While
in the Yakima Valley, we wanted to catch up with Barbara Glover who heads up
Wine Yakima Valley. She had put together
an amazing tour for many of us in the Wine Media for the conference held in
Walla Walla in Oct 2018. The tour gave
us an in depth look at this region and was the reason we decided we needed to
return to learn more.
We had
a couple of morning interviews and Barbara was kind enough to squeeze us in
last minute. Now…where to meet? Barbara made a call and set us up to meet at
Stems in Yakima.
Stems is a wine & gift shop, so we had a backdrop of shelves of bottles of Yakima Valley wines for our interview with Barbara.
Brad
who runs this shop was generous in letting us use the space and we had great
conversations on the area. We found a
couple of bottles that we were not able to find elsewhere to take along with
us.
If you
are in Yakima, this is a great place to pick up a bottle and gain some valuable
information from Brad on the area! It’s
also a pretty great spot to pick up gifts for fellow wine lovers!
We headed out early. Not pre-dawn, but early enough to beat the heat in Death Valley. It was the top of a 12 day road trip that would take us almost 3800 miles, through so much stunning scenery that we almost became numb to the beauty. Almost.
This was the Flash Tour 2019, that we are dubbing “The Scenic Route”. We visited vineyards and winerys and met many really wonderful people. We look forward to telling you each of their stories. But for now, we will tell you ours. This is our adventure. A sometimes over-planned 12 day epic trip that was filled with exceptional places, some of which were far beyond our expectations. A few things were skipped along the way as we prioritized in the moment. So hop on for the adventure!
Day 1
Back to the top of the drive. Day One’s plan, out early to travel North to Lake Tahoe. We could have taken a quicker route, going through some expansive empty desert, but, with all the driving on this trip, we opted to take the scenic route.
Trip Map to Lake Tahoe
We headed North out of Vegas, passing the exit to Mount Charleston, up past Creech Air Force Base, past the High Desert State Prison and on to the Armagosa Valley. The morning light gave us a fresh morning feel, a start to the day and our adventure. My cannister of hot coffee was close by to help me slowly enter the day.
Death Valley
From the Armagosa Valley we took a turn south, as anti-productive as that seems for a trip north. This was onto Route 373 which would take us to Death Valley Junction. There we would pick up Route 190 taking us into California and Death Valley National Park. We soaked in the expansive arid beauty of the area and stopped for a quick break at the Furnace Creek Visitors center.
Furnace Creek is a small oasis of green in the midst of the Valley, with places to stay or camp. We continued North from here passing the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Panamint Spring and then stopped at the Father Crawley Vista Point. It was time to stretch our legs before getting onto Route 136 which took us to US Route 395.
This drive took us through the quaint towns of Lone Pine & Independence. Roads here were lined with banners and bunting for the previous day’s Fourth of July Celebrations. By this time our tummies were grumbling and we headed toward a rest area Michael discovered on a previous trip.
Division Creek Rest Area
Division Creek Rest Area sits on Division Creek and has views of Mt. Whitney, Black Mountain and Mt. Pinchot in Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. We pulled out the cooler to a picnic table and fended off the birds while enjoying the sounds of the creek and the view of the snow capped peaks.
In this beautiful setting there is a darker side. The rest area tells the story of this plentiful valley and the Piute Indians who lived here, who were bit by bit driven out as settlers took the area. You can explore the details of the story here.
Back on the road we drove north through Big Pine and into the Inyo National Forest. We passed Mono Lake and the back entrance to Yosemite and drove through the Stanislaus National Forest.
At last we turned on the tiny Route 756 to head to Lake Tahoe. The drive up the mountain to get to the Lake which sits at 6,237 feet above sea level reminded me of how far we had come. Earlier in Death Valley, the elevation was 286 feet BELOW sea level.
South Lake Tahoe
As we arrived on the Lake in South Lake Tahoe, it dawned on me that the day before was the 4th of July and while the Independence Day fireworks were done, the lake was still teaming with visitors for the holiday weekend. We headed to Zephyr Cove to set up to catch sunset views to find it packed. So we traveled further North and found a place to park at Logan Shoals Vista Point. After a bit of exploring, and a bit of getting lost and climbing, we settled on a spot just above the lake where we could camp out and watch sunset.
By the time the sun had set we were hungry! We headed back to our hotel for the night in Minden and then headed late night to the Carson Valley Inn & Casino, to Katie’s Country Kitchen for a good ole stick to your ribs dinner (or breakfast…I had the breakfast burrito). While waiting for our food, we checked our social media. We found another earthquake had shaken Las Vegas and LA just a few hours earlier. The shallow quake had friends from both cities reporting waves in their pools. We checked with the neighbors to be sure the house looked okay and the cat sitter to check in on Loki. We then finished our dinners and headed back to catch a bit of sleep.
Day 2
Lassen Volcano
Day Two had us up early and traveling North around Reno. We took Route 44 to the Lassen Volcanic National Forest, stopping to enjoy views of Lassen Peak, then traveling North on Route 89 to take in some spectacular views of Mt. Shasta.
Mt Shasta.
On to Oregon
We continued up through Ashland and Medford on Interstate 5. We veered off on Route 238 to Jacksonville, driving through the super quaint town as it teamed with visitors. Then it was out into the country, venturing into Southern Oregon Wine Country in the Rogue and Applegate Valleys. Our first stop would be at Wooldridge Creek Winery and Creamery.
Wooldridge Creek
I had spoken with Monica at Wooldridge Creek via email a bit before our trip. Sadly for us, a staff member was getting married this day, so most of the staff would be away. While there would be no one to give us a full tour of the property, they gave us permission to photo to our hearts content.
The property houses goats, chickens and a garden on top of the vineyard. This is a perfect spot to spend an afternoon. Just bring a cooler, because you will want to leave with some of their specialty products. They set us up with a tasting out on the crush pad with a cheese and charcuterie platter. Everything on the platter was made on site, most of it grown here also. It was a delightful sensory experience enjoying wines from the site with mustards, cheeses and pickles from the site. (You will need to watch for our future post for all the details).
After a visit to the barrel room and a bit of time in the vines, we picked up a few bottles of wine to take with us and headed on to our next stop.
Red Lily
Our stop at Red Lily was simply to taste. No one knew we were coming. We didn’t know how much time we might have left after our first stop and didn’t want to have to rush. We arrived at Red Lily, just before their last pours of the day. This winery focuses on Italian varieties. Our tasting was served in test tubes in a test tube rack that we could take with us to the patio.
After our tasting we strolled to the river or creek that runs along the property. Red adirondack chairs dot the shore, many right in the water with people cooling their feet with a glass of wine in hand. There was a bar with bottles and glasses, picnic tables, live music and a food truck up the hill by the winery. It was a lovely place to spend an afternoon. One tree was roped off as there was an otter nest that they did not want disturbed.
We soaked up a bit of ambience and headed back to Medford to our hotel for the evening.
Next up we visit Cowhorn Vineyard a biodynamic vineyard in the Applegate Valley. We then travel north to the Umpqua Valley and Girardet, where they planted French and French American hybrids in the early 70’s!
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It was early morning of our last day in the Willamette Valley and we drove North from (where we were staying) heading toward the Chehalem Mountains. The road into Portland was moving fast and we came up a hill, with the side of the roads deeply forested. There was our turn. We had to make it fast. And suddenly, from the whirl of fast trucks, we turned and turned again into the quiet of the forests on Chehalem mountain. This is timber country. Deep forests with early morning mist. It was a magical escape from the fast morning pace on the road behind us.
We were running early (it’s in our nature), so we had time to drive and explore the mountain. When you reach the top, you find clearings, fields with houses or sometimes, giant pink painted adirondack chairs, between bunches of Douglas fir. We followed the google maps and ended up on a gravel road at one point, but found our way back around to Beckham which actually sits on Parrett Mountain on the South west end of Chahalem Mountain. We knew we were in the right place before we could read the sign, because of the clay amphorae at the gate.
Discovering Beckham
I came upon Beckham in the usual way, at least for me. When researching where to go in a region, I head to the regions site, in this case the Willamette Valley Wine and one by one, I click through the links and check out the sites for each winery. The Beckham site stopped me as I saw their Amphorae Project video. I read on, and knew that these were people I wanted to meet.
Tasting with a view at Beckham
The patio by the Beckham tasting room
Vines at Beckham
Chehalem Mountains
We arrived and met Annedria Beckham who walked us to their tasting room, that sits just down from their home, next to the garden. We met Ruby Tuesday, their dog and Annedria set us up at the picnic table on the patio for a tasting.
She and Andrew bought this property in 2004 to build an art studio. Andrew is a high school art teacher and a ceramics artist. He teaches in Beaverton at the High School. They bought this little house in the woods to grow a garden and raise a family.
Directly across the street there was a little 2.5 acre vineyard. The owners were in their late 70’s early 80’s and had 20 year old pinot noir and chardonnay vines back in 2004. They farmed the fruit and had someone else make the wine for them and then on Saturdays they would sell their $11 pinot noir out of their garage.
… we were there quite often, fell in love with the idea of growing something on our property. Andrew went and helped Fred prune the vineyard that first year, came back with a truck load of Pinot Noir cuttings and said “Hey hun, how ‘bout we plant a couple rows right over here for fun.” I humored him thinking he will get over this crazy notion, we didn’t know anything about growing grapes. Next thing I know we are propagating vines on the coffee table in the living room.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
As the tale goes, the vines then went to heat mats in the garage and then a timber company was called to see what the 60 year old Douglas Fir on the property was worth. They negotiated and had the company come and cut the timber, but they were left with the stumps, limbs and the mess. They cleaned that up themselves with a rented track hoe and a cat. There were some pretty big bonfires and they have been using the limbs for firewood ever since. Finally, after some grading, the first block was ready to be planted in May of 2005.
Beckham Estate Vineyard Panorama
They began with own rooted, dry farmed Pommard and Wadenswil. They added on and planted about 2.5 acres the first year and another 1.5 the next. This was a gradual slow process, bit by bit as their budget and time could allow. This is a labor of love, that grew out of a passion. They dove in headfirst into farming.
So once we put our little baby sticks in the ground we had to keep them alive. So when I mentioned dry farming, we hand water about 15 lengths of hose and a few beers and me after work every day, watering just to keep them alive that first year, and then after that they were on their own. Just a little in 2005 and spot watered some stressed areas in 2006 but since then they haven’t seen a hose.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
At this point they were focused on the farming, so they sold their first tiny batch of fruit to a winery in Dundee in 2007.
But we had those first few babies, we were really excited for and at that point you’ve hand rooted every vine, pounded every post, run every wire, hand hung every cluster and then at that point to give them away to someone else was nearly heartbreaking. But Andrew got to stay and help with crush deliver the fruit and help with processing and then went back every couple of days. He came home and said “I don’t know that I can continue to farm with this much energy and effort and then just hand it off to someone else. I think we should make wine.”
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
They did spend another year selling off fruit, while Andrew apprenticed for a few years with different wineries. In 2009 they kept the fruit to make their own wine. The first year it was 250 cases of one wine. In 2011 they opened the tasting room. At the time it had a roof, but no sides, only one light and no running water.
.. but people came and they got to taste one wine about 5 different times, because that was all I had. And they came back and they bought and they came back and they brought their friends.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
All this time Andrew was still teaching as well as working for a couple of different winemakers and they now had 3 children. Annedria began working for the Chehalem Mountain Wine Growers Association in 2008. Their executive director went on maternity leave and Annedria was asked to fill in, and the previous director never returned. She found this to be a wonderful way to immerse themselves in the community.
When we speak about Oregon wine country, you always find people speaking about the generosity of the community, with people happy to share their time, resources and knowledge.
To have David Adelsheim on speed dial? How lucky was I to be in that position. It was a wonderful way to learn how winemaking works and making business decisions….hey this first restaurant wants to have our wine, how do I price it? I have no idea? So asking those important questions and having the right people to be able to talk to while Andrew was working in the vineyard and the winery.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
At this point we tasted the first of the wines. It was the 2015 Estate Pinot Noir, which is a composite wine from the entire site. They make about 300 cases of this. It’s 30% whole cluster with native yeast fermentation.
Growing Organically
They farm organically here and have been farming organically since 2013. They are not certified. It’s expensive and time consuming to become certified, and they are looking into that now. They would need to hire someone just to deal with all the paperwork for this and they are a small operation.
Chickens in the vineyard at Beckham
A lot of folks are like “how do we know that you are doing everything organically unless you are certified?” I’m not doing something for someone else, we are small enough that I’m not putting it on my label, we still sell the majority of our wine direct to consumer. You can walk around and see that we farm things organically. I grow for my family. My kids are running around these vines, our chickens are running around these vines. That we are eating the eggs from, we have sheep around the vineyard the majority of the year. We do it for us.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
The sheep at Beckham Estate Vineyards
They’ve started some biodynamic practices, burying their first 500 cow horns in 2017 with their first sprayings of the solution in 2018.
Annedria poured us the Dow’s 2015 Pinot Noir, which is from Andrew’s favorite couple of barrels from each vintage.
Their first vintage was in 2009 and all they had was the Estate bottling. Of course it’s tough to do a tasting with just one wine, so she asked Andrew how they might make a second wine, and that is how the Dow’s came about.
2015 Dow’s Pinot Noir Beckham Estate Vineyards
Dow is a family middle name in the Beckham family with over 20 Beckham sons carrying the name. In 2011 they added their wine club and Annedria asked how they might get a 3rd release. They only had Pinot Noir, and rosés were just becoming popular again so Andrew made her the Olivia’s Rosé and Sophia’s Pinot Noir. Sophia’s is the first release, elegant and delicate, the Estate follows with more complexity and then the Dow with a little new oak and a darker fruit profile.
This was all of their estate wine until 2013 when they started the Amphorae Project.
We will continue our visit with Annedria and Andrew Beckham with a pod cast speaking with her about the addition of their riesling, their inspiration in the Jura and the Amphorae Project
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We gathered a bakers dozen of folks for a blind tasting of 3 white wines and 3 reds. There were aroma jars and tasting sheets and lots of glasses! After the reveal for each, we had small bites to pair with each of the wines. People discovered varieties and places they did not know they liked. Here’s the run down on the wines we tasted.
The White Wines
When choosing these wines, we didn’t want to pick wines everyone was already familiar with and we also wanted them to be from a range of places around the globe. Without realizing it at first, we had chosen three wines, with somewhat similar profiles, which made the guessing a bit harder. Here are our 3 white wines.
White Wine #1 Carhartt 2018 Sauvignon Blanc
Carhartt 2018 Savignon Blanc
This wine is from California, Santa Barbara Country and more specifically from the Santa Ynez Valley. It hails from 2 vineyards, the Carhartt Vineyard in Santa Ynez (60%), and Grassini Vineyard located in Happy Canyon (40%). Carhartt is great about the deets on their labels: 100% Savignon Blanc, Clone 1 on 101-14 rootstock, vertical trellis system, sustainably farmed, fermentation in both oak and stainless steel, cooperage :6 months in neutral oak and stainless steel 50% each.
Aromas, flavors and pairings
We set out scent jars for this wine that included pear, green apple, lemon zest and honeydew melon. We paired this with herbed goat cheese on crostini.
This is a great summer sipper sitting at 12.5% alcohol, it will drink fresh through 2022 and can age beyond that. They made 900 cases of this wine and it will set you back $25.00.
About Carhartt
And yes….this is the same Carhartt that you see on work wear. They family had a ranch in the Santa Ynez valley that Mike and his family decided to grow wine grapes on. They still have some livestock and they work the ranch and vineyard. Here is a link to a video that will give you a feel for Carhartt.
You can find their tasting room in Los Olivos at 2939 Grand Ave If you have visited before, know that they are no longer in the tiniest tasting room at the north end of Grand Ave. You can find them in the new larger spot across the street about a block south.
2939 Grand Avenue Los Olivos, CA 93441 Ph #: 805.693.5100 Open daily 11am-6pm No reservations. First-come, first-serve. Closed only on Christmas Day
White Wine #2 Spier 2017 Vintage Selection Chenin Blanc
Spier 2017 Vintage Selection Chenin Blanc
Chenin Blanc hails form the Loire Valley in France. While it is grown in France and elsewhere, this is a variety that has become most notable in South Africa, where locally they refer to it as “Steen”.
Spier Wine Farm
This wine is from South Africa from Spier Wine Farm which dates back to 1692. The fruit comes from the Western Cape in the Breede River and Coastal regions. For a video about this winery…
More details: alluvial, well-drained and aerated soils with decomposed granite from the mountain foothills. Grapes are both trellised and bush vines (head pruned). They hand harvest, destem and slightly crush before pressing. There is a bit of skin contact then they let the free run juic settle in tanks overnight. In the morning they rack from the lees and innoculate with yeast strains (so this is not a native yeast wine). They let the wine mature on the fine lees for 3 months to add body. We could see the results of this in the richer fuller mouthfeel of this wine.
Aromas, flavors and pairings
Fragrance jars for this wine included pear, peach, vanilla beans and a mango/guava/passion fruit jam, as there were notes of tropical fruit and green guava in the wine. We paired this with two different bites, a cracker with brie and a dab of the mango/guava/passion fruit wine as well as smoked trout on a baguette slice with either a russian pickle or a cucumber slice. (Here we were lucky that one of our guests had recently been fishing and caught a trout and another had taken that trout and smoked it! Thank you for this great bite to pair with this wine!)
You can look for this wine locally as it is widely distributed. It sits at a higher alcohol level than the Sav Blanc at 14.5% and you can find it for around $18.00.
Here is a video to give you a little more information on this South african Winery. https://www.spier.co.za/
White Wine #3 Martin Codax Albariño
Martin Codáx 2016 Albarino from Rias Baixas Spain
We headed to another country for our final white wine. This is an Albariño from Spain’s Rias Baixas region. Michael actually tasted this wine last year at a session at WBC18 on Rias Baixas.
Rias Baixas
The region of Rias Baixas, if you are unfamiliar, is on the coast of Spain above Portugal. The area is known as Galacia. Most grapes here are grown on pergolas, and the region is green and lush. This wine comes from Val do Salnés, which runs along the coast south of the Ria de Arousa. This area is known as the birthplace of the Albariño grape.
Bodegas Martin Códax was founded in 1986 and was named after the most known Galacian troubadour whose medieval poems, the oldest in the Galician-Portuguese language, have survived to the present. In the poems, the troubadour sings to love, the sea and the coastline.
http://www.martincodax.com/en/
The winemaker for Martin Códax is Katia Alvarez. That she is a woman is unsuprising in Spain’s Rias Baixas region, where roughtly half of the winemakers are female.
Aromas, flavors and pairings
The scent jars for this wine were simply, pear, green apple and the mango/guava/passion fruit jam (this time for the passion fruit). We paired this with a slice of Guyere and a slice of pear. It sits at 13% abv and runs about $16. Widely distributed, this is a fairly easy to find wine.
Find out more about this beautiful wine region by visiting the Rias Baixas site.
The Red Wines
When looking to red wines, we again wanted to go a bit out of the box, but not too far. Here though, the wines that we chose had flavor profiles that varied quite a bit so it was easier to differentiate the wines. All of these wines were international varieties that have ventured out from their homeland.
Red Wine #1 Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese
Carhartt 2016 Estate Sangiovese
We spoke earlier about Carhartt. We have been fans of Carhartt for awhile and on two separate occasions were able to visit the ranch. Once for a wine dinner (which was a blast) and once to take a tour with Joe, who at the time ran their wine club. We walked the Hilltop vineyard and he pointed out the Sangiovese on the 11 Oaks vineyard across the way.
Sangiovese? Think Chianti
This is a Sangiovese, the famous Italian variety that you might think of as Chianti. You remember the wine in those straw wrapped bottles?
The Geeky bits: 100% Sangiovese from 11 Oaks Vineyard in Santa Barbara’s Santa Ynez Valley. Fontodi & isole e olena clones that are own rooted, sustainably farmed, fermented in small lots with a cold soak, 18 months in barrel 25% of which is new. Unfined and unfiltered (see Zeina, that was the floaty stuff!)
Aromas, flavors and pairings
Jars for this included: wet stone, wild raspberry jam (couldn’t find wild raspberries), black tea, cedar plank, clove and strawberry. We paired this with an Asigo cheese topped with a bit of prosciutto and a touch of raspberry jam.
Asiago Proscuitto and raspberry jam appetizer
They made just 565 cases of this wine, it sits at 13.6% abv and is a crowd pleaser. It is medium to light bodied, so lots of folks guessed it was a Pinot Noir. It will drink well through 2029 and was the most expensive wine we poured at $40 per bottle.
Red wine #2 Gascon Malbec Reserve 2015
Gascón 2015 Reserva Malbec from Argentina
This grape is a little more well traveled. Malbec is originally from Cahors in France where it is known as “the black wine of Cahors”. Long ago it travelled to Argentina where it found it’s voice. In Cahors he dressed in black, in Argentina he wears purple and red!
Don Miguel Gascón Wines
This particular wine is from Mendoza where more than 70% of the country’s vines can be found and most of which are high altitude at 2,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level. Argentina currently has just 2 DOCs: Luján de Cuyo and San Rafael. This wine hails from Luján de Cuyo, and more specifically from the Agrelo and Uco Valley regions. It is labeled “Reserva” which indicates it must have been aged at least 6 months.
The grapes for our Don Miguel Gascón Reserva Malbec were harvested by hand in the early morning hours in mid to late April from the high elevation vineyards of Altamira, Agrelo and Tupungato, then crushed and cold soaked for 72 to 96 hours. The juice maintained contact with the skins for up to three weeks through the end of fermentation, which occurred in upright conical tanks at 85°F for six days. Malolactic fermentation was completed prior to racking and aging. Sixty-five percent of the wine was aged for 15 months in a combination of medium toast French and American oak barriques.
This wine is 97% Malbec with just a touch (3%) of Petit Verdot. It sits at 14.8% abv and runs a little over $20 a bottle.
Aromas, flavors and pairings
Scent jars here included blackberries, plum and spice. We did two bites here a cracker with blue cheese and cherry jam, as well as a slice of smoked gouda.
Red wine #3 Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon
Larner 2014 Syrah Ballard Canyon
If you have visited our site before, you know we are big fans of Michael Larner of Larner Vineyard & Winery. He helped to put Ballard Canyon and their Syrah on the map. He was instrumental in founding the Ballard Canyon AVA in Santa Barbara County.
Michael’s background is in geology and he is an invaluable resource for discussing the soils of the entire Santa Barbara Region. He is passionate about the region and it’s wines, most especially the Syrah from this little corner of the universe.
This wine is all Estate grown fruit that is aged 22 months in 33% new French oak and 8% new American oak (the rest is neutral oak).
Michael Larner speaking on Syrah.
Larner Vineyard Syrah
Larner Fête 2016, Larner Vineyard
Larner Vineyard Sunset
Aromas, flavors and pairings
This wine was the biggest we served at 14.9%. With a complex nose, we set out scent jars of blackberry, plum, cherry, pepper corns, leather and earth. We paired this with our favorite bite with syrah, bacon wrapped dates.
Visit Larner
If you want a bottle of this wine, or to taste his other wines, head to Santa Barbara and Los Olivos. You can find the tasting room at the corner of Grand Avenue and Alamo Pintado Ave next to the Los Olivos General Store. Grab a tasting and a sandwich from next door and sit at a table in front in the shade, behind the historic gas pump.
The patio in front of the Los Olivos General Store and the Larner Wine Tasting room
The Larner Tasting Room in Los Olivos
2900 Grand Avenue Los Olivos, CA 93441 Email: [email protected] T: (805) 688-8148
Open Daily 11-5
It was a fun evening and hopefully everyone discovered a new wine that they enjoyed! We got up today to 85 dirty glasses! I have a new appreciation for tasting room staff who deal with this, and then some, daily! Was it worth it? Damn straight! We got to explore the world with wine while sitting in the living room with friends. What could be better?
A sampling of the 85 dirty wine glasses after last nights tasting.
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We finished our breakfast and morning flyover seminar, courtesy of Wine Yakima Valley. With caffeine ingested and a little more information to give us a some perspective on the Yakima Valley, we headed to Elephant Mountain Vineyard.
Rattlesnake
Hills AVA
This is a super nested AVA, inside the Yakima Valley AVA which is itself nested within the Columbia Valley AVA. (It is the darker region north of 82 to the West side of the map).
Map Yakima Valley 2019 courtesy of WineYakimaValley.org
Located on the North Western side of the Yakima Valley AVA the Rattlesnake Hills AVA was established in 2006 with vineyards dating back to 1968. It’s about four miles south east of the city of Yakima, where we were staying. The AVA spans over 74,000 acres with around 1,800 under vine.
Rattlesnake Hills take in the hills running east to west, that are north of the Yakima River. Elevations for here are high, starting at 850 feet and going to over 3,000 feet, with most vineyards planted in the lower elevations.
It was
October and harvest as we drove into Elephant Mountain Vineyard. We passed bins filled with fruit harvested
that morning and had to stop and take grape glamour shots.
We
climbed up the mountain through the vineyards surrounded by high desert
landscape. I will admit to it feeling a
little odd. We are from Vegas and to see
a vineyard in the midst of this landscape was a little disconcerting. We climbed the hill to the picnic area on
top, where picnic tables were set out with bottles of wine and plates of wine
grapes.
Elephant Mountain Vineyard, in Yakima Valley’s Rattlesnack Hills AVA
The Vineyard itself is located on the southern slopes of Rattlesnake Ridge which sits at the base of Elephant Mountain. The ridge sits above the Missoula Flood plain. Elevations here sit from 1320-1460 feet.The high elevation here means that they have about 30 more frost free days than the rest of the Yakima Valley.
Varieties Grown at Elephant Mountain
First
planted in 1998 with Merlot and Cabernet, the vineyard has expanded to almost 120
acres which now includes Cab Franc, Mourvédre, Grenache, Petit Verdot, Petite
Sirah, Syrah, Sangiovese, Cinsault, Counoise, Barbera and Viognier, Marsanne
& Roussanne.
I mentioned the grapes on the table. It was a gorgeous line-up for tasting the ripe grapes of Cinsault, Counoise, Mouvédre, Grenache, Syrah, Marsanne & Roussanne.
Cinsault grapes
Roussanne grapes
Marsanne & Counoise
Co got started giving us a little background on the area and then, Joe Hattrup, the owner of the vineyard met us to speak about the vineyard.
Joe Hattrup speaking to us about his Elephant Mountain Vineyard
Joe has been a farmer all of his life, but when they started this vineyard, he was new to wine grapes. So they set up a test block to see what worked and learn about the grapes before planting them in the commercial blocks.
Elephant Mountain Vineyard map
They began as I said with Cab & Merlot and quickly got into Syrah. From there they found tat this site with it’s high elevation was good for many of the Rhône varieties. Most Rhônes are late ripening and the elevation here gives them those 30 additional days frost free, as well a great southern exposure late in the year to help with ripening.
They do have a second vineyard, Sugarloaf, also in the Rattlesnake Hills. He mentioned that they had pulled out the Viognier here at Elephant Mountain to plant Grenache which is in high demand and grows better with the protection this site provides.
A little on the Geography
We mentioned the elevation here, but Co put this into perspective with a few stats. At this point in the Yakima Valley, the river sits at 900 feet, and we were standing at about 1450 feet. When you head east to Red Mountain, the river there sits at around 400 feet. So you can see the valley is much lower there.
Desert, Vineyard and basalt at Elephant Mountain.
Basalt at Elephant Mountain Vineyard
We were standing in a ring of basalt lava rocks which informs the soils. Up on the ridge behind us, if you look closely, you can see a tree line. A band of trees sites at about 1600 feet, right at the line for moisture, fog and snow.
The views
Spectacular panorama of the Yakima Valley from Elephant Mountain Vineyard
View of Mount Adams from Elephant Mountain Vineyard
Looking South from Elephant Mountain Vineyard across the Yakima Valley
Vineyard View Elephant Mountain.
The wines
The lineup
of wines on the table, all from wineries who source from this vineyard, was
diverse and impressive! The grapes are
concentrated and the wines from these grapes tend to be really inky.
We tasted a wide sampling of Rhône varieties and blends from an assortment of wineries, all with fruit from this vineyard. It was really interesting to see the reflection of the fruit with it’s similarities and then the expression of the various winemakers on top of this.
Wines made with Elephant Mountain fruit
We were treated to a great lunch following this tasting. A food truck with Authentic Mexican food arrived to fill our bellies. I felt even more at home, with food truck the desert sage brush. Once full, we climbed back into our vans and headed to Walla Walla for the start of the Wine Bloggers Conference. But along the way, we took in some spectacular views and our driver filled us in on the history of the area, ancient as well as recent.
I’ll do yet another shout out to Barbara Glover at Wine Yakima Valley. This visit that she planned for us was entertaining, informative and beautifully paced. Thanks also to Co Dinn and Joe Hattrup for taking the time to give us these great insights into the Yakima Valley Wine Region. And of course to WBC18, without which we might not have visited this beautiful region.
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I’m not a literary critic, but I love to read. I also find myself knee-deep in wine study these days, but I had vacation. How can you study wine and enjoy a relaxing vacation at the same time? Well, find a beach (or a pool) and pick up a copy of Steven Laine’s novel Root Cause.
I was lucky enough to have someone with Book Publicity Services reach out to me to see if I would be interested in reading this book, and with my upcoming vacation, of course I said yes.
This book is the perfect vacation read, and was especially perfect for me as it allowed me a piece of fiction filled with wine facts, so I didn’t feel too guilty as I took a break from my studies.
A glass of wine and Steven Laine’s book Root Cause, on the balcony overlooking the pool.
Reading Steven Laine’s Root Cause by the beach.
You don’t need to be a wine expert to enjoy this book, but if you pour a glass and read this adventurous romp, you will come out knowing wine trivia to impress your friends.
The basics on the story
The story follows a flying winemaker around the world as she investigates and tracks the plant louse “Philomena”. “Philomena” is actually a strain of phylloxera which is no longer put off by American root stock. (The name comes about due to a typo in a printed article).
Philomena (or phylloxera)
If you are in the wine industry, or just a wine lover, that may be enough to put fear in your heart. If phylloxera is a new term to you, let me give you the quick lowdown. This louse was taken to Europe on American Vines and infected vineyards all over Europe in the 1800’s. Vineyards were ripped out or burned to stop the spread of this louse. 70% of the vines in France were destroyed.
There was a happy ending to this real life story. It was discovered that American root stock was impervious to the louse and vines the world over were grafted onto this root stock. So the wine industry did not disappear, and many French winemakers set forth about the globe at this time, influencing wine making practices (and making them better) around the globe.
None-the-less, you can see that the word “phylloxera” sets fear into the hearts of wine lovers. So this is an edge of your seat ride to see if the vineyards of the world and wine can be saved.
A beach read
I said this was beach reading right? It is. While it is full of great information on vineyards around the globe, fancy wine auctions and cellars in Champagne, it gives you that information in an entertaining way. The chapters are set up in bite size bits, perfect for taking a break between chapters to take a dip in the ocean or refresh your beverage.
It’s easy reading, sometimes a bit contrived and silly. A little like a Dan Brown novel with the Scooby Doo gang. Okay….perhaps not quite that, but…it’s built to be approachable like Zinfandel or Shiraz. (There is a Super Villain with an underground lair!). We ARE at the beach! We don’t want to have to work too hard! This is perfect. I absorbed some great wine knowledge and got insights into different aspects of the industry.
This book is a page turner! I read this over the course of 2 days at the beach. I assumed the outcome would be good, but chapter to chapter…it was a quick breathe to look at the ocean, a sip of a drink and back in to see what happened next.
This is a perfect introduction to get you addicted to the complex world of wine. Are you a wine lover with a bunch of friends who are just casual wine drinkers? This is the perfect way to get them hooked on wanting more wine details, and guarantee you some better wine conversations!
About Steven Laine
Here is a little about the author provided to me by Kelsey at Book Publicity Services. He has a ton of wine knowledge that he works beautifully into this novel. You can picture the vineyards, the wineries, the cellars…and by the end of the book, you will probably be googling these places to see and hear more about the history and stories. I’m inspired to learn more about the cellars and connected tunnels underneath Champagne.
The Author, Steven Laine. (photo courtesty Book Publicity Services)
Steven Laine was raised in Ontario, Canada and has dual Canadian and British citizenship. He has travelled the world working in luxury hotels for international brands including The Ritz, Hilton, Starwood, Marriott, and Jumeirah. When he was Beverage Manager of a five star hotel in London, he learned all about wine and has since visited over one hundred vineyards and wineries in Napa, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Lebanon, and South Africa. As the only North American ever invited to be a Member of the Champagne Academy, he had the privilege to tour the major Champagne Houses in France. His circle of friends is made up of winemakers, Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers, restaurant managers, and wine distributors from all over the globe.
Steven’s debut novel, Root Cause will be released on February 19, 2019, published by Turner Publishing.
Steven currently lives in Singapore and is now working on his next novel. To learn more, go to www.StevenLaine.com.
This 400 page wine thriller can be found through Turner Publishing. You can download or order the paperback version. I like holding a book, especially at the beach with the sun, but it is also available to download on your Kindle.
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While enjoying our afternoon, tasting the wines and getting set for Flavor Camp, I peeked around the side of the winery, where work continued. We were deep into harvest and cleanup was happening outside the winery, behind where the tables were set out for dinner and wine was being poured. I always lean toward the backstage (I am a Stage Manager after all), so I snuck around the side and found a couple fellow wine writers peeking as well. As luck would have it, David O’Reilly, owner of Owen Roe, had spied us, and offered to give us a tour inside the busy working winery.
Full Fermentation Bins!
The Winery
was full of bins filled with fruit that was fermenting. Pulling back the tarp, that was spring
clamped on as a lid, we looked in at the berries (grapes) that looked
remarkably like blueberries (as someone noted).
Whole berries in a fermentation bin at Owen Roe Winery in the Yakima Valley
David
informed us that this was a whole berry ferment. They don’t use a crusher to crush the
berries, the weight of the berries pressing down on each other does that work
for them.
The room was filled with these white bins full of berries fermenting. Someone asked if this was like a carbonic ferment. Well….carbonic fermentation (as David explained) is a whole berry fermentation like this, but….it is done in an enclosed system with CO2. They do this with the Cinsault that goes into their Sinister Hand Blend. He pointed out the room in the corner, their cold room. The carbonic masceration, does with the Cinsault, what is does with Beaujolais Nouveau, it give the wine a fresh fruit note.
So many Stories
You know I love a good story. While David O’Reilly told us the tales of the winery and the vineyard, I dug a little deeper to find the inspiration for the name of the Winery and beyond that, of the Sinister Hand wine that David mentioned to us and that I got to taste later.
Behind the Name Owen Roe:
Owen Roe O’Neill was a seventeenth century Irish Patriot, who dedicated his life to upholding the highest principles of political equality and freedom. His commitment to great things makes him an ideal model for us at Owen Roe, for we share his dedication to principle in our work to produce the wines of Owen Roe. At Owen Roe we do not compromise: only the best is good enough.
Courtesy Owen Roe Winery
I reached out to Taylor at Owen Roe and she told me that David O’Reilly had spent his first 14 years of life on a farm in Ireland. His family then moved to British Columbia and he fished and raised vegetables and grew up living off of the land.
The name on the Label
Owen Roe Winery, in Yakima Valley Washignton
A letter written in 1649 by O’Neill was found in David O’Reilly’s family castle, but because the letter was written in Spanish, O’Neill penned the signature with his Spanish name. David cut out the letters from the document to create Owen O’Neill’s signature. O’Reilly is related to O’Neill through marriage.
Courtesy of Taylor Boyle Wine Club Manager at Owen Roe
The story of the Sinister Hand
Sinister Hand Label from Owen Roe Winery (courtesey of Owen Roe WInery)
THE STORY BEHIND THE LABEL: Long ago, pre-dating the 11th century, the families that became modern day O’Neills and O’Reillys were feuding over the land that became their ancestral home. To settle the dispute, a competition was organized and several rowing teams agreed that the first to touch the land, after rowing across the lake, would become ruler of the land. O’Neill’s boat was falling behind so a member of the crew grabbed his own sword, cut off his hand and threw it ashore, and touching first, winning the title to rule the land. The island fortress on this land can still be visited on Lough Oughter in County Cavan.
From OwenRoe.com
Dipping into fermentation
Owen Roe Winery, Grapes in Fermentation Bins
David opened up a bin that was about half way through its ferment. You could feel the heat. The bin was sitting at about 32 ° C that would be about 85 ° F. David explained that with Interns in the winery from all over the world, they use celsius temperature and metrics here (easier than teaching another language!).
We looked in another bin and you could see some skin separation. The color was also leaching out of the skins into the juice adding those wonderful phenolics that make red wines so tasty and interesting.
When asked about regulating temperature, David said that they regulate the ambient temperature in the winery. We had arrived at the change of seasons, when the daylight temperatures tend to plummet. Often it is actually too cold for fermentation in the winery. They do have their cold room in case a fermentation gets running too hot. They typically keep their fermentations at around 80 ° here and let them do a nice slow 2 week fermentation.
Jackie Evans, Winemaker
Jackie Evans, Owen Roe Winery, Winemaker
We met Jackie Evans, the winemaker here at Owen Roe, as she was making her rounds adding nutrients to keep the fermentations on track. They had their lab where they check levels and add nutrients to be sure the fermentation does not get stressed. This avoids stuck fermentations. As David puts it “Band-aids are easier than mouth to mouth resuscitation.”
Later
in the evening the crew would be in for punch downs. I had planned on trying to get back in to see
that, but the wine, the food, the conversation, and that sunset…well, suffice
to say, I got distracted.
None the less, we did go on to do our Flavor Camp which included a vineyard tour with David. You will see that coming up next!
Visiting Owen Roe
Owen Roe has 2 tasting rooms, one in Washington at the Union Gap Vineyard that we visited, as well as another in Newberg Oregon (they make wines in the Willamette Valley also)
Owen Roe Winery, in Yakima Valley Washington
Washington Tasting room
Open Daily from 11-4 in the Yakima Valley, they do require reservations for more than 8 guests.
They also offer Barrel Room Tastings on the weekends started each day at noon. You can reserve this for a fee on their reservation page. It includes a tour, private tasting, an expanded flight and a cheese and charcuterie platter.
The Union Gap Vineyard and tasting room can be found at 309 Gangl Rd in Wapato WA 98951. 509-877-0454
Oregon Tasting Room
Again open daily from 11-4 their tasting room off Hwy 219 outside of Newberg requires reservations for more than 6 guests. You can bring snacks, or contact them ahead of time and they can have a snack plate ready.
Here they have a Cellar Table Experience that you can reserve to do a more private tasting geared toward your palate. Contact them ahead of time to set this up.
The Willamette Valley tasting room is located at 2761 E 9th St. Newberg OR 97132. 503-538-7778
More to come!
Watch for our vineyard tour with David O’Reilly, coming out soon!
And visit our Yakima Valley Wine page on our site for more details on this great region.
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It’s the season for bubbles and this past October I was able to do an amazing tasting and pairing event with sparkling wines from Gloria Ferrer at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla Washington.
I met Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life the evening before her Bubbles and Bites Seminar at WBC18. At the dinner at Doubleback Winery, we finished with the hors d’ouervres in the winery and headed back into the beautiful tasting room to find a seat for dinner and as luck would have it, I ended up sitting next to Sarah. We had great conversation throughout the evening (we both fell in love with the AMAZING lobster bisque) and at the end of the evening she mentioned that she was hosting Wine Discovery Session “Gloria Ferrer Bubbles and Bites” which I had signed up for.
The Amazing Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life (and no, that’s not her dog, just a friend she made who was happy to pose with her for this shot!)
Sarah has quite the history! She writes a column for Martha Stewart (you can check that out here) . She’s a Somm, a wine educator and is spectacular at putting on events. She loves to travel and loves bubbles! (my kinda girl!).
The Bubbles
Gloria Ferrer
The view of the Carneros Vineyards from Gloria Ferrer
Before we get started with the pairings, I should probably tell you a little about Gloria Ferrer. This winery is located in the southern part Sonoma County. We visited one early morning and enjoyed glorious views from the patio while doing a seated tasting. I love their sparkling wines. We loved them enough to join the club. When a morning is tough, I just close my eyes and picture myself sitting there on their patio with a glass of their sparkling in hand. It inevitably makes the day better. We wrote about our visit in Bubbles to Start the Day at Gloria Ferrer and give you a little background in Gloria Ferrer – a Little History
The wines of Gloria Ferrer, while always well received, particularly by the critics, have continued to improve over 30 growing seasons. The family legacy of uncompromising quality is passed down through generations. The Pinot Pedigree born of decades nurturing our Sonoma Carneros Estate vineyards. The patience-testing méthode champenoise process of aging and blending is paramount. It’s all coming together in the perfect blend of savor and celebrate. Find them on Facebook, Twitter at @GloriaFerrer, and Instagram.
Wines and pairings for the Bubbles and Bites seminar.
The Bubbles and Bites Session with Gloria Ferrer, was more than just showing you a pairing…this was meant to get your brain thinking about what makes a good pairing and why. Think of colors. There are complimentary colors and contrasting colors. Food and wine are the same way, you can match or contrast
Sarah laid down 4 pairing strategies
Acid needs Acid
Flavor Match
Contrast Pairing
Texture Match
Within these strategies, she paired a Gloria Ferrer Sparkling wine with a small bite. Let’s walk through these delicious pairings. While we do this, keep in mind the flavor profiles and how you can use these to create your own pairings.
Acid needs Acid
For this strategy Sarah chose the Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut. This wine is 86.5% Pinot Noir and 13.5% Chardonnay. It is aged in stainless steel and then aged en tirage for a year and a half and you can find it for about $22
The pairing Sarah chose for this wine was a Classic Bruschetta with grated parmesan and a balsamic glaze. The acid in the tomatoes and the vinegar call for a high acid wine, a low acid wine would end up tasting flat.
This pairing worked! Keep this in mind when pairing dishes with tomatoes, lemon or vinegar and reach for a wine with higher acid to keep the flavors bright in both the wine and the food.
Bruschetta in the foreground and Turkey pinwheel in the back
Flavor Match
The second pairing strategy is one that I often employ. Flavor Matching pulls from the wine and matches the food (or vice versa). I often use this when I picking up a wine I have not tasted. I can read the tasting notes on the shelf talker (or that I have looked up) and pull from that for my pairing. Syrah’s often have blackberry notes and I will pair them with a dish that has blackberries or a blackberry sauce. Spice notes on a wine, can inform the direction of your seasoning.
The wine for this pairing was the Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs. This wine is 91.6% Pinot Noir and 8.4% Chardonnay. (I know, they are so exact with their percentages!). This wine is hand harvested and whole cluster pressed. They blend 5-7% Vin Gris (cold-soaked Pinot Noir juice) into the base wine. This Vin Gris with it’s skin contact gives the wine it’s bit of color. It is again stainless steel aged and a year and a half en tirage.
Sarah paired this with a Turkey pinwheel with Cougar Gold, strawberry preserve, boursin & arugula. Okay…if you are asking, “What is Cougar Gold” you are not alone. When she announced this half the room murmured with smiles on their faces while the rest of us looked about bewildered. Okay here’s the deal.
Cougar Gold
Cougar Gold is a cheese. A canned cheese developed in the 1940s at Washington State University, funded by the US Government. The idea of a canned cheese that would last indefinitely was appealing at this time. It’s a white cheddar. You can find it online at the WSU siteor on Amazon, where a 30 oz can will set you back $64.99. You can watch a quirky fun video called The Making of Cougar Gold Cheese on Vimeo.
Okay, now that that is out of the way…so this pinwheel is turkey with Cougar Gold, which we now know is a white cheddar, plus boursin (a rich crumbly Gournay cheese made of cows milk), strawberry preserves and fresh arugula.
The strawberry notes in the wine match with the strawberry preserves enhancing both the wine and the food.
Contrast Pairing
We head now to pairing the Gloria Ferrer Brut Rosé. This wine is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. To get that lovely pink color they macerate half of the Pinot Noir on skin for 36-48 hours. This also developes the nose and flavor. This is aged en tirage for 2 years. This wine runs about $29.
The pairing is Ahi Poke with sunomono cucumbers, sriracha, seaweed salad & pickled ginger. The wine with it’s vibrant fruit sits in contrast to the heat and umami in the dish with the seaweed, sriracha and ginger. For other contrast pairings think, sweet and salty or sweet and tart. Think Thai food and Riesling or lambrusco and chinese food. (somehow I’m always drawn to Asian pairings here, but there are many more!)
Right to left, Ahi Poke with sunomono cucumbers, sriracha, seaweed salad & pickled ginger and Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Meyer lemon aioli
Texture Match
Wine, most especially sparkling wine, has a definite texture in your mouth. Sarah used this pairing to highlight this. The wine was the 2010 Anniversary Cuvée by Gloria Ferrer 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay this wine only uses the first press of juice. It ferments in stainless steel and spends 5 years en tirage. The growing season for this vintage was very cool. This lovely bottle runs $45.
Gloria Ferrer 2010 Anniversary Cuvée
The pairing here was elevated, as was the wine and was a bacon wrapped scallop with meyer lemon aioli. The creamy texture of the scallop and the creamy texture of the wine are gorgeous together in your mouth. Then you add the fat and salt of the bacon…yep…pretty heavenly.
The wrap up
Gloria Ferrer sparkling wines Sonoma Brut and Blanc de Noirs
These 4 strategies for pairing wines, work with sparkling as well as still wines and you can use them beyond that, with beers and spirits and even with creating a menu or a dish.
I encourage you to drink bubbles often. They are not all the same! And put them in a wine glass, not a flute, you will be able to enjoy the aromas in the wine even better.
Bubbles are joyful and these bubbles we discussed are affordable. Don’t just hoard your bubbles for an “Occassion”, life is short, make Thursday an Occassion!
Thanks to Gloria Ferrer for sponsoring this seminar and to Sarah Tracey for such an interesting seminar. And of course thanks to the Wine Bloggers Conference (newly rechristened the Wine Media Conference) for making this all possible!
A couple of quick disclaimers. I went to the Wine Bloggers Conference as a Citizen Blogger and this tasting was part of the conference. The conference is offered at an amazing rate for citizen bloggers to entice us to write about the different wineries and areas we visit. So…this great tasting and pairing, cost me next to nothing. BUT, I assure you that had it been crap, I would not have written about it. So there you have it. Second side note, I’ve written about Gloria Ferrer before and enjoy their wines on a regular basis as a paying wineclub member, so yeah, I like their wines.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Day 8 of our 12 Days of Wine found us doing a late night pairing. We met Leah Jørgensen of Leah Jørgensen Cellars this summer and had a wonderful conversation with her about her wines and so many other things. You can find all that info here.
Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc,
One of the unique wines that she makes is a Blanc de Cabernet Franc. She had run into one of these in the Loire Valley and decided to make one from Oregon.
Tasting notes: A most unusual white wine that first comes across as quirky, but then mellows into a truly distinctive beauty. Offers aromas of lemon, rosemary,beeswax and gradually gives way to deeper fruit aromas as it is exposed to air— ripe nectarine, blood orange and honey. There is even a note that recalls lilacs. Ultra-smooth texture and medium body, with some minerality on the finish. A wine with a lot of grace. Drink young. Recommended for: Summer sipping on the back patio. With food, I’d aim for roasted chicken or cedar-planked salmon.
Opening a bottle – What is Blanc de Cabernet Franc Like? May 11, 2016
While it wasn’t summer, we wanted to enjoy this bottle young.
I had to work, but when I returned at almost midnight, Michael had a feast set with a cedar-planked salmon in maple and spices, rosemary bread with goat cheese, and a fruit and cheese plate complete with two goat cheeses, one honeyed, the other herbed, gouda, grapes, prosciutto, blood orange slices and some of that lovely gooey haymarket goat cheese.
Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc, with Cedar planked Salmon
The wine
This wine is really fascinating. You put your nose in the glass and you get tart citrus and pith. It was blood orangey, but after tasting my blood oranges, it was a little more tart, drifting toward pink grapefruit. And then you get peppers, green, but not bell. It really is that a roasted pickled poblano pepper. On the back there was a bit of salinity, and there is that touch of tannins.
This is a wine that starts like a white and ends like a red with a lingering finish.
The pairings
Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc, with goat cheese and blood oranges
Maybe it’s just channeling the Loire Valley traditions, but I found that this wine went spectacularly with all the goat cheeses most especially the honeyed goat cheese. With the gouda? Not so much. With the salmon it was great, holding it’s own against the heavy spices on the salmon, the wood, with the maple helping to round and soften each bite.
As we move to the 2nd day of our “12 days of Wine” we head to Washington to pair a Washington Viognier with one of our favorite traditional holiday foods, Thai take out! Yep…Carry out at the holidays always takes me back to “A Christmas Story”.
on the 2nd Day…
Maryhill Winery 2017 Viognier Columbia Valley
We were lucky enough to visit Maryhill back during harvest and get a behind the scenes look at their winery, as well as take in the spectacular views. This beautiful Viognier was sent to us as a sample for review following our visit.
This wine is 100% Viognier, has a touch of residual sugar and was partially fermented on oak staves. Here is a bit from the winery on the vintage:
“2017 was a warmer than average year and the growing season began slowly. Bud break occurred a couple of weeks later than usual, especially when compared to the last few harvests. The late bud break was due to the substantial cold weather that occurred in Washington State during the winter of 2016. Temperatures then rose dramatically in late June through July. The extreme heat caused vines to shut down, which further delayed harvest. Some grapes that are customarily picked early were harvested significantly later than historical dates, although this varied throughout the state. The upsides to the lengthened harvest were longer hang times and agreeable flavor development in the red varietals that need more time to age on the vine. In white varietals, acids were held which resulted in improved balance. Wines from this vintage will age longer if red, and whites will have more pronounced zing.”
Cassie with Maryhill included a fun fact when she responded to me:
“Fun fact – Maryhill is the largest producer of Viognier in the northwest and best selling in the northwest, also the 2nd best-selling in the nation.”
The winery pulls from the Columbia Valley AVA and this wine is 35% Tudor Hills Vineyard, 26% Gunkel Vineyards (Estate), 23% Coyote Canyon Vineyard and 16% McKinley Springs Vineyard.
Viognier and Asian Takeout
Maryhill Viognier with Lemongrass & Lime Thai food.
In addition Cassie was kind enough to send some suggestions for food pairings:
“Suggested food pairings.. Spicy Asian food due to the natural sweetness in Viognier. Viognier also works in wine and food pairings with a wide variety of seafood and shellfish, roasted or grilled chicken, veal, pork, spicy flavors and Asian cuisine.”
As I said before, my brain went straight to Thai Takeout and there is a new place nearby I had been wanting to try. So…off we went to Lemongrass & Lime It was cloudy and rainy so soup seemed like a no brainer.
They had a pumpkin coconut milk soup on special so we picked that up, as well as some Tom Yum with Shrimp, Pad Thai with Shrimp, and Orange Peel Chicken. We went with spice level 3 (the waitress alerted me that 5 was pretty spicy and 10 well…)
The Viognier and the pairing
When you put your nose in the glass it is undeniably Viognier, with beeswax and honeysuckle. This had some warmth and spice from the oak staves. It is comfortable with a medium body and it went well with all the food.
I found I enjoyed it to balance the spice in the Tom Yum soup and the Pad Thai and that it really accentuated the flavor of the coconut milk in the soup.
Maryhill Winery Courtesy of Washington Wine Board
If you find yourself in Washington, Maryhill is worth looking up, they have spectacular views of the Columbia Gorge, a lovely tasting room and often live music on the weekends.
Goldendale Tasting Room
9774 Hwy 14 Goldendale, WA 98620 Open Daily 10am – 6pm Phone: +1 (509) 773-1976
It was overcast the morning we headed out to Montinore Estate. That’s not unexpected in Oregon. What was unexpected for me was how vivid the colors were under the cloudy sky. We headed out from Newberg, through a bit of a drizzle for our half our drive to Forest Grove. As we got closer, the drizzle dissipated and the vivid colors of the fields and trees woke me up, probably better than the coffee in my cup.
We were heading into what will soon be the Tualatin Hills AVA to meet Rudy Marchesi who has been the driving force behind this AVA.
We arrived early and wandered the grounds, cameras in hand, taking in the beauty and capturing it to share with you here.
Montinore Vineyards Entrance
Montinore Estate
The Estate is named Montinore as a combination of Montana and Oregon, so don’t try to give it an Italian twist as I did. It’s not Mont-i-noray, even though Rudy’s last name is Marchesi.
Montinore Vineyards driveway trees
Big leaf maples line the drive on the way in. You are greeted by the tasting room to your right and then the southern style mansion built in 1905 by John Forbis. I have heard that the home was actually a Sears kit house. This particular morning it was resplendent with purple hydrangeas in bloom.
John Forbis home at Montinore Estate
View from Montinore
Life under the Oaks at Montinore Estate
Vineyard shot at Montinore
Montinore Vineyards panorama
Looking down the rows at Montinore
Vines at Montinore Estate
Finally, I turned around and there was the view, vineyards, trees, and bright green field dotting the landscape. It’s easy to see how Rudy became enchanted with this place. We headed into the tasting room to meet Rudy.
Interview with Rudy Marchesi
A little about Rudy Marchesi
Rudy Marchesi had just stepped down as President of the Montinore, handing over the reins to his daughter Kristin. He was returning from his first vacation in years and was kind enough to spend his morning with us before heading off to lunch with the grand kids.
Rudy’s grandparents were from Northern Italy, where they grew their own food, as well as grapes to make their own wine. At that point in time, sustainable was just what you did. Rudy sold wine on the east coast, he also grew grapes and made his own wine. While working for a distribution house dealing with fine wine he came across Montinore. He began consulting with the vineyard in 1998, worked as their president of Operation and then President and became the proprietor in 2005. In 2008 the vineyard became Demeter Certified as Biodynamic. The family is committed to sustainable agriculture and living, just like Rudy’s grandparents. It is a legacy that Kristin continues.
The History of the Montinore
We spoke first about the history of the property. John Forbis came to this area from Montana where he was an attourney for a copper company. He and his family moved to Portland where he worked for the railroad. The property here in Forest Grove reminded him of his home in Montana, and so he named it Montinore.
After owning the property for a couple of generations, the Grahams, who were lumber people bought the property in the 1960’s.
As we talked about the land Rudy painted the picture of the vineyard, before it was a vineyard. It had been planted to hazelnuts for a time and been a cattle ranch. I had forgotten how close Mount St. Helens was. In 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted, the lower fields then were planted to vegetables and the eruption buried it in 4 inches of ash. Visualizing that will stick with me.
If you have not heard of this eruption or need a refresher to be able to visualize this, you can check out this
The Grahams had an Ag survey done by both UC Davis and USO and the results encouraged them to grow wine grapes. They planted 300 acres.
They planted the vineyards in 1982 and had their first vintage in 1987. In 1990 they had their first vintage from the winery.
The vineyard now is around 200 acres. They lost some to pheloxera. They have another 30 acres vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA and a longterm lease on a 20 acres vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains.
This is the recent history. The Mount St. Helens eruption from almost 40 years ago is modern history in this neck of the woods. This area and the reason it is looking to become an AVA is due to natural events from long before that.
We will be digging into all the loess and basalt and ancient redwood forests, that lie under Montinore Estate in our next post where we speak with Rudy about the proposed Tualatin Hills AVA and what sets it apart.
As we rode in the van, I tried to figure out which direction we were heading, watching the rolling brown hills outside of Walla Walla roll by. The anticipation was intoxicating. Then I stopped trying to figure it out, and I surrendered to the journey.
I’ve always liked surprise trips. I am a planner and this throws my plans to the wind. It’s freeing. Sometimes Michael will head out to the car, and I will just follow, climb in, let him drive and see where we end up. I relish these trips.
This time there were a few more people involved. Typically this is everyone’s favorite event at the Wine Bloggers Conference. When we picked up our badges for the conference we were given a colored ticket. Mine was a golden yellow. A golden ticket. We gathered in the side lobby of the Marcus Whitman, lining up behind signs whose color matched our ticket. One by one the groups headed out the door. One group I think was in antique cars.
We were one of the last groups. As we headed out we were told to load into either the limo or the two luxury vans. We popped in a van (I’ve been in my share of limos and with a bunch of people never actually found it comfortable, usually just awkward). The van had “Bottleshock” playing on the screen. Conversations bantered around the van and we headed off into the Walla Walla Hills.
The Doubleback Winery
At last we seemed to be arriving. The winery as you pull up looks like a big barn. Dark wood and the name Doubleback on the side. As we pulled in and disembarked, we were greeted by a food truck. “Andrae’s Kitchen” was cooking away. This was Andrae of the “gas station” that Thaddeus, of the Minority Wine Report, (Yeah, that’s a shout out to you Thad) had been raving about. You could tell this was all set to be a great evening.
Andrae’s Kitchen of the Gas Station fame in Walla Walla
The landscape here was stark and stunning. While we were a chatty bunch, it made me go quiet. The rolling hills with their severe browns and blacks, scorched and sepia tones, demanded a reverence. This evening the sky was washed in grey. The view is wide and it makes you feel very small. One should be silent with nothing but the sound of your own breath, with this view, at least for a moment.
The starkly beautiful hills of Walla Walla as viewed from Doubleback Winery
After taking in the hills, I turned to look again at the winery. The building is beautiful but understated. Clean lines and rustic wood blend to create a place that is elegant and welcoming.
Doubleback Winery the glassed off rooftop deck
Doubleback Winery.
Doubleback Winery rustic with modern elegant finishes
Large Garage doors open the space to the vineyard at Doubleback Winery
Inside large glass garage doors keep the space open to the view. We passed though the room set with tables, were handed a glass of wine and proceeded into the winery itself where we met our hosts. Josh McDaniels the Winemaker and General Manager for Doubleback and Jerry Solomon and Trey Busch of Sleight of Hand Cellars
The tank room at Doubleback
Doubleback Winery concrete eggs
Mr. Pink Rosé from Underground Wine Project
2017 Elizabeth Chardonnay from Bledsoe Family Winery
Grilled flatbread, babganouj, charred tasso, parsley and pickled fresno chili.
Trays of Grilled flatbread with babaganouj, charred tasso, parsley and picked fresh chili and Tuna tartare, sesame ailo, picked cucumber, wonton chip, with shaved endive paired with Underground Wine Project’s 2017 Mr. Pink Rose and Bledsoe Family Winery: 2017 Elizabeth Chardonnay.
I have to take a moment to tell you a bit about the Underground Wine Project. This is a collaboration between Trey Busch of Sleight of Hand Cellars and Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery. These guys have been friends for a while and collaborated to make a 100 cases of a wine called Idle Hands back in 2009. It became a cult favorite and caused the creation of the Underground Wine Project. They now make 4 wines, including the Mr. Pink rosé.
A table set for 8 with soooo many glasses! Wine would flow in abundance!
We headed back in to dinner and we were lucky enough to sit with Sleight of Hand Winemaker Trey Busch, as well as Thaddeus of Minority Wine Report, Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life, Miki & Tom Joe of The Vineyard Trail and Leeann Froese of The Vineyard Birder, and I’ll admit, I think we were the rowdy table. Regardless, we had fun and enjoyed the wines, and were close enough to the plating table to get the scoop (and some great photos) of Chef Andrae and his team putting together the exceptional dinner that we enjoyed.
Doubleback Dinner with Trey Busch winemaker at Sleight of Hand, Thaddeus Buggs of the Minority Wine Report and Leeann Froese of the Vineyard Birder
Are you ready to drool?
Doubleback Dinner Menu
1st course: Smoked pork belly rillette, banana bread pudding, shaved fennel, watercress and maple mustarda. Sounds a little weird? Weirdly and amazingly delicious. Go ahead, get a napkin, and maybe a snack, you are going to get really hungry as you gaze at these photos.
Smoked pork belly rillette, banana bread pudding, shaved fennel, watercress and maple mustarda.
2nd course: This was the pièce de résistance. Ask anyone at the dinner.
Lobster bisque, parsley and sunchoke
Everything was amazing, but this….
Lobster bisque, parsley and sunchoke.
…..lobster roe dried, baked and ground to add that punch. This was a thin milky broth that was so infused with flavor…I was sitting with Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life http://www.thelushlife.xyz/ and we both ate this almost silently, except for the quiet groans of pleasure and with our eyes closed. We savored ever single drop and are still talking about this bowl of heaven.
Poached pear and frisee salad, goat cheese, roasted lemon vinaigrette
This was the perfect contrast to the bisque, a brightness, with a softness that set us up for the …
Entrée: Seared lamb loin, local corn succotash, butternut squash pave.
Seared lamb loin, local corn succotash, butternut squash pave
Succotash, seems like a homey comfort food, and it was, but elevated.
Finally and sadly, it was time for dessert: huckleberry upside down cake with corn and cashew gelato.
Opal Blackberry upside down cake with corn and cashew gelato
The Chefs!
Through out the evening, the wine was flowing. Michael and I shared glasses, because dumping one to make room for the next just didn’t feel right. The wines were spectacular. From the Sleight of Hand 2014 Archimage Cab Fran/Merlot to the Doubleback: 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon….I remember looking at the menu card and trying to figure out which wine we were on. Trey said something about the wine listed not being the one that they were pouring. The one problem with a wine dinner is with all the wine, you often lose track. I look forward to returning to revisit all of these wines.
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The evening ended, with new friends made, an extraordinary meal and tons of great wine. Mystery Dinner Win!
And we left with tunes! Sleight of Hand Cellars puts out their +Sub Pop music download annually. “Punk Rock Wines for Punk Rock Minds” oh, and the remnants of a bottle of the Doubleback Cab Sav, that we in turn took to share at an after party back at the hotel.
Oh, and I think I neglected our celebrity link. Doubleback winery is owned by former NFL Quarterback Drew Bledsoe. But you will have to wait for the story about that. Watch for additional pieces on Doubleback, Sleight of Hand and Andrae’s Kitchen.
Don’t forget to check back with us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more great wine country experiences in Washington, Oregon and beyond. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
How to find them
Doubleback Winery is located at 3853 Powerline RoadWalla Walla, WA 99362 They are open for tastings by appointment only. This is an allocation winery, so if you want a bottle, you will need to join The List. [email protected] 509-525-3334
Sleight of Hand Cellars has 2 tasting rooms
Walla Walla
1959 J B George Road Walla Walla, WA 99362
(509) 525-3661
Where they are open Saturday to Thursday from 11-5 and Fridays when they stretch it a little further from 11-6.
In Seattle you can find them at
3861G 1st Avenue South Seattle, WA 98134
(206) 582-1878
Where they are open Thursday to Sunday from 12-5 and Friday and Saturday from 11-6.
Andrae’s Kitchen can be found at the Gas Station at
707 Rose Street, Walla Walla, WA
They are open daily from 6 am to 8 pm, with the exception of Sundays when they close at 4 pm.
* We attended the Wine Bloggers conference and promised to do 3 posts on the events. Whatever…I will only post about things I enjoyed, so there will be dozens of posts on the things I enjoyed from this trip. Washington is a wine region to visit.
Don’t forget to check back with us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more great wine country experiences in Washington, Oregon and beyond. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
You can look forward to more in depth pieces on the 3 wineries that we featured here in the future!
