Wine & Cheese Tasting March 5 ’10

Posted at March 3, 2011

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!

sisters 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

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