Wine Tasting & Artists’ Studio Tour November 13-14 ’10
Our featured artists for the studio tour this weekend are photographers Cheryl Bachus and Di Kegeles, who will be in the shop both mornings from 10 – 1 to talk about their work, and I understand they will be serving goodies, too!
Sunday afternoon around 1pm (or maybe 2?) Joyce from Pleasant Valley Dairy is planning to stop by with some cheese samples (they make our wonderful goudas) and talk about how their cheeses are made.
TRUFFLE ALERT! There is still time to order the next batch of truffles for Thanksgiving: $1 each, or $5 for 4 assorted in a gift box. Flavors will include Pumpkin Spice, Salt Caramel, Classic Dark Chocolate, and Triple Chocolate. Call Pat to order (758-2959) before Nov 15; pickup Nov 20!!
No complaints on any of the wines last week, quite the contrary. Of course there rarely are, though for sure some wines definitely have exotic (okay weird) characteristics that don’t appeal to everyone. But not last week. Last week we poured a nice steady bunch, reliably tasty and well-made and reasonably priced. We’re down to one bottle of the Four Graces pinot gris, the tail end of our stocks of Martorana Sicilian Red and the Torbreck Juvey ’04, which by the way was showing (drool) Really Well last week. We expect to keep the new Portteus Bistro Red in stock for awhile, though, and the general feeling among the regulars was that this is the best one yet. At only $10 it really delivers for the moola!
Mary Beth & Steve 
omg is that Lynn D or (gulp)…the Queen..!??? 
Lee Lynn Leere and Lisa (I’m not making this up)
Evan in drag and proud of it
This week’s tasting:THE ITALIANS ARE BACK THE ITALIANS ARE BACK!
Argiolas Costamolino Vermentino 2007 Italy $13
Supple aromas of citrus, pineapple, tropical fruits and honey are wonderfully supported by a zesty acidity. Delicate and pleasantly refreshing on the palate…(I love this wine!)
Marchetti Montepulciano ‘07 (Italy) $10
Laced with intriguing smoky cranberry spiciness over vividly flavored dark cherry and ripe plums. A joy to drink!
La Quercia Aglianico ’09 Italy $11
Believed to be an ancient Greek wine grape, aglianico is a full bodied with notes of ripe plum and white pepper on fine-grained tannins.
Bocelli Poggioncino ’07 Italy $18
can’t find my notes, but I liked it and it’s sangio from Tuscany so it must be good!
Wine Tasting November 6 ’10
In some ways last week may have been our best ordinary weekly tasting, in that all the wines were really showing well, totally delicious, so it was hard to choose a favorite.
The SA Prum riesling was just a little off-dry, with lovely acidity that starts cleaning up the sweetness around mid-palate to give a nice refreshing quality. The Leese-Fitch cab, a member of the Sebastiani extended family of wines, displayed an amazing amount of flavor (see notes) . But the two winners were comparable Washington red blends, the Cougar Crest “Dedication four” and the Goose Ridge Vireo, which just earned a whopping 93 points from Wine Spectator. The Cougar Crest was softer, a bit lighter in body and a full percentage point less in alcohol, so somehow more feminine, and the Vireo bigger and heavier, yet –how should we say– “suavacious”…? We may have the last case of this in the state, so get yourselves on down here and grab a bottle.
Leeray arrived early in a stunning costume…witch? fairy godmother? … and was joined by Capella dressed for the Masquerade Ball (in case one happened), and MJ donned some ‘o her ol’ Tennessee duds, ready for pullin weeds or drivin a tractor. Great costumes, Bravo!
TRUFFLE ALERT! Those who tried some of the new truffles did a lot of Yumming and Oohing and Mmming, especially over the new Pumpkin Spice truffle! There is still time to order for Thanksgiving: $1 each, or $5 for 4 assorted in a gift box. Flavors will include Pumpkin Spice, Salt Caramel, Classic Dark Chocolate, and Triple Chocolate. Call Pat to order (758-2959) before Nov 15; pickup Nov 20!!
This week’s wines:
Four Graces Pinot Gris (Oregon) $14
rich and creamy texture, notes of peach, apricot, citrus
Martorana Nero d’Avola 08 (Sicily) $12
Easy drinking red wine with crowd-pleasing notes of ripe plums, blueberry, almond, and sweet rhubarb
Portteus Bistro Red 07 Washington $10
From Zillah comes this satisfying blend of 44% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon; lots of dark fruit at a bargain price.
Torbreck Cuvee Juveniles Shiraz ’04 Australia $18 WS90pts
Smooth, ripe and generous, brimming with cherry, raspberry, pepper and bittersweet chocolate flavors, which linger enticingly on the fine-grained finish. Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz.
Wine Tasting October 30 ’10
In case you haven’t been in lately, we have replenished our stock of Pleasant Valley cheeses and Theo’s chocolate bars, and have a nice selection of both. Also, Pat and Janice have a new batch of Truffles this weekend (a steal at $1 each!), and will be taking orders for Thanksgiving!
Truffle flavors: Pumpkin Spice and Cointreau Walnut, both dipped in Deep Dark Chocolate…you KNOW how good they are gonna be, don’t you?…!!!
We had some great wines last weekend. Sold most of our little stash of our lead-off white, the Mark Ryan chardonnay which was entirely satisfying. Our old favorite the Santa Digna carmenere was still a crowd-pleaser, and I never tire of telling the story of the grape’s rediscovery in Chile after it was thought extinct for a century or so.
The new Can Blau was showing very well, especially when warmed up a bit under the hot water tap. I often find myself doing that around here, because we’re in that time of year when Room Temperature hovers around 62, and that is just too cold for a nice red wine. So go ahead and warm it up; it makes a huge difference in flavor, aromatics, and mouthfeel. As for the Numanthia Termes, all agreed there was a lot of There there, if you know what I mean…they don’t make “small” wines!
Been out late to a seminar tonight, so this will be short. Hope to see you all this weekend. Costumes welcome!
SA Prum Essence Riesling 06 Germany $10
Pale gold color, aromatic with scents of apricot and peach and flavors of fresh fruit perfectly balanced by a racy acidity and mineral character.
Leese-Fitch Cabernet 09 California $10
Deep ruby in color, the nose has notes of black cherry, root beer syrup, and cedar. The 2009 vintage of Leese-Fitch Cabernet has flavors of rich berry cobbler, cappuccino, chocolate covered mints, currants & fig cake. It finishes with toasted marshmallows and dried blueberries.
Cougar Crest Dedication 4 07 Washington $19
44% Syrah, 32% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Luch, ripe plums, red currants, black cherries, and a hint of dried roses and herbs on the nose are balanced by acidity and tannins that are smooth and graceful, not overbearing. Rich on the palate and long on the finish,
Goose Ridge Vireo 06 Washington $20 WS93pts
Firm, rich and distinctive for the black olive and roasted meat overtones that swirl around the red berry and cherry flavors, persisting impressively on the long, expressive finish. Stylish and focused, this has miles to go. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot
Wine Tasting October 23 ’10
I was told by a reliable source last weekend that I shouldn’t talk about politics on the wine blog. Probably good advice, but sometimes we all need a good rant, which I managed to resist for the most part, but man, it’s tough to hold back as we suffer through what has to be the most dim-witted political dialogue in living memory. Or, what is the same thing, all political rhetoric is now coming across distorted by the “Dopeler effect” by which political ads sound even more moronic the faster they come at you…
In the upcoming (up-chucking?) election, there are actually two initiatives that directly affect the wine business, although the most direct effect is on sales of hard liquor. One of them attempts to do away with State Liquor stores in order to benefit Big Box stores like Costco. Such stores have so much leverage that they would be able to buy from suppliers at much lower prices than, say, a small wine shop on a little island, and would likely put a lot of small retailers and even distributors out of business.
The other version is sponsored by the Big Beverage industry, who say okay, sure, let’s do away with State Liquor stores, but let’s do it in a way that benefits existing big beverage distributors.
As it is now, Washington, like many states, has a “three-tiered” system, which since prohibition ended, has divided the profits in wine and beer sales among producers, distributors, and retailers, and of course the State gets its share of taxes, so call it “four-tier.” Everybody gets a share, with little retailers like us having the worst odds.
In theory, we would all be better off without the extensive regulation that exists in this industry to protect the profits of the big players and the tax revenue of the state. But in today’s world, it is reasonable to expect that deregulation would lead to even more intense concentration of the industry. Presently no entity can be both a retailer and a wholesaler, which somewhat evens the playing field for retailers. But without those rules, an outfit like Costco might become both a distributor and a retailer, crowding out much of the competition.
All I’m saying is that the prudent thing to do is to vote against these two Initiatives; they would hurt state tax revenues at a time when they are most critical, and give those benefits to big players in the private sector who already have more than their fair share.
And in case you haven’t been in lately, we have replenished our stock of Pleasant Valley cheeses and Theo’s chocolate bars, and have a nice selection of both. Also, Pat and Janice will be making a new batch of Truffles for the Halloween weekend tasting, and taking orders for Thanksgiving!
last week photos
week before last photos
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Wine Tasting October 23
Mark Ryan Chardonnay 07 Washington $25 WA91 pts
Light gold-colored, it reveals aromas of toast, mineral, poached pear, and apple. Smooth-textured, balanced, and vibrant in a Chassagne-Montrachet style, the flavors are rich and all components are well-integrated. Drink this outstanding Chardonnay over the next 4 years.
Santa Digna Carmenere 07 Chile $10
Chalky notes of toasty plums, blueberry, raisin give way to finish of dark prunes and spicy white pepper…a great value!
Can Blau 08 Spain $14 WA89pts
Dark ruby-colored, it reveals a compelling bouquet of mineral, smoke, spice box, black cherry, and plum. Sweet and smooth-textured on the palate, this medium to full-bodied effort has excellent depth, concentration, and length.
Numanthia Termes ’03 Spain $22 WA90pts
A super bargain, the 2003 Termes enjoys malolactic fermentation in barrel and is aged 16 months in old French oak. Its dense ruby/purple hue is accompanied by sweet aromas of black fruits, charcoal, licorice, and pepper. Spicy, rich, medium to full-bodied, and exuberantly fruity.
2072 Granger Way
