A Red for All Seasons

Last week I was extolling the virtues of spring. Now it's grey and drizzly again. In some places, it's still snowing. With the variable weather, it's hard to know which way is up. Do you dust off the grill and barbecue chicken? Or do you make a pot of stew? And what do you drink in the wine department, given it can be 86 degrees one day and 59 degrees the next?

Regular readers know that I love red blends because they're food friendly. This time of year, though, I am especially fond of them because their versatility means that they are as welcome next to grilled chicken as they are soup. So when the weather gets this way I make a bit pot of chili, pick out a red blend, and no matter whether if feels like June or January I'm ready to go.

A red blend I enjoyed recently with a pot of beef and black bean chili was the 2006 Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red from Washington state's Columbia Valley. ($19.69 in my local independent grocery store; this vintage available for $20-$25, but more recent vintages can be had for $14-$22) Composed from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Merlot, the result is a juicy, fruit-forward wine with good structure. I've had my bottle for several years, and it's drinking just great now. I detected aromas of blueberry, cinnamon, and baking chocolate, all of which are echoed in the palate. The wine retains a fresh, lively taste through the mouth-watering aftertaste, with some additional herbal and spice notes. What I enjoyed most was the play between the varieties: the Cabernet Sauvignon lending its weight and acidity, the Syrah providing those soft berry flavors and spice, the Cabernet Franc lifting the blend with some acidity and herbs, and the Merlot making it approachable and inviting. Very good QPR.

And if you're looking for some chili recipes, here are a few of my favorites to try:

Fine Cooking's Beef and Black Bean Chili with Chipotle and Avocado

Rachael Ray's Fiery Chicken Chili (warning: makes enough for medium-sized army)

Tyler Florence's Outrageous Texas Chili

Got Gewürztraminer?

This week, I'm on the run. From home to work to appointments, to the store, to run errands--you know exactly what I mean. Often, this means that there is a fair amount of takeout and/or prepared foods bought at the supermarket sitting on our dinner table. When I'm feeling frazzled, I'm always glad if there's some Gewürztraminer on hand.

Gewürztraminer is a spicy white wine that, though dry, gives a sense of sweetness on the tongue. As a result, it's perfect with:

• sausages
• roasted chicken from the supermarket
• roasted butternut squash soup
• Thai curries
• Pho
• Sushi
• Indian food
• Spicy Chinese Food
  

If these are turning up on your table with some regularity, having some Gewürztraminer in the house will make your life easier.

My recommendation is the 2009 Snoqualmie Vineyards Gewürztraminer Naked (suggested retail $10; available for $9-$14). I've enjoyed getting to know this line of wines better, and reviewed their Chardonnay positively, too. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've had a domestic Gewürztraminer that pleased as much as this one did. Exotic aromas of honey, cinnamon toast, and cream entice you to take your first sips. The flavors reminded me of spicy apple compote, with a bit of honey in the aftertaste. Though the impression in your mouth is sweet, the wine is actually quite dry. Excellent QPR.

Full Disclosure: I received a sample of this wine for review.

Do You Know What Chardonnay Tastes Like?

Here's a quiz.

• Do you think Chardonnay tastes like vanilla pudding?
• Do you think Chardonnay tastes like toothpicks?
• Do you think Chardonnay tastes like what you imagine it would be like to lick an oak tree?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you don't know what Chardonnay tastes like. But don't worry, you're not alone. All those flavors that you're describing above don't actually come from the grape, but from what happens to the grape after it leaves the vineyard. In the process of turning grape juice into wine the Chardonnay undergoes fermentation which can give it a creamy, buttery taste. And it can be put in oak barrels which can impart a vanilla or coconut tinge to the flavors as well as notes of oak, smoke, toast, and bread dough.

Even if you prefer your Chardonnays big, creamy, and bready you might be interested in tasting the grape itself for educational purposes. And if you steer clear of Chardonnays because they taste clumsy and overblown in your mouth, remember that it's not the grape's fault.

In either case, you might like the 2009 Snoqualmie Vineyards Chardonnay. (suggested retail $12; often available for under $10) Provocatively labeled "naked," this wine is unoaked and made from organic grapes. The juice never sees any wood: it's fermented in stainless steel and put in bottles. What's more, the fermentation itself is halted before the wine develops those creamy flavors. The result is an excellent QPR example of--who knew!--Chardonnay. This beautifully balanced wine has aromas and flavors that are crisp and clean, like apples and lemon peel, and a clean minerality in the aftertaste that is refreshing and light.

We had it with some sensational smoky shrimp and cheese grits and the clean flavors really shone with the shellfish, warm paprika, and cheese. I recommended this wine for Thanksgiving, too, because it will pair so beautifully with a wide variety of foods, but I don't want it lost in the holiday shuffle. It would also be wonderful with salmon, halibut, roasted chicken, and turkey pot pies (think about those leftovers!)

Full Disclosure: I received a sample of this wine for review.

In Training for Hospice du Rhone

Next weekend I'm off to the 17th annual Hospice du Rhône tasting, an event held in Paso Robles to celebrate Rhône varieties and the winemakers who use them to create world-class wines. I am something of a Syrah maniac (a tendency I try to keep under control here on the blog) and love Viognier, too, so I'm really looking forward to tasting and learning about these wines.

To get in training for the event, I participated in the Hospice du RhôneTwitter Taste Live last Friday. (I can't seem to locate any feed of the tasting notes, but you can read east coast co-host 1 Wine Dude's report here.) From Europe through several time zones to the west coast, this provided an opportunity to taste a number of wines that were made with Rhône varieties from all over the world. I focused on wines from Australia and the US, and made a particular effort to get a sense of the differences between the wines made in US regions.

Here are my favorites from the tasting, and some initial observations.


Rhône Reds Can Be Larger Than Life. We tasted some big reds. The one I liked best was the 2005 Kinton Syrah from Santa Barbara County. With a whopping 15% alc/vol, I thought it was still a balanced wine with aromas of pepper, plum, cherry, and roasted herb. It tasted of plums, roasted coffee, and mint, with some spice cabinet flavors in the aftertaste. This was a lot of wine, but if you are looking for a big red, look no further. (available for $15-$23; good QPR)


I Love Mourvedre--Young or Old. I sampled two Mourvedres, one young and one from the 2003 vintage. I loved them both. The youngster--the 2006 Tablas Creek Mourvedre from Paso Robles--was a delicious wine with meaty and spicy aromas and flavors full of lashings of plum and a nifty espresso aftertaste. This wine is delicious now--but I wonder what it will be in another six years. My experience with the 2003 Cline Cellars Mourvedre Ancient Vines from Contra Costa County makes me think it will be even more spectacular. I purchased this wine three years ago in and when I popped the cork I was greeted by delicious aromas of spice, earth, cherries, and plums. There was terrific spiciness in the flavors, with a backdrop of plums, black cherries, and chocolate. (find the Tablas Creek Mourvedre for around $35, very good QPR; find more recent vintages of the Cline Mourvedre for $13-$22, excellent QPR)

Don't Forget to Look North for Rhône Varieties: Two of my favorite wines Friday night came from regions I don't normally associate with Rhône varieties: northern California's Sonoma Valley and Washington State. The 2007 Anaba Coriol White from the Sonoma Valley was one of the most exciting white wines I've had this year. Made from a blend of 69% Viognier, 15 % Roussanne, 10% Marsanne, and 6% Grenache Blanc, this extraordinary blend had aromas of sea salt and fennel pollen that reminded me of a stretch of Coastal 1 I know very well, where the sea is on one side and wild fennel grows on the other. There were flavors of apples, honey, melon, and spice. I'd highly recommend this wine. So, too, would I highly recommend the 2007 Substance Counoise from Washington State's Walla Walla Valley. This wine had oodles of character, with aromas of rose petals, roasted herbs, and earth. The flavors were a mouth-watering blend of cherry, leather, grilled meat, and pepper with a spicy aftertaste. (the Anaba Coriol White is available for $32 from the winery, excellent QPR; the Substance Counoise is available for $18 from the winery, excellent QPR)

I'll have a lot more to say about the Rhône in a little over week, so stay tuned.

Full Disclosure: I received the Anaba and Substance wines as samples.

A House White from Washington State

Everybody likes to have a house wine at the ready. You know, one of those wines that go with everything and please most people's tastebuds.

If you're on the lookout for a new house white, why not try one from Washington? As regular readers know, I'm trying to learn more about the wines from this part of the world, and to do so I picked up this bottle from Washington's Columbia Valley.

The 2006 Kamiak Cellar Select White Blend was a nice, soft wine made from Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Gewurztraminer by Gordon Brothers Winery. I purchased it in a local independent grocery store for $9.99, and it's available from other merchants for $8-$13. There were aromas and flavors of citrus and golden delicious apples, which was not surprising given the grapes that went into this bottle. The wine had a round but fresh mouthfeel, and the wine was accented in the aftertaste but a subtle hint of blood orange. For the price, this is a great contender for your next house white, and represented very good QPR.

As proof of this wine's versatility, we had it with a creamy goat cheese and asparagus pasta dish that was healthier than it sounds because no cream is used to make it. Asparagus is a notoriously finicky vegetable when it comes to wine pairing, and sometimes I find Sauvignon Blanc brings out its harsher characteristics. Not so this wine. The Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer provided just enough softness, while the Sauvignon Blanc picked out the green freshness of the vegetables and went well with the goat cheese, too.

WBW #55: Merlots North and South

It's Wine Blogging Wednesday again, the online monthly tasting event originally conceived by Lenn Thompson of Lenndevours. This month the theme was set by Remy Charest of The Wine Case blog. His instructions were for us to pit the north against the south--but after that he was pretty flexible. You could compare wines from different countries, different regions, or even different parts of the same appellation.

Because I'm trying to come to terms with the wines of Washington state, I decided to drink a Washington state Merlot (north) alongside a Napa Valley Merlot (south).

The 2005 Northwest Cellars Merlot was an excellent QPR bottling blended from 75% Merlot, 13% Syrah, and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. (suggested retail, $15) Slow to open, the wine developed to reveal plum and cassis aromas with a bright raspberry note. The flavors underwent a metamorphosis from a simple taste of fresh plums to something darker and more complex, with plums, graphite, and smoke. There was some green stemminess as well--which I always like in Merlot--and the rich aftertaste was luscious with milk chocolate notes. This was an uneniably complex and elegant wine, and would be enough to convince any Merlot skeptic still having horrible flashbacks from the 90s that the grape is worth a second try.

For my "south" bottle I opened up the 2006 Sean Minor 4 Bears Merlot from the Napa Valley. (suggested retail $17; available for $10-$18) This very good QPR Merlot opened at first to rich, slightly confected cherry-berry aromas with a hint of green pepper in the undertow. Plum and cherry fruit blended with herbal notes in the flavors, and this rich profile was accentuated with cedar and allspice. The aftertaste was chalky and slightly drying, but this smoothed out with time and air. The wine continued to deepen and gain weight and complexity over the two days that I sipped it.

I think that both of these wines will be even better in 6-12 months than they are now, which makes them good candidates for short-term cellaring. Merlot is a versatile grape food-wise, and will bear as well with summer barbecue and burgers as it will with next autumn's pot roasts, so if you like Merlot I'd stock up on these beauties now.

Drinking one variety from two distinct locations was a great learning experience for me. Going in to it, I would have expected more chocolatey richness from the Napa Wine, and more herbal notes in the Washington wine. My tasting showed just the reverse. Both of these wines were keepers, though, in my book.

Thanks to Remy for a great theme, and I'll see you back here for WBW #56 next month.

Full disclosure: I received both of this wines as samples.

Washington State Wine Resources

One of my 2009 Wine Resolutions was to explore Washington State's wine. (image from Hospitality & Wine Education)

In case any readers want to follow along, here's an alphabetical list of the wine resources I've found on the web. Happy surfing--and join me in exploring this US wine region over the coming months.

Go Taste Wine's Washington Wine Country Map: a clickable map with all the major regions.

MikeL's Guide to Washington Wineries: easily navigable site, with maps, wine tour itineraries, and an alphabetical list of all wineries in the state.

Through the Walla Walla Grape Vine: Catie the Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman's blog, with reviews and wine happenings.

Washington Wine Commission: a great guide to Washington state's wineries, grape growers, and wine regions. Perfect for relative newbies (like me).

Washington Wine Country: another site with tour itineraries, a guide to regions, and more.

Washington Wine Report: this blog was recommended to me by a reader, Domino, and I am glad they left a comment! This is a terrific blog, and writer Sean Sullivan provides focused, thoughtful reviews.

Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman: an online wine shop specializing in Washington state wines.

Wine Peeps: The Seattle-based daughter and father duo Kori and John give Washington wine terrific coverage. One of their latest articles focused on the best wine shops in the state. A frequent stop of mine, Wine Peeps is one of the best-informed and thorough wine blogs on the 'net. If you haven't checked it out, you should! They also pay particular attention for wines that deliver bang for the buck, so GWU$20 readers will find a lot to like.

Write for Wine...Washington Wine Wench: a blog dedicated to Washington wine and wine happenings.

If you have any other recommended Washington State Wine Resources that I've missed, please leave them in the comments below.

Washington State Riesling to the Rescue

It's hot. I'm hot. I'm tired. I'm overworked. I'm eating lots of takeout.

Riesling to the rescue.

There is no joy so profound as I experience back to school, Labor Day, and the looming need to buy fall clothes as a cool bottle of Riesling waiting for me in the fridge when I pull into the driveway after a long day of work with a few cartons of Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, or Japanese food sitting on the passenger seat next to me. Riesling is the perfect match for Asian food, and because you can store it in the fridge it's always ready when you need it (just let it warm up for 10-15 minutes before your drink it or you'll miss out on Riesling's extraordinary aromas).

Because I love its low alcohol zinginess and Asian food-friendliness so much, I'm always on the lookout for new labels I haven't tried before. My latest discovery is the 2006 Mildbrandt Traditions Riesling from Washington. I purchased this for $12.49 in my local grocery store; you can find it near you for between $10 and $15. It was pale in color which suggested cool, clear water. The aromas and flavors ran the spectrum of citrus and flowers from orange blossom, to Meyer lemon, to lemon peel. There was a nice, juicy finish that kept you reaching for more to sip along with your ever-diminishing pile of pad thai. This wine also had a relatively low alcohol level for a domestic white at only 12.5%, which is good news when it's so hot outside.

What I loved most about this wine was that it was slightly off-dry but still restrained and balanced. Oh, and I loved its pricepoint, too. This certainly qualifies as a wine with excellent QPR, given its clear, refreshing citrus and floral flavors. It may not be as complex as a German Riesling, but it will combine with your takeout beautifully. So if you see this in your local store buy several bottles, leave them in the fridge, and the next time you're running late and General Tso is your dinner date you'll have one less thing to worry about.