Well done Chef!

Wine Pairing: Kiona 2003 Estate Cabernet & Kiona 2003 Estate Syrah – This was a close battle, but in the end the syrah won by an inch. Both wines full bodied, keeping in check with the lamb. The cab showed me cassis, with cherry-chocolate earthy goodness. The syrah complemented the lamb a little better in my case, blowing a little spicy-tobacco over my nicely cooked lamb.

Dessert: Riesling Poached Pear with Gorgonzola Sauce -  As if we even needed (or had room for) dessert, out came the final presentation of the evening.  First of all, if you had told me I’d be eating alligator tonight, I would have told you to pack your bags. If you had told me I’d be eating a poached pear with gorgonzola cheese and balsamic vinaigrette as a dessert, I would have told you to get outta town. Chef Magana stretched the limits of my palate yet again with this dessert and succeeded! Tasted sweet, and juicy, with the gorgonzola mixing with the balsamic nicely and quite honestly, if you had told me it was cream and chocolate and I would have believed you.

Wine Pairing: 2008 Late Harvest Riesling – Dessert wine normally completes my cycle from “a little buzzed” to “okay, someone get him a cab, and I mean the kind you drive, not drink”. The sugars, combined with the alcohol just wreak havoc on my bloodstream, but let’s be honest, it tastes really good!  This wine had what I was after, and paired wonderfully with the pair pear. A nice hint of grassy lemon and citrus, cut through some of the sweetness and let me enjoy this particular wine.

All in all the evening was a great one! Lots of good times with good people. For a quick look into the evening check out my video, here!

Cheers!

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!