Black cherry ice cream Sandwiches with espresso and cocoa cookie a perfect pairing with Co Dinn Syrah

Dec 11, 2020

Black cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches with cocoa and espresso cookie

When I read that the Co Dinn Syrah we were opening had notes of Black Cherry, cocoa, and espresso, I knew that a good dessert pairing would be epic. I searched and stumbled across this recipe for black cherry-chocolate ice cream sandwiches on Food & Wine. I encourage you to check out their recipe

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/black-cherrychocolate-ice-cream-sandwiches

The single tweek I made was using espresso powder rather than instant espresso granules, due to what was in my cupboard.

Time: 40 Minutes
waiting time 11 hours

Yield: 6 people

Ingredients for Black cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches

What to Pair?

Co Dinn 2015 Roskamp Vineyard Block 2 Syrah

This Co Dinn wine is fermented in one-ton bins. He presses when he feels the tannins are structured by not too grippy. The wine does secondary fermentation in neutral French oak. 100% Syrah. 14.6% abv SRP $45

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups flour (plus more for rolling)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp baking powder

½ cup unsalted butter softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon espresso powder

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 quart of black cherry ice cream (no I did not make my own ice cream for this)

Directions

In a medium bowl sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa together.
In your stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter, sugar and espresso powder until it’s light and fluffy
Keep the mixer running and add the egg, mixing until it is well combined.
Add the vanilla
Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the flour, ½ cup at a time. You want to mix this just until it is combined.
Wrap this in plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
When the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Roll the dough out on parchment to a 14×11 inch rectangle that is 1/8 inch thick.
Trim this to a 13×10 inch rectangle to clean up the edges.
Slide the dough with the parchment onto a baking sheet
Chill for 30 minutes
Poke holes all over the dough about ¾ inch apart.
Bake 9-11 minutes (it will be set, but still soft)
Cool on a wire rack about 30 minutes
Cut this cross wise into 2 rectangles (2- 6 ½ x 11 rectangles)
Line a cookie sheet with foil big enough to hold one of the large cookies
Place ½ face down (the poked side) on the foil
Top with the softened ice cream.
Place the other cookie on top (poked side up, you want to see those!)
Wrap in aluminum foil and freeze 8 hours
Remove from the foil, trim the edges and cut into 12 bars!

Co Dinn 2015 Roskamp Block 2 Syrah with a Black Cherry Ice Cream Sandwich

Black cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches with cocoa and espresso cookies

1 ¼ cups flour (plus more for rolling)

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp baking powder

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Watch our quick video for the highlights.

½ cup unsalted butter softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon espresso powder

1 egg

Black Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches

To complete our Southern picnic theme, I made black cherry ice cream sandwiches. Okay, I made the cookies for them and bought black cherry ice cream which I thought would pair well with the wine. The cookies though included cocoa and espresso powder which I hoped would pair well with the wine.

Indeed they did! It was delicious! You know, those moments when you take a bite and a sip and close your eyes and groan with pleasure just a bit. Yeah, that kind of good!

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As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

BBQ Chicken in Crockpot with Grilled Eggplant and Gouda Mac and Cheese

Dec 11, 2020

BBQ chicken, grilled eggplant with chimichurri sauce, and smoked gouda mac and cheese with Co Dinn Roskamp Syrah

Our BBQ lunch to pair with this Washington Syrah from Co Dinn paired beautifully! BBQ with Syrah, especially when you play up the notes in the wine in the sauce, can be spectacular. Co had suggested eggplant dishes on his site and I found a recipe for Grilled eggplant with chimichurri sauce and lastly a smoked gouda mac and cheese!

Co Dinn 2015 Roskamp Vineyard Block 2 Syrah

Time: 2 hours 25 Minutes

Yield: 2-4 people

Co Dinn 2015 Roskamp Vineyard Block 2 Syrah with BBQ chicken, grilled eggplant with chimichurri and smoke gouda mac and cheese

Slow cooker BBQ chicken thighs with a syrah inspired BBQ sauce

This recipe was inspired by Jennifer Banz – crock pot chicken thighs

https://jenniferbanz.com/crock-pot-bbq-chicken-thighs

2 people, 2 hr 15 min to 4 hr 15 minutes (depending on slow cooker setting)

Slow Cooked BBQ Chicken — Slow-Cooked BBQ Chicken

Ingredients

4 bone in chicken thighs (I recommend pulling the skin off of these, I did not and I regret that, the meat was not able soak up my brilliant sauce)

1 tbs paprika (smoke or sweet)

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp Montreal Chicken seasoning (it’s what I had)

¼ tsp ground white pepper

1 ½ cups of BBQ sauce (

Directions

Mix the spices and the salt and pepper in a small bowl
Put your chicken thighs in the slow cooker and sprinkling the spice mix over the top.
Pour on 1 cup of that BBQ sauce (use my recipe below, make your own concoction or grab a bottle from the store)
Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.
Pre-heat the broiler.
Place the chicken thighs on an aluminum lined baking sheet
Baste with the rest of the sauce
Broil on the center rack of the oven for about 5 minutes (keep an eye on them) They should caramelize and bubble.

BBQ Sauce recipe

First, I love making BBQ sauce, and it’s never the same. I throw together flavors and taste as I go. Here is what I used for this recipe.

Minced garlic

Dried cranberries

Dark brown sugar

Worcestershire sauce

Apple cider vinegar

Honey

Balsamic vinegar

Espresso powder

Cocoa

Ketchup

Soy sauce

Tomato paste

Paprika

Ground white pepper

Montreal chicken seasoning

Black cherry preserve

Nutmeg

Salt

Directions

Nope, you don’t get exact measurements. You need it to be your desired consistency so that will guide you. The other thing that will guide you is your taste buds. Grab a jar or bowl, or a big 2 cup measuring cup. You are looking to have 1 ½ cups of this in the end. Add, stir, taste. Maybe there are other flavors you want to add in? Do it! If you are not sure, then take a bit to the side and try it there.

The important thing for this recipe, was the black cherry preserves (I added about 2 tbs) the cocoa ( I added 1 tsp) and the espresso powder (again 1 tsp). These were the components that would pick up in the notes of the wine.

Grilled Eggplant with Chimichurri sauce

20 minutes 4 servings

This recipe was adapted from one on Foodie Crush https://www.foodiecrush.com/grilled-eggplant/

I didn’t need to make quite so much and I’ll be honest, I mixed up my chimichurri so that it is more of a sauce and is not quite a traditional chimichurri which is thiner and more drizzly. None the less it was delicious. I also cut this recipe in half and adapted for ingredients that I had on hand.

Chimichurri style sauce

Ingredients

½ cup flat leaf parsley leaves only

¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves only

2 shallots finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbs of red wine vinegar

½ lemon juiced

½ tsp salt

½ tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

Do this in a food processor
Start with the parsley, cilantro, onion and garlic, pulse to mince
Add the olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice, and red pepper flakes.
Pulse just to mix
Season with salt.

Grilled Eggplant

Ingredients

1 large eggplant

1 tbs of olive oil

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions

Heat your grill pan over medium high heat (I typically grind fresh salt over the pan first, it will help with clean up)
Cut the eggplant into ½ inch slices
Brush the slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
Grill turning once until they are tender and you have lovely grill marks
Plate and drizzle with the chimichurri sauce.

Serves 4

25 minutes

Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese

I love baked mac & cheese, but sometimes you just don’t have the time for that. This mac & cheese with smoke gouda is so good, I didn’t miss the baking! I found this recipe on Hey Grill Hey an adapted it cutting the recipe in half. I also messed up my sauce and guess what? Still turned out okay!

Ingredients

½ lb of elbow macaroni

¼ cup of butter

2 tbs flour

1 ½ tsp mustard powder

1/2 cup of crème

½ cup whole milk

2 oz of crème cheese

1 ½ cups of shredded smoked gouda

¾ cup of shredded white cheddar

Directions

Cook the pasta. Read the directions on the package, just use a big pot, bigger than you think you need, so those macaroni have space and salt the water. Salty like the sea, my chef friend always says!
Drain the pasta. (yes, I did that before I made the sauce, because I didn’t want to break my focus on the sauce, by having to stop and drain pasta)
Get out your cast iron skillet (12 inch) melt the butter over medium heat
Add the flour whisking until it forms a thin smooth paste. This is your roux, I am notorious for over cooking my roux, keep this over medium and you should be okay.
Whisk in the mustard powder.
Slowly pour in the milk and crème, continue whisking while you bring this to a boil.
Reduce the heat and add the crème cheese, whisking until smooth
Add the gouda and cheddar and stir until melted.
Turn off the heat, add the pasta and stir to make this a gooey bunch of deliciousness.

Watch our quick video for the highlights.

BBQ chicken, grilled eggplant with chimichurri sauce, and smoked gouda mac and cheese with Co Dinn Roskamp Syrah

We got lost on the way to this vineyard to meet Co Dinn. In Washington’s Yakima Valley GPS service can be sketchy and even when you look it up ahead of time, sometimes roads have gates and you find the maps program tried to take you in a locked back door. So after a bit of driving for us and Co talking us in through landmarks we were unfamiliar with, we finally connected and headed up to the Roskamp Vineyard in the Snipes Mountain AVA. Co sources grapes here, for his Syrah and Chardonnay and it is a great vantage point to see the Yakima Valley.

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As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Raspberry Sauce, inspired by 2017 Syncline Subduction Red

Dec 7, 2020

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Pork tenderloin with Raspberry Sauce

I cannot even believe I waited this long to discover pork loins! They are relatively inexpensive and make for a simple and fancy meal. We did a stuffed pork tenderloin with chimichurri a while back and it was delicious. When I went to pick it up at the store they had a 2 for one special, so…here we are with another delicious pork loin to stuff.

This time we are pairing our dish with a beautiful Rhône Inspired red blend from Syncline in Washington. We wanted raspberry and bacon to pair with this wine, so here is what we made.

Time: 2 Hours 40 Minutes

Yield: 4 people

What to Pair?

Syncline 2017 Subduction Red – Columbia Valley

A blend of 49% Syrah, 26% Grenache, 12% Carignan, 7% Cinsault, 6% Mourvedre, this is their version of a Côtes du Rhône Villages wine.

Syncline sources this fruit from a variety of vineyards in multiple AVA: Columbia Gorge, Horse Heaven Hills, Red Mountain, and Yakima Valley. All of these vineyards they work with they have long term contracts and a good relationship and sense of trust with the growers.

91 barrels were produced. 13.7% abv SRP $25

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients

1 ½ tsp olive oil

¼ cup of diced onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 pint of raspberries

¼ cup of cider vinegar

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground white pepper

1 tbs fresh chopped rosemary

1 tbs fresh chopped basil

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the onions and cook until softened and caramelized (4 minutes)
Add the garlic and saute 1 minute until fragrant
Add the raspberries and cook until soft (2-3 minutes)
Add the cider vinegar and stir up all the brown bits (deglazing the pan)
Add the sugar and the salt and bring it the mixture to a boil.
Add ground white pepper, and salt
Add basil and rosemary
Reduce the heat and let this simmer 10 minutes to thicken.
Cool the sauce before using.

Bacon-wrapped stuffed pork tenderloin

Ingredients

4 slices of bacon

1 pork tenderloin (1 pound)

4 ounces of crème cheese

Raspberry sauce (make this ahead of time)

Ground pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300
Cover a baking sheet with foil (the better you do this, the easier cleanup will be)
Lay 4 slices of bacon on the sheet (Set these up to wrap your loin, so you might want to measure it to make sure you lay these out right. There can will be gaps between each slice)
Carefully trim the tenderloin, cutting away any fat or silverskin
Butterfly the tenderloin, cutting down the middle lengthwise without going all the way through (I would suggest not cutting through on the ends and making more of a trough, this will keep your cheese from escaping)
Lay the pork on the bacon on the baking sheet
Slice the crème cheese and lay it down in the cut of the tenderloin
Pour some of your raspberry sauce over this
Fold the tenderloin back up and wrap the bacon around tucking in the ends where needed.
Season with ground pepper
Baste with the remaining raspberry sauce, but don’t let it puddle on the baking sheet or it will burn.
Bake for 2 hours and begin checking the temperature with an instant read thermometer. The interior temperature should reach 145 degrees Fahrenheit to be done.
Remove from the over, cover loosely with foil and rest 5 minutes before slicing and serving

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Pork tenderloin with Raspberry Sauce

Watch our quick video for the highlights.

Syncline Subduction Red with stuffed pork loin beet greens and a rainbow root gratin

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Syrah loves bacon, and the wine we were pairing was Syrah driven. The raspberry notes with this wine meant I wanted to tie raspberries in somehow. I found a recipe for a stuffed pork loin and thought this would be a good match. I had just bought fresh beets, so beet greens on the side were a no brainer.

The stuffed pork tenderloin is filled with crème cheese and a raspberry sauce. The loin is wrapped in bacon, basted in the sauce, and roasted for a few hours.

This was really wonderful with the wine, bacon, and raspberry and Subduction Red makes for a perfect trio.

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This recipe for Roasted Cornish Game Hens was an elegant dish that we paired with a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We wanted something that would not be too heavy, but would match the elegance of this wine. Incorporating Pinot Noir into the dish as well as adding a savory berry drizzle, help to [...]

Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir with Cornish Game Hens with a savory berry drizzle

Alloro – Stunning Wines from Oregon’s New Laurelwood District AVA

“Alloro” It’s the Italian word for laurel. When David Nemarnik purchased this now 130-acre site, he named it after the Laurelwood soils found on the site. He grew up nearby in Portland, making homemade wine in his garage. He searched the area for the right site, testing soils to find the best for growing the [...]

Fetzer 2019 Gewürztraminer and Thai Red Curry

An Affordable and Aromatic Gewürztraminer Paired with Thai Red Curry #WinePW

This month the #WinePW crew is looking to pair with Asian dishes, led by Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. The premise is Saké or another wine with Asian dishes. I enjoy saké, but it is something that I enjoy the ceremony of, out at a sushi restaurant with friends. Oh great, now I’m nostalgic, [...]

Thai Red Curry with Shrimp and Vegetables

This recipe was developed to pair with wine for the January #WinePW event pairing wines with Asian dishes. The #WinePW (wine pairing weekend) crew will gather on Saturday, January 9th on Twitter to dive into the pairings we each came up with. You can join us! Just hop on to Twitter at 8 am (Pacific [...]

Bacon butternut pasta topped with sage, toasted walnuts, and parmesan

Bacon and Butternut pasta recipe to pair with a Langhe Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo is a wine that is versatile in pairing with food. Garlic, truffles, olives, capers, butternut squash, wild mushrooms, polenta, leeks, tomato-based sauces, pizza Parmigiana Reggiano or Pecorino Fatty foods, butter, vinegar-based sauces. This is a high tannin wine. Steak with fat. Think meats like bib eye, sausages, duck, or pork shank. So I had [...]

Bonny Doon 2018 Riesling to Live – Day 12 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020

Herederos del Marqués de Riscal Reserva Rioja 2014 – Day 11 of the 12 days of Wine 2020

Bailey Family 2017 Chardonnay – Day 10 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020

LaZarre 2017 Central Coast Pinot Noir – Day 9 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020

Hungarian Nut Cake with Apricot

Meinklang h17 – Day 8 of the 12 Days of wine 2020

Rowlee 2018 Single Vineyard Nebbiolo – Day 7 of the 12 Days of Wine

Tablas Creek 2019 Bourboulenc – Day 6 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020

Co Dinn 2015 Syrah Roskamp Vineyard Block 2 – Day 5 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020

Tertini 2018 Arneis – Day 4 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020

Terre di Bacco Prosecco – Day 1 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Mike Sauer and the stories of Washington’s Legendary Red Willow Vineyard

Aug 31, 2020

We were lucky enough to spend an evening with Jonathan and Mike Sauer at the iconic Red Willow Vineyard in Washington’s Yakima Valley. We met Jonathan, who took us on a tour of the vineyard. You can read that post here. Our final stop was the Chapel where we would capture sunset. This visit was thanks to the help of Barbara Glover, of Wine Yakima Valley. I had reached out to her to ask about a beautiful vineyard to shoot at sunset. She immediately mentioned Red Willow and put me in touch with Jonathan.

Sunset in the summer in Washington is late in the day. We wanted to be respectful of their time. This was last in the day and at the time when I would expect they would like to be home with their family for dinner. Jonathan was concerned with our time asking if we wanted to go straight to the Chapel, or if we would like to see a bit of the vineyard. Happy for the extra time with him, we took him up on that offer. His father Mike surprised us and joined us at the Chapel to take in the sunset.

We pick up there…

Shot of the chapel on Red Willow Vineyards in Yakima Valley AVA in Washington State — The shady side of the Red Willow Vineyard Chapel where we found Mike Sauer waiting for us.

As we reach the Chapel, Mike Sauer, Jonathan’s father, is there in the shade. Our conversation takes a path through the original Semillon to the lesson of planting grapes on a hill. This was not so easy when they first planted. Modern drip irrigation was not invented until 1959. These systems were not really seen in Washington State until the late ’70s. Early on they would have needed to use handlines, which would have caused erosion. Early drip irrigation of course didn’t have pressure compensating emitters.

“, so, you did everything by tubing size. You started off with a bigger tubing and pretty soon by the time you’d get down to the bottom, it was tiny tubing, to use up the friction loss to even out the pressure. There was a whole lot more design that went into the old system.”
Mike Sauer, July 2019

Mike Sauer shares the story of Red Willow Vineyard

We move onto the story of the Vineyard. Mike Sauer grew up 20 miles from here. In college he majored in Ag Econ and was sure he would be a banker or work at an Ag Company. But love can change your plans. He met a girl in college, who became his wife. Her father, Harold Stephenson, had a large successful farm here and offered Mike a job. As the new kid, Harold thought Mike should have something to experiment with. There were cherries, or apples or grapes…but these French sounding wine grapes, well they were just beginning, and they sounded interesting to Mike.

“I got hooked up with I guess you would call him the father of the Washington Wine Industry at the time, Dr. Walter Clore.”
Mike Sauer, July 2019

At that time it was all about finding varieties that would survive the winter. They started with Lemberger, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay because they were hardy.

Jonathan tells me there were maybe 6 wineries in Washington at this point. The modern Washington wine Industry was just in its infancy.

“Dad was one of the earlier pioneers, way out in the middle of nowhere at the very end of the valley. Who knew if anything would survive out here? He kinda really took a leap of faith. And I’m glad you did!”
Jonathan Sauer, July 2019

Dr. Walter Clore and the Test blocks

Dr. Clore was exploring the state and this was one of about a dozen original remote test sites planted to see where grapes would grow. They would pick the grapes from this different sites at the same brix level, make wines from them and then send them off to an expert taste panel for review. The Red Willow wines consistently came out on top.

Dr. Clore emphasized knowing getting to know the site and its weather.

“In those days we had no idea if this was the best site. It was a fairly large farm. At the time I had a little trail 90 Honda Motorcycle. After hours I would hop on it and ride clear around the farm. It was about a 7-mile loop and check the high/low-temperature thermometers. Those days we didn’t have the $50 thermometer that will record anything nowadays. In those days you had to go every day and record them. That really taught me something. The difference from this place to a half a mile, a different hill, a different slope. We take so much information for granted today.
Those were truly pioneering days and very exciting times too. Just learning, the variety, what would grow what would survive. And it was very much Washington trying to gain a reputation in the World. It was a state coming together very cohesively, us against the world, more or less, to gain respect.”
Mike Sauer, July 2019

It was not long after their vineyard got started that Mike Sauer met David Lake. In 1981 David Lake began making vineyard designates from Red Willow Vineyard. Mike thinks at that point, perhaps only Ridge Vineyards in California was doing vineyard designates. This idea which seems so common now was new at that time in America, attaching an identity, a sense of place to a wine.

The Red Willow Chapel atop its hill of Syrah, from Red Willow Vineyard in Yakima Valley AVA in Washington State

The Chapel at Red Willow Vineyards Yakima Valley AVA

Looking out at the vineyard through the Chapel door at Red Willow Vineyard

The sign for Red Willow Vineyard with it's iconic chapel

Chapel from the north, from Red Willow Vineyard in Yakima Valley AVA in Washington State

The story of the iconic Red Willow Chapel

A few years after they got started, David Lake started Associated Vineyards, which later became Columbia Winery. He and Mike met and became friends, beginning a long relationship. As I mentioned before, it was David who first suggested planting Syrah here. He also joked that if they had syrah on a hill they should have a chapel-like Hermitage. The Sauers are a spiritual family and Mike liked the idea. He had a stonemason from Mexico working for him doing rock work and they put together an idea for a chapel. It took 3 years to finish.

“and then I found, you build a chapel, you have to explain it. It’s been an identity for our vineyard. It’s not a marketing thing, it’s a place for our family, a place to pop in and say a few prayers. It’s a connection.”
Mike Sauer, July 2019

It is now iconic in the Yakima Valley and is the symbol for the winery.

The four legs of the Stool of making great wine

Mike talks about the 4 things that make a great wine: Soil, variety, the work of human hands, and then finally that magical vintage. He references a book he read by George Rainbird “An Illustrated Guide to Wine”.

The word “Terroir,” he says can be so overused. It’s essence it the uniqueness that a site brings to the fruit and therefore the wine. Variety of course is important and Europe did much of the hard work of finding how different varieties best grow, allowing them some guidelines to be able to follow here in Washington, The work of human hands is the 3 leg, while the 4th is that magical vintage. It’s the thing that is out of human control. Something about that season can make one vintage so different from others. As Mike puts it …

“Every once in a while, by divine grace, you have these magical vintages. It’s that part of the wine that none of us control. The season, the vintage, mother nature, the hand of God… It’s what makes wine interesting.
Great vintages, you don’t just snap your finger and duplicate.”
Mike Sauer, July 2019

Jonathan points out the different blocks to us from this high vantage point. The Chapel hill has 4 blocks, then there is the Peninsula to the North and further past it the Marcoux, in between those two you find Olney Springs.

Where the name Red Willow comes from

The name, Red Willow, is the name of a spring above the vineyard, which has now become a dry creek bed. In the fall it is filled with Sumac that turns a bright scarlet color.

Jonathan: “Anyway, I’m glad you chose that name! Or I think Grandma picked it out.
Mike: It works better than Sauer Grapes. “

Generations and stability in wine grape growing

The chap — Red Willow Vinyard with Mike and Jonathan Sauer

This vineyard is family-based. Mike speaks to Red Willow being multi-generational. The farm is almost 100 years old and Mike is the 3rd generation, making Jonathan 4th generation and already some of the kids and grand kids are working on the farm. Often vineyards in Washington seem to change hands every 30 to 40 years. “It takes time to learn the soil, the identity, how we grow the grapes and interacting with the winemaker. And the wineries.”

They know their fruit here, they have seen it evolve and provide consistency to winemakers, as well as variety. They also really seem to be a sweet spot for Cabernet Franc and Mike believes the Right Bank Blends created from the vineyard are a beautiful way to showcase the site. Merlot, which has been forgotten does well here as well as Cabs. This blending of the three varieties used in Bordeaux, is working very well.

Red Willow Vineyard Cab Franc Grapes in Yakima Valley AVA in Washington State

Red Willow Vineyard Grapes in Yakima Valley AVA in Washington State

Red Willow Vineyard Merlot Grapes in Yakima Valley AVA in Washington State

The site is not windy but there is always a gentle breeze, so there is air movement. Bud break is mid-April. The northern latitude gives them almost 2 hours more sunshine on the longest day of the year than San Francisco. At the top of harvest, mid-September, days quickly get shorter and the vines know that winter is coming. They have a compressed growing season, with long sunny days and deep winters where the vines go into full dormancy, desert climate with the ability to irrigate, which gives them significant control over the vines, and high elevation.

“Anyway, it’s a special place to grow grapes.”
Mike Sauer, July 2019

There is such stability and power in a place that has been here a while and learned from the ground up and is still so ready to look to what else can happen.

We wrapped the formal conversation. Michael headed off to set cameras up to catch the sunset. While Jonathan, Mike and I pulled a picnic table into the shade behind the Chapel. Jonathan ran and picked us up a beverage and some fresh rainier cherries and I sat with Mike and Jonathan, chatting, and taking in the sunset. Watching the birds fly over swooping in to pick off flying insects, as the sun slowly sank over the mountains, Mt. Adams in the distance the evening couldn’t have been more perfect.

Geological resources

Other Resources

Other things we’ve written on Red Willow Vineyard

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Red Willow Vineyard in Washington’s Yakima Valley – an iconic vineyard and a trailblazer in Modern Washington Wine

Aug 28, 2020

The drive to Red Willow Vineyard, in Washington’s Yakima Valley, takes you to what feels like the end of the Universe. You head out on West Wapato Road and drive until it feels like Mt. Adams is right in front of you. Really the mountain just gets bigger and bigger. You are almost as far west as there are vineyards in the Yakima Valley. It felt like we had driven forever, and I was getting a bit concerned. It’s not easy to get a signal out here. I was staring hard at each passing sign to be sure we didn’t miss the road to turn on. At last, we found the road and made the turn.

The Drive to Red Willow. The view of the Chapel in the distance from Wapato Road

The entrance to Red Willow Vineyard in Washington's Yakima Valley

Jonathan Sauer is waiting for us. His crew is gathering up at the end of the day. He assures them he will close-up. Jonathan could not be nicer. He has a humble air about him, but he is friendly and brings a brightness to the conversation that puts you immediately at ease. He is the 4^th generation of his family to work on this farm. His father Mike, first planted wine grapes here. We gather up our equipment and climb on the ATV to head up the hill, into the vineyard.

The History of Washington Wine

Before we go any further, perhaps I should share a bit of context. You see, Red Willow Vineyard is legendary when it comes to Washington Vineyards. Let’s go back to the beginning and give you some background.

How did grapes get to Washington?

The Hudson’s Bay Company planted the first grapes at Fort Vancouver back in 1825. Wine grapes followed the early French, Italian and German settlers. Irrigation arrived in the Eastern part of the state in the early 1900s, meaning this dry desert region on the east side of the Cascades could begin to grow. Vineyards began to pop up in the Walla Walla and Yakima Valleys. Then of course came Prohibition.

Dr. Walter Clore – The Father of Washington Wine

It was 1934 when Dr. Walter J. Clore arrived in Washington. He studied horticulture at Washington State College and then was hired to teach at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research Extension Center in Prosser, WA. With the ability to irrigate, Washington was learning to grow fruits and vegetables. He met W.B. Bridgman, who had a vineyard planted to Vitis Vinifera. Dr. Walter Clore took cuttings to establish a block to study in Prosser. Eventually, he would start test blocks from these vines around the state, working with growers to test for issues with climate, soil, wind, etc. He shared this collected information with the growers, building a database of research, and determining that indeed, vinifera grapes could grow in this region. One of these test sites was Red Willow Vineyard. Mike Sauer worked with Dr. Clore to plant an experimental block of 20 varieties in 1972-73, as well as mounting a weather station.

David Lake – Master of Wine

Associated Vintners, now known as Columbia Winery, was created in 1962 by a group of friends. These 10 visionaries, 6 of whom were University of Washington Professors, were determined to prove that Washington’s Columbia Valley was a great place to grow and make wine. I would dare say that worked. I am sure that most of you have tasted a wine from Columbia Winery. It is the 2^nd most well known wine brand in the state of Washington and can be found most anywhere. In 1979 they named David Lake, MW to be their winemaker a job he held until 2006. David Lake was Canadian but had worked in the wine trade in Britain before coming to America. He worked at Eyrie in the Willamette Valley before joining Associated Vintners, based in Seattle. It was this same year that he met Mike Sauer. Mike describes him as having “a European sensibility” when it came to wine. He released Washington’s first vineyard-designated wines back in 1981, all were Cabernets, coming from Sagemoor, Otis and… Red Willow Vineyards. He was known to motivate growers and shared his knowledge. It was David Lake that encouraged Mike Sauer to plant Syrah, the variety that Red Willow is perhaps best known for these days. Now you have a bit of background. This humble vineyard is one of the great vineyards in Washington State and some of the legendary names in Washington Wine helped to form it.

Red Willow Vineyard

Red Willow Vineyard’s Chapel Block

Jonathan Sauer drives us up the hill, and we stop below the Chapel Hill’s west slope. The Red Willow Chapel sits on a hill so there are aspects on all sides. The west slope fruit is intense, dark, and tannic. The east slope, with its soil windblown loess, has more perfume in the wine, giving it more elegance. This is a significant difference in fruit, when as Jonathan says, “You can throw a ball from one to the next”. The south slope is more of a mix of the two styles. Here, from just within the Chapel block you have the makings for a beautiful blend, with depth and complexity, just from one variety.

“It’s probably easier to make a wine that I’m gonna get stuff from Wahluke and Horse Heavens and Walla Walla and I’ll get all these different components and create a blend. But to do a vineyard designate, it can be a little more challenging. But yet, when you do it right it can just be a magical wine, just that sense of place you get from it.”
Jonathan Sauer, July 2019

The Chapel block itself is 100% Syrah, which is how it got its Chapel, reminiscent of the famous Chapel in Hermitage in France, where some of the most famous Syrah on the planet grows. The entire Chapel hill is broken into Syrah, Sangiovese, and Viognier. Mike Sauer planted the Viognier to go with the Syrah. In the Northern Rhone, the two grapes are often blended or co-fermented, so it seemed appropriate to have a little of that to mix in. When they were planting the Viognier, they looked to France for inspiration.

“…well it’s grown on the steepest kinda warmest sites over in France so let’s do that here! So, you’re kind of guessing. It really isn’t until 10 years later or even longer that you say, well that was a good guess, or maybe I shouldn’t have done that. We’re a young industry and even though our vineyard is approaching 50 years, I think we’re 47 this year. We’ve still got a lot to learn and each year we’re trying to get a little better and learn a little more. We haven’t been here for centuries like the Old World.”
Jonathan Sauer, July 2019

Precipitation and irrigation

We continue to drive into the vineyard, and I notice that each row has a tag on the end with a winery name. They sell fruit by the acre not the ton, so the winemakers can drop fruit as they want. It might make the fruit more expensive, but the winemaker has the choice. The blocks have tall signs over them telling you what variety the grape is and the year it was planted.

Eastern Washington only gets about 6-7 inches of precipitation a year and the majority of that comes in the winter. 2019 was an anomaly and they had snow in February. This caused the vines to take off early.

We turn around and head back toward the Chapel then stop where the original 73 Cabernet had been planted. There were 3 acres that they finally took out and replaced with Syrah. The wineries loved it, but the vines had leaf roll virus and the yield was down to just 2 tons to the acre. They couldn’t allow the leaf roll to spread, so they had to pull it out.

The beginning of Nebbiolo and Syrah at Red Willow Vineyard

We continue to the ’85 Nebbiolo block. “Dad tells a story where right about harvest time, they’re picking grapes and people are going everywhere and he had this guy show up and he had a bottle of Barolo in, I don’t know, both hands or something, coming up talking a million miles an hour and said “I want you to plant Nebbiolo! I’ve got a restaurant over in the Seattle area called Café Juanita and blah, blah, blah, and Dad’s like ‘okay, that’s nice. I’m kinda busy right now’.” Later speaking with someone at the wine shop in Yakima he found out that the restaurant is well known with month-long waiting lists for reservations. Intrigued with Nebbiolo he spoke to David Lake about planting it. David Lake thought this was interesting, but he said “…you know, really if you want to plant a classic variety, that I think would be really well suited for your site in Washington, you ought to look at Syrah.”

So, David Lake called and found French Clone cuttings from Joseph Phelps in California, and they planted Syrah, which is now so iconic for this vineyard.

This started their pioneering wave, they tried Malbec, Sangiovese, and Viognier and Mataro. The winter of 96 was really cold, when the Syrah survived that, they knew this variety could do well in the state and it started to take off.

We turn to the 3 acres of old Syrah. Bob Betz calls this Le Côte Patriarche, Jonathan tells me. This wine is one of the Betz family wines top releases and it is typically sold in pre-sales. Barrel ratings for this wine are 94-96. Mark Fiore at Efeste and Andrew Rich also make Red Willow vineyard-designate Syrahs.

We head up the final stretch to the Chapel and pass the 93 Mataro block. This small block is planted on low trellis mimicking the method in Madrid to gain the solar heat from the ground for ripening. Jonathan was glad that was all.

“We had a lot of moisture so the vines kind of took off early…and then you don’t want to stress them, right when they are at bloom and set really, so you’ve got to keep watering them. We’re well past that now, so when you are past that you hit the brakes and just dry it out. So, there’s so much influence that a grower has in this state over that water, it’s huge. It’s probably one of the biggest factors of consistency and the benefits that it leads to in quality. It’s tremendous, influencing the berry size, the vine, the exposure it gets, and the canopy. It’s tremendous. It’s one of the great factors Washington has. There’s a lot of them, the cool nights, the latitude…and right at harvest time, it’s always so magical, your days are shortening enough and just that northerly latitude … the cool nights keeping the acidity within the wines that you find a lot in Washington. It’s a great place to be a grower.”

Jonathan Sauer, July 2019

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Ancient Soils and the Peninsula Block

We leave the Chapel Hill behind us and drive through what they call the Saddle and then into the Peninsula block, to a point where there is a cutout. Here you can see the layers of soil.

Red Willow is a high elevation vineyard. The building at the bottom of the vineyard that we came from sits at 1100 feet. The top of the Marcoux block which is the furthest north block is at around 1300 feet. The Missoula Floods, washed into about one-third of the way up this hill. You can see the ancient soils that remain above where the floodwaters came through. The strata layers are different. You also find pumice here from the volcanos of the Ancient Cascade Mountains.

This is like the lightweight stone that you often see for removing callouses, which is a direct projectile out of the volcanos. You also find compressed ash. Each of these soils tie back to a major geological event. We are looking at millions of years of geologic history in front of us.

The whole region is an uplift, that gives this region all these east/west ridges. Most of the world has north/south Ridges. The Peninsula Hill was a unique fold that came out of the Ahtanum Ridge that sits north of the Vineyard. I ponder for a moment, visualizing this hill as an island in the Missoula floods.

Jonathan tells us they are really farming to showcase the soil, looking for an active biological soil and trying to do things minimally.

150 acres of wine grape plus…

Red Willow Vineyard is planted to about 150 acres of wine grapes. They also farm concords for jelly and juice. Jonathan points out the darker green areas in the lower sections of the property with overhead sprinkler systems, unlike the drip irrigation used for the wine grapes. They also do a bit hay, about 30 acres.

As to the wine grapes, they grow about 17 varieties and Jonathan says the beauty of that is that they all ripen at different times, with harvest lasting about a month and a half.

“Start with the Sav Blanc and Gewurz and go through Merlot, Syrah and then the mid-season, I usually say Cab Franc, Lemberger. Then we go into Cab, Sangiovese. We’ve got one row of Aglianico, it’s usually about at the end. And then the Nebbiolo we have on this hill, kinda right at the end.”
Jonathan Sauer, July 2019

We continue North toward the Marcoux Block pausing at the 91 Sangiovese, which was some of the earliest Sangiovese planting in the state. This is getting close to the northern edge of the vineyard. Past this you can see the sage brush leading toward the ridge.

The first block planted was in the Peninsula block the 73 Cabernet. Jonathan says his father planted some Semillon and Chenin Blanc in 1971. He planted them low on the property with the concords and they froze out. “I guess that was our first lesson. Put them on the hills out of the good fertile soil. After that, it worked pretty good.”

The Experimental blocks and the wineries they work with

Mike Sauer also planted an experimental block, here at Red Willow Vineyard, back in the early 70s with Dr. Walter Clore. Jonathan says it had about a dozen varieties including rkatsiteli, a hardy grape from Ukraine. Out of that experimental block, his dad really liked the cab franc. He planted his first block of that variety in 1985.

With the cab franc, merlot, and cab sav growing here, DeLille was about to release a Red Willow Right Bank Blend. All of these are old blocks. I looked the wine up after getting home. The 2017 vintage was recently released only to the DeLille Wine club, so if you manage to get your hands on a bottle, treasure it

The different winemakers I had spoken with seemed to really revere Red Willow Vineyard. I mention this to Jonathan.

“Well we really like everybody we are dealing with. Especially if somebody is going to do a designate. We really try to do our best. … Dad’s really an endearing personality in the industry. A lot of people have got a lot of love for Mike and what he’s done, and we’re just trying to continue that, and not mess it up. Maybe add a little bit as we go.”
Jonathan Sauer, July 2019

We look through the Marcoux block to the Ahtanum Ridge. Jonathan was hoping that the wild horses would be out for us. Sadly, they must further down the valley. What a visual, picturing these tan rolling hills with wild horses galloping through.

We turn around and head back toward the Chapel then stop where the original 73 Cabernet had been planted. There were 3 acres that they finally took out and replaced with Syrah. The wineries loved it, but the vines had leaf roll virus and the yield was down to just 2 tons to the acre. They couldn’t allow the leaf roll to spread, so they had to pull it out.

The beginning of Nebbiolo and Syrah at Red Willow Vineyard

So, David Lake called and found French Clone cuttings from Joseph Phelps in California, and they planted Syrah, which is now so iconic for this vineyard.

A Vineyard walk on Candy Ridge, Candy Mountain AVA with Seth Kitzke

Mar 31, 2020

It was July 2019 and we were on summer whirlwind trip called #thescenicroute. We had come from the beautiful Columbia Gorge region and were meeting Seth Kitzke at Candy Ridge Vineyard at Candy Mountain.

We pulled in and up to the Kitzke Cellars tasting room, on a Monday. Their tasting room is only typically open on the weekends, so we pulled up to a very confused looking gentleman. This was Paul Kitzke, owner of the estate and winery and Seth’s dad.

Seth had evidently not mentioned us coming and Paul was surprised to see people at the tasting room so early, not to mention with camera and recording gear. After a quick explanation, he warmed and looked to invite us in just as Seth pulled up.

Seth’s tasting room for his own brand Upsidedown Wine is in Hood River, where we had just been, but he was coming from a meeting somewhere else this particular morning. He had managed to squeeze us in to the middle of his day.

So where exactly are we?

Well, we are in the east end of the Yakima Valley in Eastern Washington. The area is near the Tri-Cities close to the city of Richland. Candy Mountain is just South East of Red Mountain the fairly famous Yakima Valley AVA that is winning high praise for it’s grapes and wine.

Washington AVA Map Courtesy of Washington State, with Candy Mountain AVA — Washington AVA Map Courtesy of Washington State, with the area of the Proposed Candy Mountain AVA penciled in.

We started in the vineyard with Candy Mountain in the background. The view is the same as the view on the sketch on their labels. The first thing I wanted to know about was the proposed AVA.

Candy Mountain AVA( it is now Official)

You know we get into proposed AVAs, we’ve talked about the proposed AVAs in the Willamette Valley and I was really curious about the proposed Candy Mountain AVA. When approved, it will be Washington’s smallest AVA at around 820 acres. Seth told us it’s been submitted and approved on the Washington State side and now they are just waiting on the Federal stuff. The application was “Accepted as Perfected” on January 24, 2017.

As of the date of this piece, the time for public comment had closed and it was just waiting. Likely it will be waiting a bit longer with everything slowing down right now. It’s a little confusing. I went to the TTB page and they are no longer listed on the “Pending approval” page, but they are also not listed on the “Established AVA” page. So they are sitting in limbo in between. As Seth put it “It’s sitting on someone’s desk somewhere in a stack waiting to get stamped.”

Details on the proposed AVA

The thing is, that this AVA which would be nested in the Yakima Valley AVA spills a little over the edge and they would need to expand the Yakima Valley AVA by 72 acres to adjust the overlap. *Update! My understanding is that the adjustment to the Yakima Valley AVA is complete.

The AVA is on the the southwestern slopes of Candy Mountain. Seth mentioned that the slopes here are south facing due to the the way the ridge and Mountain are oriented. Red Mountain AVA with it’s much larger 4040 acres, wraps around Red Mountain with vineyards Southeast facing, south facing and wrapping around to some that are south west and west facing also.

“…Candy Mountain doesn’t really have that option. It’s pretty much all directly south. You might have a tiny bit of southeast and southwest..”
Seth Kitzke, July 2019

Seth studied sustainability and tourism before getting into wine and like preserving ridge lines and views. He mentions that a hiking group that used to do “hike, wine & dine” events bought up the land that goes up to the ridge so that the views won’t ever get obstructed with a bunch of houses.

Candy Ridge Vineyard

Kitzke Cellars on Candy Ridge in the Yakima Valley AVA

The Candy Ridge Vineyard is the Estate Vineyard for Kitzke Cellars. They have another vineyard, the Dead Poplar Vineyard which is in the lower Yakima Valley directly across from (but not in) the Red Mountain AVA.

Here at the Candy Ridge Vineyard they are mostly growing Bordeaux varieties, Cab Franc, Cab Sav, Petit Verdot and then some Syrah in the back and some Sangiovese out front.

“The sangio is kind of an anomaly here. It’s all east facing all lyre style trained stuff, like a double cordon that comes up and splits, a lot more shade.”
Seth Kitzke, July 2019

Their neighbor Jim, is kind of the reason Seth’s parents started growing grapes. He has Merlot that was planted in 1982 as well as some other varieties that they get some of. Seth says that he is really the pioneer of Candy Mountain.

Cabernet Franc and Caliche soil

We walk into the vineyard and Seth points out Cab Franc that was planted in 2008.

Cab Franc by the Lawn at Candy Ridge Vineyard

“We kinda added as the wines proved themselves. My parents started gobbling up a little more of the square footage of the area, planting more rows…basically the yard was big and they were like “hey let’s plant some more cab franc.””
Seth Kitzke, July 2019

The cons of caliche soil

Previously all the cab franc was east facing out front and the back was just Petit Verdot and Cab Sav. But just because they had the space didn’t mean it would be easy. The front is rocky with floating basalt in the loam. In the back…well

“My dad called me a wuss, because I couldn’t dig the poles when we got up here. The caliche layer is like calcium carbonate, a really hard layer, like natural cement. He ended up bringing in our backhoe. When we had the backhoe in here it broke 2 teeth off the metal bucket on the backhoe. It shows you how hard this stuff really is.”
Seth Kitzke, July 2019

Caliche comparison at Kitzke Cellars — In the lower hand basalt, in the upper caliche. The caliche, while really hard, is so much lighter.

But there are also pros…

The caliche though, has is pluses. The berries on the cab franc in the back are tiny little stressed berries, where as the ones in the front get a little more size on them. Stress berries equal tasty wine typically. The Cab franc in the back has more shatter and natural stress from the caliche layer. But caliche is also porous.

They had a foot of snow as late as early March in 2019. Where as with basalt the moisture would evaporate, the caliche layer locks the moisture in and holds it. In early July when we were there it was the first time they had turned on the water this season. They were trying to get the canopies to shut down and focus on fruit. You can see in the video that the canopies were kinda going a little crazy.

Petit Verdot and new training systems

We moved on to the Petit Verdot. Seth was getting ready to implement a new training system.

“So you can see we are leaving some of the suckers low this year. This stuff is all around 20 years old and you are getting older and older wood on the cordon. So to preserve the vineyard and make it healthier longer I’m going to slowly start switching to can pruning, lower that way there are less cuts, less possibility for disease, or at least that’s what they say.”
Seth Kitzke, July 2019

This system keeps fresh wood which encourages sap flow. Vines produce less as they get older. Seth wants to keep these elderly vines as happy as he can. At 20 years old they only do one color pass at veraison. The vines tend to regulate themselves keeping to 3 to 3.5 tons per acre. 3 tons is Seth’s sweet spot for quality.

How to manage Syrah planted East/West

We walk back to the Syrah in the back. This is trained differently. When his parents first put these vines in they were not really thinking from a wine making standpoint. This part of the vineyard is all trained east/west. That sounds crazy to anyone who knows much about planting vineyards. You typically run north/south to get the best of the sunlight. Here with the east/west vines, you get sun on one side of the vine all day. So, what do they do?

“We’ll hang more fruit on the shady side, less on the sun side.”
Seth Kitzke, July 2019

Seth notes that in hot areas in Washington, syrah can get rich, ripe, jammy and high in alcohol. He wants to taste the terroir, not just the fruit. So they pick separately the sunny side and the shady side, with again, more fruit on the shady side. This allows them to really keep the alcohol down. We later tried a syrah in the tasting room that Seth said was picked at 23 brix and came out at 13.3% abv. Still it was phenolically ripe with time to develop without the sugar spiking. Rather than pulling out this vineyard, they found a way to work with it that really works for them.

More to come!

Stick with us. We spent a ton of time talking with Seth out in the front vineyard and then in the tasting room where we tasted through Kitzke wines and Upsidedown Wines and talked about all sorts of interesting stuff. You can read about that here. One thing we spoke about was the Grenache that Seth was getting from the WeatherEye Vineyard up on Red Mountain. More on that soon.

Tasting with Seth Kitzke at Kitzke Cellars Candy Ridge Vineyard Washington — Tasting with Seth Kitzke at Kitzke Cellars

In the meantime, some links…

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When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with JB Neufeld

Mar 4, 2020

We’d been up early, catching sunrise in Naches Heights, just outside the city of Yakima. After a quick bite to eat we went to meet Justin Neufeld, to talk about his JB Neufeld wines. We met out at Gilbert Cellars where he is the winemaker. Soon we were to find that there was a connection there. He had grown up in this area.

Justin Neufeld’s journey to wine

Justin graduated from High School in Naches Washington, just outside of Yakima in 1998. Unlike many in this region, he did not come from an agriculture family. His father was a carpenter and his mother a nurse. Like many he was ready to get out of the valley. So he went on to U Dub (University of Washington or UW) to get a degree in molecular biology.

During his junior year, he got the wine bug. UW did not have a oenology or viticulture program at that time. So he did a bit of reading and researching on his own. This pull of viticulture was also the pull of home. Seattle is great, but it takes getting away from rural lands to appreciate them. He returned to the Yakima Valley.

Justin is currently the winemaker and manages the vineyards for Gilbert Cellars as his full time gig. Still, he always knew he wanted to have his own winery. He and his wife Brooke (the B in JB Neufeld) created and run JB Neufeld.

JB Neufeld and Cabernet Sauvignon

Justin didn’t start out planning to make Cabs. Early on he had a couple of Bordeaux wines. That gradually led to exploration into those blends and finding that he was intrigued by the Cabernet Sauvignon in them. Of course there are a lot of cabs in Washington, so he started tasting them. The Yakima Valley is diverse with multiple microclimates.

Justin began by doing vineyard designate Cabernet Sauvignons, working to show the differences in climate and site through the wines. Eventually he found he could craft a better wine by blending these sites. He would use Red Mountain AVA fruit as a base with it’s structure and ripe fruit. Then blend in cab from cooler areas that are softer with almost chalky tannins and more complexity. Then there is Red Willow fruit….

That’s a really unique site. It doesn’t fit that upper valley, cooler site profile of the chalkier tannin and floral notes. You know I’ve only worked with fruit now for 2 vintages, but so far it’s really unique, it takes on a more earthy minerality type character on the nose. There’s still some dark fruit for sure, but almost a similar structure to the Red Mountain. It’s pretty cool.
Justin Neufeld, July 2019

We second the love of Red Willow Vineyard fruit. It’s an amazing site. You can read more about our visit with Mike and Jon Sauer at their beautiful vineyard here. You can look forward to seeing more on our visit to this stunning vineyard run by some truly wonderful people.

New clones

Washington State started with Clone 8 and it continues to be the most widely grown clone in the state giving consistent fruit and yields. But there are other Cabernet Sauvignon clones making their way into Washington. Justin is pretty excited about some of these.

337 I’ve kinda been geeking out about. They’re still really young vines, but they have a different profile from clone 8, they are a little more red fruit. A little bit grittier of a tannin and rather than being vegetal when they are picked green they are more herbaceous. So I’m really excited.
Justin Neufeld, July 2019

I found an interesting piece by Shannon Dininny on goodfruit.com about Cabernet Sauvignon clones in Washington State. Most of the discussion was regarding yields and reliability, as opposed to flavor. None-the-less it’s an interesting discussion if you want to nerd out about that stuff. https://www.goodfruit.com/wine-grape-growers-weigh-in-on-cabernet-sauvignon-clones/

When it comes to the clone Justin is speaking of, clone 337, it came up from California. It is a clone that can make very extracted wines and lacks the typical herbal character when picked late. In a comparative tasting of clones from Bell Wine Cellars, they noted that 337 had the most lush profile when compared to clones 6,4 & 7. What does all this mean? It’s like Justin said, you can blend Cabernet from different clones and different sites to create a more complex wine.

Cabernet a “stubborn” grape

We spoke a bit about Cabernet and how it expresses terroir. Syrah and Pinot Noir are notably varieties that express location. They are wines that take on notes of their climate, soil and anything the winemaker throws at them. Kind of like a person with a full closet in tons of different styles.

Cabernet is noted for being, as Justin calls it “stubborn”. It does not show site as dramatically as Syrah or Pinot. With Syrah or Pinot Noir, when you pick, at what ripeness level, can also have a dramatic affect on the wine that you bottle. Cabernet on the other hand has a wider picking window that won’t show a great difference. It can also handle oak better without being overly influenced.

He noted a tendency to pick late to avoid any vegetal notes. Justin feels that causes you to lose complexity in the finished wine. He prefers to pick a little earlier.

I think, personally, my opinion is that a lot of Cabernet Sauvignons are pushed a little too far. They go to ripe and then a little past because they don’t want any vegetal character. I’ve found that when you take it to that next level, a lot of that wonderful complexity is sort of gone. So that’s what I’m trying to shoot for, timing wise, with picking at a point where there might be a little bit of vegetal. I’d rather it be herbaceous. You just get a lot more complexity in the nose and I think the terroir shines through a little bit more.
Justin Neufeld, July 2019

Soils and microflora

Parts of the Yakima Valley sit in the Missoula Flood Plains. This was the tremendous floods that spanned 2000 years after the last ice age. This flooded the Columbia Valley and down into Oregon. You can read more about these in our post with Rudy Marchesi at Montinore Estate. For more about how it affected the Yakima Valley see our conversation in the vineyard with David O’Reilly with Owen Roe.

The floods deposited soils and the levels in the Yakima Valley get to 1200 to 1300 feet. Above that are older soils. These soils affect the wine, but Justin is digging deeper. He is interest in the microflora. Microflora you hear about these days regarding your gut (kombucha and keeping the micro flora in your gut healthy). But you find them in soils also. Microflora are defined as: bacteria and microscopic algae and fungi, especially those living in a particular site or habitat.

Justin is fascinated by the microflora which has a symbiotic relationship with the plant. These microflora would also be affected of course by the composition of the soil. It’s yet another factor in “terroir” or the sense of place that you find in a wine.

Terroir and all it’s variables

We had discussed the difference in micro climates and soils, and it’s interesting to see all the variables. Red Mountain is hot and early. Bloom can happen here 2 or 3 weeks earlier than the rest of the Yakima Valley. This gives Justin more hang time on that fruit. He spoke with Fred Artz in Red Mountain and discussed the wind they get there. Wind can stress the vine and delay ripening. But if it’s a sustained wind it causes thicker skins, which give you more accumulated tannins. So wind is a significant part of the terroir in Red Mountain.

The full time gig at Gilbert

Being the head winemaker at Gilbert Cellars is Justin’s full time gig. He works with Assistant Winemaker/Oenologist Dusty Jenkins. Other than some extra help at harvest, between the two of them they do most everything regarding wine making.

Gilbert is primarily from estate fruit and they focus on Bordeaux varieties. They do have a wide variety of vineyards from Horse Heaven Hills AVA, Wahluke Slope AVA and the greater Columbia Valley AVA. The River Ridge Vineyard in Horse Heaven Hills AVA is the one with the new Cabernet Sauvignon clones Justin is really excited about.

In addition to Bordeaux style wines they are doing a Rhône white blend of Grenache Blanc and Viognier, called Vin du Vallee. They also do a Rhône red called Allobroges which is a GSM.

Gilbert is a busy spot in the Summer. They do a full concert series on the beautiful grounds that you see behind us in the videos. Music in the Vines celebrates it’s 10th season in 2020.

Getting ahold of some JB Neufeld wine

JB Neufeld can be found through a variety of distributors. You can check out their distributor page.

You can also order direct from their site and feel free to contact Brooke for more details!

It’s Taste Washington Wine Month, so we will be featuring some great Washington wineries and vineyards throughout March. So check back as we visit some other regions in the state! Here are a couple of links in case you want to dig a little deeper into Washington wines.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Red Mountain AVA Yakima Valley Washington

Jan 9, 2020

Red Mountain. If you have not heard of it, it perhaps conjures thoughts of red earth, or red trees covering a towering mountain. If you have heard of it, your brain defaults straight to Cabernet Sauvignon.

Red Mountain is an AVA in the Yakima Valley of Washington State. Here is a quick reminder on Washington State and it’s nested AVA’s.

Washington-AVA-Map-courtesy-of-Washington-State-wine

That large brownish area at the center and east is the Columbia Valley AVA. You see it, the Columbia Gorge and Walla Walla AVA’s dipping over into Oregon. The Yakima Valley AVA encompasses a strip there in the center that includes Rattlesnake Hills AVA, Snipes Mountain AVA and then on the eastern edge of the AVA, the tiny little triangle labeled as Red Mountain.

So to begin, Red Mountain AVA is nested inside the Yakima Valley AVA which is nested inside the Columbia Valley AVA, like Russian dolls.

Red Mountain – not really red – not really a mountain

Red Mountain AVA is on Red Mountain, but it is not the entire mountain. We are talking grapes here right? In order to catch the best sun, the vineyards are on the southwest facing slope of the mountain. And then there is the term mountain, which indicates a landmass above the earth surface that typically rises above 2000 feet. Red Mountain is actually part of the fold belt that makes up the Yakima Valley and at it’s highest point sits at 1410 feet. As to the red? There is cheatgrass that in the spring is reddish. The vineyards here sit between 540 and 1400 feet. The whole AVA only covers 4,040 acres, the smallest in Washington State.

The Yakima River flows by, moderating temperatures and keeping away the threat of frost. It also provides water for irrigation. With only 5 to 6 inches of rainfall annually, irrigation is necessary.

Vines at Hedges Family Estate in Yakima Valley's Red Mountain AVA — Vines at Hedges Family Estate in Yakima Valley’s Red Mountain AVA

Vineyard History

The first vineyard was planted here in 1975, by Jim Holmes and John Williams. These two met when their desks got pushed together working at General Electric. Some things are kismet. The vineyard that grew from this friendship was the Ciel de Cheval Vineyard. Just a few years before, the land on Red Mountain was nothing but sagebrush, grass, cougars and snakes. Power and irrigation had been brought in. They planted Cabernet Sauvignon, which is what the AVA has come to be known for, and the site is still revered for the quality of fruit it produces.

John & Jim started Kiona Vineyard & Winery, the first winery on Red Mountain. The Williams, John & Ann, built a house and opened Kiona’s tasting room. Their son Scott helped with planting the vineyard and eventually took over. Scott’s son JJ now works for Kiona.

The buzz for Red Mountain spread, first with other friends and co-workers jumping on the bandwagon. Today there are around 2,200 vineyard acres planted in this small AVA. There are over 15 wineries in the AVA with loads of others jostling to get in line for some of the prized fruit that comes from these vineyards.

What makes Red Mountain fruit so good?

Well, the soil here, has a decided lack of nutrients. It also has a high pH. This combines with the wind to cause small berries with thick skins which give you a greater skin to flesh ratio, as well as higher tannins. That gives you much more intense juice.

Wines from Red Mountain are some of the most well thought of and highly rated wines in Washington State.

For More information visit

More to come

We visited with Sarah Goedhart, winemaker at Hedges Family Estate, while we were in Red Mountain and look forward to bringing you our conversation with her soon. In the meantime, you can see a few photos and a bit of our conversation with her, as well as a bit on the Goedhart Family Syrah at the links below.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Renken CSW (photo credit RuBen Permel)

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

12 Days of Wine Day 12 – Syncline

Dec 24, 2019

Syncline

Let’s start with the name. Syncline…where does that come from? It was a new word to me. This winery & vineyard in located in the Columbia Gorge AVA. Vineyards are typically in scenic areas. Grapes like a view. But the Columbia Gorge? Come on…this is a pretty stellar backdrop.

So…back to the meaning of the word Syncline, from their website

syn-cline (‘sin-klin)
a trough of stratified rock in which
the beds dip toward each other from either side
http://synclinewine.com/our-history/

The Syncline winery is located on the Washington side of the Gorge on their Steep Ranch Vineyard. West of the property 300-foot cliffs rise up from the Columbia River…this is the Syncline, locally called the Coyote Wall Syncline.

The Columbia Gorge AVA

Views of the Gorge make this Washington Wine delicious — View of the Columbia River and the Gorge from Syncline’s Vineyard

The Columbia Gorge AVA was established in 2004 and is overwhelmingly known for white wines. This is the sweet spot where the rainy western part of the Gorge and the more arid Eastern Gorge meet. Syncline is on the South Eastern edge of the AVA.

Myself & James Mantone walking the rows at Syncline — James Mantone leading me through the Steep Ranch Vineyard

We spent a wonderful morning, talking with Winemaker, Vineyard Manager and Co-Founder of Syncline, James Mantone. Sitting in their beautiful gardens, we spoke about biodynamics which they are putting into practice here on this vineyard as well among other things before we walked the vineyard to take in the spectacular views at the top of the Syrah block.

But alas…in addition to the wines he makes from grapes grown on the estate vineyard, he also sources some fine grapes from elsewhere to make some beautiful wines. Such is the case with this Picpoul.

Picpoul

Picpoul is a favorite of mine. I have enjoyed Picpoul de Pinet which comes from the South of France right on the Mediterranean coast, as well as some lovely California Picpouls. You can read about those in Picpoul from Pinet and California and a seaside pairing. The name “Picpoul” means lip stinger in French. It is a zippy high acid wine.

Syncline 2018 Picpoul Boushey Vineyard Yakima Valley

We tasted this wine in the tasting room with James when we visited. Since I tend to think of Picpoul and ocean, this was intriguing to me. The grapes for this wine are sourced from Boushey Vineyards in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Boushey Vineyard sits at a high elevation (700-1200 feet) on southern slopes of the Rattlesnake Mountains. Dick Boushey is considered one of Washington States top wine grape growers.

Soil and the long ripening time at this vineyard allow for lots of complex flavors to develop.

The fruit was hand harvested and transported to the winery on October 2nd. It was whole cluster pressed and settled overnight. The juice was then racked to one of our stainless steel tanks. Fermentation completed with no malolactic fermentation. It was aged in stainless steel and bottledin March 2019. 300 cases produced • 12.4% Alc. By Vol.
http://synclinewine.com

The Tasting

Syncline 2018 Picpoul flavor profile

James tasting notes mention “Bright lemon verbena and key lime blossom” as well as “citrus zest and wet stones”. When we opened this wine, the first thing I smelled was chalk and dust followed my notes of tart citrus fruit. It opened further with some floral notes and then lemon zest and yes wet stones. This wine was completely enjoyable on it’s own.

The Pairings

Herbed goat cheese with the Syncline 2018 Picpoul from Boushey Vineyard

We paired this wine with herbed goat cheese and olive oil on bread to start. The pairing sweetened the cheese and brightened the wine and was kind of magical.

Then we went to a classic Picpoul pairing of shellfish. We had mussels in garlic and butter dusted with lemon zest. Which is indeed a perfect pairing with this wine. Often you think of oysters with Picpoul and somehow those didn’t hit me as the right pairing. Perhaps it was me thinking of the photos I had recently seen of the hoarfrost on the vines in the Yakima Valley. None-the-less this wine wanted a warmer version of shellfish and these mussels did the trick, warm with savory flavors and a bit of brightness, they snuggled with the wine and brightened a chilly evening.

Visit them….

I totally told you all about the vineyard at Syncline, but I skipped right over the stunning gardens and grounds at their winery and tasting room. Here…take a look.

Syncline winery entrance
The outdoor tasting bar at the Syncline Winery
Beautiful Foudre that was being refinished for wine at Syncline
The garden at the Syncline tasting room in Washington’s Columbia Gorge AVA
Perfect spot for a summer tasting
Syncline Wine’s tasting garden in the Columbia Gorge AVA
Syncline Wine’s tasting garden in the Columbia Gorge AVA
Syncline Wine’s tasting garden in the Columbia Gorge AVA
Syncline Wine’s tasting garden in the Columbia Gorge AVA

Head up there in the summer, on a weekend. Drive the Gorgeous Gorge and then stop for a tasting and to enjoy the garden.

That’s a wrap!

All the unwrapping is complete on our 12 Days of Wine Celebration. Hopefully you enjoyed the journey and perhaps have a few wines to search for, or a vacation to plan to take in some of these places.

We wish you all a very happy holiday and a wonderful New Year. Here’s to a spectacular 2020!

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

12 days of Wine 2019 – Day 1 Hedges Family Estate

Dec 13, 2019

We kick off our 12 days of wine this season with a wine from Red Mountain Washington from the Hedges Family Estate. We had a wonderful visit with Sarah Hedges Goedhart this summer and after a lengthy tasting through many of their wines we left with a bottle of this wine.

Hedges Family Estate the garden with the fountain Red Mountain Yakima Valley Washington

Syrah on Red Mountain

Yes I know. If you know Red Mountain, you immediately think cabernet sauvignon. Don’t get me wrong, the cab is good here, but I love syrah and the syrah here is pretty amazing. You will get lush bold dark fruit and a distinctive minerality.

When Sarah & her husband Brent started Goedhart Family Wines in 2006 they wanted a singular focus. That focus was on syrah from Bel’ Villa Vineyard. They blend both early and late fruit to get a balance. This gives you bright red fruit notes and acid from the earlier picked fruit and lusher darker fuller notes from the later picked fruit.

Bel’Villa Vineyard

Planted in 1997 this vineyard sits above the Hedges Estate vineyard. It is one of the highest vineyards on Red Mountain. This is the Joseph Phelps clone on it’s own rootstock and the vineyard sits at 959 feet in elevation.

Here is a link to their vineyard map. Click on the top right vineyard section to find the block for this wine. (It’s a pretty cool map)

https://www.hedgesfamilyestate.com/the-land

2013 Goedhart Family Red Mountain Syrah from the Bel’ Villa Vineyard

This wine is 100% Syrah from the Bel’ Villa Vineyard on Red Mountain. Goedhart is Sarah’s married name.

Their harvest notes for 2013

Harvest Notes: 2013 was another excellent vintage in Washington State, made slightly unusual by 80 plus temperatures in April and 90 plus temperatures in May. This uncommon early season heat caused bud break and growth to be early and rapid, exceeding average by about ten days. An average summer meant veraison and harvest began early, which led to ripe fruit throughout the state. Once again, “average” in Washington is everyone else’s “great”.
http://hedgesfamilyestate.orderport.net/product-details/0138/2013-Goedhart-Family-Red-Mountain-Syrah

Details on the making of this wine

destemmed
partially crushed into stainless steel fermenters
punched down three times per day
pressed to barrels
malo-lactic fermentation
racked off lees
100% barrel aged for 11 months in 26% new American & French oak.
Abv sits at 13.4%
they made 504 cases of this wine.
SRP $29.00

2013 Goedhart Family Red Mountain Syrah Bel Villa Vineyard from the Hedges Family Estate

Tasting notes

This wine is a rich dark garnet with a bit of a rim (this is a 2013 after all). It started with full fruit then backed off as it opened. I did get the dried blueberries and cherries they mentioned (side note, dried blueberries have a slight macha note to them, who knew?). Notes of mocha, cherry and orange peel. It does have a whiff of vanilla and spice from the oak.

Pairing

We had some bleu cheese and gouda (always a good bet with a big red). We laid out dried blue berries and cherries, plus some other cherries (cooked). Michael made a chili with beef, turkey and bison (adding game to pair with the wine.) We also did some adorable little potato stacks with butter, thyme and parmesean that baked in the oven and were the perfect little flavor bombs to pair with the wine.

More on Red Mountain

We visited with Sarah last July and you can catch a bit of our visit in our post The Scenic Route Flash Tour 2019 Part 5 One Day 3 Washington AVA’s

You can also visit the Red Mountain AVA site for details on the area.

11 more days!

And we’re off! Day 1 for 2019 is in the books…on to Day 2! Join us tomorrow for the reveal of our 2nd wine for our 12 days of Wine!

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Washington Wine

Black cherry ice cream Sandwiches with espresso and cocoa cookie a perfect pairing with Co Dinn Syrah

Black cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches with cocoa and espresso cookie

Time: 40 Minutes waiting time 11 hours

Yield: 6 people

What to Pair?

Co Dinn 2015 Roskamp Vineyard Block 2 Syrah

Ingredients

Directions

Black cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches with cocoa and espresso cookies

1 ¼ cups flour (plus more for rolling)

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp baking powder

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Watch our quick video for the highlights.

½ cup unsalted butter softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon espresso powder

1 egg

Black Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches

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