Selling Ice to Eskimos – Cascade Wine Company – Yakima, Washington

As you may have noticed, Barb and I have spent a LOT of time touring and drinking wine at the various wineries, tasting rooms, and events around the Yakima Valley and beyond over the past two years. By going place to place we get an opportunity to meet many of the people in the winery business, tromp past the rows of vineyard, and sometimes see the inner workings of the production side of the wine business. In the tasting room, we typically have the opportunity to taste through a line-up of several of a winery’s wines; for a small or newer winery sometimes ALL of their wines. Many times tasting is (still) free in the Yak, sometimes for a small fee. Practically every weekend, and even some weekdays, there is some sort of wine event in wine country where anywhere from a single; to a few; to over a hundred wineries are there pouring wines. Through these methods, Barb and I have tasted through literally thousands of different wines over the past two years. And, as our bank accounts can attest, we have bought hundreds.

About a month or so ago I was looking for the wine for one of Sean Sullivan’s virtual tastings (he always misses what we already have), so I went back into Cascade Wine Company. The store had moved from its previous location and is now on Yakima Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. I introduced myself to Jim Collins, the store owner, told him what I was looking for, which he didn’t happen to have, but just browsed the store for a while. This time, somewhat to my surprise, my perspective of what was on the shelves was a totally new experience.

I now recognized at least half of the wines and wineries in the Washington and Oregon sections, this comprises about half of Cascade’s inventory; and for the California and import sections of the store, I now had an interest again. Barb and I have realized our wine palates, while they have evolved over the past couple of years, have become pretty geographically narrow. Not that there’s anything particularly wrong with that, but as we’ve done when we’ve traveled outside the state for the past year or so, it’s interesting to us to test our new palates, honed to Washington wines, against what else the world has to offer, whether it’s Virginia, California, British Columbia, or New Jersey.

Cascade offers wines from all over the world, and on that first visit back there I sampled a Spanish Rioja made from Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache), and some other grape that I don’t remember. My palate recognized the flavors and it’s interesting to expand and learn. As an aside, one thing Barb and I keep meaning to do is to buy some of our old standby wines from when we lived in Illinois, typical for us would be a Fonterra Chilean Cab/Merlot blend, $15 per 1.5 Liters, and see how our wine palates now react. Good? Ok? or What were we thinking?

Anyway, even with the Washington wine labels I know, I could now survey these shelves and pick out wine I either like or producers I know. Sometimes the wines are the same as tasting room line-ups, but often the vintages was different than what I had sampled, and it’s interesting that many times the wine now on the retail shelf is “sold out” at the tasting room. I’ve even seen wines that have long been sold out at the wineries on retail shelves and have stockpiled a few favorites that way. Cascade gets new releases too, and I’ve sampled many wines I haven’t seen yet traveling the tasting room trail. Though it seems like we may do this at times, it’s impossible to hit 100 plus tasting rooms every month.

Besides the Yakima Valley labels that I know (and love), Cascade’s Washington wine section includes many West Side wineries, I first bought and sampled a Kennedy Shah Malbec based on Jim’s recommendation, as well as Walla Walla, Columbia Gorge and other Washington wineries. This even includes local wineries such as DavenLore and Southard that are grown and made in the Yak; they just don’t yet have public tasting facilities.

Cascade has daily, or almost daily, tasting of wine as well, and Jim often has guest wineries and winemakers come into the shop to pour their wine and meet the Yakimites. (I’m not sure what actually sure Yakima residents call themselves, but I like Yakimites.) After my first revisit, Jim invited me back for a New Zealand themed tasting where they were going to be serving mutton. I’d just had mutton the day before, so I passed on that event.

The thing that I’ve realized that is the most attractive about having a Cascade Wine Company close by, even though we live in the middle of literally hundreds of tasting rooms, is that I’m basically lazy. I can go to Cascade and buy a case of mixed favorites, new tries, and long shots all in one place. My last trip in there I bought a wine gift for a friend which was a wine I had in my cellar at home, but I was giving the gift on the spot so this was my typical last-minute shopping. I also bought a bottle of California Zinfandel Jim recommended and a Gilbert Cellars Rosé of Mourvedre. This last bottle was the ultimate lazy convenience since the Gilbert tasting room is about a block east of Cascade Wine Company and within sight.

So, if you’re in Yakima and have a hankering for some mutton, or are inherently lazy like me and want to sample some of the area’s finest wines side by side with wines of the world, even California, try out Cascade Wine Company, now on Yakima Avenue, not 1st Avenue, in downtown Yak.

Spam Samples and Clarification

I’m new to this writing thing, but as I’ve developed this blog I’ve tried to be more conscious of the fact someone might actually read this and that my opinions and the information I base them on might need to be checked by someone else.  This is particularly true when I interview someone directly or quote something someone said or wrote.  In those cases I’ve usually tried to give the subject the opportunity to review a draft of my blog before publishing it here.

For my recent blog on Paul Gregutt’s new book, Washington Wine and Wineries, Second Edition, I e-mailed a draft of the blog article to the folks at UC Press who had provided me with the book for review.  I didn’t think I had recieved a responce from anyone and after a week published the blog as written.  Last week Sean Sullivan of Washington Wine Report published a review of the same book, and during some chatter in the comments, I learned that Mr. Gregutt himself had tried to contact me about my draft.  The folks at UC Press had forwarded my draft to Paul, and he had taken time to read it and e-mail me directly about some of the information contained in my review.

This is where the spam comes in.  Due to the wonders and vagaries of the internet, Paul’s e-mail to me had been filtered as spam by my e-mail provider, so I didn’t see the message until he pointed it out to me through his comments on Sean’s blog.   I apologize to Paul for this missed communication.

Paul and I subsequently had a nice dialogue off line about a few things in my review.  In particular, Paul clarified his methods of sampling wines and wineries and pointed me to the introduction of the book where this is explained.   After a re-read, it is clear that Mr. Gregutt does seek out wineries throughout Washington through his travels, at events, and through various avenues.   He also takes great care in how he tastes and reviews the wines he writes about.   The introduction to the book explains this is detail and I admit I either skimmed over most of this or forgot about it when I was dissecting the lists of wineries that appear later in the meat of the book.

The issue of samples, whether submitted by wineries or their representatives or obtained by Mr. Gregutt by request or through his travels, is clearer to me now.   I have my own opinions about wine samples in general, and think it’s really a topic that deserves a separate write up because, as I said in my original post about Mr. Gregutt’s book, I don’t have a problem with his sampling methods.

That said, I’ll close with a quote from Mr. Gregutt’s introduction regarding sampling and selection of wineries for his book that he pointed me to as the clearest he can be on the topic…

“If you already have your own list of favorite Washington wineries, you may find one or two missing from my own selections. Please do not take offense. Some are simply too new to evaluate. Some do not choose to take advantage of the many opportunities to submit their wines for review. Some simply do not suit my personal tastes.”

Barbilocks and The Three Wines

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful young maiden named Barbilocks. Barbilocks was under the spell of an extra, extra, extra large wine lover named Doakie who tempted Barbilocks with chocolates and sangiovese. After lots of chocolates, and even more bottles of wine, Barbilocks married Doakie and they moved west, eventually settling in the far, far, away kingdom of Cowiche in the magical land called the Yak.

One day, while Doakie was eating a large platter of chicken at a banquet, Barbilocks raised the number in her little hand and won a Grand Prize. Doakie became angry and tore the number into little pieces. But he still loved Barbilocks and she kept the tickets for the prize under her pillow.

After a long time, when the tickets had almost expired, Barbilocks made reservations to claim the prize, a weekend getaway to the Center of The Universe. Since it was a scary place, Barbilocks took Doakie along to drive her chariot.

They went out of the Yak and over the mountains, across the rivers, and over even more mountains until they got to the edge of the land, near the Sea(ttle). You may think it’s odd that The Center of the Universe is at the edge of the land, near the Sea, but it is so.

Barbilocks and Doakie found the small cottage near the Center of The Universe where they would sleep. This cottage was surrounded by green and blue trees, was gray and purple on the outside, and red and orange on the inside. It was a cozy and warm cottage and a magic code opened the door. Barbilocks and Doakie felt safe inside the cottage and the guest register listed other wine lovers from the land of the Yak and beyond who had stayed here when they came to the Sea. There was Charlie, and Eric, and Big John.

Outside the cottage, Barbilocks and Doakie went exploring the neighborhood in the Center of the Universe and found many, many, many strange and interesting things. Barbilocks wanted to get a tattoo, but Doakie was afraid. Barbilocks wanted to ride a Duck, but Doakie was afraid. Barbilocks wanted to visit the troll under the bridge, but Doakie was afraid.

What Doakie isn’t afraid of is wine. Barbilocks knew this and at every chance tried to find a wine that would make Doakie not afraid to get a tattoo, or ride the Ducks or visit the troll.

On the first day, Barbilocks and Doakie went to a place called the Hollywood Schoolhouse looking for wine. It looked familiar to a place near their homeland, the Jet Black wine tasted the same, and the people were nice, but they were different people and they didn’t hug Barbilocks and yell Doakie’s name when he came in the door. This made Barbilocks and Doakie sad, so they kept on looking.

On the second day, since they were near the Sea, Barbilocks and Doakie went to a place called Ray’s Boathouse. Since Ray’s is a popular place, Barbilocks and Doakie went to the bar to wait on a table and ordered a bottle of wine from a nearby Creek whose grapes came from the red mountain in the Yak that was bound to taste like home, there was even a horsey on the label.    Barbilocks and Doakie drank some of the wine, but since seafood is white, and the wine was red, something didn’t seem quite right and Doakie was still too afraid.

This made Doakie very brave, if only for a short while, and as long as Barbilocks was holding his hand, Doakie agreed to get a tattoo.  He didn’t even cry (much).

Barbilocks and Doakie went home to the Yak and lived happily ever after.

 The End.

The Essential Guide? – Walla Walla and the Rest

Have you ever picked up a travel or restaurant guide and been frustrated that the guide focused on one neighborhood when the guide was supposed to cover an entire region? Even without knowing the entire picture, sometimes you can just tell certain areas are getting short-sheeted. Sure, all areas may be listed and the major attractions covered, but it’s frustrating when one area has every single coffee shop listed but the other neighborhood only has the major hotels.

I first read Paul Gregutt’s Washington Wine and Wineries: The Essential Guide, 1st edition in September, 2008. Barb and I had moved to Washington in July, 2008 and on finding this book, I knew I had to have it to navigate through Washington Wine Country since Washington wine was just becoming a consuming passion of mine at that time. Barb bought me the book for my birthday and I consumed it cover to cover immediately, have kept it, and treated it as a reference text ever since. Whenever I taste or try a new Washington winery, now closing in on 200 wineries for us, I refer to Mr. Gregutt’s notes and rankings of the wines, wineries, vineyards, etc… Sometimes I agree with the opinions given, sometimes I don’t, but I have always found what Paul had to say interesting and his writing style is so readable that even this sometimes dense text, on a perhaps mundane subject, comes alive.

As I previously mentioned, at the Wine Blogger’s Conference a month ago in Walla Walla, I scooped up an advance copy of the Second Edition of this book for review. I was pretty excited about it and enjoyed reading the book over the past month, mainly looking for changes from the first edition, but also trying to maintain a first time reader’s view. Since I’m not a first-time reader or even a new explorer of Washington’s wines, I think it’s interesting to see how I now view this work.

This Second Edition carries all of the same positive notes of the first. The writing style is still exceptionally readable, and the depth of knowledge of Washington and its wines is impressive. The fact that this second edition comes so close behind the first, less than five years, is explained well and the book truly does stand on its own as a significant work. Of course, much of the material is taken from the first edition, but the new reader, or even a reader of the first edition, can learn vast amounts of information by reading this book.

The expanded section on Washington’s Top Vineyards (now twenty vs. ten in the first edition), I think, is well chosen and reflects the positive growth many others have observed in the quality of the fruit being produced in a large and growing number of Washington’s vineyards. I certainly don’t have much of a historical perspective on Washington State, but the history of the state’s federally-designated American Viticultrual Areas, or AVA’s, and possible future developments in some of the key wine regions of the state are also an updated and fair assessment in my view.

All that said, there are some issues I have with this edition and the book in general that I think make it hard for the book to support its subtitle “The Essential Guide”. It is true that this could certainly be Mr. Gregutt’s essential guide, or “A Guide” but I think there are a number of flaws in his method and in this book that make it hard for the wine community of Washington in general to accept this book as the end-all-be-all of Washington wine books. That, to me, is what “essential” means, a complete review of everything worth reviewing on a particular topic, in this case Washington’s wines and wineries.

The Lightning Rod – Bonair 2006 Merlot – Rattlesnake Hills

I’ve written about the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail previously, and though Bonair Winery could stand alone as a small to mid-sized family run winery located in Zillah, the owners Gail and Shirley Puryear and Bonair are so intertwined with the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail and the Rattlesnake Hills AVA that it’s almost impossible to think of Bonair without discussing the Rattlesnake Hills WT/AVA and the controversy surrounding it.

 

That controversy, such as it was/is, occurred mainly before our arrival in Washington in 2008 and revolved around the approval of the Rattlesnake Hills AVA which was finalized in 2006. How I even knew of any such controversy was by reading about the creation of this AVA in Paul Gregutt’s Washington Wine & Wineries, by noticing that some wineries in and around Zillah are not members of the RHWT and don’t use Rattlesnake Hills on their labels, and then via here-say and second or third-hand talk with various people in the wine trade around the Yakima Valley. Since I certainly don’t know all sides of the story though, I’ll just say that the Rattlesnake Hills AVA and its use as designation for wines is still a lightning rod topic and when I’ve asked winery owners in this section of the Yakima Valley about the whys and why nots of the RHWT and using the Rattlesnake Hills AVA label I’ve gotten varied reactions. Sometimes the reaction is defensive, sometimes rather evasive, sometimes almost hostile; but always…there is a reaction.

Bonair Winery, as it exists today, is like many other small to mid-sized wineries in Washington. Bonair produces around 5,000 cases of wine per year and has a full line-up of whites, reds, and roses. Barb and I have been to the tasting room in Zillah probably a half dozen times. During our first trips through the RHWT the Trail group offered a prize/reward to anyone getting 10 or 12 stamps at the various wineries on the Trail Passport. I completed a couple of these Passports myself, and Barb joined me on a few laps too. We collected a set of five of the RHWT large wine goblets. On a trip last spring to Bonair, looking for number 6, we were told the prizes weren’t available anymore. This was a little irritating since we had a just completed card at the time, but such is life, things change and offers expire.

The wine Barb and I have enjoyed several times on the patio at Bonair is Sunset, a wine that according to the data sheet is made from an uncommon varietal conveniently named Sunset. This is semi-sweet patio wine and, out of Bonair’s line-up, is a favorite for sipping on the patio eating tapas, feeding the ducks, and petting Bung, the winery dog (similar to the folks in this photo). We’ve taken a few bottles home, too.

A few months ago, I realized through Sean Sullivan’s WA Wine Report, that Gail, owner and winemaker of Bonair, had started a wine blog entitled The Grumpy Winemaker. Grump, as I like to call the on-line Gail, is a no-holds barred blogger who has opinions about many things, his customers, the wine critics, and wine bloggers among them. Grump maintains that his blog is not associated with Bonair Winery, but just like the distinction between the RHWT and the Rattlesnake Hills AVA is blurred, so is the line between The Grumpy Winemaker and Bonair Winery. The Grumpy Winemaker too might be considered a lightning rod and I’d doubt a course on social media for wineries would endorse this type of blog as the best way to attract attention. Nonetheless, I enjoy Grump’s blogs.

While Barb was away for the pre-wedding hoopla, I decided to revisit Bonair. It was my first trip there since I’d become a blogger and my first trip since reading a lot of Gail’s thoughts as The Grumpy Winemaker. I contemplated doing everything I could to violate Grump’s advice for proper tasting room etiquette, including wearing a Canadian hat. Or announcing my presence as a wine blogger and requesting some special treatment or extra samples. The worst thing I might have done would have been to try to sell my services to Gail as an internet web design expert. That would make Gail really grumpy.

But, I decided to just be my normal self.

Bonair’s tasting room line-up is somewhat unique in that they offer about 4 tiers of wines, a sweet free tier, a dry free tier, and the reserve tier of a chardonnay and dry reds, and a tier of ports. I decided ahead of time to sample the reserve wines this trip. We had skipped these previously since with the RHWT Passport, the “free wine” pours seemed more alluring, there is a $5 fee for sampling the reserves, and we’d found a patio wine we liked.

That hot Saturday in early July, Bonair’s tasting room was fairly crowded which we’ve found is normal. The crowd at Bonair seems to consists of folks who know the Puryears and have been customers for decades, Bonair is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and folks who found it from the RHWT map, some for the first time, some for the umpteenth, like myself. By the way, Bonair’s policy of 4 pours per customer is, I think, one of the smartest things I’ve ever seen on the wine trail. It lets, or forces, people to focus on what they like, reduces their chance of getting too smashed in this tasting room, and limits the amount of free booze the winery gives away in any given day.

So I sampled the reserve line-up. The Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc all seemed too light for my palate. Even the Chardonnay which is barrel fermented didn’t seem to have the depth or body I have come to expect from Washington wines. Since I was spitting and pouring my samples (and paying) and having a nice conversation with my pourer, I asked if I could extend beyond my 4 pours. She agreed and I tried the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Both were very interesting wines, though it took me two sips of the Cab to think so, the tannins of the first sip sucked the moisture out of my mouth.

I asked the pourer her favorite; it was the Merlot, so I bought a bottle to take home. The tasting fee was deducted from the bottle price; I thanked Gail, who had snuck out and was serving another customer, and I made my merry way home.

I drank this wine over two days with my bachelor friend, Frank. The first night we paired with steak and potato. The Merlot starts out lighter than many Washington Merlots but over the course of the meal, the balance and fruit, and floral and subtle spice notes were outstanding. This wine is made for food. The glass or so that made it to day two (Frank is a lightweight), were even better and I think I paired those with a grilled burger.

The RHWT and Rattlesnake Hills AVA may be wrought with controversy and Gail, the Grumpy Winemaker, may be a fairly polarizing figure too, but the bottom line is…

Bonair makes some pretty damn good wines.  See you again soon, Grump.

The Far, Far Away Kingdom – Pangaea 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon – Horse Heaven Hills

In addition to just attending and helping host a pretty big wedding party (no matter how small and simple someone else may claim) halfway across the country, Barb and I moved last week. Nothing like getting all of life’s huge stressful events out of the way in one action packed two week period. Obviously we’d known about both events for a while, and could have timed the move part a little differently, but sometimes circumstances and banks and inertia kind of take over, and you end up renting a U-Haul on the hottest day (so far) of the year.

 

 The town we moved to, as now listed in my profile, is Cowiche. This is pronounced

Cow – like mooo

i – short i like itch

Chee – like cheddar

Cowiche is an orchard and farming town just northwest of Yakima and Barb and I found great humor in a recent conversation on the radio between the morning dee-jays describing “the far, far away kingdom of Cowiche”. So far we haven’t met the king or any other royalty, and compared to many other places we’ve both lived, including our recent stint far north of Sunnyside in “no man’s land”, Cowiche doesn’t really seem that far away. It doesn’t have a stop light (yet), but there IS a grocery store AND a gas station. Plus like anywhere else, once you’re there, it’s not far away at all. And we like being there.

There are, so far, only a few vineyards and wineries in this area known collectively as the Upper Valley, which is part of the Yakima Valley geographically, but not the Yakima Valley AVA. Anything north of Union Gap in this part of the world is Columbia Valley AVA even through the Yakima, Naches, and Tieton Rivers go through and the Columbia River is about 100 miles away. There is also some talk of a new AVA in this area to be called Naches Heights, which would be the world’s first all biodynamic AVA. Confused yet? Me too, but we just have to find the neighbor’s house with the red roof and we can find our house from there and that’s all that matters to us.

As far as I know, the only commercial winery that actually uses Cowiche as an address (so far) is Pangaea. Pangaea is one of probably dozens, maybe hundreds, of Washington wineries whose owner is fully employed doing something else. Many of these wineries are home winemakers and as you can tell by my previous post, I’ve dabbled some too and might fall into that group. Some, like Pangaea, have taken the steps to be fully licensed and bonded. Owner Doug Webster has worked previously at Hogue Cellars but currently works for an apple products company and Pangaea is more or less a side hobby.

Pangaea concentrates on one wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and buys fruit from Alder Ridge Vineyard on Horse Heaven Hills. The way Doug describes it, one row of fruit makes enough wine each year for about one barrel, and Pangaea ends up bottling about 60-65 cases of wine each year. What Doug doesn’t drink, he sells. Though Doug doesn’t live in Cowiche, he does lease a small space in another fruit processor’s plant there, and in this leased space, Doug crushes, ferments, ages, and bottles the Pangaea wine.   Pangaea is the name for the single land mass that may have existed prior the current continents splitting and shifting; Doug chose Pangaea to represent that all wines come from one earth in the form of terroir.

To christen our new Cowiche home the other day, we opened a bottle of Doug’s Cab with filet mignon and baked potato that were purchased at the Harvest Food store in downtown Cowiche. The wine is a deep purple black, with a nice cassis nose. Excellent balance and full flavors of cherry, blackberry, and a hint of spice. This wine would do well to make it out of Doug’s garage and I’m glad I have an inside track for future releases and if Doug needs any help come fall, I’m just across the hay field.

Far, far away.

Today is the Day July 17, 2010 – Ernest and Jennifer 2009 Riesling – Yakima Valley

When our daughter Jennifer learned that I had started a wine blog last November she naturally assumed it was going to be all about her. At first this surprised me, until I realized that just a few weeks had passed since she, her fiancé E.J. and her sister Kristen had helped Barb and I pick the grapes and start the wedding wine that she and E.J. would serve at their wedding.

We had told them we’d keep them updated on the wine’s progress, so the blog might have just tracked the day by day, week by week progression of their wine.  Add to that the obvious fact that Jo was the bride to be, and until just a few hours from now will still be the bride to be, and it was silly of me to think anything besides Jo and this wedding would be more than a fleeting thought over the past fourteen months. But as you may have seen, I have sometimes strayed.

What I have done here is document some of the significant milestones for Jo and E.J. as it related to the wine aspects of the wedding. That is the most important part afterall. Last January, in my review of 2009′s top Yak wine moment, I documented the whole weekend the kids spent with us picking the grapes, stomping the grapes, etc… Along the way after that we sent periodic updates to the kids, and documented here the vast relief when the final product, their Riesling, went into the bottles.

Barb and I (sometimes) regretted not being closer to Jo and E.J. as they picked out colors and attire for the wedding party, planned the reception, and otherwise drove each other crazy over the past several months. But the daily/hourly phone calls kept us involved and quite often Barb would get texted pictures of shoes, cakes, or other critical decision points.

We were happy then we were able to visit with them and some friends in February to help pick some other wines for the reception.  Stories here and here.  See Jo, those first dozen or so blogs WERE about you.  I doubt Jo will read this today, so I think it’s safe to share a story that she doesn’t yet know. When we gathered in Illinois for the tasting party, we toasted the engagement along with Jo and E.J’s friends with a bottle of the wedding wine. Since her sister couldn’t make it, we sent a bottle to New Mexico so that Kristen and her partner Isaac could participate long distance. On the day of the party, however, Kris and Isaac were working, hiking or otherwise indisposed so they missed that tasting, no biggie.

A few weeks ago, Barb, during her weekly chat with Kris, asked if they had ever opened the wine and what did they think. I can see Kristen turning red now. “Mom, it’s gone and we didn’t drink it.” Huunnhhh? Sometime between February and now, Kris and Isaac had gone away for a trip and had left their home and dogs in care of a housesitter with instructions, use our panty. Well, on their return they found the bottle of wedding wine had been included in that use. No word whether they liked it or not, but the bottle was empty.

Finally, this past April, it was very special for both Barb and I to share in Jo’s bachelorette weekend visit to Washington wine country with several of her friends. Those girls all became surrogate daughters for us that weekend and we’d invite them all, together or individually, to come back. Actually that invitation extends to any and all of E.J. and Jennifer’s friends. Even last night we met some more of the young people that E.J and Jo have chosen as friends and visa versa, and they are all really neat people. Head West young man/woman; there is wine on the horizon.

But man also has to drink.  So E.J. and Jennifer picked the grapes, stomped, crushed, pressed, and added the yeast. Nature and a little time did most of the rest. They also designed the label for their wine and it includes this statement:

“Sharp, refreshing, and delightful: characterisitics that make this couple a favorite. It all started with a little crush and developed into a long lasting love. Our lives have grown stronger from the support of our family and friends. Let this love blossom into a sweet nectar from which we can toast our future.”

Congratulations E.J. and Jennifer, we love you, and may God bless your marriage and your life the way you have blessed all of ours.

Now go make us some grandbabies.

The World According to Dick – Boushey Vineyards – Yakima Valley

As I mentioned before one of the highlights for me of the entire WBC’10 weekend was our Thursday visit to DuBrul Vineyard north of Sunnyside where the Wine Yakima Valley folks had arranged a picnic for the bloggers, along with a chance to meet and talk with some of the Yakima Valley’s leading growers and winemakers.

Barb and I got there a little while before the main group and were immediately greeted by a number of people, one of whom was Dick Boushey. Dick was as cordial as could be and we chatted for a while about the weather and a few other things.  We told him we lived nearby and had always wanted to visit his vineyards. Once the bigger crowd arrived, I noticed someone putting namecards of the wine people at some of the place settings. I found Dick’s card and claimed the seats to his left for myself and Barb. In the photo, taken by our new friend Ed Thralls of Wine Tonite!, Dick is obviously thrilled that I’ve been bending his ear for 2 straight hours.  I think I was looking for the dessert in the photo. 

Thoughout both of these encounters I asked Dick questions, as did others, along with the natural flow of conversation.  Dick is funny, self-effacing, generous with his knowledge, and sometimes a little sly.  He’d make a perfect politician if he weren’t the best grape grower in the State of Washington.

I could try to make a story of what I learned from Dick but the best thing probably is just to share the tidbits I remembered.  So here goes in no particular order…

• On the guys who pioneered Red Mountain, Jim Holmes and John Williams, “They were crazy!”  Of course, Dick was pioneering his own vineyards up the Valley a ways at the same time in the mid 1970′s.
•  
•  ”Winemakers make me look good”.  I offered that it was the other way around, but Dick says no.  In this case, I think we’re both correct.  Dick’s grapes are used by some of the best winemakers in the state who seek him out because he grows some of the best grapes in the state.
• Dick makes wine himself for personal use, would he ever start his own winery? “Too much capital needed to build all that stuff.”  I would guess that’s not the real issue, but time constraints and the love of being in the vineyards are what keeps Dick out of the wine production side.  That and the fact the winemakers who work with Dick have established a long record of success using Dick’s fruit, so why would he want to mess with that.
•   
• What do you think of Charles Smith?  Dick first responce (to Andrew), “What do you think?”  Then he offered, “Charles is a great marketer”.  Enough said.
• Black Rock Dam project?  Dick’s answer, “Boondoggle!  There are other ways to get water.”  Of course, Dick knew the other ways were already happening because two days later a press release went out that a large water project to deliver more water to Red Mountain was approved.
• “Wine grapes use a third of the water of tree fruit”.  I don’t know how accurate this is, but it certainly sounded convincing and since the nation doesn’t depend on Washington for apples or cherries or any other tree fruits, it makes sense to divert the scarce water resource to a more valuable and important crop, wine grapes.  I’m being a little sarcastic here, but Dick’s argument does make some sense and I’m sure he and others wine growers became good politicians to support the project mentioned just above. 
• When looking up at Ryan Johnson’s Grand Reve vineyard high above everything else on Red Mountain.  “He’s crazy.  It takes mountain goats to work in that vineyard.  No equipment can make it up there, all hand digging in rock.  He’s crazy!”  I later met Ryan and would agree with Dick’s assessment.
• As we walked down Red Mountain, Dick seemed to know every acre of every vineyard, who owned what, and when each block was planted.  Do you study this?  His answer, “I’ve worked this hill forever.”  I imagine Dick has consulted to a vast number of vineyards in the rest of the Yakima Valley as well and knows that patchwork just as well.  When I say consult here, I doubt Dick is paid by most people to consult, but he’s probably just a neighbor helping out his neighbors in the farming business.
•  On vine spacing, “I don’t know whether it helps or hurts the grapes, but I do know it costs an extra $1,000 more per acre for every foot closer together you plant the vines.”  Dick’s preferred spacing is minimum 6 1/2 feet.  He also makes a convincing argument that once a vine is mature, cordon and canopy management means more than how many trunks are in the ground.  And winemakers want low crop loads anyway, so more vines means more pruning, more cost to the vineyard with no more return per acre.  “Nah, six feet is close enough.”
•  I also learned that vine cuttings from Red Mountain, as well as Dick’s own vineyards near Grandview and I’m assuming many other vineyards in the Yakima Valley and elsewhere, are used by Inland Desert Nursery in Benton City to develope roots in creating the baby vines that are resold to vineyards across the state for new planting.  I knew about Inland and have driven past there; it’s a remarkable place to see the thousands of tiny grape vines growing on about 6 inch spacing.   As an aside, I’ve been told by other vineyard owners, if you want good planting stock, go to Inland.  I’ve heard this in Zillah, Naches, Mattawa, Alderdale, and Walla Walla, so it’s possible a case could be made that just about every grape in the state has some Benton City terroir in its history.   
• And the most interesting thing to me, Barb asked Dick where his vineyards are located?  “Over there somewhere.”  No, where exactly?  We know the roads above Grandview and Prosser, County Line, Snipes, Factory, Gap Rd, etc…  where are your vines?  Dick just smiled.  

I respect Dick’s privacy and would never think of sneaking onto his land between 2 and 3 A.M. on a moonless night in mid to late October with 3 or 4 buckets, a small hand wagon, some grape snips, dressed entirely in black or camoflage and a can of pepper spray in case the dogs come.  I’d need to take some water, a thick pair of cotton gloves, a flashlight and a brix refractometer, and a blanket to hide the light for the brix test.  Quiet but comfortable clothes, layers because it can be cold at nighttime in October, shoes with good tread, but the kind that can’t be traced, an extra pair of snips in case I drop the first ones, some way to keep Barb from talking the whole time (hardest one yet), some Snickers bars in case I need an energy boost.  And a hiding place for the getaway  black truck.

No, I’ve never thought about doing any of that.

But I think Dick probably has.

Slightly Off Kilter – Hightower 2008 Out of Line Red Wine – Red Mountain

Vineyard rows have a symmetry and a precision that is unmistakable. Even in the winter months, the dormant vines create soldier rows across the landscape and if you drive by perpendicular to the rows, it’s a rhythmic pulse that can be mesmerizing. How these rows are spaced, oriented, and trellised is a matter of great variability and is a subject of great debate and study in the field of viticulture.  But like many things in the world of wine making often things are done initially by chance and then by trial and scientific method until there is a preferred method. This is true in making wine in sulfurized oak barrels (or not), in using cultivated yeasts (or not), and in deciding which direction to orient vineyard rows.

One thing I learned during the WBC’10 Post-Conference tour of Red Mountain is that the rows there are oriented mainly on a North-South axis. The early Red Mountain rows put in by Jim Holmes and John Williams were planted that way because that’s the direction the roads ran. I doubt there were many roads, paved or otherwise, here in the mid-1970’s, but the first path was probably what is now Sunset Road, and it runs due North-South.

Most of the vineyards are oriented this way. Except for those that aren’t. In recent years, within probably the past 7-10 years, there has been a trend to twist the angle of orientation slightly off North/South. This is done to account for the shape of Red Mountain. It slopes toward the Southwest from its peak (or knob is more appropriate since Red Mountain is hardly a mountain at all), and by slightly turning the rows off the N/S axis, the vineyard managers have found that they get more even ripening and easier canopy management.

In discussing this with Kelly Hightower of Hightower Cellars and Ryan Johnson, of Grand Reve and Ciel du Cheval, there was some disagreement on what the “correct” angle is. Or maybe it’s because their vineyards sit on slightly different slope angle. But Ryan says the best angle is for the new vines is 12 degrees off N/S. Kelly told me the answer is 11. I tried to sway her to 10 or 12, or even 11.5. No, the best angle for Hightower Cellars to grow their grapes is 11.000 Degrees off North and in fact they named their vineyard “Out of Line” to denote this off-centered approach.

This was our first discussion with Kelly Hightower last week during the tasting event inside Terra Blanca prior to dinner.  I don’t think Barb and I had met Kelly previously and if we had it may have been just briefly in the Hightower tasting room.   But we were pleased when the random seating placed us next to Kelly during the meal.  I described the food for that meal in my last post, and in between bites and passing of platters Barb and I carried on a nice conversation with Kelly and the other folks at the table.

We told Kelly about carting their Murray Cuvee to Alaska because the picture of Murray the dog on the label reminded Barb of the dog our daughter Kristen had as a child.  Kris loved the bottle and the wine, though she called Murray “Denver” when she saw the bottle.  It was kind of embarassing since the word MURRAY is in large font just above the dog’s face.  This picture of Kelly is with Murray’s doppelganger and love child (I’ve heard anyway), Riley.  Hightower’s is the first winery website I’ve ever seen with a page devoted to the winery dog.

Anyway at dinner we went on to discuss mother-in-laws.  Kelly loves hers as do I mine and Kelly’s mother-in-law is the owner of the Syrah block of their vineyard (even though they still put the dog’s picture on the Syrah made from those vines). We also talked about differences in tasting palates within a husband and wife winemaking team. That one so far has always worked by consensus at Hightower, but there may be some years in the future with a “Tim” release and a “Kelly” release.

Kelly was offering three wines for tasting that Sunday: their Murray Syrah, their top of the line blend “Red Mountain”, which for now is sourced from various vineyards in the AVA, and a not-yet-released estate wine called Out of Line. Barb and I had sampled and purchased the Murray Syrah not long ago, know Hightower’s powerful Cabs and blends, but had never seen Out of Line.  Kelly told us this would be their first release of this label, made with all estate grown Red Mountain fruit. After trying all of the superduper power wines being tossed about, I drank and thoroughly enjoyed the Out of Line with dinner. 

Afterwards, we looked to see when the Out of Line would be released and discovered Hightower was having a release party on July 17.  It was a tough decision, it’s a really good wine, but Barb and I decided if we ever wanted to meet our grandchildren we should attend our daughter Jennifer’s wedding that day in Illinois.   So instead we went back to Red Mountain this past weekend, met Tim and Pam, the tasting room lady, and talked the Hightowers into selling us some Out of Line for a PRE-RELEASE REVIEW on Yak Yak Wine dot Com.

We had this wine the other night with beefsteak and baked potatoes; not quite as fancy as ostrich, but I knew what I was eating.  So, for the first time ever here are my tasting notes from a wine not yet available to the general public…

Deep Ruby in color, nose is of caramel with bright cherry notes coming through after a one hour decant. Mouthfeel is full but not overpowering, flavors of cherry, black raspberry, and cocoa. Very fine tannins, there, but neat and well integrated. For a young wine off young vines, the future vintages of this wine, and the bigger wines that will be made from these vines should be very good. As is, it is a delicious entry of the estate blend from Tim and Kelly Hightower. $25 is a steal for this all Red Mountain bordeaux style blend.

Finally, as another first time ever treat, below is a video, filmed for our new friend, Jeff of Conscious Wine Blog, who convinced Barb and me that we would look good on video camera after four days of sun and wine and a huge meal.   The camerawoman for this shoot was none other than the winemaker, Kelly Hightower.  Look what happens when the smartass from Yakima gets a little…

Out of Line.

Double (or Hextuple) or Nothing – Chef Frank Magana and Picazo7Seventeen

The Lower Yakima Valley has its fair share of  fast food restaurants, mom and pop style cafes and burger and pizza joints, and even a few ethnic restaurants, Mexican, Chinese, Sushi, and Italian.  But, without a doubt ,the restaurant that has made the biggest splash over the past year or so, and whose chef has become the Iron Chef champion of the Lower Yak, is Picazo7Seventeen in Prosser and Chef Frank Magana.

 

Barb and I eat out fairly infrequently but we do attend quite a few wine events in and around Prosser (in case you hadn’t noticed from reading this blog) and with the WBC’10 pre and post events found ourselves again last weekend on Red Mountain and in Prossers Vintner’s Village (new website!).

When you run into the same caterer and chef two times it’s a coincidence; three or four times is a trend. When you run into the same chef SIX times within a three week period, only once in his actual restaurant, you’re either a stalker or you know that guy is the one people want to hire, and the one whose food brings in the crowds. Before this slug of events, most of our encounters with Frank and his food have been by chance and even when we knew he was catering, his presence didn’t necessarily influence our decision to attend. We’d even been to Picazo7Seventeen (hard name to type BTW, but for some reason my spellchecker likes it) a few times, and while the food has always been good, I wasn’t quite catching on to what all the raves I’d been reading were about.

Well, my opinion has changed, and I’m now a true believer in the culinary talents of Frank Magana. For one thing, his menus as a caterer are always varied. You may see a few of his specialties more than once, his chorizo stuffed shrimp is worth the drive from anywhere, but generally the freshest ingredients are used to make a fusion of appetizers that compliment each other well, and always compliment the wines being served. Since we go to these events to taste the wine, while the food is important, the wine is normally our main focus.

Our first recent encounter was at Milbrandt‘s 2nd Anniversary Party, Frank made a nuts, cheeses, and olive platter, shrimp ceviche, quinoa salad, and grilled fresh asparagus. A dessert was there too but I was too busy snarfing shrimp to sample dessert that day. My dad is a very religious man, and since my first trip to Calabash, NC as a small child, he always told me it is a sin to leave shrimp on a platter. My father, I have not sinned.

Encounter number two was by chance. Barb and I went to Col Solare for their Saturday Sole to get a pre-WBC look at the Shining Hill winery on Red Mountain. There, the appetizers served were again prepared from a menu Chef Frank had prepared, and this time a light salad with grilled veggies, and a plate of thinly sliced buffalo meat served with grilled bread that literally melted in our mouth. These appetizers and the wine tastings at Col Solare were very spendy and the funkiest part of the trip was that we weren’t allowed to tip the servers who did a fabulous job making us feel welcome.

The next couple of meals from Frank we knew about ahead of time and were associated with the Pre- and Post- WBC’10 tours to Yakima Valley and Red Mountain. Frank and his crew were on-site at Milbrandt again for the pre-WBC Buster bus tour. His menu that night included the chorizo stuffed shrimp, calamari, chorizo stuffed shrimp, mini-crab cakes, chorizo stuffed shrimp, BBQ short ribs, chorizo stuffed shrimp, and chorizo stuffed shrimp. I apologize now to anyone else there who may not have gotten to try one of the appetizers, but I was just trying to do what my father told me.

The post-WBC meal at Terra Blanca on Red Mountain was quite Frank(sic)ly off the charts. We, along with the other 40 or so attendees, had been wined and dined for three or four straight days, some even longer, with delicious wines, rich foods, and amazing company.  I saw Frank working the grill during the pre-meal wine tasting and re-introduced myself and told him I was looking forward to dinner. He was grilling skewers of veggies and chunks of steak, so I knew that was on the menu. After being seated, the platters started coming, salad course, then the grilled veggies, then a huge platter of sausages; then the grilled “steak”. Almost full! Then a huge platter of scrumptious BBQ ribs. WOW, I’ll even say it backwards, WOW.

We’d paid a fee for the WBC post-conference tour on Red Mountain but we covered our cost and then some with just this meal. The dessert was another treat with fresh cherries and blueberries incorporated somehow. I’m still in a slight stupor from that whole night. I do remember Frank letting us know (after the meal was eaten) that the sausages had been made with wild boar, the “steak” was actually ostriche meat, and the ribs, while boring pig, were covered with a Chukar Cherry BBQ glaze, found at fine stores everywhere, along with their Factory Outlet Store in Prosser.

With this behind us, and Barb and my wine palates scorched beyond recognition, we meekly entered Picazo7Seventeen this past Wednesday. We didn’t see Frank, but our waitress Ashley was very helpful. We ordered the chorizo stuffed shrimp (can you tell I like this shrimp dish?), a small salad to split, and Dungeness crab cakes (again we split).  To ease back onto the wine horse, we ordered the house sangria. On Wednesday Picazo waives the corkage fee since it’s “industry” night and we even had some wine in our car, but we needed something light to ease back in. The white sangria did the trick. Filled with pineapple, peaches, and fresh blueberries, this cocktail was very refreshing. What’s in it besides the fruit? After checking, Ashley reported Pacific Rim Late Harvest Riesling, some prosecco, and a splash of Cointreau.

The sangria disappeared as fast as the shrimp, so I tested my legs on the house red with the crab cakes. Vino Roja, a special blend was listed as being from Horse Heaven Hills. After tasting, and loving, the first few sips, I offered some to Barb and made her a bet. If I could guess the grapes in the glass and the winemaker, she would pay for dinner; otherwise I paid. She bit.

Definitely Cabernet Sauvignon base with some Syrah pepper at the back end, and likely Merlot. I suspected an Alexandria Nicole connection (no other glass pours on the summer menu were AN) and pegged Jarrod Boyle as the winemaker. Ashley confirmed the Alexandria Nicole but thought it was Quarry Butte. No, both Barb and I tasted Syrah, and we knew QB was Syrah-free. After checking, she came back with the good news, it was/is a Cab/Merlot/Syrah blend with some Petit Verdot and Malbec for good measure. Barb pulled our her pocketbook.

Feeling my oats, I teased “Double or nothing for the vintage”. I was truly full of it on this, but guessed 2006; Barb plays along with my games most of the time and guessed 2007. This time, after checking, Ashley came back with the sad news… 2007. D’oooh! But I paid and tipped the waitress anyway.

Barb tried to change the rules and say I now owed her TWO meals at Picazo, but since our money is OUR money, it doesn’t really matter anyway. Next time I’ll gladly pay again (even if I’m using Barb’s credit card). Frank popped out to the bar as we were getting ready to leave, so I went over and said hi. I told him we were tired of his food, but did he have any more shrimp?

Finally, on Friday, after a hectic morning of work, I took a breather and went into Desert Wind in Prosser. Their tasting room has a nice grill named Mojave inside and I needed lunch. Low and behold, there was Frank again (that’s where I finally took his picture at the top). Frank is now the executive chef for Mojave at lunch time, his own place at night, and the every other tasting room in the Yak wants him to cater the rest of the time. I asked if he had cloned himself; no all Frank, all one guy. My burger and potato salad lunch was again yummy and the blue cheese twist made the potato salad unlike any I’d ever tried before.

Six meals in three weeks, all fabulous food, but the one thing I love about Frank Magana and his Picazo7Seventeen Restaurant the most… his corkage policy.

The wine menu at Picazo is loaded with Prosser and the Yakima Valley’s finest wines; even still, patrons are invited to bring their own wine. When we’ve stopped previously after being on the wine trail, we’ve taken advantage of this to try a new wine.

For those bringing in wines, the corkage fee is $15 per bottle for Washington wines.

California wine…$25.

Next Page »