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!

Desert Wind – Sangiovese 2007

Oct 23 2009

Thinking that I had already become familiar with red wines, I was taken by surprise by Sangiovese 2007 from Desert Wind Winery.  Sitting around the table having casual conversation with two friends of mine, we popped open the bottle.  This wine, dark in color, had a scent of cherries and oak.  As I swirled the wine in the glass, the scent of berries and oak became stronger.

Taking the first sip, with an expectation of a bitter taste, my eyes opened wide.  I was taken by surprise at how the flavors of this wine reacted with my tongue.  It did not have that intense bitter taste.  Observing my friends’ facial reactions, I could tell that they were also surprised by this wine.  The taste was that of a fruity flavor and extremely smooth on the palate.  Usually red wines have a much stronger and bitter flavor that leaves an after-taste.  Not saying that the after-taste is bad, this is merely a description of how this wine coats when swiveled in your mouth.

I read the label on the bottle and it mentioned light on tannins.  What are tannins?  My friends really didn’t know, so I looked it up.  Tannins are what cause the dry flavor or the pucker of your lips when you sip a red wine.  The wine tannins come from the skins of the grape, stems and seeds.  Tannins can also come from the barrels that are used to age the wine.  Sangiovese 2007 is very light on tannins, which makes it very easy to sip and enjoy.

We could not stop talking about how delicious this wine was.  I had never tasted anything like this before. This wine would be good with just about any type of food.  I still have a lot to learn but this was a great wine.  I would definitely recommend this wine to anyone who is interested in adding a bottle to their wine rack or cellar.  Two thumbs up Desert Wind!!

Goose Ridge G3 2006 – Red Wine

Sep 15 2009

On my way to Wine Wednesday at Zinful in downtown Kennewick, I’m sitting in the van thinking that I didn’t know one wine from another. I’m not an experienced wine drinker. I never understood why people drank wine if it tasted like “that.” I always thought that wine was meant to be drunk with food. I didn’t realize that it could be an alcoholic beverage that could be drunk alone such as a beer or a margarita and that the taste is savored and compared. I come from South Texas. The common bottle of wine I would find in people’s fridge was the gallon jug of Lambrusco or the classic boxed wine. This was rolling with the “high society.” This is what I knew of as “wine.” Yeah, I can hear your reactions to that. I’m learning. I’m learning.

We grabbed a table next to Claire and Shelly . Staring at the menu, trying to figure out what kind of wine to order, Craig mentioned that I wasn’t familiar with wines and didn’t know what to order. Claire asked me if I wanted to drink a red or a white wine this evening. I thought white would be a good choice, but quickly interceded that I would prefer to drink red tonight.

With excitement, Claire suggested that we should try the Goose Ridge G3 2006. I’ve always thought that any red wine I tasted was bitter. The white wines were less bitter and had a different flavor. So okay, let’s try it out. We ordered a bottle of the G3.

The bottle arrived and my glass was poured. The initial smell of the wine came on strong. The smell of cherry and vanilla were distinctive to my nostrils. The color was a deep red and when I took the first sip, I was surprised of its rich flavor. Yes, it did have a slight “bitter” taste as a non-wine drinker would think, but it is smooth and explosive to the palate. It did not possess the heavy after-taste as other wines I have tried. This was very good.

The Goose Ridge G3 2006 is a blend of 49% Syrah, 35% Merlot and 16% Malbec. The blackberry and dark cherry flavors are blended with vanilla and toasty oak as a result of the aging process of about 20 months in oak barrels both French and American. This intensifies the flavor in your mouth.

After several glasses of this very flavorful wine, I decided that I would definitely add it to my stock list. Still being new to the wine tasting field, I have to say that this was definitely a good experience. Thanks for the recommendation Claire.