Washington State Beer and Wine

Free Lamb Cooking Demo with Wine Tasting

Nancy — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:45:47 +0000

Do you love lamb yet wonder how to prepare it at home? Would you like to have confidence when selecting a wine to match? This Sunday is your chance to learn from two acclaimed Seattle chefs and two amazing Washington winemakers. You’ve seen Bean wax poetic about American Lamb and wine after attending Lamb Jam. Well, consider this a MUCH smaller yet very intimate, scaled down Lamb Jam.

On one burner Chef Tom Black of soon to open Restaurant Bea will be whipping up some Lamb Meatballs. Heating up the other side of the kitchen, Chef Brian O’Connor of Skillet Diner will prepare Mediterranean Lamb Stew. Not only will you be able to observe these two talented chefs magically prepare two distinctly different lamb dishes, you’ll be able to interact with them, get your questions about lamb answered, and – wait for it – taste a bite of their food!

Think it can’t get better than that? Hah! There will be a Washington winemaker alongside each chef. Ali Mayfield and Squire Broel of Foundry Vineyards are coming all the way from Walla Walla just to pour tastes of their wine for you. Their 2008 Red and 2008 Fire Red Bordeaux style blends are fantastic. One sip and you’ll understand why Seattle Magazine declared Foundry Vineyards a winery to watch.

Not to be outdone, winemaker Shannon Jones of Hestia Cellars will be pouring tastes of his primarily Syrah based 2009 Red Blend. Shannon has been getting some fantastic press from Wine Spectator for his beautifully crafted wines which, incidentally, have been selling out. Get some while you can!

Details

This complimentary event takes place at Dish it up! in Ballard 5320 Ballard Avenue NW www.dish-it-up.com

Sunday, January 29

Starting at noon

Cooking demo starts at noon. Limited seating is available on a first come first serve basis (no registration required). Food and wine tasting starts at 1. The event runs until 3 or when samples run out, whichever comes first!

These featured wines will be available for purchase. Buy 2 or more bottles and save 10%!

Full disclosure: I work at Dish it up!

Old Wooly 2011

Bean — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:25:48 +0000

Does anything say December like Big Time Brewery’s Old Wooly Barley wine?

Old Wooly Barley Wine

A gorgeous mahogany color, this is a hearty beer for the darker days of December. Smooth and hoppy, it shows the best aspects of both malt and hops. The nose is more malty caramel than hoppy but this isn’t a sweet candy beer. That caramel is chased by the hops, giving the caramel taste but not sweet syrupy coating you find in some malty winter brews.

Drew Cluley, Big Time Brewery

This definitely has the Drew Cluley stamp on this Washington beer. This is the first vintage of Old Wooly Barley Wine with Drew as the head brewmaster at Big Time Brewery. This Seattle favorite brew retains its legacy in many ways but the bitterness is amplified but not out of balance.

Currently on tap for $4.75 , the Old Wooly is served in a goblet to remind you of the 10% ABV content of this beer. You may need the reminder because as you are sipping this doesn’t come across as an over the top boozy beer. The alcohol is well balanced in the flavor profile but you will feel it after a couple of these. Old Wooly Barley wine is also available in 22 oz bottles from the brewery.

Tempranillo and Tapas at Wine World

Ed — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:26:31 +0000

Recently, Wine World (sponsor) hosted “Tempranillo and Tapas: Washington Style” a panel discussion of Washington Tempranillo wine makers and Tempranillo wine tasting. The wine makers talked about Tempranillo being an ideal food wine. That point was well proven during the winemaker reception, pairing their Tempranillo wines and delicious appetizers from Tango Restaurant, as well as Lenny Rede’s famous paella.

Tapas from Tango

Washington Tempranillo is a bridge between new world and old world wine styles. The fruit is restrained and elegant Tempranillo and Tapas: Washington Style was a great opportunity to hear all about this delicious wine varietal and to taste some amazing Washington wine. According to the wine maker panel, Tempranillo has the potential to become Washington’s signature wine, as it shares a lot of the same growth parameters as Spain.

Washington Tempranillo

Javier Alphonso, Don Corson and Doug McCrea

Don Corson from Camaraderie Winery, crafted a Tempranillo very similar to a Pinot Noir with subtle fruit notes and soft tannins. Doug McCrea’s Salida Albariño and Tempranillo were delicious! I especially liked pairing the Italian Chorizo with the Salida Tempranillo. Brian Carter, from Brian Carter Cellars poured his 2008 Corrida which is a luscious blend of Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvigon and Garnacha. Brian also poured a beautiful port-style fortified desert wine called “Opulento” that sold for under 20 dollars per bottle.

Amy Stottlemyer from Stottle Winery also poured a very nice Tempranillo with a good balance of spice and fruit. Unfortunately, a distribution issue meant there wasn’t enough of Pomum Winery’s Tinto for everyone to taste. The Tinto is predominantly a Tempranillo wine blend with Grenacha, Graciano and Cabernet Sauvignon. I look forward to tasting the Tinto soon. Javier Alfonso, originally from Spain and the Pomum wine maker, was excited about the possibility crafting great Spanish style wines in Washington the first time he explored Eastern Washington.

Washington Tempranillo History

Tempranillo and tapa tasting

Tempranillo began in Washington state, with just 15 vines at the Red Willow Vineyard in the late 1970s. In the beginning of this century, Washington vintners started growing Tempranillo grapes for commercial wines. Most Washington Tempranillo is grown on Tempranillo clones from California. In 2009, new Tempranillo and Graciano blocks custom planted and farmed for Pomum, including the very first Ribera del Duero Tinta del Pais (Tempranillo) clones imported from ITACyL in Spain.

Washington Tempranillo Future

The wine makers at the first inaugural gathering of Washington Tempranillo producers are all a part of Tapas Society, an organization promoting Spanish and Portugal varietals grown in North America. With more vineyards planting Tempranillo and more wine makers using Tempranillo as a primary grape instead of minor player in blending, the future for Washington Tempranillo is wide open. The organizers hope to make this an annual event to highlight Washington Tempranillo.

World Recognition for Washington Wine

Bean — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:14:42 +0000

Wine Spectator is offering a sneak peak at the Top 100 wines of 2011 and Washington is there. Today, they revealed the wines ranking number six through ten. Congratulations to Baer Winery of Woodinville, their Ursa 2008 ranked as the number 6 best wine in the world for 2011.

Baer Ursa 2008

Harvey Weinstein, editor of the Wine Spectator talks about the Baer Winery Ursa, click to watch his video.

The Ursa 2008 is a red wine blend, predominantly of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. I tasted this lovely wine during a vertical Ursa tasting during Grape Killers 2010. I tasted a lot of great wines that night, but the wine that I couldn’t leave without was the Baer Winery’s Ursa 2008. It has been sitting in my wine cellar for nearly a year, waiting for the right occasion. Now, I wish that I had bought more than one bottle!

Columbia Crest took the top honors two years ago, will a Washington wine win again?

Pairing Chocolate with Beer

Nancy — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 01:15:38 +0000

A chocolate rimmed glass of Fremont Brewing "Susan"

Last April we asked the question, “Is pairing wine with chocolate like having sex on the beach?” Well, what about pairing beer and chocolate? The Finkels of Pike Brewing celebrate the pairing of beer and chocolate each year right before Valentine’s Day with their Chocofest that they like to bill as “foreplay before the big day.” So maybe this is the pairing we should be romanticizing.

The challenge when pairing wine with chocolate is that if the wine isn’t as sweet as or sweeter than the chocolate, it spanks the fruit right out of your wine (thank you Jeffrey Saad). So, what is the guideline when pairing, oh, say a stout with chocolate? Just thinking of the flavor of stout makes me think of chocolate. However, I’m no beer expert and I usually rely on the rest of the crew here at Washington State Beer and Wine for beer guidance. So, it’s time to do some experimenting. As luck would have it, the BitterSweet:Beer+Chocolate event is here to help.

The Washington Beer Blog is the producer of this event we attended tonight. Event organizers selected eight Seattle-area breweries to participate, and each brewery produced a beer using products from Theo Chocolate. Brilliant! Also, each brewery provided a beer from its regular lineup paired with a particular Theo Chocolate. They had me at chocolate.

As soon as I saw that Naked City Brewing was pouring a Schokolade Weizen I held out my glass. That’s right, chocolate wheat beer. I always go for the wheat beers. They’re not usually like this one, though. As I took that first sip, a smooth river of flavors similar to chocolate milk cascaded over my tongue. Love it!

Fremont Brewing treated us to a specialty beer named Susan, described as a unique dark ale brewed with Maris Otter, Amber, and Smoked malts with extracted chocolate solids added in the boil, finished with extracted chocolate juice from a unique Theo process. Much like how a margarita glass is rimmed with salt, each beer glass got rimmed with shavings of chocolate. That’s a special treat in itself as the aromas of the chocolate waft up before the precious beverage hits the tongue. Then comes that smokiness from the malts making this one of my favorite brews of the evening.

As for pairings, the one that appealed to me the most was from Elysian Brewing. I was surprised by this, because the chocolate in the pairing wasn’t a bar chocolate or a confection. Rather, the beer was paired with Theo Cocoa Nibs. Coche de Medianoche is the name of the beer, and it delivers loads of spice flavors and a great depth of flavor. Pumpkin is part of the recipe, but I wouldn’t have guessed it. The two together were perfection and I was pleased that the beer didn’t wash away the nib flavor. In a word, amazing!

Sadly, I didn’t get to try every beer and pairing the event offered. But I did leave with the revelation that perhaps the best way to pair beer and wine is to combine them.

The breweries participating in BitterSweet:Beer+Chocolate included Airways Brewing, Big Time Brewery, Black
Raven Brewing, Elysian Brewing, Fremont Brewing, Georgetown Brewing, Naked City Brewing, and Two Beer
Brewing.

Stout in and with Food

Bean — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:33:11 +0000

In preparation of the first International Stout Day, November 3, 2011 we gathered to celebrate Washington stout beers and delicious food. Schedules dictated that we do our main celebration on Sunday evening but today we share the adventure!

Washington Stout Beers

Black Stouts and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

American Brewery Oatmeal Stout- dense, dark with a dense tan head for a bottled stout, the American Brewery Oatmeal stout is chewy chocolate goodness. This Washington beer is silky smooth up front then transforms to flavors reminiscent of oatmeal cookies. I almost felt like I was chewing an oatmeal cookie while savoring this stout beer.
Harmon Brewery Stryker Stout – full bodied stout with nuts and spice notes. Malty sweetness is balanced with bitter dark chocolate notes in the Harmon Brewery Stryker Stout. This seasonal release is a great match for autumn leaves and colder temperatures. Enjoy this stout with holiday meals or hanging out with your sweetie by the fireside.
Pike XXXX Extra Stout – this stout is for the coffee/chocolate lover. Lovely caramel aromas greet you as you raise your glass. Bitter coffee and dark chocolate dominates the rich and textured flavor profile of this Pike Brewery stout.
Dicks Imperial Stout – this had the most carbonation of tbe stouts tasted tonight but was deliciously smooth. Lots of caramel and spice and a bit boozy, you can drink the Dick’s Brewing Company Imperial Stout as dessert!

Stout Friendly Food

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds -the cayenne pepper in the spicy pumpkin seeds really tasty with the Oatmeal Stout’s slightly sweet finish. All of the stouts worked well with these spicy pumpkin seeds.
Cheeses- sharp cheddar cheese is a classic pairing with Stouts. Think English style cheeses and you probably have a winner. We had a cinnamon crusted cheese from Trader Joes that went really well with the Stryker Stout and the Dick’s Imperial Stout.
Roasted Golden Beets- The beets had a nice sweet earthiness that mirrored the same characteristics of the Stryker Stout
Irish Onion Soup

Irish Onion Soup- Vivian made a tasty Irish onion soup with Elysian Dragontooth Stout. Served with cheese toast, this distinctive soup worked well with the Stryker Stout. Irish onion soup has sharper contrasting flavors than French onion soup that stood up to the stouts. We will post the recipe for the soup tomorrow.
Stout Mushroom Pumpkin Risotto – This stout friendly dish went with all of the stouts on the table. We opened a few stouts from outside Washington and the Hopworks Organic Survival Seven Grain Stout worked really well but the Pike XXX Stout and Dicks Imperial Stout stood out for me.
Lamb Stew

Irish Lamb Stew – Lamb shanks braised all day in stout to form the base of this hearty stew. Potatoes, barley, carrots, onions, parsnips and rich lamb floated in the beery broth. Hearty and earthy this stew went with all of the stews.
Stout Floats – French vanilla ice cream floating in a pint of Pike XXX Stout or American Brewing Oatmeal Stout can not be beat!

Stout Float

We hope you will experiment with drinking and eating with Washington stouts as well.

Stout, Pumpkin and Mushroom Risotto

Bean — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:07:51 +0000

Autumn brings vivid colors and flavors before the rain and gray take over. Stout is a dark and strong beer, well suited to the earthy and savory flavors of fall. In celebration of International Stout Day, we planned a meal highlighting foods that pair with stout and/or are made with stout beer. This recipe makes a lot but it is so creamy and yummy that it was gone in a hurry!

Stout Pumpkin Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

1/4 c. butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch salt
1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
1 1/2c. arborio rice
22oz bottle of your favorite Washington stout
2 cup assorted mushrooms cut into 1″ pieces (Chantrelles are delicious in this!)
3 cups cooking pumpkin, cubed and roasted in olive oil and a pinch of salt
1/4 c. parmesan, grated

Cooking instructions:

Place half the butter in a wide-bottomed pan over low heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme and salt and cook with the lid on until soft and transparent.
Place the stock in a separate saucepan and bring to a slow boil. Keep the stock on simmer.
Add the arborio rice to the onions and fry for 5 minutes, then add a cup of the stout and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Add the simmering stock, a ladle at a time to the rice, allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladle, stirring continuously. Continue adding the stock until the rice has softened but is still al dente.
While the arborio cooks, heat the remaining butter in a sauté pan and sauté the mushrooms until golden. Deglaze the pan with the rest of the stout and set aside until the risotto is done.
As soon as the risotto is done, add the roast pumpkin, sautéed mushrooms and Parmesan cheese. Stir gently. Turn off the heat and allow the risotto to sit for about 5 minutes to absorb the mushroom stout juices.

Serve this with your favorite stout for a tasty autumn meal. If you have a guest that has yet to discover the wonders of beer and food pairing, try serving a nice Syrah with a bit of spice and earth.

Halloween Treat for Adults

Bean — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:51:49 +0000

Need an adult treat this Halloween night? get your chocolate fix via a chocolatey stout instead of a candy bar. Try some devilish dark stout beer with spicy pumpkin seeds. The spicy pumpkin seeds are a great contrast to the malty sweetness of your favorite Washington Stout beer. Sip and savor this tasty treat in between answering the door for trick and treaters tonight.

Black Stouts and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Clean the pulp off the pumpkin seeds and rub with a towel to dry. Preheat the oven to 350. Spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet. Add 3TBS melted butter, 1 tsp seasoning salt 2TBS Worcestershire sauce 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. Toss well. Roast for 20-30 minutes until golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes. Serve the spicy pumpkin seeds warm or cooled.

Remember International Stout Day is November 3rd.

Beer and Wines that Haunt

Bean — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:59:06 +0000

Each year, we celebrate Halloween by recalling the wines we sampled this past year that continued to haunt us long after the last sip. This year we are correcting the error of not including beer in the list of Washington beverages that continue to haunt us. The list includes Washington beer and wine from barrel, new releases and the depth of the cellar.

Washington Beer

If you don’t know enough French to recognize the La Petit Mort name, take the time to look it up in Wikipedia because it is aptly named. This beer stops you in your tracks. Before you know it excited utterances escape your lips followed by a huge smile. Friends who do not like “beer” enjoy this one. Friends who do like beer are dismayed to hear that this is a limited production and so popular that Black Raven does not fill growlers to take home. If you want to experience La Petit Mort you have to make it to the brewery and be ready for the excited utterances to happen in public. Released each year on Bastille Day, portion of La Petit Mort are placed in bourbon barrels for aging. The Bourbon Barrel aged La Petit Mort is released in time for the holidays.

If you are looking for a reason to go to a beer fest, it is the delcious beers that brewers craft specially for these events. Ed and I fought over the glass of Ginger Peach Blonde Ale in the Bodacious Beverage flight at Beveridge Place during Seattle Beer Week. Thank goodness this delicious beer made another appearance at the Washington Brewers fest where Ed could get his fill!

This Washington beer was so unique, we have only found it on the Buzz Cart during the Washington Brewers Festival.This is the ultimate taco beer but I want to savor this beer with Thai food or just on its own.

Are you listening Matt? More of this yummy spicy Garlic Chile Hefeweizen please!

The official Seattle Beer Week 2011 beer, this beer is still available and well worth seeking out. Made with Falconer Flight hops, the Decompression Ale has enough hop character to make a hop head rejoice. Exceptional balance ensures that this beer is a lot more than just the stellar hop profile.

Washington Wine

Nancy remembers

“Recently I had a chance to do a barrel tasting at Davenport Cellars. A barrel of Merlot from Sheridan Vineyard was so amazing, I could still taste the wine when I went to bed that night, flirting with my lips like a first kiss. That kind of barrel tasting is like going on a first date. Keeping my interest piqued, leaving me eager for our next encounter.”

Based on taste trial Jeff and Sheila Jirka have decided this barrel will stand alone and be available to wine club members upon release.

Vivian recalls

“Friends gathered to prepare and share dinner at the home of a Walter Dacon wine club member who lives in the countryside 8 miles from the winery. With Migas made from eggs laid just that morning, corn tortillas fresh from the local tortilla factory, green salad with stone fruit, and flour tortillas made fresh by a guest who was taught by a Jicarilla Indian in New Mexico, I poured the 2007 and 2008 Rousanne from our hostess’ cellar. The pairing and the vintage comparison were amazing! So much so, that as soon as I was back in cell phone range I called Ann and Andy Lloyd at the winery and begged them to dig through their library for past vintages. Soon there will be a pairing dinner featuring 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Walter Dacon Rousanne. After the upcoming dinner this wine truly will be haunting as it is no longer made. “

The Patterson Cellars Forbidden Red is the intriguing combination of 32% Touriga, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Primitivo, 15% Cabernet Franc, 14% Mouvedre. Dawn selected the Forbidden Red as her Pick of the Week at Wine World (sponsor) last winter. Ed kept on saying he was going to write up this wine but kept getting distracted by the taste. Jonathan complained he couldn’t keep the wine in his cellar, it was too popular at home.

John and Stephanie when will the next Forbidden Red be released.

You probably don’t usually think of Gewurtztraminer or even of Washington wine when you think of sparking wines. The Treveri Cellars Sparkling Gewurtztraminer was one of our biggest surprises of the year. All of us love this spicy sparkler.

This is the first estate fruit for the winery formerly known as Grand Reve. This is an incredibly voluptuous Force Majeure Viognier with an entrancing mineral-fruit-acid balance. Lovely mouthfeel on this medium bodied Viognier. If you are looking for old world restraint and elegance on New World fruit, look no further than this Viognier. But, you will have to act first, this Washington wine won’t be officially released until this weekend but they are almost all allocated.

During the Wines of Washington Barrel Picnic and Auction, Jon was serving samples of this beautiful grenache. With almost 20 different barrels of wine to taste on bid on, it was the Maison Blue Grenache that was getting the most buzz. It is the bright fruit, restrained but elegant that I remember months later. Often barrel samples can be tight and have sharp edges but you didn’t have to search for the potential in this wine. I can’t wait until this gorgeous Greanche is released!

International Stout Day

Bean — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:49:47 +0000

The first International Stout Day is November 3rd, 2011.

International Stout Day is

… “a worldwide celebration of the iconic beer style, Stout. Taking place in homes, pubs, breweries and restaurants; it’s all about celebrating the craft beer revolution, relishing in this beloved beer style, sharing your photos, tasting notes and events with the world.”

Join the celebration by raising a pint of stout this Thursday. If you are on Twitter, share your stout ideas and pairings with the hashtag #stoutday.

Stout is a strong dark beer, originating from Ireland. Once synonymous with Guinness, now you can fine quality stouts from around the world, including Washington state!

Stouts range from dry to sweet, these beers are notable for their roasted malt characteristics. Made from barley or oat, stouts made from oatmeal tend to be sweeter. Some stout types include:

Dry or Irish stout
Imperial Stout
Cream Stout
Oatmeal Stout
Chocolate Stout

For more information about the types of stouts, check out this great article about stout types at Rum and Reviews