Pinot Pinot Pinot

So sorry wine friends - I know its been awhile!! Been a working machine and not really had much of a chance to write anything and have definitely strayed from my California intentions.  I'm giving up on California for now and need some ideas from my crowd as to what you want to hear about.  Happily I have not given up Pinot!!  We had a fun weekend in Oregon trying to find the perfect Turkey Day wine.  Happily we were successful in Oregon!!  Raining sideways - and blowing our tiny little Honda Fit around - Curt and I ventured south to Salem to begin our adventure!

Up first was a wine dinner at Van Duzer - yum!  First up their tastolicious Pinot Gris followed by their Rose - both perfectly paired with Gougeres and Salmon Cakes.  If you are looking for a very approachable and just light really spring/summery wine - both the Gris and Rose are perfect choices.  Nothing overwhelming just a really great easy drinking pair of wines from this very consistent winemaker.  After we left the tasting room we meandered into the back into this spectacularly decorated barrel tasting room - candles everywhere and a decanted glass of their Westside Slope (07) Pinot waited for us to taste.  The smell of the new french oak just added to the ambiance - LOVE IT! First pairing for the '07 was a fig/butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sauce - so delicious.  I spent the next half and hour trying to permanently imprint the taste and texture of the ravioli in my mind so I could recreate at a later date.  The winemaker spent a bit of time talking about their sustainable growing techniques (yeah) and then got down to the nitty gritty of the clones that they grow in each of their vineyards...thus creating what I'm now terming the Pommard monster - aka Jen B.  From that moment forward Curt and I tasted every Pinot and wondered if we could pull out not only varietal, terroir (hard!!!) but also clone!  Ridiculous I know but seriously so amazing how different they taste.  Pommard was so fruity and Dijon clearly had this earthy herbalness that we both loved.  Blend them together and you have even more heaven in a glass!

Up next - Homestead block - '04 - Pommard - aged and delicious.  Paired with a "panzanella" - not sure if it qualifies as panzanella sans the cheese - but it was interesting and the cured meat paired beautifully with the earthy with a hint of fruity goodness Pinot Noir!  Our final Pinot pour was their '05 Flagpole block - want to say '05.  Also delicious - much more earthy - Wädenswil vine Pinot Noir - worked well with the flank steak and beets (will have to take Curt's word for the beets - YUCK!).  We tried their bubbly and port as well - Port was fantastic - bubbly just wasn't my preference - had a really interesting mouth feel that I was just not into.  Very yeasty though so those that like that kind of bubbly - give it a whirl - definitely a very rich taste.

CB and I loved it - the staff and our dining companions kept us laughing and taught us a ton about how to grow Pinot - and how that influences the taste of the wine.  If you have never done a vertical profile of the same kind of wine - DO IT - totally helps to develop your palate so you can start to pull out some of the tastes/aromas that you see in the wine tasting notes.  AND if you have ever been really intimidated by the wine dinners - check out one in Oregon.  We found that most people were like us - foodies that just enjoy a tasty glass of wine.  Met a lot of great unpretentious wine friends that just wanted to drink good wine!  Not to mention that Oregon wine country can be really spectacularly beautiful (and only an hour or so from the coast!). AND - they sent us home with Pinot Gris vines (our cats now each have a grape vine in their namesake)! 

Next day - we joined another wine club - sigh - can't help myself!  We ventured off to Willakenzie - deep in the sticks outside of Portland.  I'd always kind of dismissed this winery - they had good Pinot Gris - but I kind of envisioned this large production generic Pinot.  To my surprise - aside from somewhat less involved tasting room staff - the wine they poured were beautiful, elegant, and seriously delicious.  I was ready to pop a straw in the Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris - yummy!  Super crisp, not watery (like some can be), interesting nose - totally made me miss summertime!  HIGHLY recommend both those bottles to anyone who like a reasonably priced approachable white wine - find it at Trader Joe's!  Next they poured us some of their estate Pinot Noir and were stunned.  Really amazing - every glass from a different part of the property and every glass incredibly unique.  Their Atlier is on special this month and was seriously amazing - we left with six bottles - Pommard (of course) vines and just a really beautiful bottle that is also straw worthy. : )  When we realized we couldn't decide what to purchase we knew we needed to join the wine club - any excuse to come back again to this really stunning vineyard/winery.  The building itself was just a little barnesque tasting room - but the surrounding landscape was really spectacular.  Lots of old crazy looking trees, crazy snags, pocket wetlands on the drive upand and the winery itself was just really tucked back into the hillside.  Love it! 

If you haven't been to Oregon and are a wine fan - but want to avoid the pretentiousness of snooty wine people - check out OREGON!  We've visited several times now - on our way to camping, shopping, etc and are never disappointed.  Here are a few ideas for places to visit:

- Argyle (LOTs of bubbles)

- VanDuzer

- Willakenzie

- Lange

- Witness Tree

- Sokol Blosser

- Coelho (if you need a break from Pinot)

- Torii Mor

-Tyee (really nice people - basics)

If you are up for higher end - Archery Summit and Cristom are delicious - though it is not as laid back as the other wineries we visited. Signing off for now - time to enjoy the weekend and finishing up our garden reorganization project. 

Cheers!

Summers in Seattle

Had a fantastic weekend - Seattle is absolutely amazing in the fall.  Crisp, beautiful, and just so clear you can see every mountain peak from downtown.  LOVE IT!  It is also harvest/crush time in the PNW - so we decided to head out to Woodinville this weekend to see how things are coming at a few of our favorite spots.  There is always a distinct odor in the Wine Ghetto storage units - and a lot of guys running around in rubber boots eagerly awaiting the grape delivery from Red Mountain or other vineyards over east of the Cascades.  In particular we stopped in at Darby Winery, Patterson, and of course ANC.  ANC just has a tasting room in Woodinville but the staff are fantastic and happily were pouring hte Block 17 Syrah.  Delicious and perfect red for fall.  Darby has a couple newbies one of which we tested out - btw this guy makes the MOST amazing white - Le Deuce - just creamy, spicy like fall, and just worth every penny.  Ok back to reds - new wine from Darby - '07 Swagger - big guns, this guy definitely needs a bit more time in the bottle but has a nose that is full of promise.  We also tried the Aunt Lee Syrah which was fantastic.  Only open on weekends - if you are in Washington make sure to stop by this winery. 

We ended up getting back into California this weekend - finally - and found a couple really amazing bottles that were just out of this world.  Paired beautifully with dinner (beef stout pot pie, fresh garden salad, and tarte tatin) and really made our weekend.  Here is what we found:

Demetria 2006 Estate Grown Viognier - Santa Ynez Valley
Beautiful, creamy, apricot nose - wish I had a case of this wine - my favorite wine maker Michael Roth!! When the bottle was empty we tried to scrape the last few drops out - worked really well with the green salad we put together (roasted garlic feta vinaigrette yum!!) and the crab stuffed mushrooms our pals brought over.
Larkmead 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon - Napa Valley
Big, bold, decanted for just about 2 hours and it was still huge.  Thank you Jamie for bringing this gem over it was fantastic!! Paired perfectly with the beef stout pot pie - toned down the beef a bit and this was definitely lick the glass delicious.
Zaca Mesa 2004 Estate Grown Syrah - Santa Ynez Valley
Still huge!  Very spicy and lots of that big tobacco that my hubby and I always notice with the hot climate Syrahs from California.  Had it after dinner and probably would have been better with food - just a lot of tannins still hanging out.  Regardless we loved it and wish we had another bottle!!

Thanks for reading all - signing off for now - that brings us up to 5ish bottles from California 25 to go.  We are going camping this weekend up in the North Cascades so if you have any suggestions as to what we should bring with us in the freezing north send them our way!!!

California or Bust?

Don't laugh I promise we tried - but we just kept finding ourselves opening more Washington or Spanish wine these days. :) Regardless we will drink 30 bottles from California. In the interim - humor me as I share my other finds - mostly from Washington. We tried our hand this weekend at making cheese - mozzarella - best beginner cheese and it was so beautiful! Perfect for pizza night. To celebrate our cheese success we tried a couple yummy bottles from different regions of Washington - and of course started the evening off with a bit of the bubbly. Here are our finds:

Malibran Valdobbiadene Prosecco - Try saying that ten times in a row! Perfectly light and crisp - just perfect with fruit like Asian pears and a hunk of aged Gouda. Stopped by Vervc Wine Bar (great wine bar BTW if you are in the mood to check out our favorite spot in the CC) in Columbia City on my way home because my normal wine source was completely Prosecco free on Saturday. The owner poured me a taste of this gem and I was sold upon the first sip.

Alexandria Nicole Cellars Crawford Hills Viognier - Repeat of the Estate bottle - just one of my favorite Washington whites for sure. Better when it isn't super cold - gets a little too fruit forward for me and can have a little of that banana thing happening which I enjoy but I know others are just not into. Maybe not the best pair with what we were eating - but one of my favorites from Washington so had to share with our pals that came over. Besides viognier seems appropriate for cheese making. Right?

We also tried a Beaujolais Nouveau that our fellow cheese makers brought - Pinot Noir - from Chelan area - it was seriously a glass full of fruit punch - I really enjoyed it ice cold. Nice light wine that would be good with salmon or a heavier fish. We recycled the bottle so I can't find the name - but I will find out for those that are curious.

Since it was the longest Monday ever in recorded history!! Curt and I also celebrated the end of the day with a little Washington wine - if an excuse is needed for Monday wine night - we needed a little white wine to help with dinner - seared sea scallops and a lemon herb risotto (if you are curious about the recipe we made something similar to this omitting the last addition of butter and adding in a tablespoon of chives, 1/8 cup each of sauteed zucchini, roasted tomatoes, and wild mushrooms). Turned out pretty well - though I think we might have rushed the last cup or so of broth so the texture of the risotto wasn't quite perfect. Regardless the wine was fantastic! Cats escaped with a scallop - really I'm convinced those two will eat anything as long as butter is involved. My husband claims our cats eat better than most people - he could be right - those sweet faces are hard to stay mad at for long.

Wine tonight - more Alexandria Nicole Cellars - Shepherd's Mark!! Creamy and beautiful white Rhone blend - has my favorites Marsanne, Roussane, Viognier. Just delicious for a nice fall day - slight twinge of oak but just absolutely delicious. If you can get your hands on it - I think this is one of those that is best when it is pretty cold and then just slightly warms in the glass.

Signing off for now - I promise I'll get back to California wine again this weekend.

Day 2 & 3: Fondue & Fish

Totally fell off the 30 days of California on Day 2 - went to a fondue party to celebrate MKB's bday and ended up having a night of Washington and Chilean wine. Two in particular paired beautifully with the three different cheese combinations so I thought I would share our finds for the night regardless. This crew takes their fondue seriously - we had a curried gouda, traditional gruyere, and a wisconsin trio that had chunks of blue cheese in it. YUM! So amazing with veggies and pumpernickel bread.

Onto the Washington Wine!

1. ANC 2008 Estate Viognier (Alexandria Nicole Cellars). Consistently delicious - honey notes with a nice light finish to it. We got a screaming deal on this one but it typically retails for $20 (we found it for half off by watching their sales). Just amazing with the salty cheese and fruit. Would have picked their '07 as our wedding wine if it wasn't sold out! Consistently good varietal for this vintner.

2. Brian Carter 2005 Byzance. What can I say - BC's blends always receives a minimum of 90 points from Robert Parker. Just consistently beautifully blended - big bold Southern Rhone varietal that if it were a little less expensive - I could happily drink every night. I prefer this wine with food - especially with strong flavored food like beef. We paired the '06 with Boeuf Bourguignon and it held up well. We were surprised that this paired well with the Wisconsin Trio.

Fantastic evening had by all - the birthday girl insisted on making her own birthday cake - Boston Cream Pie in cake format. Heavenly - none of us had any room for chocolate fondue afterwards. After an hour of forced crafts (MKB wanted to know why adults aren't forced to craft at their birthdays) and a bit more wine - we meandered home. Spent the rest of the weekend wine free and running around trying to get ready for the week.

Monday Night!!

Long day at work and long week ahead of us - decided we should dig into a little unoaked chardonnay from Coquelicot - one of our favorites from our most recent Santa Barbara trip. Paired perfectly with grilled halibut - very citrusy and not at all reminiscent of the big and buttery chardonnay that most folks think of with any California Chardonnay. Very bright and served best extra cold. If you are in Los Olivos - this is a must see tasting room - charming staff and just making fantastic wine using sustainable farming techniques.

Well I best head off for the night...stay tuned for the next installment. I promise I will try to stick to California!! So many tasty varietals in my backyard its hard to stick to California! Oh and our muscat grapes are finally ripe!!

30 Days of California

So 30 days of rose turned into 30 bottles that spanned most of the summer and never quite got through 30 different bottles - kept kind of revisiting my faves (umm Bieler so sad my last bottle is gone). Adding to the list of favorite roses from the summer - the Kestrel $15 just run of the mill rose - very fruit forward - just beautiful for a nice warm night. We paired it with grilled salmon and veggies and it was perfect. Also had it with grilled veggies and tofu and it was equally as delicious. Just light and totally makes me think of summer.

Another rose we tried recently - Yakima/Prosser area winery that might be my most fave from Washington. Their rose is heavenly - Cab Franc - yum! Just fantastically delicious and pretty reasonable if you can find it. Their red Cab Franc is also delicious. For even more fantastic Chinook wine - head to Lola in Seattle for happy hour or dinner -their house wine is all Chinook all the time and is amazing.

SO since I didn't quite get through my 30 days of rose - restarted my efforts with 30 days of California. Tonight's winners:

1. Melville Verna's Vineyard - 2008 - Estate Viognier - My favorite memory of tasting this in California was the woman telling us how she would happily bathe in this wine. I remember tasting it and thinking that yep - I couldn't agree more and tonight having opened the bottle. Other than Demetria - this is Curt and my hands down favorite Santa Barbara winery. Never tasted anything that wasn't amazing from this winery.

2. Carhartt Syrah - Random tasting room in a shack on the corner in Los Olivos. Love the winemaker - he was charming and clearly very passionate about his craft. One woman asked if he had white zin - rather than being a snob about it - he totally charmed her pants off - and the woman who would never drink red left with two bottles of his red zin!! s The syrah starts off peppery and really tight - after about an hour the glass smells and tastes beautifully jammy and smokey. Love it.

Onto more California tomorrow - possibly Quintessa Illumination. Just not sure how well that pairs with Fondue night. Fall is coming so red is calling...

What to do on a rainy Labor Day

Day 3 of rain is ahead of us - and oddly even though I grew up in Seattle kind of struggling to figure out what to do today. Bumpershoot weekend - but the weather is gross and it is just ridiculously expensive now. Avoiding the gobs of tourists by staying on the South-Side today. I'm just not quite ready for fall and it totally feels like fall out. Curt and I are feeling crafty today so I think we are going to see if we can make a magnetic spice rack today. Debating magnetic knife strip or piece of stainless steel. Just tired of tons of bags from the bulk spice section loose in the cupboard. How many times can I accidentally dump a bag of peppercorns before I learn my lesson!

My apologies for falling off on my 30-days of rose blog. Will be better at keeping this up this fall - especially now that football season started - Buckeye Nation re-emerged in my house. Went to see the Gypsy Kings on Saturday (show wasn't as good as last year) in Woodinville Wine Country and found a new winery on our way to the show that I'm in love with - Dusted Valley. No rose - boo - but lot of really interesting Syrah. Mostly sourced their grapes from Walla Walla - so big fruit and a lot of deep character. Originally from Wisconnie - like many great people I adore - these folks age some of their wine in Wisconnie oak...yum. Stained Tooth Syrah and Grenache were just fantastic. Check them out at http://www.dustedvalleyvintners.com/.

Kicking off 30 days of rose

Fresh off the Santa Barbara wine country boat I'm ready to kick off an annual tradition of 30-days of rose. We've made it 15-16 days in the past so let's see how long this will last this year. We have an armload of Washington, Oregon, California, French, and Spanish roses (including bubbly) to try - and if anyone has suggestions send them away. Stay tuned as to what we open tonight - not sure if I'm feeling Oregon or French tonight. So so many options. Let's see if we get greater husband participation this year - poor guy swore off all things blushy after last year.

Blushy in Seattle signing off for now....