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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Matello Wines - A Little Foolishness Goes A Long Way

2002 was a fantastic year. It was the first vintage of Marcus Goodfellow’s Matello Wines. Matello means little fool in Italian, and some of Marcus’ friends thought starting a winery pegged him as such. He’s always had an “affinity for jesters”, so it seemed fitting to incorporate that in the winery’s name and logo. After becoming familiar with these wines, one might think Genius is a more applicable nickname for Marcus and his wines. The most wine savvy restaurants in Portland are well aware of Matello; the list of where to find his wines reads like a Who’s Who in the Portland food scene.

The wines have unique names; these names say something about the man himself and those with whom he closely works. Marcus often pays tribute to those with whom he has worked alongside, those who have taught him something during his winemaking journey. His Hommage Pinot Noir is named as a “Thank You” to his Oregon winemaking community. Marcus believes the stellar wines many young Oregon winemakers produce would not be possible without the volume of experience and cultural information shared within the Oregon wine family. Major Enology programs like UC Davis cannot always provide detailed, Oregon site specific knowledge. His appreciation for his fellow winemakers is remarkably evident.

Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay pays homage to 85 year old Richard Alvord, the admired man behind the Whistling Ridge Vineyard in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. Richard, dealing with the effects of rheumatoid arthritis, had until recently cared meticulously for these vines.  The man and the vines inspired a haiku, found on the back label of this 2010 Chardonnay: Old weathered hands, Hardened and twisted as the vines they tend.

Marcus’ Fools Journey Syrah is sourced from Yamhill-Carlton’s Deux Vert Vineyard, which has a following all its own. Mike and Patty Green farm this LIVE certified vineyard biodynamically. This Rhone emulating Syrah often sells out in the blink of an eye. The current 2009 release is sold out at the winery, but may be found around the Willamette Valley in some local wine shops.  The 2009 was co-fermented with Viognier. The Deux Vert Syrah plantings are also among, if not the oldest in Oregon. The Syrah sees the most barrel age of all Matello wines, 2 years of neutral oak. Deux Vert’s latitude is the same as France’s Rhone region, which speaks to the potential for growing the same grapes, making similarly styled wines. He also makes a truly exceptional Deux Vert Viognier bottling from Oregon’s original Viognier plantings. 

“Great Pinot Noir is never made by playing it safe. It comes from meticulous farming, working hard at a craft, and conscientious work in the cellar”, Marcus believes. Meticulous farming is seen in the vineyards, Bishop Creek, Whistling Ridge and Winter’s Hill among them. Matello is a member of the Deep Roots Coalition, a group of wineries and vineyards subscribing to the biodynamic practices and non-irrigated vines, forcing the vines to go deep through layers of rock to find water. Grapes grown in this way develop from the natural, deep water sources below, expressing the flavors of the earth, truly an expression of terroir.

With his 2010 vintage, Marcus embarked on an uncommon endeavor, making a White Pinot Noir. This tiny 25 case production was made at the request of the renowned Herbfarm restaurant to pair specifically with selected menu items; there were 9 cases left for a fortunate few. The fruit comes from Stony Mountain Vineyard in the eastern foothills of the coastal range, just outside McMinnville. Making this uniquely challenging, unfined and unfiltered wine proved beautifully successful, exceeding Marcus’ expectations. By subscribing to traditional methods and little winemaker intervention, he allows the sense of place to speak through the grapes. He refers to this as a “quiet wine”, and sees it becoming remarkably special as it ages in bottle.

The 2011 Rosé of Pinot Noir grapes were also grown at Stony Mountain. 2011 was a challenging year, as this cool site was very late to ripen. It did ripen at the 11^th hour, and the fruit was brought in and pressed. These Pinot grapes are grown specifically for this rosé. The beautiful color and label announce the arrival of warm, rose-sipping weather. This crisp, dry beauty is the type sought out within the sea of spring rosé releases. Save yourself the trouble of swimming through entire sea; head straight to this one. 

Other new releases include great white wines for summer.  The 2010 Whistling Ridge Blanc is a blend of Ribbon Ridge fruit, varying year to year. This may be the best vintage yet. The 2010 Clover is 100% Bishop Creek Pinot Gris. Another of Marcus’ favorites, this wine spent 15 months in neutral oak and should be enjoyed on an unhurried afternoon with some Northwest sun. The excellent Bishop Creek Vineyard is managed by Jeremy Saville, like minded with Marcus in vineyard practices of non-irrigated vines with lower yields. The smallest details matter here, even uniquely managing the canopy in order to produce the best fruit.

Seek out these wines, or better yet, join the Wine Club to ensure you won’t be left merely to read about the greatness you could have known firsthand. The brand new tasting room opened Memorial Day weekend. The winery is located here, near the McMinnville Saturday Market. Beginning in June, regular tasting room hours are 10:30-3:30, Friday through Sunday until Labor Day. Contact Matello for more details, or check out their Facebook page.

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Friday Find, May 25

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 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.

This week's Friday Find has us looking closely at
 the myths of feral children.  Since antiquity there has been a fascination with this concept that animals could and would raise human children and instill in them a deeper more connected sense of innocence.  In some ways an even greater humanity.  Through time the bizarre infatuation with children being raised by wild animals has appeared in nearly every culture and civilization.  From the myth of Romulus and Remus on forward, we had Amala and Kamala from Calcutta, India, the Chilean story of Vicente Caucau who was raised by pumas and of course the bear-girl of Krupina, Slovakia.  In all cases the stories have been proven to be just that, myths or fiction, like Kipling's Mogwli of the Jungle Book.



There is perhaps no better depiction of the realities of a child raised by wild animals, also known as a feral child than the American motion picture classic, Walk Like a Man starring Howie Mandel. In the film Mandel plays the role of Bobo, a boy raised by wolves who is reintegrated into society in time to inherit and enormous fortune.  The question, can man tame his animal instincts long enough to enjoy the mall and swanky dinner engagements.

The 2009 Raised by Wolves Cabernet is far from feral, instead you get a Washington Cabernet bargain that delivers on red fruits, cherry and raspberry and very pleasing aromatics, particularly for those who enjoy an oak influence with hints of spice and sandalwood.  The palate is velvety and pleasant with the red fruit and wood spice.  The wine a Walla Walla designated Cabernet from Elevage Wine Co. is fairly broadly available and can be picked up at Wine World for around $15.

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Rosé in the Rose City

We’re on board for this very punny grand tasting.

On Thursday, June 14th, Willamette Valley Rosé is coming to PDX! The North Willamette Vintners are bringing 18 of their wineries to the Montgomery Park building in Portland’s industrial Northwest District for this ever-so-summery grand tasting event: Rosé in the Rose City.

In conjunction with Portland’s annual Rosé Festival, this event will feature tastings of Summer wines including Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, sparkling wines and of course, Rosé. Music and light food pairings will accompany, as well as Saké tastings from SakéOne.

Attendees will have opportunities to purchase any favorites (at discounted prices!), so get to tasting and add those crisp wines of the North Willamette Valley to your Summer experience this year!

 

Want to try your luck? “Like” our Northwest Wine Anthem Facebook page for a chance to win a pair of tickets to this event and stay tuned next week for how to enter our Rosé Giveaway.

Purchase your tickets here.

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Do You Remember 1985?

Do you remember 1985? I don't. Not really. I was just a young kid at the time. For many of us, it's events that provide our time its context.  The birth of a child, a favorite team's glory or that year we went to summer camp.  For most of us, we move on to the next year, and the next time and our work, our families and friends and our lives move along with us.

For the winemaker, a given year goes on forever, trapped behind cork and glass; picked, pressed, and bottled and representing that particular vintage.  Jim Croce said that if he could save time in a bottle... Well Jim, winemakers do just that.  The wines don't sit in stasis but rather they evolve over time, realizing a vintage's full potential. I was recently fortunate enough to be invited to dinner with a number of the Willamette Valley's winemaking pioneers, including Susan Sokol-Blosser, Luisa Ponzi, Jim Bernau of Willamette Valley Vineyards and Myron Redford of Amity Vineyards.

Throughout the evening these folks shared some of their wines with us, and we walked down their memory lanes. We began where I'd like to end; the Amity Vineyards 1985.

From the 2008s of Sokol Blosser and Willamette Valley Vineyards through that 1985, we saw that each vintage meant a story, a lesson or an image that tells a complicated story of hard work, a bit of luck or regrets and lessons learned.  The 2008s were the youngest wines we tasted and both examples were so young and aromatically closed up, particularly in contrast with those lively 2007s.  Jim Bernau  shared that his wine, and the vineyards from which it came was owed in part to Susan Sokol-Blosser who went down to help him plant it in 1983. There was a sense that the connection to the wine and the Valley was also a connection to and an appreciation for one another as well.

For 2007, and for what has become known as the Ghost of 2007, (given the initial less than complimentary press that still dogs the vintage), for Luisa Ponzi 2007 was an invaluable experience as a winemaker and grower.  "I learned a lot from that vintage, while it's raining, things are still happening in that fruit."  Luisa picked some of her fruit before the rain, and she waited on some of it, and therein was the lesson for her. All agreed that those that hung on, and picked later ended up with fantastic wines. While the vintage was given a rough treatment early, the wines are beautiful right now.  The 2007 Amity had all the forest floor, spice and gun-powdery aromatics that I've come to love about that vintage.

The 1999 Sokol Blosser was our lone example of what many call the single greatest vintage in Oregon Pinot Noir.  A cool summer led to a bit of trepidation for the winemakers and of course doom and gloom from those wine writer/critic types.  All of that was for naught as an extended Indian summer allowed the grapes an extraordinarily long hangtime.  The result is complexity, depth of flavor, great acidity and balance and a 13 year old wine that is drinking like it could last an eternity.  The Sokol Blosser Willamette Valley Pinot was stunning with bright fruits, great depth of character and a long life ahead of it.

The 1985 Amity Vineyard Winemaker's Reserve was the undisputed star of the evening. (Myron decanted it to clear off the sediment.)  It was a 27 year old Oregon Pinot Noir, and a history lesson on both the vintage, winery and the Willamette Valley itself.  The vines at that time were fourteen years old, a Pinot droit clone used by both Myron and the man whom many consider the father of Oregon Pinot, David Lett.  Prior to 1999 it was 1985 that was the gold standard for vintages in the Willamette Valley, and it was because of the 1985 vintage that Oregon Pinot was discovered.  For Luisa Ponzi, it was after 1985 that things in Oregon really got going. "It was in 1985 that the press, that Robert Parker and others really stood up and started paying attention to us. 1985 was a big vintage for Oregon." I asked Myron what he remembers that was special about it.  "It was a long warm growing season and everything ripened perfectly in the fall. The low pH to brix gave us great, ageable wines."  Susan Sokol Blosser remembered 1985 as "her favorite vintage in Oregon." Unfortunately Sokol Blosser lost their library due to heat damage, yet the impressions of 1985 still lives with her.

The 1985 Winemaker's Reserve are specially selected for aging.  This bottle did so beautifully, tart cherries and raspberry flavors follow classically forest floor aromatics.  The wine is a Willamette Valley veteran, and thanks to that vintage it's still singing at 27 years old.  Jim Bernauer explained that the low ph levels lead to a high concentration of hydrogen ions.  These ions provide a natural defense against oxygen, and the longer the wine is protected from oxygen the longer it can age.  "The low pH wines that Oregon produces allow for great natural acidity and that's the key to a wine aging well."

The saying goes "Age before beauty," but in Oregon Pinot Noir, you can have both.



  

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Saving Chardonnay from the Cougars; #ChardDay at Bin 41

On May 24th we're taking back Chardonnay.

If there's a sin to be laid at the feet of the commercially-minded California wine world, aside from the creation of White Zinfandel, it's the destruction of Chardonnay as it was intended to be.  Chardonnay came from France, a beautiful wine with lots of acidity, minerality and when made well, an accent of oak that brought the wine a roundness and depth.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are some nice Chardonnays that come from California, with serious acidity and ageability, Hanzell for example. But sadly California's Chardonnay reputation is not built on the Hanzells and the Rameys it produces, it's built on the wines masquerading as butter scotch syrup, it's the Cougar-Juice, it's the Rombauer that is what American Chardonnay has come to be known as.

Cougar Juice refers to the style of Chardonnay so over oaked that it seema the grapes were crushed with a Louisville Slugger and then sent into an oak barrel only to be bottled once again in an oak bottle.  The toasty, nutty, buttery and creamy characteristics and any semblance of the once elegant Chardonnay have been beaten to a pulp.  You seek out the fruit and you cannot find it, for the life of you you cannot find its aromatics or its flavors, all you can find is wood.  Frankly, if you swirl the wine too vigorously you could end up with splinters in your tongue.

Plain and simple, this is wrong.  Wrong.  The Chardonnay grape is one of the noblest of varietals, hailing from Burgundy, and it has the power to be a transformative wine experience.  I can personally say that perhaps the greatest wine I've ever had was a Chardonnay, a Burgundy, the Grand Cru Corton Charlemagne.  A wine with such depth of character and complexity, balance and aromatics that it was nearly a religious experience.  Why would anyone ever want to sully such beauty with such unbridled use of wood?

On 5/24 we're taking Chardonnay back, taking it back from the Cougars and back from the Californicators who did such damage to its noble beauty.  Luckily for all of us there are those in the Northwest who are well aware of the beauty and potential of Chardonnay and are producing wines that  are reminiscent of those origins.  Both Chardonnays fermented in stainless steel a la Chablis, with a crispness and acidity that soars, as well as those done in oak, striving for balance, roundness and preservation of fruit.  On May 24th a variety of those wines will be unleashed upon Seattle at West Seattle's Bin 41. And that will make the world a better place.

From 6 to 8pm Chardonnay lovers or those new to the varietal can pariticpate in International #ChardDay a Twitter virtual tasting from Rick Bakas. Bin 41 will be pouring 2 Washington Chardonnays, Maison Bleue and the steel fermented Lecole 41, from Oregon the typically winery only Crowley Four Winds Chardonnay and Amalie Robert, as well as a Chablis from Burgundy's Albert Bichot and a barrel fermented Burgundy surprise.  $5 to taste them all and it's refundable with a purchase of one of the featured wines.  If you love Chardonnay the way it's meant to be and you want to end the reign of the Cougars you need to get to West Seattle this Thursday.

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Friday Find, May 18

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 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.


This is indeed a Northwest wine blog but as many of us know, the Northwest isn't the only place that grows and produces word class wines.  It's our favorite of course, but it's not the only one.  Recently I'd been asked to participate in a very cool project that allowed me to write about wine, and probably the one past time I enjoy more, bicycle racing.  I was asked to contribute a wine column to a collaborative effort by Peloton Magazine and Cannondale Bicycles called Italiano.  You can download it for free here.

Today marks Stage 13th of the Giro d'Italia and the fame of the Tour de France not withstanding it's hard to argue that there is a country more romantic and passionate about the sport of cycling, or really anything, than Italy.  The stage kicks off in Piedmont, in the town of Cervere and ends near the coast in the Liguria region. Piedmont, I had come to learn (through my "research"), is the king of Italian wine regions.  Tuscany certainly delivers on romance and rustic appeal but when it comes to quality and variety of the wines produced.  Piedmont is hard to match.  From world class Barolos, Barbarescos, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Moscato and Dolcetto, not to mention several native varietals, Piedmont offers the Italian wine fan a cornucopia of wines at a very approachable price point, except for the pricey Barolos.

Today's Friday Find is a Washington take on Piedmont's Dolcetto.  A wine known for its tannins and fruit forward characteristics it can be a bit of a surprise to folks who might expect a literal translation of the Italian "little sweet one."  The Dolcetto from Wind Rose Cellars seems to hit the mark and would make those people of Piedmont think highly of this Sequim located winery.  Yes, I said Sequim, on the pennisula, which hosts it's own bicycle races, the not nearly as well named Tour de Dung each Spring.

For $18 you get a crack at a varietal that is quite rare by Washington standards, rumor has it only 20 acres are planted.  Typical of the varietal, you get loads of red fruits, notably strawberry and raspberry you also get that gripping tannic finish, where the Wind Rose strays from the Italian script is with a touch of smoke and coffee that come in on the back palate of the wine.  Order online from the good people in Sequim and do a side by side tasting with something from Piedmont.

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