Wine Tasting March 19 ’11
Visiting Lummi Island? Flying in from Sydney for dinner by sensational new chef Blaine Wetzel at Willows Inn? Why not pick up a bottle of knockout Washington wine from our extensive cellar selection of the highly acclaimed Quilceda Creek and Betz wines from the last several years??? Our weekly tasting hours are Saturdays 1-5 pm, or anytime for “Wine Emergencies”…!
Very interesting selection of wines last Saturday, beginning with the very unusual white nebbiolo with its range of complex flavors, followed by an intriguing, densely flavored pinot noir from the southern-most reaches of Argentina in Patagonia.
The Fernandez Dehesa la Granja offered full-bodied flavors and texture in the Spanish style, and the Novelty Hill syrah was perfectly situated to be the Wine of the Day with its satisfying texture and full-bodied flavors.
This is also the week after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and at this writing several nuclear reactors are on the brink of catastrophic meltdown, which would have severe and long-lasting impacts. Heavy stuff…here’s hoping the world manages to dodge that bullet.
We are off to Snohomish on Sunday for the annual Quilceda Creek wine pickup, our one chance a year to taste these fantastic wines, so always a high point in our annual wine calendar! We do have several vintages tucked away; feel free to ask if you are looking for a world-class cabernet for a really special occasion.
Just got home from another awesome dinner at Ciao Thyme in Bellingham. Not exactly a restaurant, and operated by once upon a thyme chef at Lummi island’s own Beach Store Cafe (Mataio), Ciao Thyme offers periodic dinners where every bite is little poem to to the experience of taste. There is some talk of arranging some sort of Ciao Thyme dinner somewhere on Lummi Island, so stay tuned!
Hope to see you this weekend!
Stephen Vincent Chardonnay 09 California $10
A terrific value, the 2008 Chardonnay offers attractive melony, buttery citrus, and tropical fruit characteristics as well as a hint of minerality. Elegant, fresh, and medium-bodied, it tastes far better than its humble price suggests.
Stephen Vincent “Crimson” 09 California $10
Firm and spicy, with appetizing blackberry, wild berry, pepper, spice and chicory notes that firm up on the finish. Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Terre antiche montepulciano 09 Italy $8
Stylish, medium to full bodied, has essence of tarragon and rosemary on the nose, and violets, raspberry jam and black cherry on the palate.
Pasanau Ceps Nous 06 Spain $22 WA 92pts
Blend of Garnacha, Merlot, Mazuelo, and Syrah. Dark crimson-colored, it has a fragrant bouquet of garrigue, mineral, black cherry, and blueberry. On the palate it delivers gobs of bright, lively fruit buttressed by good acidity, excellent intensity and concentration, and complex flavors. It is a fine value and a great introduction to Priorat.
Saturday Wine Tasting March 12 ’10 (almost the Ides)
Bold suggestion: Flying in from Sydney for dinner at Lummi island’s newly world-famous Willows Inn? Why not pick up a bottle of knockout Washington wine from our extensive cellar selection of the highly acclaimed Quilceda Creek and Betz wines from the last several years???
Our last few tastings have spotlighted some really delicious wines at really amazing bargain prices. Makes me wonder what’s going on in the wine stars–lots of great buys in all directions, and last week followed the trend. First, the Chateau L’Hermitage roussanne blend is lovely and nuanced–I have become a major fan of roussanne blends in the past year or two, with their sumptuous texture and peachy highlights.
And the new Pend d’Oreille Bistro Rouge was a crowd-pleasing knockout, something of a fruit bomb with a nice touch of class, a terrific value. Finished up the remains of our tasting bottle of the Altos las Hormigas (“the Ants”) malbec a day or two later to find it had opened up considerably from “hmm, pretty good” to “MMMmmmm…hmmm…hmmm!” And then the knockout punch, the Stevens Winery Black Tongue Syrah (is that a great name for a syrah or What?), with the kind of dark, brooding depths one needs this time of year to finally break free from Winter!
The Ides of March live in infamy from the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, although the Ides, along with the Kalends and the Nones, were just ways of counting the days each month–very complicated ways, brought to you by those wonderful folks who thought it would be a good idea to call “seven” VII and “nine” IX. I mean, what were they thinking?
This week’s wines, all (as usual) yummy!
Nera ‘La Novella’ nebbiolo ’10 Italy $15
Offers surprising complexity: zesty lemon cream, yellow apple, and white grapes, with a touch of nut skin, white pepper, and dusty earth.
Manos Negras pinot noir ’08 Argentina $12
Mulled cherry, cola and anise notes mingle in this juicy, forward, light-bodied Pinot.
Fernandez Dehesa la Granja ’04 Spain $17
Toasty and smoky notes frame a core of plum and earth flavors in this austere red, which has chewy tannins and a smoky, cedary finish. Tempranillo
Novelty Hill Syrah ’06 Washington $17 WS89pts
Firm and crisp, showing pretty plum and guava notes that play against refined tannins and a hint of bacon on the long finish.
Wine & Cheese Tasting March 5 ’10
Don’t forget to go online and give Willows Inn new chef Blaine Wetzel your votes in Food and Wine Magazine’s new “The People’s Best New Chef”contest. Here’s the link!
Cheese Tasting! This Saturday we will be tasting Pleasant Valley Dairy‘s new cheese, Gouda with herbes de Provence— a combination of basil, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, oregano, fennel, and lavender– yum! This new flavor is equally delicious but clearly different from the very popular “fines herbes” Gouda that we regularly carry. We also have a supply of their new smoked Farmstead, a fantastic variation on the regular Farmstead that has been a staple here from the beginning.
Last week’s wines were stellar. In the midst of the seemingly never-ending Cold Snap (we are supposed to be all daffodils and plum blossoms by now) it seemed appropriate to pretend it was Spring with a little rose…the Martinez cabernet blanca filled the bill nicely; noticeably off-dry, the sweetness added just the right adaptation to the cold weather. As for the ALTOS Bonarda Colonia Las Liebres, all you need to know is that this is a Fantastic buy, a delicious wine that seriously over-delivers, and at this price you should be buying by the case. (I will be ordering next week, so let me know–that’s 96 bucks a case, we pay the tax, and this is such an incredible deal I expect even the distributor will be out of stock very, very quickly.)
Our third wine in three weeks from Palama in Puglia on the Italian boot was their blend, mostly negroamaro, not as masculine as the straight negroamaro, nor as feminine as the primitivo.
Finally, all heads were bowed at the elegance of the Quilceda Creek Red Wine, which showed beautifully with a mouth-filing parade of plush flavors. Yes we have more from several vintages, so feel free to ask.
I can’t believe we spent the whole afternoon here…
you can make one phone call, but nobody leaves!
then the wine glass sprouted right out of the top of his head!
well, they don’t LOOK like troublemakers, but…
This Week’s Wines:
Chateau L’Ermitage 09 France $9
Rousanne, grenache, and viognier blend; light gold in color with aromas of peach, flowers, and honey; the Grenache provides the richness and the Roussanne the balancing acidity. Delicious!
Pend d’Oreille Bistro Rouge 07 Washington $13
Very aromatic blackberries and a chocolate note on the nose. Blackberry, blackcurrant, and blueberry flavors fill the palate and continue through a longish dry finish that includes modest oak and a cinnamon highlight.
Altos Las Hormigas Malbec 09 Argentina $10 WA88pts
Spicy, black cherry and cocoa, balanced, long, ripe tannins, fleshy and round, a crowd-pleaser.
Stevens Winery Syrah “Black Tongue” 07 Washington $30 WA91pts
Medium purple in color, it sports an enticing nose of smoked meat, game, mineral, Asian spices, blueberry, and plum. Medium to full-bodied, succulent and layered, it offers immediate pleasure but should drink well for a decade.
Wine Tasting Feb 26 ’11
Riley at Willows Inn has asked us all to go online and give their new chef Blaine Wetzel our votes in Food and Wine Magazine’s new “The People’s Best New Chef”contest. Here’s the link!
Remember: our regular hours are Saturdays 1-5pm, but call ANYTIME for Wine Emergencies!
Well, I am of course biased, but I really liked last week’s wines. It is possibly emblematic of something (or perhaps not) that the two most popular wines were both from the same California winery, Peirano Estates, which has an interesting history . Last week we poured their zinfandel and their petit sirah, the former bright strawberry and cherry, the latter deep with dark berries and plums. These wines really over-deliver for the price.
In addition, we poured an old favorite French wine, the Domaine Piquemal from the Rousillon. The wines from this area are not pretentious, but they do have individual character, and this one has particularly pleasing heft, flavors, and mouthfeel. And finally, the Giovanna Madonia white dessert wine from raisined grapes was completely unique (I am so often tempted to say ‘quite unique,’ but I am told that is unacceptable grammar, a double superlative or something…well, maybe ‘completely unique’ is just as bad, and all you really need to know is that there aren’t any other wines quite like it!) and I grew quite fond of its chord of citrus, whiskey barrel, and apple, to the point that I fantasize about pouring it over ice cream or rum cake or sipping it with ginger or lemon peel.
This week we are offering something else Unique, in that we will be pouring a wine rarely seen in wine shops, and even more rarely poured, because it is only sold by mailing list. That is the Quilceda Creek Columbia Valley Red Wine (2005). This wine is blended from declassified lots of cabernet sauvignon that don’t quite make the cut for QC’s flagship cab, which has earned either 99 or 100 points from Robert Parker (think PERFECT) for six year in a row. This may be their “second wine,” but most wineries can only dream about having a top wine this good.
Come check it out!
So what’s this thing with “the Talls”…??!!
This week’s wines:
Martinez & Martinez Cabernet Blanca 09 Washington $12
This Rosé of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is light and crisp with flavors of fresh vine ripe raspberry and strawberry flavors. Drink it…Spring will come!
ALTOS Bonarda Colonia Las Liebres 08 Argentina $8
Shows nice dark, juicy plum, licorice and spice notes with a fleshy, open-knit finish.
Palamà Arcangelo 2008 Salice Salentino ’08 Italy $12
The vineyards of Salice Salentino, in the heel of the Italian boot, date back to the 6th century BC and consisted dominantly of the Negroamaro variety (“black bitter”), known for its rustic dark fruit. This one is sultry dark ruby, with a sweet, ripe nose oozing blackberries and super-ripe plums, baking spices, and sweetly-smoky embers. Round and soft in the mouth, with very good concentration, and balance.
Quilceda Creek Red Wine ’05 Washington WA 93pts $45.
The 2005 Red Wine is the winery’s second label for declassified lots. It consists of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Merlot. Purple-colored, it reveals an expressive bouquet of cedar, pencil lead, spice box, black currant, and blackberry. This is followed by a full-bodied, plush wine with ample ripe tannins and layers of sweet fruit. The wine has serious weight and excellent length. It should be at its best from 2011 through 2020. The wine is true to the house style and is a superb value.
2072 Granger Way