Instant Gratification; Fresh Northwest Rosé

There's a statistic about how quickly Americans drink their wine, and it's fairly shocking, in my opinion anyhow.  The average wine purchased in America is consumed within 40 minutes of purchase. So, basically how long it takes to get home from the store. Those of us who've had the patience, luxury and budget to purchase wines with the intent to hang onto them for a few years know what that experience can be like. Some wines that are good now can become transcendent over time, given a few years, well made wines can really achieve their full potential.

But the reality is these days most wines are made to be drunk now, or at least 40 minutes from now. And that's okay too. I'm a huge advocate for holding onto wines, certainly particular vintages but when it comes to Rosé, there is no time like the present. Drink it now.

There is a plethora of pink being produced in the Northwest these days, and it's funny because you only have to go back five or six years and a dry rosé was fairly rare around these parts. However in a very short time pink wine has become a staple of many if not most of the best wineries in Oregon and Washington. And we're the beneficiaries.

There are definitely some perennial greats. Maison Bleue, Syncline, Stoller, Bergstrom and the amazing Glass from J.K. Carriere. Last year I was floored by a new discovery coming out of Southern Oregon in the Troon Vineyards Rosé. The great thing about this sort of rosé revival is that there's enough of it out there that new discoveries are being made all the time.  Today I present you three that are new to me and one stand by rosé that I recommend you get your hands on.

2013 Winter's Hill Dry Rosé of Pinot Noir At Winter's Hill Vineyard in the Dundee Hills AVA they're dedicating a specific block of their Pinot to rosé production. The block is located such that there's afternoon shade which might be at the root of the wine's crisp acidity even with some time in neutral oak. The palate features bright but nuanced fruit flavors of early season strawberry, spring watermelon and apricot apricot and a mouthfeel that's a tad rounded. $19

2013 J. Wrigley Rosé of Pinot Noir is from the McMinnville AVA, where the folks at J. Wrigley Vineyard planted Pinot Noir, Riesling and Pinot Gris back in 2008. This wine is bright and lively and comes with just a dab of residual sugar. Vibrant pink hued with juicy ripe fruits like sweet strawberries and cherry. The kiss of sweetness is carried off well with great balance and acid. The fact is I find wines with a touch of sweetness often work amazingly with smokey or barbecued meats and so I recommend giving this a whirl on the patio. $20

2013 Bartholomew Winery Rosé of Carmenere Okay, maybe I'm being lazy here, this will mark the third time we've talked about Bart's new Rosé but there's a reason for it, it's excellent. Loaded up with complexity and frankly wholly unique the only Rosé of Carmenere we've ever heard of, and Bart says the only one in the States. I came across it again at the Belltown shop Champion Wine Cellars, those fellas are discerning. This wine almost takes on the hue of an orange wine, the aromatics are dried flowers and stone, on the palate its got loads of bright citrus fruit and a screaming good acidity. This wine is a silly good deal at $15

2013 Gilbert Cellars Rosé of Mourvedre Mourvedre is the cornerstone of the great rosés of Bandol and this one is a tip of a cap to those wines. I look at the pink wine from Gilbert Cellars to be one of the best bangs for your buck in Washington year in and year out and you can find it around $15. Super lean and crisp, with a zippy acid this wine offers layers of flavor, wet stone, grapefruit, strawberries and rhubarb ending with a kiss of fresh mint. The use of lees also gives the wine a touch of creaminess. $16

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Tidbits from Taste Washington 2014

Well, just like that another Taste Washington is in the books, the 2014 version has come and gone this past weekend. The event, now in it's seventeenth year, if my googling is accurate continues to impress with the sheer volume of wines and wineries available for your perusal, somewhere north of 230.

Me, Rick Bakas & Madeline Puckette, really disappointed in my hair in this photo

Unless one plans to spend the evening in the ER trying to sample 230 plus wines is a very,very bad idea and so I typically go into Taste Washington with a specific strategy. It is the largest regional tasting event in America. If you don't have a plan you'll find yourself staring at cupcakes, or oysters and then the next thing you know, it's 5 o'clock and you still haven't moved beyond the first three tables. Once the general public time rolls around it gets mighty crowded in there, particularly if you're near the As. If you wanted to avoid the crowds hanging out in the wineries that began with the letter S through Z and you could almost lay down on the floor there was so much room.

I more or less failed at writing my strategy down when I left the house, which is nearly the same as not having a strategy. As I stood outside talking with Taryn, a friend and fellow wine blogger, which is exactly how I started last year's Taste Washington I was able to recall my strategy more or less. A few wineries I definitely wanted to hit that I hadn't had were Lauren Ashton and Proper and Array, the latter I never made it to, likely because they begin with A and it was very crowded over there. Also, I wanted to spend the first 15-30 minutes with the oysters and the white wines along the back wall. After that try to track down wine blogger and Twitter personality Rick Bakas and maybe arm wrestle him.

Everything more or less went to plan, except the whole Array thing but I've already explained that. Rick is a really nice guy and we talked shop about how to manage caring for infants and still more or less resemble a functioning human being. We never did arm wrestle. I also met the elusive Madeline Puckette of the now world famous blog Wine Folly. She's quite quirky and I think would also make a force to be reckoned with when it comes to arm wrestling.

As to the wine?  I did try a lot of new wines and some were really exciting, favorites included the Lauren Ashton Cellars . All of them. The rosé had a dash of effervescence and the Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blend was done in a oaky style, however the bright acid really lifted the wine and offered excellent balance. Of the red wines they were all quite good but a 2011 Cabernet that was poured from maybe "under the table" was stellar. This is a relatively new Woodinivlle winery and I got to speak with the winemaker, Kit. The labels are also fantastic, they are scenes from his wife's native Estonia. 

Other new wines that are definitely of note; the Gruner Veltliner from WT Vintners, out of the Columbia Gorge. This is certainly not a common wine but of the Gruners that I've had from Washington and Oregon, this was as good as any. Fruit forward but with good minerality and great acidity. I was really taken by the wines of Bainbridge Island Vineyards. I always make it a point to taste through some of the wines from the Puget Sound AVA because they tend to be higher acid whites or Pinot Noir and after tasting a lot of the bigger red wines that Washington is so well known for, they can offer a great contrast, not to mention help revive your palate a bit. Betsey Wittick is the owner and winemaker and she's doing a nice job with grapes that are grown right there on the island.

Another rosé to be on the lookout for was the Rosé of Carmenere by Bartholomew Winery. Really outstanding, bone dry, lots of juicy citrus and great acid and only $15. The Gilbert Cellars Rosé was once again very well made, they're also changing it up with the labels over there. I also really dug Syrahs from Proper and II Vintners, particularly the Stoney Vine vineyard designate.

My wine of the night (day) though was the Cinsault or Cinsaut, you know, tomato or tomahto from Dusted Valley. This wine was fantastic. Medium bodied and bright, only neutral oak so the fruit really came through, but from the Rocks so it had darker minerality and that "funky" character that this particular part of the Walla Walla Valley has come to be known for. The wine finishes with really great acid to give it an elegance and balance. Nearly like a Pinot Noir. A great wine, very well made but also it's unique in Washington and that made it really stand out for me. The bad news? Only 72 cases were made. Hustle!

I picked up a latte from Fonte, whoa they make great coffee and made my way home via public transit. Careful not to bump into the crowd who clearly did not understand the spit bucket concept. On the bus I met a couple, they were older, who had been coming to Taste Washington every year...from Oklahoma. They were really excited about the Cadaretta wines, and also shared that they had cases of Chateau Ste. Michelle wines from the 1970s at home. They'd fallen in love with Washington wine decades ago and continue to come to Seattle each year to see what's new. Pretty cool.

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Friday Find May 24th

Each Friday we highlight a wine from the Northwest that we think is a real "find". By find we might mean that it's a steal, as all of these wines we'll feature weekly are at or under $20. We might also mean, "Hey, you really need to go find this", and it might be a wine that we feel not enough people know about. In any case, with the weekend pending, we're hoping to help you "find" a wine to kickoff the weekend right. We'll tell you a little bit about the wine and try to help you track it down here in the Northwest.

There are double standards everywhere. Everywhere. I certainly know that. I think what I find most interesting are those applied to bicyclist versus motorists. I will admit from the outset as an avid cyclist and bicycle commuter I probably am a bit more sensitive to it.  Yesterday a bridge collapsed on I-5, everyone heard about this so I'm not breaking the news here by any stretch.  

The funny thing is, and I'm only talking about it here because everyone turned out okay, no one in any of the comments thread talked about how the drivers more or less were asking for it for driving their cars on the highway. Driving is dangerous, highways are dangerous, and bridges are dangerous, right? Sadly, whenever there is a casualty that involves a cyclist, whether it's an accident, or even a death, the sanctimony comes out about how inherently dangerous cyclists and cycling are, how they don't obey the laws and how more or less, they were asking for it. In many cases the cyclists are simply following the laws, and the motorists may be at fault. However, that doesn't seem to matter.

This makes me upset. Recently there was a tragic incident where a cyclist was killed near Harbor Island. It's a stretch of road I have ridden countless times. I'm not sure exactly what happened that led to his death, and frankly I don't think that matters much. The man is gone, his death left behind friends and family who will hurt and miss him for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, rather than simply observe it as a tragedy people take the opportunity to mock him, insult him and in some cases even seem to celebrate his death. This is disturbing.

The people who fell into the river were just driving home from work yesterday, just like the cyclist, Lance David who was killed SoDo was on his way to work. We're all just doing our best to live productive, happy lives. Why can't we all respect that? Even if some of us like to do that on a bicycle while most of us would rather not?

Today's Friday Find is a rosé from Gilbert Cellars, made from Mourvedre and a beautiful salmon color. This ain't no electric pink wine. The wine has a bit rounder mouthfeel than rosés of recent years given the ripeness of the fruit in 2012 and the use of barrel fermentation, but it' still got good acid to balance the wine and make it a natural with food. Flavors of melon, strawberry and early season apricot will hopefully get your grilling needs met as we kick off the long weekend. Spend time with your friends and family and enjoy some great wine and food. Life's too short not too. This wine is typically in the $16 ballpark and is widely available at both grocers and wine shops.

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Picnic Pink Perfection, Washington Rose from Dusted Valley Vintners

The Rosé movement is well underway and particularly these last three to four years some of Washington's finest winemakers have jumped into the fray to reclaim the pink from the plonk.  While pink wine is gaining serious ground it still faces an uphill battle thanks to all those California yahoos and their White Zinfandel.  The sickly sweet pink plonk has long lingered on America's bottom shelves and it still haunts the memory of many a domestic wine drinker.  Fact is the French have been crafting beautiful, complicated and food friendly Rosés forever but the Ford Pinto of pink wines like many evils, White Zin dies hard.

Luckily, some of these recent iterations produced here in the Pacific Northwest are down right complex, loaded with interesting minerality and subdued and layered fruit flavors. As Spring rolls around eventually and we start to get some of that Northwest Summer weather that we came here for in the first place, the time is right.  The deal is, if you want to appear to be among the wine cognescenti then the fact of the matter is, this time of year, you gotta drink pink.

In addition to drinking pink, it's a good idea to know where it comes from and the traditional methods for producing Rosé.  This is where you'll want to learn the term saignee which is French for "bleed."  Red grapes are crushed, and a relatively small amount of the juice which has absorbed the pink hues from the skins is bled off to ferment separately.  This is usually why you'll find the total production of your favorite winery's Rosé is in fact quite small.  If wineries are setting out to produce larger amounts of Rosé they will use a skin contact method, which has the wine crushed and rather than being by-product in the production of a red wine, the wine is allowed to remain in contact with the skins for one to three days to produce a pink hue and then the skins are discarded and the pink wine or Rosé then goes into fermentation.

In any case, regardless of the exact production methodology the resulting wine is loaded with flavors and complexity to stand up with any of your favorite picnic options from grilled burgers to seafood to cured meats and cheese.  The Dusted Valley 2011 Ramblin Rosé fit the bill for me and a few friends recently gathered for a picnic dinner lately on a rocky Puget Sound beach. (No admission as to whether or not we broke any city ordinances.)

The 2011 iteration of the Ramblin Rosé harkens to a return to the Dusted Valley pink release of two years ago (a beauty).  A paler pink color and light aromatics of rhubarb, apple blossom and early season cut strawberry lead you into a palate loaded with great minerality, subdued early season fruit character and brilliant acidity.  We paired this rosé with cheese, charcuterie and a couple cold salads, this great dry rosé will stand up to a variety of hearty fare.  The wine was a winner and won over a few Rosé cynics handily. Ramble on.

this wine was provided as a sample from the winery.

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State of the Union; Taste Washington 2012

Well, Washington Wine Month has come and gone and with it another iteration of Taste Washington. The 2012 edition of Taste was "double your pleasure," extending from one day into two. It is the Washington wine industry's opportunity to showcase itself to media, trade (restaurants, retailers, etc.) and, most importantly, to Washington wine consumers. How did Washington do?



The Future is Now:
While Taste Washington 2012 was certainly about this year's releases, one of the main themes I took away was that Washington is in very good hands. You could see the future of Washington wine, and it's a bright one. I'm referring to the number of young winemakers who are setting a new standard for Washington wines: Va Piano's Justin Wylie, àMaurice Cellars' Anna Schafer, Jon Martinez of Maison Bleue, James Mantone of Syncline, Justin Neufeld of JB Neufeld, Efeste's Brennan Leighton among others and the list goes on. (There are also several who weren't even attending Taste Washington, like Ryan Crane of Kerloo Cellars.) Washington's youth movement is exciting on a number of levels, some of these winemakers have been at it for a long time and others are relatively new to winemaking but they're already making some of the best wine in the state. They're willing to experiment, think outside the box and they're learning from and acknowledging the good work that was done by their predecessors. If they're doing this now, what kinds of wines will they be producing in 20 years? We can only speculate but it doesn't take a divining rod to tell you that the future is exciting.

The Real Rhone Rangers:
The other clear point is that the real American home of the Rhone varietal is right here in Washington. There were Washington Syrahs on display at Taste Washington that were just absolutely stunning, the Liberte from Maison Bleue, the Boushey Syrah from Robert Ramsay Cellars, the Amavi Estate, Hedges Estate and Va Piano's Columbia Valley. Syrah is Washington's wheelhouse. In fact, the Rhone varietals in general are doing very well, Viogniers from El Corazon, Maison Bleue (I know I said that already, get used to it) and white Rhone Blends from Tranche, Rotie Cellars and a new winery Cairdeas solidify that case. Don't get me started on the red Rhone blends. The same is true for single varietal Grenache, Mouvedre, Roussanne, the Cooper Wine Company Marsanne, etc., etc. you get the point. Washington is a Rhone away from home for these varietals and the wines are singing, hear them?

Room for Improvement:
I left Taste Washington thinking there was still work to be done in two areas: marketing and Riesling.

To the first point, marketing; I went to Taste Washington knowing that I would be selective in the wines that I tasted. I had a list of wineries that I wanted to get around to, and after that I hoped to discover a few new or newer wineries. I struggled to find any that jumped out at me. Taste Washington can be an opportunity for a new winery to get their name out there, as with JB Neufeld last year. If there is a downside to the two day format, it may be the shorter trade and media time, which makes it less likely that folks will have time to explore the unknown before the crowds get too thick. To stand out, wineries need to do something to distinguish themselves, whether that means out of the box varietals, great packaging, a clever name - anything. One of the wineries I did discover at Taste Washington was Cairdeas Winery. I was drawn to their table for two reasons: the packaging is nice and eye catching and they were pouring a non-vintage Dolcetto and Syrah blend. They were nicely done wines and it's a winery I'll look for in the future.

To the second point, Riesling; I was really looking forward to tasting a few Rieslings and at the end of the day I was left wanting. There were some quite good Rieslings but nothing wowed me. All in all there was a lack of the necessary acidity to bring a brightness and balance to the wine. I know that Washington can make very nice Riesling, but if the standard is Germany (and it is), then the acidity needs to be there and in the most recent iterations of Washington Riesling it has not been. For the time being, I believe that it's the Willamette Valley of Oregon that has become the standard bearer of Northwest Riesling.

Top 5 from Taste Washington:
5: Rose shows the way. In case this is the only Northwest wine blog you're reading, and you haven't caught these stories,(Foodista runs down the Rose and the Washington Wine Report recap) Rose was knocking it out at Taste Washington. My favorite was probably the Rose of Mouvedre from Maison Bleue. Robert Ramsay Cellars also brought out a Rose of Mouvedre that has yet to be released, and it is dynamite. Last year's standout, Tranche Cellars, has once again made one of the best Roses in Washington, though this iteration is completely different varietally.

4: Vashon Island Pinot Noir? Really? I have to admit I was surprised myself. I wandered by the Puget Sound regional table and was looking for a little something to give my palate a break and when I saw the Pinot Noir from Vashon Winery, I had to give it a whirl. It was a very, very nice wine, well made, great flavors and acidity in a lighter bodied red wine. I know the Puget Sound and particularly the islands are making great aromatic whites, it turns out there is also good potential for Pinot Noir.

3: Hedges your bets. I have had some of the Hedges Family Estate wine at least each year for several years now and I can't recall being this excited about their wines in a while. While they've always done a brilliant job marketing their product and their Red Mountain cache, these wines will speak for themselves. My favorite was their Syrah, dark and meaty yet with some dried floral aromatics but the Rose and Chardonnay were also top notch.

2: Drawing a Blanc for Grenache. The Grenache Blanc from Two Vintners was an awfully fun wine to try and the first Grenache Blanc from Washington I'd had. Dick Boushey grows the fruit and he actually poured the wine for me. It was at the Boushey Vineyard table, Dick had asked that he be able to pour this wine because he thought it shows that the varietal can stand on its own (Well, mostly. It's 10% Roussanne.) and be very enjoyable. The Grenache Blanc was incredibly aromatic with fruits and blooming floral notes and a fantastic acidity that made this a great summer wine. It sounds like it's only available to wine club members at Two Vintners, but was certainly fun to try.

1: Wine of the Night (Day) I went into Taste Washington knowing I was going to be selective, and looking back there were a few tables that I still can't believe I missed, Waters foremost among them. The most distinctive and stand-out wine that I tried at Taste was the 2010 Northern Blend from Rotie Cellars. It's Syrah with just 5% co-fermented Viognier, resulting in a wine with an Old World charm, while also being earthen, funky and deep and savory. The earthen and dark fruit flavors and finish lasted well into my trek to the next table. As soon as I tasted the wine I knew it was the one, it had me at hello, if you will. As acclaim for this winery continues to mount, I urge you to try to get your hands on some of the wines now, before they're harder and harder to find. This one will tell you everything you need to know about what Washington Syrah can be.

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