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Wine and the Stay Home and Swipe-Right Movement

Wine and the Stay Home and Swipe-Right Movement

My mom told me today that she read that young people aren’t going out as much any more because everything, even dates, come right to your home. It’s the swipe culture. See, my mom is a champion of both of her daughters’ dating lives, hoping that her work may result in us one day settling down. She sends my sister and I the latest New York Times’ social commentary about what’s happening in the…

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Tasting in Valladolid, Spain April 1, 2016

Tasting in Valladolid, Spain April 1, 2016

The suitcases came rolling out, plopping onto the baggage carrousel, disheveled, having just barely survived a trip across the Atlantic, some obviously more manhandled than others. Sad, but necessary, reminders of coach travel. Of all the times I’d crossed the Pond, I had never lost a piece of luggage to Lost Luggage purgatory. I had a sneaking suspicion that this time I would not be so lucky. My…

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Keeping My Mind Occupied, One Wine At A Time

Keeping My Mind Occupied, One Wine At A Time

Upon hearing of my predicament, a male friend of mine said, “Oh, we’ll get you back out there, don’t worry.” I latched onto his enthusiasm immediately and thought I’d ride the wave of opportunity right into the arms of a new beau. This was odd though. I’d always shunned long-term relationships and the thought of marriage. I was the kid who went to France alone when she was 15, then to Barcelona…

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Falling Out of Love, Moving On With Wine

Falling Out of Love, Moving On With Wine

I was recently heartbroken. Like, heart.broken. And by a man no less. Not by a cellared Barolo that turned out to be corked or a life-long family pet that passed. But by the man who I thought was really The One. I opened the door to the guest room to greet him on Christmas Eve morning and he had gone. Just. like. that. Four years of frustration, despair, sorrow, and relief rushed out all at once.…

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The Struggle Is Real: A Review of First Episode of Esquire TV's "Uncorked"

The Struggle Is Real: A Review of First Episode of Esquire TV’s “Uncorked”

I am seeing more and more what I like to call the slow democratization of wine. Thomas Friedman said the world is flat because a tech guy in India can do data processing for a company in California. I say the world is flat because I can get all kinds of wine by the glass at my local wine bar. Bartenders and servers are now as likely to be knowledgeable of the wine list as the sourcing of the…

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We were lost, lost in wine country between two small mountains in the D.O. Rías Baixas sub-zone of Ribeira do Ulla. We rounded a bend and saw a sign of life: an exuberant young man with a straw hat coming excitedly toward us. It appeared we had found Adegas Castro Brey.

The young man embraced us and introduced us to his colleague, Ana. We’ve been working with Ana for over three years on bringing the local albariño grape to a wider audience. In typical Spanish winemaking tradition, the winery remains in the hands of the family. Ana is directly related to the original founder, Isabel Becerra while the young man, commercial director and fancy-packaging extraordinaire, Ramón Blanco is married to a cousin of the offspring of the progenitor.

Walking in the vineyards of Adegas Castro Brey

Castro Brey is tucked into the folds of the hills between Camanzo and Amosa next to the hamlet Vila de Cruces, inhabitants 20, about 27 km southeast of Santiago de Compostela. The Río Ulla meanders through the zone creating a nearly sub tropical micro climate on its way to empty into the Atlantic in the upper Rías Baixas. Rías Baixas means lower estuaries and in this picturesque area along the coast, dozens of inlets can be found where sweet water swirls with salt water to make a bivalve mollusc-lover’s paradise. Well-heeled Gallegos and adventuring Madrileños feast on steamed, sauced and fried seafood all to be washed down by one thing: albariño.

It is said that this northwest corner of Spain is the birthplace of albariño though some still contend that it is a noble grape brought over from Germany by monks on their camino to Santiago de Compostela. That story is quite lovely, but there are plantings in Galicia of albariño that date back 300 years and DNA testing has concluded that there is no genetic link to riesling.

Descending toward the creek running through the property. A very hot day!

Albariño is a thick-skinned grape with tightly-packed bunches. The high humidity in Galicia make its cultivation tricky. If the vines were not lifted off the ground on statuesque granite pillars called emparrados, they would succumb to the moisture and be unable to aerate their bunches.

The five sub-zones of Galicia produce five distinct expressions of albariño. The most inland, Condado do Tea “Tea County” vinifies to what could be considered a Spanish viognier because of its oily texture and soft stone fruit aromas. The microclimate here is hot and dry around the Tea river and the temperature in the summer easily reaches 104°F. Whereas the grape grown right on the Atlantic coast in the Val de Salnés “Silent Valley” has strong notes of minerality and acidity being grown on granite and rock.

Castro Brey belongs to the Ulla do Ribeira sub-region which is noted for its alluvial soils. But, Ramón reminds us, the Castro Brey plots are an unusual mix of alluvial top soil on highly acidic granite and quartz. The microclimate is hot but with strong breezes through the valley, regulating the heat that the vineyards’ grapes absorb.  This produces a wine that is juicy yet structured, fruit-forward with traces of minerality.

Looking through the valley in Ulla de Ribera

Albariño is one of the few Spanish cultivars that is grown, vinified and bottled as a single varietal. Chablis has chardonnary, Sancerre the sauvignon blanc and Rías Baixas has albariño. Ramón escorts us through the vineyards, traversing the countryside as he chats on happily about the Castro Brey philosophy. He is an architect by day and winemaker by post-siesta and night. His contribution is the creative packaging changes that Castro Brey has had to endure over the years. They were the first Galician winery to cover a bottle with specialty plastic to make the Nice To Meet You range.

In addition to still wines, Castro Brey also is also the smallest commercial supplier of Spanish aguardiente, firing the copper kiln to produce about 100L per year of the mildest, highest quality “fire water” we’ve ever tasted. It was fire water that did not burn. They produce three versions: the original clear distilled orujo, the fluorescent hierbas made with fresh herbs and the café de liquor made with beans imported from a friend in Jamaica and a light dressing of homemade caramel syrup. The bottles and boxes were designed by Ramón and if you turn the three bottles upside down, each sketch tells the story of the meeting, greeting and eventual nuptials of Ramón and his wife.

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Clear, original aguaardiente, hierbas de aquaardiente, and cafe de orujo

Classic Atlantic albariño at Adegas Castro Brey in inland Ulla sub-zone, D.O. Rias Baixas

View from Attis looking toward the Atlantic

View from Losada winery, Cacabelos, D.O. Bierzo

At Bodegas Vinos Guerra in the D.O. Bierzo

Vineyards emparrados in Ulla, inland Rias Baixas. Cool, Atlantic albariños with striking minerality character. If the vines aren;t kept off the ground the humid air the creeps along hte ground wiould smolder the vines. Air circulation is key here.

Another shot of vineyards emparrados at Adegas Castro Brey in Ulla, Rias Baixas, Galicia in NW Spain

Walking through vineyards at Adegas Castro Brey with commercial director and some-time architect Ramón Blanco Lobeto.

Tasting through Nice To Meet You vertical under the arbor at Adegas Castro Brey, Ulla, Rias Baixas, Galicia

Caught between a Quartz Rock and a Hard Granite Place We were lost, lost in wine country between two small mountains in the D.O. Rías Baixas sub-zone of Ribeira do Ulla. 

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By Saturday morning at 10 a.m. the temperature had reached 90° in Tournon-sur-Rhône. In our hot stupor we fumbled around looking for iced coffee and something substantial to eat. Croissants were located and we scooted down the road to Mauves in less than five minutes to meet with Domaine Coursodon.

Mauves is a small town with one church, one bar, one boulangerie and one charcuterie shop. The wine from the area had been called Vins de Mauves until the Jesuits changed the name to the current Saint-Joseph in the 17th century. The syrah produced here is opulent, spicy and arguably more elegant than its inky neighbor Cornas. This AOC, established in 1956, is a long, narrow stretch of 1,082 hectares that connects Saint-Péray and Cornas to the south with Condrieu and Côte-Rôtie in the north.

Noemi Coursodon could only offer us a taste of their St.-Joseph Silice as they were sold out of everything else. Her brother Jérome is winemaker. She showed us the steep granitic slopes above Mauves where they pick their 50+ years grapes. Their Silice was deep garnet with notes of dark berries and plum and the telltale signs of a terroir-driven syrah: peppery aromatics, power and elegance; very dry. We chatted about her upcoming nuptials for which she was quite nervous. It was looking more and more like the uncharacteristically early harvest could mean that the winery was in full production mode at the same time she needed it for the reception. I wished her all the best as she sent us on our way to Domaine Bernard Gripa.

¨Ésta es una peña!¨Miguel said as we drove in. A peña is an old, usually abandoned, locale in the villages in Spain where young people go after hours to drink and socialize for free. Alas Monsieur Bernard´s wines were not free. In fact, they were more expensive than the other places we visited. As we approached, three finely dressed men in brightly colored salmon and blue pressed trousers were arranging cases of Gripa wine in a car trunk. They were from Paris, Belgium and the south of France, respectively. One said that I must try the Saint-Péray Les Figuiers. I took note.

Monsieur Gripa, a soft-spoken man, could finally inquire as to our presence when the last salmon trouser man shuffled out. Miguel was already poking around in places where he shouldn´t, imposing camera in tow with its wide strap slapping about. We made the international wine tasting gesture and Gripa escorted us downstairs, not yet sure about Miguel. With ever step, the temperature decreased 3°. Ten paces later we stepped into the cool dampness of serious old-school winemaking. The light was dim, the smell musty and the atmosphere damp.

Monsieur Gripa and I

Gripa peered at us from behind his thick glasses now less cautious and more entertained. I could tell we were not his usual clientele. Miguel certainly was not I thought, as camera flashes suddenly ricocheted from the wet stony walls. I could hear him cursing himself ´No flash! No flash!´as he struggled with the len´s settings. Meanwhile, back at the barrique, Gripa slides me a glass. There were giant thumb prints and stains in the glass that could only have come from a Parisian in bright trousers. It did not matter. Gripa tasted with me, which I always appreciate. He scribbled figures on the back of my tasting notes. 60,000 bottles are produced annually. The family has farmed the land for six generations, but only vinified their own wine since 1974. The head winemaker is now his son, Fabrice.

The Photographer

Sure enough, I walked away with the Saint Péray and enjoyed it over lunch with country pate and salmon quiche. It had a racy acidity to match the wide, round ripe stone fruit and plenty of granitic minerality to go around. Very rich and full-bodied. A serious find from a man in serious pink pants. I too would have filled my trunk with this wine. Later that night we had reservations at Comako restaurant in Tournon. We walked in and sure enough Monsieur Gripa was there just sitting down to eat with his wife. We told the server that we´d drink what he´s having. It was a Domaine des Remizières Cuvee Christophe White (Crozes-Hermitage), rich and viscous, high alcohol and acid with huge stone fruit and melon.

There is a very different culture in Spain surrounding winemaking than in the northern Rhône. Excluding the small, traditional winemakers in Spain, the Spanish wineries strive to be big and glamorous and sell relatively inexpensive wine (less than €8 ex-cellar). Here in this corner of the world, the wineries were peñas and you´d be hard-pressed to find a bottle of wine for less than €18 ex-cellar.

So where are all the Bernard Gripas of the world? I guess you really have to go looking for them. And bring a glass.

Tasted at Vineum, Tain l’Hermitage on August 8, 2015: 

Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné 2011 Grenache Blanc and Clairette (Chateauneuf-du-Pape) 14.5% abv. Thick legs and a medium lemon color. Bouquet of lemon, oak, soft honeydew with vanilla ice cream. On the palate it is full bodied with medium plus acidity, waxy, textured like a finely woven silk scarf.

Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné 2013 Domaine de Grands Amandiers Viognier (Condrieu) 14% abv is described by Guillaume as fresh, to be enjoyed young (less than two years) and with goat cheese. It was vinified in stainless steel and been untouched by oak. This is obviously a more modern winemaking style employed to highlight the freshness and roundness of the viognier fruit. It is barely a medium yellow with orange hues. At first whiff it smells oddly like a college dorm room with strong floral notes of dandelion and sticky marijuana. There is also some savory richness that I could only describe as duck or guinea fowl fat. Too much country pate in the air perhaps. There as an even minerality throughout the wine and a medium acidity. Enters sweet and smooth and coats the palate.

Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné 2012 Le Chavalier de Sterimberg Marsanne and Roussanne (Hermitage) 13.5% abv can be drunk young but will keep for 10 years and over time will develop notes of nuts and honey. The wine was vinified in cement and clarified with egg before it spent eight months in 15% new oak and 85% second cycle barrels and then goes through élevage. It is a medium yellow color with green glints. Bouquet is ripe yellow and orange citrus, peach with a lot of structure and minerality. Acidity is medium.

Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné 2007 Domaine Raymond Roure Syrah (Croze-Hermitage) 13% abv hilly part of Crozes. Medium garnet with with orange glints. Brick. Bouquet of berry, kernel, cranberry, cinnamon, warm sweet baking spices and slight vegetal like tinned tomatoes. On the palate cherry and pomegranate. 12 months in oak. Will improve over 10 years. Only 3.5 hectares of vines between 40-60 years old on very steep granitic south facing slope. Purchased from Roure family in 1996. Monsieur Roure was the plots prolific winemaker for many years and so Jaboulet, upon purchasing the plot decided not to mess with a good thing and retained the original name.

Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné 2010 Domaine de la Croix du Vigne Syrah (Saint-Joseph) 13.5% abv is a deep ruby with dark berry, savoury, kernel, baking spices, oregano, crackling BBQ sauce, skewers with fat drippings into open flame, opulent and lush. On the palate wine is high acid with sweet velvety tannins.

Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné 2010 Domaine des Pierrelles Syrah [(Côte-Rôtie, (Côte Blonde)] 13.5% is a medium garnet syrah so elegant in its weight and finesse that it reminded me more of a Sonoma Pinot. There was red cherry fruit tightly interwoven with kirsch, fresh prune, tinned tomatoes, fatty protein, savory spice and fire and campfire smoke.

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Monsieur Gripa and I

Savory Syrah and Weighty Whites in Hermitage, St.-Joseph, Cornas and St.-Péray By Saturday morning at 10 a.m. the temperature had reached 90° in Tournon-sur-Rhône. In our hot stupor we fumbled around looking for iced coffee and something substantial to eat.

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It would not be a European getaway without an airport under construction, a hot walk across the tarmac and a surprise extra baggage charge from a “low-cost” airliner. And yet our trip down the northern Rhône Valley had to have some beginning, so hot and now over budget it would be it.

As most young couples depart for sandy beaches or to sweat the night away dancing in clubs, Miguel dutifully loaded our camera while I printed off PDFs of Rhône crus and headed to the stifling heat of a landlocked valley. Even the vignerons were mostly out of town as I discovered when trying to book cave visits. We checked into our first Airbnb rental in Condrieu and greeted our hosts, a lovely middle-aged French couple  that seemed more accustomed to having a slightly older, French crowd stay in their flat. “So, how many other Americans and Spanish have you hosted?” I asked inquisitively. She gave a polite pause and eyed her husband to see if he might jog her memory. “One American, maybe, and no, no Spanish.” “That’s right! Normally we go to the beach!” my Spaniard quipped.

We spent our first day on a wild goose chase looking for viognier. We found it first in its raw, unfermented form hanging on the vines above Condrieu where the vines enjoy granitic (high acidity) and arzelle (stone fruit-forwardness) soils. The gradient is extremely steep, reaching 60° in some places. We were just 10 km south of the medieval town of Vienne and a 40-minute drive from downtown Lyon. From here we could see the river Rhone winding down toward Valence and on to Arles where it would empty into the Med.

By 8 p.m. the sun was nearly down and we were scrambling to find a place to eat.  We found the only still-open possibility in a bar of questionable business practices. Several men came to greet others sitting on the terrace before passing around the back, returning minutes later and departing. Eyes burned into me as I went inside asking which viognier they had by the glass. She offered something out of box. Miguel, seeking a beer with lemon (beer on tap with a splash of lemon Kas or Fanta or Spanish caña con limón), was handed a bottle of beer, a bottle of Orangina and a glass. Bottoms up!

Our first stop the next day was to Domaine Yves Cuilleron in Chavanay, recommended and organized by our Airbnb friends in Condrieu. We were invited to taste by Axel, a fresh-faced graduate who had recently been to Hong Kong and knew the proprietors of Bodegas Resalte in Peñafiel. Though I struggled to make the connection between the two facts because he kept pouring these outstanding incarnations of the viognier and marsanne grapes that were causing me to lose my mind. The 2014 “La Petite Cote” was pale yellow viognier with some yellowing from nine months in oak. Showed notes of light oak, glycerol, very expressive, honeydew melon, and peach.

AOC Saint-Joseph 2014 “Le Lombard” 13% abv was nine months in oak, marsanne 100%, dried white flowers, and waxy with tangy stone fruit (white peach) and bitter almond on the palate. The AOC Saint-Joseph 2014 rousanne “Saint Pierre”  glycerol, thick tears, dried potpourri, not fruit forward, very dry. Crozes-Hermitage is a new cuvee for them this year. It is their first white Crozes. “Les Rousses” is more perfumed than above with more yellow hints and medium acidity.The 2013 “Les Chaillets”  13.5% was a rich yellow with gold glints, an aroma of fresh pineapple with macerated apples, and candied lemon peel palate. The 2011 “Vertige”, from a single plot in Vernon, spent 18 months in oak, and had vegetal aromas layered with fresh stone fruit, paint, turpentine, day lilies, and a complex, rich, and powerful texture with a long finish that included damp straw/hay.

Next we tried the 2014 “Ayguets” Doux 13% abv made from botrytized grapes and smelled of orange peel and honey. Three passes through the vineyard take place. It was same style as a Sauternes but more floral and lots of wet straw. 2012 ripa sinistra from the IGP Collines Rhodaniennes is a local wine that the Romans pulled out ages ago. They are hoping that in 10 years or so they can develop their own AOC. 18 months in oak with notes of blueberry, boysenberry, toast, and kernel with silky tannins though very dry.

For lunch we drove back up the D386 to Bistrot de Serine in Ampuis, the heart of Côte-Rôtie and wilted under the shaded terraces next to Chapoutier and Guigal plots. Here you eat local with the locals but with some worldly combinations like a citrus ceviche of local whitefish. Highly recommended. A fine wine list and by-the-glass selection.

For Condrieu, the 2015 vintage will be hot like 2003, but quantity is low and there is more concentration. In 1970 the Condrieu AOC was close to dying out and had to be built up again. AOC currently has 178 hectares of vineyard planted.

Tomorrow more and better, as they say in Spain. And, we are going to Hermitage to Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné and on to Airbnb adventures in Cornas and Saint-Peray.

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Route through the Northern Rhône Valley It would not be a European getaway without an airport under construction, a hot walk across the tarmac and a surprise extra baggage charge from a "low-cost" airliner.

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It's Hot And We're Tasting Wines

It’s Hot And We’re Tasting Wines

Spring is trade fair season when many, many new wines are combed through and discovered. Entering summer, the sifting begins. Samples are catalogued and orders are placed to ready for the long road into fall when the majority of retail wine sales happen. We have to find a way to pass the time in this heat. We started with some samples of solera wines this morning. We discovered Pérez Barquero at…

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It has been hard to keep my head on straight lately. I’ve been a blocked blogger, avoiding my WordPress account. It remains unclear whether I live in Portland or Valladolid and seems more and more that time will have to be carefully split between both. It also remains unclear if I am a wine importer or a student of wine. My studies for WSET Level 4 are starting in August and my first Davis Winemaking Certificate class will begin in September. I have also initiated a series of video tastings that we’ll broadcast across our small companies’ platforms both in Europe and the U.S. Yikes.

So, I took a step away from the commitment pressure cooker and accepted a quick trip up to Bordeaux for Vinexpo. If you are even a semi-serious student of wine, your first trip to Bordeaux is like traveling to Mecca. Suddenly all the villages that appeared on one side or another of flashcards are jumping off denizens tongues like eating a puffed gourgères, consuming consonants and caressing vowels as they go. You think you know the grape makeup of a bottle of Sauternes until you hear it described by a Sauternais winemaker and then you go did he say sauvignon blanc or its time for lunch? Oh, moos-koo-de, and here I always thought it was mus-ka-tel.

Our guide at Château Filhot told us that none of the wineries in Sauternes were built with subterranean cellars because of the sandy soils. In addition, to protect the fermenting and aging wines from overheating in the late-afternoon sun, the walls on the west side of Sauternes’ wineries are built thicker than the east-facing walls. The harvest consists of up to six passes through the vineyard when trained workers skillfully comb through bunches looking for the perfectly botrytised grapes. An average harvest will only yield 10-20 hectoliters making Sauternes a very costly beverage before it even starts fermenting. I picked up two 375 ml 2009s; one for drinking with my Dad the next time I see him and when to cellar.

We stayed in a village 40 miles south of Bordeaux called Villandraut, near Bazas. It was typically French picturesque, enough to make Amelie swoon. I went running early the first morning past the castle in anticipation of the butter croissants and canelets I’d be ingesting uncontrollably. I stepped out and realized through the heavy humid air why grapes can grow botrytis here, in the heart of Sauternes wine country. It also smelled quite different than Spain; less bleach and sandalwood cologne, more rosewater and dairy -all that butter for my croissants.

There are striking resemblances between a people and their wines. I noticed this immediately after crossing over the border into France. These are generalizations of course, and putting diplomacy aside, Spanish wines tend to be heavy handed with bold strokes of fruit and oak, a reflection of their strong will and animated character. I found the French wines I tasted to be more perfumed with finesse and elegance and most of the wine happening in the nose rather than on the palate. Maybe this is why Vega Sicilia has had so much success in incorporating a bit of cabernet sauvignon into its tempranillo blends and why now Alvaro Palacios’ perfumed wines are dominating wine lists across the U.S.

Their temples to wine, the châteaux, are legendary and aristocratic. Miguel suggested we try to sneak into the Château Margaux/Wine Spectator opening of a new wing of the winery. Thankfully I had left my waiter’s black and whites at home. So we drove on as the black-tie crowd arrived. It was too late to make any winery visits, so we admired the famed houses as we wound around Cantenac and Pauillac.

A few short notes…

Domaine Jean-Claude Courtault from the parishes in and around Chablis: Lignorelles, Beines, Fyé and Villy. Possess 18 hectares in total and pick 6,000-7,000 plants per hectare. Older vines avg. age 35-years-old. Petit Chablis 2014 barrel sample. Sampled with hand-shucked oysters. Pale lemon color. Fresh, high minerality.

Chablis Les Venerables 2010. Medium lemon color. Straw, meadow, alfalfa on the nose.

Manoir du Capucin Lovely proprietor Chloé Bayon allowed to taste through her selections. She is a member of the Femmes et Vins de Bourgonge orgnazition that seems to seek to promote female winemakers in the region. She was equal parts charm and ambition and eager to talk about her climats Clos de la Maison and Aux Morlays. Mâcon Solutré Pouilly “Délices” 2014 was fresh, lots of juicy white stone fruit, easy drinking, €5-€10. Pouilly Fuissé “Sensations” 2014 shows nice richness, viscosity and green apple and unripe melon on the palate. Medium acidity. Pouilly Fuissé Aux Morlays 2012 showed roundness, rich complexity and structure, open, straw, caramel, rose, and apricot on the nose and palate.

Brune el Blonde de Vidal-Fleury (Côte-Rôtie) 2010 showed black cherry, dried oregano and a smattering of savory notes like smoked meats.

Cave de Tain L’Hermitage La Grace (Croze-Hermitage) 2013 from winemaker Murielle Chardin-Frouin showed big and strong on the nose of crushed red flower petals, more savory and a bit of stinkiness (SO2 blow off?)

Rocca Maura Terra Encestra (Lirac) 2012 by winemaker Emmanuelle Daverat Perkins showed some oak with vanilla notes on the nose, a deep purple color, warm, but soft, round tannin. Reminded me of a Priorat.

Rocca Maura Terra Encestra (Lirac) 2013 showed more heat than warmth, wonderful smokiness and smoked charcuterie.

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House in Villandraut

Exterior of house in village of Villandraut

Remains of lunch? In Villandraut

Medieval castle in Villandraut

Bordeaux 2015

Wine tree, Vinexpo, Bordeaux 2015

Wine tasting, Vinexpo, Bordeaux 2015

Wine tasting, Vinexpo, Bordeaux 2015

Miguel & I in Sauternes

Sauternes on a steamy, early-summer morning

New purchases (wink, wink) @ Chateau Filhot, Sauternes

With our wonderful guide at Chateau Filhot, Sauternes

Perfect French salad with raw egg dressing

Killing it

Our jamón de bellota at Taste of London 2015 (not Bordeaux but the same week¡)

What I Learned at Vinexpo in Bordeaux It has been hard to keep my head on straight lately. I've been a blocked blogger, avoiding my Wordpress account.

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Diary of a Wine Importer, Chapter 1

Diary of a Wine Importer, Chapter 1

So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Starting a new wine importing business is much like going to the gynecologist. You thrust your wines out there in front of someone you don’t know, you shudder silently while they take their samples and then you wait, nervously, for what feels like years to get the results. They finally call or respond to your email to say that while they liked your…

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Washington State wines are killing it right now. If you want to talk about a single geographical area that can offer such disparate wines as a powerhouse cabernet sauvignon and a delicate chardonnay, this is it.

A few weeks ago I went to Taste Washington, the biggest gathering of Washington wineries and winemakers anywhere in the world. And this past Saturday I escaped up to Woodinville, just a 30-minute drive from downtown Seattle. Most of the state’s grapes are grown on the other side of the Cascade Mountains and some are trucked back west for winemaking.

Chateau Ste. Michelle

These operations coupled with the satellite tasting rooms of wineries in the eastern or southern part of the state make Woodinville a top destination for bridal shower debauchery. You’ll see more plaid, facial hair and dark wood than in a Portland coffee house. It is not exactly the day clubbing and chauffeured town car experience like in Napa where you feel like you’ve stumbled onto the set of a Town & Country shoot.  There it can be intimidating to ask questions. In Washington, the winemakers are more accesible, often stopping by the tasting rooms at midday to pour wine and answer questions. It must be the surrounding evergreen forests attracting people who like clean air and avoid pretense.

But don’t mistake that the wines aren’t serious -they are. The Columbia Gorge, Yakima Valley, Tri-Cities, Walla Walla Valley and parts of the Cascade Valley fall right on the 46° north latitude, which also crosses over Bordeaux. The winemakers in these areas feel a certain sense of responsibility for this shared parallel. It is not by accident that their best known creations are Bordeaux blends. Some wineries even specialize in Right Bank (merlot dominated) or Left Bank (cabernet sauvignon dominated).

But The fire and ice geological makeup leaves a distinctively Washington mark on the blends. Tasting room associates are well versed in the Missoula Floods phenomenon. In this catastrophic event, glacier barriers burst and water came barreling through the Washington plains leaving layers of glacial silt. Silt is the ideal particle size to regulate water supply at the rootstock level. The regulation tends to work in tandem with the hot, dry Washington summers that taper off quickly starting in September.

Mark Ryan Winery, Woodinville

Chateau Ste. Michelle was the first to set up shop in 1976 when Woodinville was still just a logging and farming community. The Chateau is today the biggest producer of riesling and their wine shop includes a whole section devoted strictly to this varietal.

Just east of the Chateau, down NE 145th St., you’ll find the Hollywood Winery District. Between this and theWarehouse Winery District, there is a higher concentration of tasting rooms than nearly any other place in the country. The Hollywood area is made up of upscale outdoor cottage-style outlets with over 40 tasting rooms and eateries. The Warehouse District is more industrial, but you can try several wineries from different AVAs in one go. There are over 100 tasting experiences in the area.

And, all around there are spots to stop, pull over and pick lavender, try great food, see goats, pick up fresh produce or take a shot of whiskey. There are several spirits distilleries in the neighborhood.

Wines Tasted:

Woodward Cannon Washington State Chardonnay (Walla Walla AVA) – Lemon curd, spice, toasted hazelnut, restrained oak, though still quite present

Mark Ryan Winery Long Haul – Whoa! What! Plush blackberry and blue fruit. Toasty nuts and oak; silky and vibrant. Rising star Washington winemaker. Also look for The Dissident (64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot), Lonely Heart (90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot), Wild Eyed (100% Syrah), Viognier (100% Viognier), and Crazy Mary (79% Mourvedre, 21% Syrah). Consistently scores in the mid 90s and had two Triumph motorbikes inside the tasting room. Need I say more?

Fidélitas 2012 Red Mountain Merlot– Slate, ripe tannin, white pepper, chewy cherry candy, medium acidity, earth

Fidélitas 2011 Champoux Vineyard Horse Heaven Hills Merlot- colder vintage so more acidity than previous, great structure, rich cassis, less earth than above, very fragrant, medium acidity, no slate, cherry color with bright ruby rim

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Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Breakfast!

Midnight snack @ Alibia Room, lower Pike Place Market. Wood-fired oven = lifesaver.

Woodinville Hollywood Winery District

Woodinville Hollywood Winery District

Woodinville Hollywood Winery District

Woodinville Hollywood Winery District

Woodinville Hollywood Winery District

Woodinville Hollywood Winery District

Woodinville Hollywood Winery District

Woodinville Hollywood Winery District

Mark Ryan Winery, Woodinville

Mark Ryan Winery, Woodinville

Mark Ryan Winery, Woodinville

Mark Ryan Winery, Woodinville

Mark Ryan Winery, Woodinville

Mark Ryan Winery, Woodinville

Mark Ryan Winery, Woodinville

Fidélitas tasting room, Woodinville Hollywood District

Fidélitas tasting room, Woodinville Hollywood District

Fidélitas tasting room, Woodinville Hollywood District

Fidélitas tasting room, Woodinville Hollywood District

Fidélitas tasting room, Woodinville Hollywood District

Fidélitas tasting room, Woodinville Hollywood District

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Woodinville, The Evergreen State’s Answer to Napa Washington State wines are killing it right now. If you want to talk about a single geographical area that can offer such disparate wines as a powerhouse cabernet sauvignon and a delicate chardonnay, this is it.

[harrswine]

What Do You Get When Five Master Sommeliers Walk Into A Room...

What Do You Get When Five Master Sommeliers Walk Into A Room…

A lot of chummy restaurant-industry inside jokes and a load of tips for blind tasting.

At Taste Washington this last weekend in Seattle, the event I was most looking forward to was the blind tasting with five Master Sommeliers. The Four Seasons set us up in a grand ballroom overlooking the Puget Sound. Presiding over the tasting was Greg Harrington, MS of Gramercy Cellars who said that being a…

[harrswine]

10 Things They Should Tell You Before You Move To Spain

I have lived in Madrid, Salamanca, Zamora and now Valladolid. I came here in my early 20s on a whim to learn Spanish and to try to conquer some personal fears, namely, like being in a new place surrounded by people I didn’t know. With a single backpack and zero knowledge of Spanish, I raced along trying to get ahead of the learning curve. Eight years later, I am still afraid of everything, but…

[harrswine]

Lar de Paula Merus 2010

Lar de Paula Merus 2010

Wine is clear with a medium intensity. Medium ruby color with cherry rim. Cherry pie and a touch of nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla in the nose and ripe redcurrant, plum and raspberry on the palate. The finish is medium and the tannins soft and sweet, not mouth-drying with light minerality and earth that is typical of Rioja Alavesa. We enjoyed this red with steamed vegetables, cured lomo and a few…

[harrswine]

Divina Proporción Winery To Join With Harris Wine Merchant

Divina Proporción Winery To Join With Harris Wine Merchant

I am excited to announce that the Toro winery will join me in sending tasting samples to Oregon this spring in the hopes of selling many bottles to eager Spanish oenophiles. I have added their wine and viticulture information to the Harris Wine site that is, hopefully, just days away from launching.

Máximo and his brother Juan take care of the vines and at harvest employ 15-kilo crates for hand…

[harrswine]

10 Things You Should Know Before Starting to Date Someone Who Loves Wine

10 Things You Should Know Before Starting to Date Someone Who Loves Wine

This post is inspired by a recent the kitchn post about romance with a foodie. In my case, the protagonist is wine, not food.  My significant other enjoys drinking a nice glass of wine and will sometimes tell me what he smells, but he doesn’t want to join me as I am working my way through the WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting Wine, for which I can’t blame him.

It is hard for wine lovers to go…