Vino Vamp

2006 Pine & Post Merlot

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:36:00 +0000

Gargoyles love some Pine & Post Merlot

In your face!

Alrighty then! I found this wine at the grocery store and will run out and buy another bottle next time it goes on sale under $10. I will admit that I am so pleased that my nose is developing because a lot of the major scents I got in my nose are mentioned on the wine description on that website. I got some amazing cordial cherry scents on this nose (you know, those Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries you can get on the cheap during the holidays?), and I was loving it! I also got a hint of blueberry and a weird caramel/butterscotch scent that really reminded me of the smell of some of the ports at Maison de Padgett.

The color was a deep rich black but when I tilted it, it faded at the edges. I tried to get a picture of this but I couldn't quite master the technique. I had also just drank a rather large glass and was on my second. Don't pay attention to the water spots, its from a night of imbibing!

Careful not to slosh it out!

The taste... ah yes. Quite lovely, it was a wee bit watery with a higher alcohol content than I would expect to taste (13.5% alcohol by volume) but again, lovely.

The major flavors that I got in my mouth were chocolate and black pepper. In my tasting notes I kept on writing and scratching out red peppers and roasted tomatoes, but I couldn't tell if I was just imagining it or not.

This would make a great table wine enjoyed with a light soup/salad/sandwich night and would also make a nice gift for someone who enjoys wine but isn't hot and heavy into wine.

A very enthusiastic 4 stars on this one. Share a bottle with someone you love tonight.

Here is the website for this wine, it was a bit tricky to find so I thought I'd share:

http://www.preceptwinebrands.com/our_wines/brands/000000003/pine_post/tasting_notes/000000083/2006_merlot

2006 Hogue Pinot Grigio

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:52:00 +0000

This is the second Hogue wine I have tried and I must give it another sloppy "pbbbht" of disapproval. This makes me sad because its a Washington wine, the price is good, a lot of other people like it, and I like the label design.

Aesthetically, it is a very pleasing wine. The color is a very nice pale yellow, but something I noticed was a super weird foamy sheen thing- and yes I made sure my glass was clean thankyouverymuch:

So not quite sure what was up with that. It had a very low viscosity which was alright with me because I don't much care for thick dessert style wines.

The nose was almost non-existent. Again, that makes me sad.

The taste wasn't a taste as much as heartburn on the tongue. The acid was out of this world, drinking this was like drinking a fruity juicy burp, and the sensation lasted forever.

Cruelly enough, the best thing about this wine was pouring it down the drain.

A big fat 1 star of this one. Sorry folks.

2008 Andre Spumante Sparkling Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:01:00 +0000

Key doke. As I mentioned in my last post last night's NYE Bash went bust so we started off 2009 with a champagne (er, sparkling wine) breakfast. I know, I know. Andre Spumante isn't from Washington and that's what sorority girls drink when they want to take a step up from Cosmo's and Sex on the Beach. Well, it was cheap and I hate dry champagne so there.

The bubbles make my tongue tickle!

Attempt at a foam shot. FAIL.

Instead of starting off with the color I'll talk about the bubbles because that's what everyone thinks of when dreaming about sparkling wine. There was a good amount of bubbles going into this wine and the flavor balanced it out enough so that I didn't get the feeling I was drinking seltzer water. I couldn't get a good shot of all the foam but it got quite foamy. Brad said I needed to pour it in the glass at a 45 degree angle, but I've misplaced my protractor.

The color was extremely pale, even less than flax. This was the color of castor oil, have you ever seen castor oil before? It stinks to high heaven but this was the color. Look at the ridiculous amount of snow out my kitchen window too. Ugh.

The nose was weak and sweet. Maybe it was too cold but it smelled like cheap apple juice and flowery air freshener spray. Not like gas station bathroom but more like if you got an air freshener for your car named apple blossom, and you were smelling it after it was all dried out. Some people get off on that, but it was a wee bit artificial for my liking.

The taste was SWEET! I'm talking Karo syrup sweet not righteous sweet. I will admit that I enjoyed the lightness and crispness of it, like biting into an apple then chasing it with an unripe pear. Then imagine what those would taste like if next door was an apricot orchard so all the fruit took on a hit of apricot or maybe even peach. That's what it tasted like.

This really reminded me of a Gewürztraminer or Riesling in some aspects because the taste reminded me of the fragrant nose, tons of floral aspects to it as well. I give this 2.5 stars because I hate dry champagne more than cheap champagne and this was definitely not dry. And the best thing to do with cheap sweet sparkling wine is to add some cheap orange juice and make mimosas.

New Year New Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:02:00 +0000

I am such a looser. Its a hair past 11pm and I am in bed because I am pooped! I was up before 5am for work this morning and sleep is overcoming me. We had some friends over for a get together but they were tired too so we ended up NOT playing board games and drinking wine which makes my heart hurt just a little bit, but nothing unbearable.

I have some Spumanti chilling in the fridge right now so to ring in the new year tomorrow we shall make Mimosas and I will blog about that.

Until then, my FEEDJIT visitor tracker says that I am getting a lot of love from High Point, NC. It only shows where you are geographically from (I live in Wenatchee but it says Im from West Richland which is like 2 hours south of here...). So if you live in North Carolina you should totally leave me a comment letting me know about a great local wine that I should try out.

Dooooooo it.

Maison de Padget wines (Bavarian Cellars Tasting Room in Leavenworth)

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 02:28:00 +0000

I am in no way hurting for wine. As we see here, on my the first 3 bottles from the left are empty. I still have 9 bottles to finish. Yet here I am about to write about more wine. In my defense, I am trying desperately to make this all about local wines because I'm surrounded with great local wineries and I have totally bought every Washington wine the grocery store has to offer and for that matter, it is better to buy from the source than from the local food-mart, you know?

With this being a short week due to the holidays, I decided we should go to this huge antique mall in Cashmere right up the road. I am on a mission for a palmistry hand and a phrenology head, just in case you are feeling generous and have these lying around and would like to send them to me, here is what I'm looking for:

Pretty cool and slightly creepy, eh? Back to the story, since we were in Cashmere we decided to grab a bite to eat at Country Boys BBQ but they were closed for the holidays so we went ahead and drove into Leavenworth to get something light at the Gypsy Cafe. Very cool place indeed. While trekking back to the car stuffed to the brim with sandwiches and cobb salads we hit up the Bavarian Cellars Tasting Room on 9th street. Its a little hidden but a very neat place. The people who own the winery are based out of Yakima so this is only the tasting room. They have two brands (from what I can tell) Maison de Padgett and Horizon's Edge. Here is the website for Horizon's Edge but it comes up as Maison de Padgett by design and the text is all funky so either they are doing construction or the site has been hacked. I didn't get any red flags from my virus software and spy ware deal so I guess you should ask yourself, are you feeling lucky?
http://www.horizonsedgewinery.com/index.htm

Alrighty, so two things I want to get clear right from the get go. First of all its $2 per person to taste. I'm completely okay with this because I've never understood how tasting rooms can get away with free tastings, it makes no sense to me. Then again I always end up buying a bottle of something so who am I to say. With that $2 I sampled 12 wines and we were both walking a little rosy cheeked down the road when we left. Don't worry though, we walked the warmth off before we drove home.

Second off, these wines are kitchy. There were some good wines, I even bought a bottle of the Gewürztraminer because it was good, the Chardonnay was also very nice. But the wines were overall unique. The labels are all very fantasy oriented (see pic below stolen from unarata's flicker account) and would make a fantastic gift for your geeky brother. As a slight disclaimer, I was president of my high school's Science Fiction club for my Junior and Senior year and I am obsessed with any book by Laurell K. Hamilton, Piers Anthony, and similar genre. I love that and wine, so it was an hour well spent in my book.

The guy who tended the counter was named Jim and was very friendly, a little on the quiet side but I was trying to make notes on the wines I was tasting so I think he was just giving me the opportunity to write. The tasting room was very small and would be crowded if you had more than half a dozen friends in with you. It looked like there was a little loft area where you could share a bottle with some friends in a more private setting but we were happy at the bar and didn't venture up. It was clean and not pretentious in the least, two qualitys that I must have to taste wines somewhere. Overall, the wines were quite reasonably priced and while most were outside my palate, I was pleased with a few as well. We tasted:

05 Chardonnay
05 Gewürztraminer
06 Succulent Sangovise
06 Funky Monkey Pinot Noir Ice Wine
07 Singing Toad Late Harvest White Wine
Lip Service Rose Wine (90/10 Muscat/Cab)
Fat Sow Table Wine (50/50 Cab/Pinot)
Raging Bull White Port
McHargue Malbec Port
Pillow Talk Vanilla Port
No Regrets Chocolate Port
Smoking Gun Coffee Port

Here is a picture of the Gewürztraminer that we bought, it was on sale for just under $10!

Notice the cool wax sealed cork?

I feel like I should pillage a quiet village somewhere...

The Chardonnay was wonderful! It had a really nice tingle, great acid, a very solid nose, a nice golden flax color, and a bitter aftertaste. I still haven't found a distinct classic "chard" wine yet that I have enjoyed enough to set the bar off of, but this was close.

The reason we got the Gewürztraminer instead of the Chardonnay is because it was so smooth and silky going down, it was like drinking lingerie. For a long time I was confused because Gewürztraminer translates into English as "spicy" wine but it never tastes spicy to me, but I think of spicy like Mexican or Thai food, not cloves/cinnamon/orange peel. So after doing a bit more research on this grape variety, its actually supposed to mean perfumed or aromatic wine which this totally was. The nose was so smooth, even though this is thought of as an autumn wine it made me think of spring and new growth and a warm wind and all sorts of nice things.

Some notes on the other wines:

*The Lip Service Rose Wine was SO SWEET! It was 8.4% S/E and I think that could be a dessert wine, they said no but I say yes.

*The Sangovise had a great color to it but it tasted a bit watered down and sour dishragy which I have tasted in a few other wines in this family, so maybe that is a good thing to some people but it is so not in my palate.

*The Fat Sow table wine was also a bit watered down tasting and the color faded when you tilted the cup, but I think it would make an alright table wine if you hit a sale on it. I like a strong wine that is almost a side dish with your meal, but if you want something to cut the palate then this would be alright.

*The McHargue Malbec Port was the quintessential taste and texture of a port to me and warmed my cockles quite nicely, which is saying a lot since the high today was 22F.

The wines with the most interesting flavors in them were by far the Pillow Talk Vanilla Port which was straight up bourbon balls and wedding cake and then the Funky Monkey Pinot Ice Wine that was faintly cough syrup-esque. The Smoking Gun Coffee Port had an amazing nose that was like walking into a coffee shop but it was completely lost on the nose. All of the ports and dessert wines were appropriately viscous and very sweet, even for a desert wine.

All in all I reccomend checking out this tasting room because it is unique and you get to taste a huge ammount of wines that have really unusual flavors. If you like sweet wines come in with a blank check, if you are into the dry tannens, you should still check it out. And buy the Gewürztraminer or Chardonnay.

2007 Tunnel Hill Riesling

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:33:00 +0000

'ello 'ello! How are things with you and yours? Tonight marks the 4th night of Chanukah and to celebrate here is a picture of yours truly frying up some latkes:

"Let me tell you about ze old country" *hack* Now run along and get your bubbeh her medicine- oy with the prices these days!

This wine was just shy of spectacular. Don't know what made it shy so actually I'd say it was a solid 5 stars worth of wonderful. For a little background on this wine, earlier in November Brad and I drove up to Chelan to visit some of the wineries and to check out the area. This one called out to use and badda bing here we are. I will say, the 06' of the wineries Riesling was extremely dry and not what I look for in a Riesling, but this one could hold its grapes up with the best Rhine River Riesling. I will very likely go back to this winery and grab a few more bottles but I'm starting to think I have a wee bit of a stock problem. I will take a picture of my stash and post it a bit later on.

Color! Ah yes, the color of this was a very lovely pale gold flax color that is so nice in a Riesling. It had great clarity and it had a very nice viscosity. I've really started noticing the viscosity of wines in a glass lately and I've noticed that some slosh around like water and others like corn syrup. I've also started looking at how the color thins out when you tilt the glass and this one held it's color very well. Lets take a look under the hood shall we?

I think the last picture of the trio has the most accurate color, but just in case someone likes seeing the difference between flash and no flash.

The aroma on this wine was fantastically complex. Of course, the apples and pears came through and even a tiny hint of apricot. But the most interesting thing that came across the nose for me was an almost almond blossom. I have no clue what an almond blossom smells like or if almond trees even have fragrant flowers but I smelled almonds and a hint of floral. Not a nice green grass and moss or forest, but straight up flower shop. Brad said he smelt citrus dishwasher soap and after he said that I noticed it, especially as the wine opened up it almost dominated the nose.

I will pay big bucks (okay, like $20 but the economy sucks) for a Riesling that delivers like this one does. Imagine what silver christmas tree tinsel tastes like and that is what I like. I love a white wine that is almost shifting to a sparkling wine but that retains its sweetness. So far, Riesling is the only wine that can deliver it and this one was electric. I hear its due to the high acid content, but all I can say is bring it on! This wine was most definitely on the sweet side and I tasted the flowers in the mid palate. Something that struck me as quite lovely about this wine is how evenly it coated the tongue. It seriously was smooth like drinking silk, not creamy, but silky. And there is a difference. The end palate had that citrus taste and the aftertaste was lingering but not overpowering.

We shared this wine with our friends Maya and Tera and one likes tannin heavy red wine and the other likes syrup thick dessert wine and both really enjoyed this wine, and thats saying something.

A humungo 5 stars. Check out the winery as well, the tasting room was very cozy and if I remember correctly, they have a decent share of estate wine to offer. They had a great pinot as well but I didn't buy it because this Riesling was simply smashing. It looked like the winery could also be rented out for events which would be pretty cool for a nice intimate gathering.

http://www.tunnelhillwinery.com/

38 HWY 97A - Chelan WA 98816 - (509)682-5695

2007 Glen Ellen Chardonnay

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 05:39:00 +0000

Busy! In the past 2 weeks I have turned in a corrected version of my thesis, graduated with my masters in Occupational Safety and Health, flew to Nashville to visit family, and tonight we even put an offer on a house. Not to mention my daily stuff like working, eating, and spending time with the hubby and dog.

Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and enjoy a nice glass of wine but Sunday night starts Chanukah and this week I was able to pull the cork on a bottle of 2007 Glen Ellen Chardonnay. I didn't take any pictures but there we go.

The color was very decieving. The bottle was a chartruse yellow so I was expecting a truly golden glass but instead it was a pale flax color. The nose was also incredibaly tight, I only smelt the grape. While on one hand it was nice to just smell the grape but I love the nose.

The taste was very light and bland. Maybe not bland but it just didn't have any strong flavors. It was a truly un-notable wine in the front, middle, and end palate. The aftertaste was a very nice linger. Brad and I both said this would be a great wine to bring to a party because it was close to $10 and for the really light flavor it would be good for people who aren't big into wine. I'd say 2.5 stars.

I know this was a short blog with really no huge direction but I am simply pooped. The house is a wreck and right now I'm envisioning colors to paint all the new rooms!

Podcasting like a skeez.

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:05:00 +0000

check it!

http://vinovamp.podbean.com/

Pasek Cellars Cranberry Wine

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:41:00 +0000

Much to celebrate tonight over a glass of wine. First and foremost, last week I found a lump in my breast and today after spending all day at three different doctors, there is no sign of a tumor! Hopefully that isn't TMI however I think it is important for all women to do monthly breast exams to ensure their breast health. It's terrifying to find a lump but it is even more terrifying to think you have one and you wouldn't know about it until irreversible damage has been done.

Secondly, Brad and I are looking at buying a house- woo hoo! I am of the firm opinion that a real house has hardwood floors, plaster walls, and a fireplace. Thankfully there is a very quaint little town called Cashmere that is absolutely overflowing with craftsman bungalows and there is one on the market in our price range that we are going to look at. Hell yes.

So what better way to celebrate than combining some of my favorite things? Pork, Cranberries, a new episode of House, and WINE!

Tonight I sampled Pasek Cellars Cranberry Wine (http://www.pasekcellars.com/). I got this at the grocery store for $10, its 11% alcohol by volume, and it didn't have a year on it so I am going to assume 07 or 08. Here is my token picture:

Guess who was too lazy to get out the real camera? Cell phone to the rescue!

Onward and upward friends! So, the back of the bottle says 100% cranberries and boy howdy they weren't lying! Opening the bottle I noticed that the cork was completely cork colored. Maybe I should stop taking pictures of the cork... anyway. Most of the time the corks are bloated at the top and narrow on the bottom, and the bottom is dyed purple or red. This cork was just a cork. I don't really think that means much besides the fact that this is most likely a young wine, so I would now lean to an 08 bottle. That doesn't leave a lot of time to get 11% alcohol though, I will need to research this a bit more.

The nose is so incredibly tight I could be smelling water. I actually have some cranberry juice in the fridge and it has the same nose. I don't even smell any alcohol. This is a plus and a minus. I hate tasting the alcohol in wine because it is so overpowering but wine is alcohol.

The color is also incredibly pale, almost like a blush or rose. It is incredibly clear though, I can easily read newsprint through a full glass:

Glad I swept the floor last night...

Again I don't think that clarity is a bad thing at all. This isn't a grape wine it is a cranberry wine, and grape juice is way darker and less translucent than cranberry juice so since wine is just fermented juice, this works.

The flavor was cranberry juice. Just cranberries. I love cranberries. But I didn't spend $10 for 750mL of cranberry juice. I paid that much for wine. There is no other flavor at all, maybe some cherry or strawberry if I use my imagination and look for it.

As an adult beverage, I would score this 5 stars because it will get you there in a jiffy without the taste of alcohol. As a wine, I would score it very low... like 1 star for wine and 2 stars because I like cranberries. If I didn't like cranberries it would be .5 stars but if I didn't like cranberries I sure as hell wouldn't have bought this in the first place.

06 Martin-Scott Raven Ridge Red

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:02:00 +0000

mmmmmm hmmmmmm that's a good bottle of wine. We just finished eating dinner and the turkey is in the fridge, Brad popped a DVD in from Netflix (Meet Joe Black, we are still debating who put it on the queue, no one wants to take the blame!) and I'm enjoying my second glass of this wine.

Last weekend we were driving around aimlessly and I wanted to see if this vineyard up the road from us was still for sale. For a measly $800,000 you too can live in the Wenatchee Valley with 5 acres of vines. Well, another 3 miles up the road is Martin-Scott Winery and I highly recommend it.

First off, let me talk about the wine. Here is another example of my award winning photography skills:

and the crowd goes wild!

This is a Cabernet Sauviginon-Syrah blend (61/39), 15.1% alcohol by volume, and cost $22. We tried this in the tasting room and were torn between this one, the Chardonnay, and the vintage Merlot which were all fab. But I digress as usual.

Color! Oy vey the color. This is again my idea of the perfect color for a Cabernet with great clarity, but it has the lovely amethyst undertones of all the Syrah's that I've experienced. It really reminds me of a pomegranate, currants, cranberries, and all the other delightful fruits that I could keep stuffed in my jowls all day long like a chipmunk.

The bouquet is very tight and benefits from a good airing out and lots of glass swirling. If you let the wine sit, the only thing that comes through for me is alcohol. Once I swirl it in my nose picks up a very nice fruit or berry of some sort but my nose can't put a name to it. I really need to start smelling stuff. I know how to expand my palate but I need to learn how to expand my...nose..palate... Obviously I need to expand my wine vocabulary as well!

As soon as the wine hits your lips get ready for a ride. This wine has great acid and tannin that pairs so well with food. For dinner tonight we had turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. All the savory, salty, umami flavors in the dinner simply popped with this wine. First and foremost this wine is creamy. Like, take a second look in the glass and check that its still translucent. I always hear people talk about a creamy wine and this is creamy! It also has a great dark fruit and plummy finish. The Two Vines Columbia Crest cab that I posted about also had a fantastic plum finish that I went bonkers over and this wine steps up to the plate as well.

Chris, the guy at the winery who was just awesome, showed me a new technique for tasting new flavors. You get a good mouthful, but not too full, and swish it around in your mouth until it warms up. Then you stop breathing, swallow, and let the flavors kick your butt. Tasting it this way makes me think of eating chocolate covered strawberries with a great cup of black coffee. It really brings out TONS of new flavors and adds a great deep dimension to the wine. I'm really into the lingering aftertaste of wine and this just takes the cake.

Martin-Scott Winery is a really great winery that feels very nice and cozy. When we went in, a girl from the family was decorating the Christmas tree and a grandson was running around saying hello to everyone like toddlers often do. Outside there was a porch with a really nice fire pit and a picturesque view of the foothills over the Columbia river. One thing that I really enjoyed about this winery compared to a few others that I've visited in the surrounding areas, is it doesn't feel pretentious. One of my big complaints about people's passions in the pacific north west compared to the south is that people tend to be quite pretentious and snobby about them. You cant just like the outdoors, you have to practially own REI and wipe your ass with pine needles. With wine, you have to have grapes you refuse to drink and know all the words to "Sideways" and give someone the stinkeye if they drink wine from a box. This winery felt like you walked into a family's home and they just happened to have a nicely stocked bar. And it felt like that because you literally did walk into the family's house that has the tasting room in the bottom floor.

They offered both white and red wines and ended with a cup of hot spiced wine. We had:

2007 Muscat Canelli

2007 Gewurztraminer

2007 Riesling

2006 Chardonnay

2005 Merlot Reserve

2006 Petite Syrah

2005 Syrah

The Chardonnay could have been the Pino Grigio. I can't remember for the life of me which one it was, but I do remember the nose was straight up Parmesan cheese, it was amazing! And this is not a bad thing. It made me want to grab some brie or goat cheese and roll around with the bottle. We already had some Riesling from Tunnel Hill at home and were looking for a nice red for Thanksgiving so we didn't get that this time.

The Gewurztraminer was very sweet and I think it would be a great dessert wine but I hate dessert wines. They are too sweet and remind me of kool-aid, I guess I like my wines a bit on the dry side and this would be great on a warm evening over a bowl of fruit. Technically it isn't a dessert wine but I still think it would do a smash up job of finishing up a long day.

I will always have a soft spot for Rieslings because, well, I just always will and this one was a great example of a Riesling. A bit on the sweet side for me, but I would have no problem polishing off a bottle any day of the week. It also had a fantastic bite to it that I search high and low for, a very slight bubble that dances on your tongue like its trying to shift to a sparkling wine. I really can't explain it better than that. When Brad and I were in Germany we were looking for some wine in Heidelberg. We got lost and ended up in this small wine boutique and bought a bottle of Riesling for 3EUR and it was simply shazam. This wine is the closest thing on American soil that I have found to that.

The last wine that I want to talk about is the Merlot Reserve they had decanted out for tasting. It was really smooth and oaky and I really enjoyed it. This was like Napoleon Dynamite for me. We watched Napoleon Dynamite shortly after it came out on DVD and while we watched it we thought it was good but not really anything to shout from the rooftops about. The next day we started quoting punchlines and a month later we were still telling each other to eat ham. This is like that, a positive delayed reaction. Maybe its because we were talking alot and the air in our mouth helped the flavors along, but I really want to go back and get a bottle of this. I think it would age fantastically but it was a wee bit on the spendy side for me. Maybe I can ask for a few bottles for Chanukah this year since Brad is still looking for ideas.

Well friends, dinner has finally settled enough that I want to grab a piece of pie. I made pecan pie and pumpkin pie both from scratch and they are rockin' even if I do say so myself. Tomorrow its all about leftovers, black friday deals, and going for my second trip to the gym.

Hope you and yours have tons to be thankful for and I recommend this wine and the Martin Scott Winery highly. Winery is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from Noon to 5 PM, or by appointment. Please call a day ahead to set up an appointment. They are located on SE 10th Street in East Wenatchee, WA. (509) 699-8771.

Living in the heart of wine country

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:10:00 +0000

First off I had planned on posting a blog reviewing the Martin-Scott Winery that is literally less than 5 miles from my house this weekend but instead I was a good doobie and finished up some power point presentations on NFPA Fire Safety Codes. We bought a bottle of wine from them to have with our Thanksgiving meal, so I will write about the winery then when I review the wine.

I also hit the motherload at Fred Meyers when I snatched an 05 and 06 bottle of the Two Vines Cab that I loved so much, but that was an 07 bottle so to say Im excited about drinking that blend from an infamously fantastic two years is a bit of an understatement.

My goal is to visit as many of the following wineries/vineyards in the near future as possible. These are all wineries within an hour of our house:

Jones of Washington Winery
(Sat & Sun, 12 - 5 pm; Holidays, and by appointment)
2101 F Street
Quincy, WA 98801
509-787-3537

Ryan Patrick Vineyards
(By appointment only)
9224 Road S NW
Quincy, WA 98848
509-888-4444

Saint Laurent Winery NEW PRODUCTION FACILITY
(By appointment, for now)
9224 Road S NW
Quincy, WA 98848
509-888-9463

White Heron Cellars
(Thurs - Mon: 11am - 6pm Closed Tuesday and Wednesday)
10035 Stuhlmiller Road
Quincy, WA 98848
509-797-9463

Cave B Estate Winery
(Daily: Sun - Thurs, 11 - 5:30 or by appointment,Fri & Sat, until 7 pm - seasonally)
348 Silica Road
Quincy, WA 98848
509-785-3500

Frenchman Hills Winery(By Appointment)
18134 Hwy 26 W
Royal City, WA 99357
509-346-2280

Foxy Roxy Winery (May-Oct, Fri-Sun 1pm-6pm or by appt.)
3744 Hwy 26 E
Othello, WA
509-346-2344

Hunter Hill Vineyards(11 am to 5 pm daily)
2752 W McManamon Road
Othello, WA 99344
509-346-2736

Kyra Wines (Memorial Day through Labor Day:Fri, Sat, Sun - 11 - 5 pm)
8029 Andrews Street NE
Moses Lake, WA 98837
509-750-8875

Chateau Faire Le Pont(Sat - Thur, 11-6, Fri 11-8)
1 Technology Center Way
Wenatchee, WA
509-667-9463, 888-874-9463

Dutch John Private Reserve Wines (Mon - Fri: 8 am to 5 pm;Weekends by appointment)
3012 G.S. Center Road, Suite C
Wenatchee, WA 98801
509-670-6663

Fielding Hills Winery(By appointment only)
1401 Fielding Hills Drive
800 Hillside Drive
East Wenatchee, WA 98802
509-884-2221

Horan Estates Winery(Saturdays, Noon - 5 pm Note: Closed Nov 2007 & March 2008)
2236 6th Street
East Wenatchee, WA
98801509-884-2236

Martin-Scott Winery(Saturdays, 1-5 & holidays or by appointment)
3400 10th Street SE
East Wenatchee, WA 98802
509-886-4596

Saint Laurent Winery(Summer Hours, Memorial Day - September:7 days a week, 11 - 6;Winter Hours: Thursday - Sunday 12 - 5)
4147 Hamlin Road(Six miles east of Wenatchee)
Malaga, WA 98828
509-888-9463

Stemilt Creek Winery (Wednesday thru Saturday, 11 - 6)
110 N Wenatchee Ave
Wenatchee, WA 98801
509-665-3485

Fox Estate Winery (Summer: Mon - Fri: 10 - 5pmWeekends 11 - 4 pm)
24962 Highway 243 South(Mile Marker #13)
Mattawa, WA 99349
509-932-5818

Ginkgo Forest Winery (Apr-Oct: Wed-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1pm-5pm)
22561 Road T, 7 SW
Mattawa, WA 99349
509-932-0082

Balsamroot Vineyard & Winery(Daily from Noon to 6 p.m.)
300 Ivan Morse Rd
Manson, WA 98831

Benson Vineyards(Noon to 5 p.m. - Daily)
754 Winesap Avenue
Manson, WA
509-687-0313

Chelangr’La (Noon to 6pm - Daily)
67 Wapato Way
Manson, WA 98831
509-687-9746

Chelan Ridge Winery
900 Swartout Road
Manson, WA 98831
509-668-0593

Lake Chelan Winery (Daily 11am - 7pm)
3519 State Road 150
Chelan, WA 98816
509-687-9463

Summit Hills Wine
280 Summit Blvd
Manson, WA 98831
509-687-9745

Tildio Winery(Weekends 12 -5, Mon - Fri, by appointment)
70 East Wapato Lake Road
Manson, Washington 98831
509-687-8463

Wapato Point Cellars(Daily 12 - 5pm)
200 Quetilquasoon Road
Manson, WA 98831
509-687-4000, 800-946-3480

Berghof Keller Winery(Tues - Sat, 1 - 5)
11695 Duncan Road
Leavenworth, WA
509-548-5605

Boudreaux Cellars(By Appointment Only!)
4551 Icicle Road
Leavenworth, WA
509-548-5858

Cascadia Winery (Thurs - Sat: 11 am - 5: pmSunday: Noon - 5 pm)
10090 Main Street, Ste F
Peshastin, WA 98847
509-548-7900

Eagle Creek Winery(May - Oct, Sat & Sun, Noon - 4 p.m. Nov - Apr, Mon - Fri, by appointment)10037 Eagle Creek Road
Leavenworth, WA 98826
509-548-1451 (cottage) 509-548-7668 (winery

Icicle Ridge Winery(Daily 12pm - 5pm)
8977 North Road
Peshastin, WA 98847
509-548-7851

La Toscana Winery & B&B(By appointment)
9020 Foster Road
Cashmere, WA 98815
509-548-5448 or 509-264-0920 (cell)

Napeequa Vintners (May - Dec: Sat - 11 AM to 5 PM; Sun - 11 to 4 PM)
18220 Beaver Valley Road(14 miles north of Leavenworth)
Plain, WA
509-763 -1600

Wedge Mountain Winery(Thursday – Monday 10am – 6pm)
9534 Saunders Road
Peshastin, WA 98847
Phone/Fax: 509-548-7068

2007 Charles Shaw Shiraz

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:13:00 +0000

From toothpastefordinner.com

Alrighty yesterday I didn't post anything because I had a horrible day at work that had me in a foul mood and instead of cooking a good meal and cracking up another bottle of wine I threw a frozen pizza in, drank diet coke, and watched a re-run of House. So! Onto another voyage of wine!

This is a 2007 Charles Shaw Shiraz that was given to us by the same people that gave us the Hogue Reisling. Honestly, I was slightly apprehensive because I've never heard of Charles Shaw wine before and for some reason all I could think of was Charlie Brown and a bank.

The color is a great purple that I think of as the color on a paint chip called "wine". A nice deep purple with rosy undertones but still super dark and lovely. My dream home, which would be something similar to the Kahlo/Rivera or more accurately Burton/Bonham-Carter house, would have a huge den-cave with this color on the walls. I know I'm going on about the color, but it really is quite lovely.

The nose is also very nice. I've started to notice that I need to have deep breaths in the glass for at least 30 seconds before I start picking up indvidual scents. The first whiff I notice familiar scents but I don't know what they are. About 6 huffs in on this one I started smelling the fruit, very blackberry. The second scent I got was a nice black pepper. I just spent the last minute with my nose in the glass and I smell more fruit but I can't figure what else besides blackberries.

Finally the flavor. This is where things get a little disappointing. As soon as it hits my tongue it is super sour from the tip of my tongue and rushes down the sides to the back. And not sour like tart per say, but sour like soured wash rags. Well, it is tart too but I think sour is more accurate. The mid-section is a rush of nothing. I've noticed quite a few wines lately that don't have a good middle so I'm thinking that maybe my palate is still evolving. The finish is more similar to the begining with that odd sourness but the fruit comes out again. Its like shoving a handfull of blackberries in your mouth that are still green and weeks away from ripe. It is still blackberry, but lacking. The aftertaste is amazing. Very fruity and lovely light and zingy but there isn't any spice or kick which I find odd since I got pepper on the nose.

I almost wonder what this wine would be like after it ages a bit more, its still a baby. I had a conversation with a co-worker today who is big into wine and we were talking about how 2005 had some amazing wines but the 2006 and 2007 kinds are very blah. I will have to read more reviews on some of these younger wines and see if that is a general concensus. I'll give this wine 3 stars for the color, nose, and finish.

2006 Hogue Reisling

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:20:00 +0000

Tell me how you really feel...

Major disappointment in this wine, and in dinner on a whole! Some neighbors brought this wine over one night while visiting and since I decided to make tuna steaks for dinner, I thought this would be a great wine to pair it with. On the back it even says it goes well with seafood and Asian! Oy vey.

I guess I should say that I may be a bit biased about this wine because the cab we finished off last night was so wonderful. I also had been eating Swedish Fish as an after-work snack so maybe my tongue was geared up for the artificial flavors. The dinner I made was tuna steaks with a citrus heat glaze (that was heavy on the heat, low on the citrus, and the tuna was tough and fishy), masala rice with lentils which was alright, and yams I doctored with spices and I just don't like yams.

First impressions of the wine was really good. This bottle does have a screw top but I am not biased on if it comes out of a box or has a cork- good wine is good wine. The color was also really balanced and it even was a wee bit bubbly. Here are some pictures of the color:

With Flash

Without Flash

This is where it starts getting iffy, you see now I stuck my nose in the glass. Maybe I need to invest in bigger glasses but ick. I was attacked by a really strong fermented artificial honey smell. Next time you accidentally leave a bottle of apple juice out on the counter over night and it gets kinda bloated looking, take a good whiff and that's what it smelled like. The back of the bottle talked about apricots and peaches but all I smelt was the ick. Here, this is what it tasted like:

Who you callin' schweetie?

Yeah... so then I went against my better judgement and tasted it. It seriously burned like acid on the tip of my tongue and I tasted it no where else. After I swallowed the after taste was 100% fake grapefruit like some lotion or soap you would get at Bath and Body Works. I have tried airing it out, swirling it around, sucking air over the wine in my mouth, and nothing in the world could get me to finish the damn glass.

The rest of the wine is going down the drain and in the recycle.

Blech.

2007 Columbia Crest Two Vines Cabernet Sauvignon

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:36:00 +0000

Alrighty. We have been nursing this bottle for about a week and tonight we killed it with a pot roast for dinner. When we first opened the bottle I wasn't sure how I liked it. It didn't scream out to me either way that it was awesome or awful but something happened tonight and I really enjoy it. Brad loves it and says it was his new fav right from the get go.

It is very rare that I can find distinct flavors or scents in a wine. Maybe its because my palate is not advanced enough or maybe wine just smells like wine. But tonight when I opened the bottle and shoved my nose in the neck of the bottle I smelled straight up black cherries with the tiniest hint of vanilla. There are a few other smells that are familiar, but I have no idea what it is yet. I'm going to have to start shoving my nose in the bins at the grocery store to become more acquainted with the fruit and produce. It almost reminds me of trees but not really pine trees. Like the wet dirt. Okay, I just sniffed the glass again and its totally mud. Like mud with little rocks thrown if for good measure. But its good.

The second thing I really noticed was the deep color. This wasn't red or purple, this wine is straight up black. No seriously, look. This is holding it up to the night.

See? Black. I told ya so. (Note to self: wine glasses show your reflection, make sure you aren't wearing lounge wear next time).

Finally the taste. This wine is kind of like new sex- let me finish the analogy. As soon as it hits your tongue there is a lot of foreplay going on. It starts out kinda teasing you with out giving you any idea of where it is going. The middle of it just hacks at your tongue but its a very short middle. Then it absolutely explodes in a climax of cherries, vanilla, tobacco, mud, but most of all the lingering aftertaste is 100% plums. At first I almost thought it was apples, I was almost positive of it until it hit me over the head with plums. Spiced plums.

The longer you let the wine air the fruitier it gets. The vanilla fades away which makes me sad, along with the tobacco but its still nice.

Id give this one a very strong 4 stars.

Let me introduce my palate

noreply@blogger.com (Eva) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:06:00 +0000

So I have no clue what people are smelling or tasting when they describe wines because when I drink a glass it tastes like wine. If I go to a winery and taste a bunch of different types in a row I can tell a difference in the grapes and I know the flavors that I like. But I definitely don't taste the proverbial cornucopia that people brag about. So! To give you an idea of what flavors I find good and bad I am going to describe what makes my tongue happy and if it makes your saliva glands activate we may have similar tastes in wine:

Chocolate- the darkest most bitter you can find. I'm a dark chocolate purist but I admit I like a good creamy milk chocolate with nuts in it. Don't put in fruit and I refuse to eat white chocolate. I will also only eat Hershey's if it is an emergency PMS crisis.

Nuts- all nuts are good though I'm particularly fond of almonds. I could give or take super oily nuts like cashews and macadamias though. I also don't like nuts crazy salted.

Salad Dressings- For a normal run of the mill house salad I like oil and vinegar. If the salad has a lot of gumption like a Cobb Salad I prefer ranch. I hate thousand island and catalina.

Cheese- A good sharp cheddar is a good stand by but I'm also fond of a good brie, gouda, munster, parmesean, feta, etc. I don't like an overbearing cheese that makes all the saliva in my mouth rush to the back of my throat.

Berries- This is hard. I love berries but I hate the seeds. Strawberries are always a good go but I like berry smoothies and yogurt.

Citrus- I can take sour with the best of them but my favorite citrus is a good grapefruit.

Salsa- Fruit is always a selling point in my salsa, especially pineapple. Peach and mango are also very palatable. I like heat in my salsa but nothing that burns my tongue and I can take a good amount of heat.

Mexican Food- Chicken enchilada with mole sauce. If I want to get a bit tipsy I will drink a lime margarita on the rocks but I don't care for crazy amounts of sugar with my alcohol. Well, I don't care for a repeat performance.

Asian Food- I'm a Thai girl. I used to love me some Chinese and Japanese but there is a Thai restaurant down the street from our house that has amazing Pho. Anything we order is a new favorite.

Popcorn- light butter and salt. I don't like air popped stuff and I hate gobs of butter. I also have an overall rule against artificial flavor so that white cheddar seasoning they put on some makes me gag a bit.

Vegetable- The wine drinkers worst enemy, but I adore asparagus and broccoli. This makes me cry. I love the crisp bitter green taste of it but it completely rapes your palate when you chase a bite with good wine. I like almost any vegetable if it is cooked right and chopped up.

Olives- ANY olive is a good olive. I joke that I must have been Greek in a past life because I would grow a tree in my back yard and eat it bare every year if I didn't have such a black thumb.

White Wine- 2006 Schmitt Sohne Reisling Spatlese. ($10)

It has to be in the green bottle because the blue bottle is very bland. It has a nice bite and is almost bubbly the instant it hits your mouth. It is strong without knocking you on your butt.

Red Wine- 2007 Maryhill Winery Winemakers Red ($15)

This wine opened my mouth to the amazing possibilities of red wine. I used to be a white wine only kind of gal because it was so fruity and easy to pair. This wine was like having a palate of oak barrels knock me over face first into a pile of white pepper. It was amazing and my new standard of a good red wine. Yeah, I know the picture below is the 2006 but I like the 2007.