Wine Tasting in Woodinville, Washington

We were so excited at the prospect of wine tasting in Washington… but the question was, where would we go? There are 11 different appellations in Washington, and 10 are located east of the Cascades mountain ranges, as far as 3-5 hours of driving from Seattle. Yakima is the closest appellation east of the mountains, but we weren’t familiar with the wines from there, and Walla Walla and Columbia Valley were too far given our schedule.

Thank goodness for Woodinville. The Woodinville wine clusters began with the establishment of Chateau Ste. Michelle in 1976, whose production now dwarves that of all other wineries in Washington. There are over 80 wineries in Woodinville. Some of them are cellar doors with vineyards in the eastern appellations (Puget Sound is the appellation west of the Cascades, and none of the winemakers we spoke with think much of it – for now). Many are small production wineries (~1000 cases) whose owners may hold other full time jobs. Consequently, most of the wineries are only open for tasting on Saturdays, or open by appointment on Sundays (thankfully, that fit neatly into our schedule).

Woodinville is a veritable oasis of excellent wines. There were too many wineries to choose from, so I used the reviews over at Cellar Tracker to help with my research. I came up with a list of 15 wineries to visit; we only managed to hit half on the list, but visited others on the enthusiastic urging of the winemakers we met.

Wineries/Cellar Doors we visited:
1. Tempest Sol
Winemaker Gus White poured for us. We tried all his currently available vintages: 2008 Eos, 2007 Helios, 2010 Viognier, and the 2008 Aglianico (intriguing choice of an Italian varietal), as well as a 2009 Cabernet Franc and 2009 Syrah that were still sitting in the tanks, waiting to be barreled. We enjoyed chatting with Gus, who works full time at Microsoft developing the Kinect, and part time on this “hobby”. He told us he’s been making wine for the past 8 years, and started Tempest Sol a few years ago. His wines are mostly sourced from the Yakima AVA.

Bought – 1x 2008 Eos, 1x 2010 Viognier

2. Cuillin Hills
Winemaker Derek DesVoigne poured for us. He focuses on making Rhone and Bordeaux varietals, and we tried all 6 of his current offerings. His wines are sourced primarily from Stillwater Creek (Columbia Valley), Sagemoor Weinbau (Columbia Valley), and Meek Family Vineyard (Yakima). Of all we tasted, we really liked the 2008 Shackled Syrah and the 2009 Instigator Syrah. The latter had lots of tannins on the mouth, dry but smooth, with a smoky and meaty mouth feel.

Bought – 1x 2008 Shackled, Columbia Valley

3. William Church
We went to William Church on the recommendation of Gus, and what a solid recommendation that was! They make about 3500 cases there, so it’s about 3 times the size of Cuillin Hills and Tempest Sol. Unlike the other two wineries, we were served by volunteers here. We tasted the 2010 Viognier (wonderful bouquet! LOVED IT!), 2008 Bishops Blend (delicious), 2007 Sur La Meh (Beautiful! Totally in love with this one!), 2007 Cabernet Savuignon from Columbia Valley, 2008 Malbec, 2008 Two Spires (nice sweetish finish), and the 2007 Syrah.

It’s a pity, but we didn’t end up buying any from the winery. We were headed to Canada the next day, so we were mindful of not going over our legal limit as to the number of bottles we could bring in or come back across the border with. We thought we would have enough time on the return trip to buy more. Guess there’s always online shipping!

4. Sparkman Cellars
To be honest, my recollection of this winery is somewhat hazy. We were served by a couple girls, one of whom had just started her first day on her job and was thus almost as clueless as we were about the wines. But they were friendly, and we enjoyed their 2008 Wilderness Red Blend, which is a blend of Cab, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. And we learnt that the Red Mountain AVA, whilst the smallest and newest appellation, makes some of the best wines in the state.

Bought – 1x 2008 Wilderness Red Blend

5. Patterson Cellars
There was a party helping to bottle the wines when we visited, which was fun to watch. We tried a bunch of wines, my favorite being the 2007 Woodslake Cabernet Franc. We’d tried a couple prior to Patterson’s and found theirs the most outstanding of the lot: Great representation of Cab Franc with its tobacco and raspberry notes and peppery finish.

One great thing about Patterson – theirs is the best shipping policy we’ve seen to date. $10 shipping charges for any number of bottles you buy!

Bought – 2x 2010 Chardonnay, 1x 2008/2009 Due Ann, 2x 2007 Woodslake Cabernet Franc, 1x 2008 Syrah Sirah

6. Baer Winery
Lisa, one of the owners, poured their tastings of the 2008 Arctos and the 2010 Shard for us. I’d heard of Baer from the Wine Discount Center when they sent out a newsletter featuring Baer’s 2008 Ursa. Funnily enough, she had just returned from Chicago, where she sold the last of her 2008 Ursa to the Wine Discount Center.

Leroy Redford of Flying Dreams makes their wines for them.

7. Flying Dreams
We were pointed to Flying Dreams by Gus of Tempest Sol, who told us that Leroy Redford, the winemaker, used to be a professional ballet dancer before he turned to wine. Leroy poured for us, even though we came knocking minutes before he closed. He sources his wines from a bunch of different vineyards, including Stillwater Creek (Columbia Valley) and Sagemoor Weinbau (Columbia Valley), like Cuillin Hills.

We especially loved his 2009 Syrah, which was especially smooth with explosions of berries and spice in the mouth. We got two bottles which Leroy autographed with a thick golden-tipped felt pen.

Bought – 2x 2009 Syrah

8. Pomum
Because Jeff was so excited about Leroy’s Tempranillo, Leroy pointed us to Pomum, the other winery in the area that focuses on Spanish-styled wines. The owner of Pomum is a Spanish architect. They’re not usually open for tastings on Sundays, but Jeff sent them an email and the sister of the winemaker, Ana, opened the doors for us and treated us to generous pours. It was fun chatting with her, about wine and everything else under the sun. We were there for close to an hour before we realized we had to hurry if we wanted to taste anything else.

Jeff liked their take on Tempranillo with the 2008 Tinto, though I found it to be a little harsh on the tannins. I preferred the 2007 Shya Red Bordeaux blend, which was smooth and lush on the tongue, with a long and sweet finish.

9. Janiuk
The Januik compound is sprawling, compared to the prior wineries we’d visited. The tasting room was elegantly designed, with high ceilings and glass doors that framed the one side while the other side opened to a gallery where visitors could look down into the expansive wine making facility that joined the building. It was packed with people too – not quite as bad as in Napa, but we had to wait for a bit to get a tasting.

While we prefer going to the smaller wineries so we would have a chance to chat with the winemakers themselves and understand more about their unique wine making process, we couldn’t fault the wines at Janiuk’s. The Januik branded wines are sold alongside the Novelty Hill brands, since winemaker Mike Januik makes those wines as well. For $7, we could choose 4 of the Novelty Hill/Januik wines to taste, or for $10, we could taste 4 of their reserve wines. We chose the latter, and were blown away by the 2008 Champoux Cabernet Sauvginon, as well as the 2008 Reserve Red. But the price tags seemed a little too steep, particularly when we factored in the shipping taxes. In the end, I bought 3 bottles on behalf of my boss, but passed for ourselves.

10. Dusted Valley
What a find! We lucked out in the tasting – they’d just had a Stained Tooth Society (the wine club) Syrah tasting the evening before, and had some leftover reserve and library wines to taste. We had such a blast going down the range of Syrah, from the different appellations. It was most interesting to see how the wines from the same year differed from the various appellations. Perhaps it was because we’d just sampled 5 different Syrahs in a row, but the 2008 Wahluke BFM Merlot jumped right out at us. It was such a luscious mouthful of goodness!

Gotta love Dusted Valley’s wine club. Winemaker and co-owner Corey explained that when he’d been looking for wine clubs to join back in the day, he’d been frustrated by the lack of choices offered. Most wine clubs choose your selections for their members, giving them not much of a choice in what wines they want. When Corey and his brother-in-law Chad formed their own wine club, they decided to let members choose what they wanted (which makes it more difficult for the winery to manage inventory). Thus, twice a year, members get a full say in what they want to drink. Which worked out perfectly for us in this case. We picked out a mixed case of primarily Syrah, and 3 bottles of that tasty BFM Merlot, to split with my boss. And, as an initiation gift to the Stained Tooth Society, we were presented with toothbrushes. Hah!

Bought – 1x – 2009 CV STS, 2x 2008 CV Rachis Syr, 3x 2008 Wahluke BFM, 2x 2005 Smasne Syrah, 2x 2006 WW Birch Cre, 2x 2006 CV Reserve Syrah

11. Chateau Ste Michelle
Jeff dubbed it “The Mothership”. It’s a sprawling estate.

12. Goose Ridge
Medium-sized winery… make wines using a small amount of their grapes; the bulk of them they sell to other wineries. Really delicious wines for the price – something must be said for economies of scale!

Bought – 1x Chardonnay, 1x Pinot Gris

Wines Galore

Just had the Decoy Zinfandel this week while watching the Met’s streaming of Don Pasquale at AMC.

We’ve a total of 50 bottles in our wine fridges and barrel now, with some doubles, like Bella’s Garden.

A Mid Week Tipple

Somewhat spontaneously last night, Palex and Cristalle decided to drop by my place for some wine, work laptops in hand. I pulled out a bottle from my now-tiny wine collection, the Bodega Norton Quorum I from Mendoza, Argentina. This bottle had an interesting provenance – Sihao had lugged it back from Argentina to Chicago for me over two years ago now. When I moved back to Singapore, Jeff helped me store it for safekeeping, but he brought it over for me when he visited late last year. I didn’t want to haul it 8,000 miles back across the oceans again, so while I thought it could have kept for a while longer yet, we opened it last night.

It was delicious. The wine still seemed quite young, with an intense deep red color. It slowly opened and softened through the night, but it was smooth, smoky, with a hint of blackcurrant at the end, and a taste of something not quite chocolately, but we couldn’t put our fingers on it precisely. It perfectly complemented the slices of chocolate cake my mum had made too.

Zhongxi joined us midway, just before midnight, bearing a bottle of Spanish cava. Together, we finished the dregs of the Quorum, then dived into the green apple notes of the Cava. What a delightful way to cap off the evening. Hehe, and especially since I didn’t have to go rouse my woozy self up for work today (Zhongxi could sleep in too since his shift doest start till noon, although my sympathies go out the other two…).

This vertical blend of three varieties of different harvests is the creation of Jorge Riccitelli, one of the greatest winemakers of the wine industry in Argentina.

Quórum I is the new premium wine by Bodega Norton. The main feature of this wine is that it comprises a vertical blend of three harvests. The blend encompasses 60% Malbec from the 2002 harvest, 22% Merlot from the 2005 harvest and 18% Petit Verdot from the 2006 harvest. According to winery staff members, each harvest grants complexity and different aspects that make this wine a perfect assemblage of the varieties, their styles and harvests.

The harvest is entirely conducted by hand, plant by plant. For deciding the right moment in which grapes have to be harvested, scientific and empirical knowledge come together. The decision is made jointly by the agronomist and the winemaker, determining the moment when the grapes have reached the exact ripening point. The grapes that comprise this blend come from Finca Agrelo, Finca Pedriel and Finca La Colina, located between 800 and 1,100 meters above sea level, in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza province.

Once they have been harvested, the clusters and grapes are hand-selected before entering the winery, in order to ensure their quality. A series of complex craft stages are conducted there, finally producing, after fermentation has occurred, the longed-for wine.

In the barrels room, the different varietals are separately aged in first and second use French and American oak barrels.

Jorge Riccitelli, its winemaker, describes Quorum in these words: “the 2002 Malbec grants a ruby color, leather aromas and softness in the palate. The 2005 Merlot unfolds a burgundy color and offers ripe black fruit and smoky aromas; in the mouth, it is elegant and subtle. The Petit Verdot has an intense violet color, red fruit and vanilla aromas and good structure and long finish in the mouth. The result of this blend is a full wine, balanced in elegance and structure.”

DGS: Tasmanian Wine Night

On Friday night, after a few rounds of endlessly debating what to do with the evening, a group of five of us found ourselves in my living room, too lazy to join the crowds milling around downtown. It had been raining the entire day, so the toads in my ponds were happily frolicking in the fresh water, and loudly mating. So it seemed fitting to pop open the bottle of Barking Frog Pinot Noir that Jeff brought for me from Oregon, particularly also because I was curious to see how it matched up with the Tasmanian Pinot Noirs were we going to try at DGS the following night. Well, I loved the glass cork – super fun! Other than that, I must admit being a little disappointed with the wine. To be sure, it was very smooth, with just the thinnest layer of tannins coating my tongue. The color was a nice, light red. But there wasn’t much of a nose, and it tasted a little watery without a kick at the end. Still, it was a nice enough wine to drink and we spent a pleasant evening chatting and laughing about movies.

With the taste of Oregon still fresh in my mind, I was excited to re-try the Tasmanian wines we had lugged back. DGS was a cozy affair – about a dozen people, just enough to squeeze around the dining table. For food, we prepared cheese and chocolate fondue, along with chicken and steak, tons of fruits, bread, and mum-made walnut brownies. Very nice (and affordable) spread, if I say so myself.

We kicked off the evening with the bright and refreshing Riesling from Stefano Lubiana, the Stefano Lubiana Alfresco Riesling 2008. Everyone really enjoyed the slight tinge of sweetness and the fizz on their tongues. Wonderful way to get the taste buds alive.

We opened the Bay of Fires Chardonnay 2008 next. In comparison to the Riesling, this was heavy, but with enough acidity to make it lively and not dumb. Now this is a nicely balanced Chardonnay – just a touch of butter and lemon.

We moved on to the Moorilla Estate Praxis Pinot Noir 2008 from Hobart next, and I was struck by the stark contrast with the Barking Frog. Now this one had a lovely nose – fruity, with some earth, just the way I like my Pinots. It had a thicker body too, more solid, but just as smooth.

Our next wine, the Pipers Brook Tamar 2004, elicited mixed responses. Everyone fervently agreed that it did smell like ketchup, but some, like RX, was not a fan. Where’s the fries, she asked.

We then went back to Stefano Lubiana, for the Stefano Lubiana Merlot 2006. Now, I remember that it wasn’t my favorite wine from the trip; we just felt like we had to buy at least two bottles from that winery, since we were getting Lubiana to help us ship a case of wine back to Singapore. Nonetheless, it was a solid wine, and RX expressed her enthusiasm for it.

At this point, people were starting to flag a little from the hearty food and wine. So I broke out the Delamere Blanc de Blanc 2004, a beautifully made sparkling that had just the right touch of yeast, bubbles, and sweetness. Loved it!

We sat around chatting and laughing for a while more, about all things irreverent, and then I decided to open another bottle, the Frogmore Creek Ruby Pinot Noir Port NV. I loved this port. The Frogmore Creek tasting was our last winery tasting, and I had resolved not to buy any more. However, the port was so delicious I couldn’t help it. So it was a delight to drink it again, and a bonus when RX decided she had had enough and gave me the rest of her glass.

Fun times, great wines. I didn’t check, but I do hope that everyone went away with similarly favorable impressions of Tasmanian wines.

Tasmanian Wines: A Tasting Review

The following is a review of the wines we sampled in Tasmania. Some of the notes were written right after we stepped out of the winery; some after listening to our various (mildly tipsy) voice notes. We were not as diligent as we could have been, so in most cases, the notes center on wines we were most taken with, and do not cover each and every single wine that we tasted – around 100.

Moorilla (Hobart)
Jeff: I remember we liked the wines including the Pinots, but came away with the impression that the wines were a little pricey. They definitely are targeting the more upscale market with their erotic art labels. They also have a brewery.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Kelvedon Estate (Freycinet Vineyards)
Jeff: We went with the recommendation of our hostess at The Banc, a cosy (read, less then 10 tables) restaurant in Swansea, when she recommended the Kelvedon without hesitation. It had a beautiful nose. Very good, so much so that we bought another bottle to bring back to share.

Milton (Freycinet)
Didn’t think too much of the wines there. The pinots were a little disappointing ESP after the amazing kelvedon Pinot we had with dinner at the banc. The one wine I liked from Milton was the gerwurtz.

Jeff: This was definitely the biggest letdown of the trip, luckily it came at the start of our wine tasting tour so we forgot we even came here pretty quickly. I think their pinots were pretty forgettable, and whites were ok, but nothing that was too standout, except maybe the Gewurtz had a good nose ( If I forget which wine I liked from the winery the next day, then it probably wasn’t that good ). The lady behind the counter wasn’t too engaging and she was too busy putting scotch tape around the mouths of the stoppers.

Springvale (Freycinet)
Liked the two styles of Pinot from springvale. Bought both. The gerwurtz was not bad as well.

Springvale is reached after a long drive down a dirt track off the highway. You pull up in front of a ‘farm shack’ that houses their tasting room. (edit: Actually according to the website, the cellar door used to be a stable built by convicts in 1842!) There is something about the rustic style of the tasting room that I really like. Springvale is small and family owned, but they seem like they are open to expanding. They had someone who tried to export in the US but without success. One problem with export for them is their small production and their ability to consistently produce the quantity of wines because of the fickle nature of Tasmania’s climate.

I liked their two styles from Pinot. The cheaper, more fruit forward “Melrose” Pinot is the one that they are targeting to sell in Hong Kong. That one is made with second tier grapes blended with Pinot Meunier. Their main estate Pinot is made with the top grapes.

Later on in the trip, we opened a bottle of the Springvale Freycinet Coast Tasmania Pinot Noir 2007 we bought to go with our home cooked dinner of Italian sausage pasta. The wine was amazing, simply amazing. Very very good. Very approachable; soft. Can’t really feel the tannins; doesn’t really coat your tongue. Just goes down really well, very friendly, pairs very well with pasta and spicy sausage. Wine rounds out the pasta. Delicious wine.

Jeff: Very good, very soft, well balanced, good body, soft tannins, strawberries. Very smoooth.

Freycinet Vineyard (Freycinet)
Jeff loved the cab merlot from freycinet but since we already bought two other bottles we didn’t get that. Very few cab Sauvignon around here; they are mostly blended with cab franc or merlot. Suppose that is a cool climate thing. We had a super briny and bright Riesling. Little too tart on it’s own but so beautiful with oysters. Just rounds off perfectly. They also had another riesling that was blended with a german grape: that was just a touch sweeter; good to drink on its own. We also bought the fruit forward Pinot just cos it doesn’t have to be aged as long.

I really liked their two styles of pinot. Both styles were still less fruit forward than the other pinots we’ve tasted. The Louis Pinot is $24 and is a very good pinot at a very good price point. I thought the riesling was ok, but we bought it because it was a little extra tart but we thought that would go well with oysters (edit: it did!).

I also liked their cab merlot. It was really well balanced, full bodied and spicy, with a good strong finish.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Pipers Brook (Tamar Valley)
Giant vineyard compared to the others. More than 20 ha. Tried a whole range of wines. Loved the Riesling – bright with stone fruit and more floral than the Freycinet one. Me like. The pinots were lovely as well. The Ninth Island Pinot Noir was not aged in oak; you can smell the strawberries and some spice. The Pipers Brook was more complex – same nose of strawberries but the oak gave it a more earthy kick. Very nice! Almost tempted to get that but then we tried their blended wines, the 2005 Ninth Island Tamar and the 2004 Pipers Brook. Amazing noses!!!!!!! The latter especially. Ketchup!!!!!! Would go great with fries. Mmm.

Jeff: I really liked their Riesling, made me change my mind on Rieslings in Tasmania. Good nose and good finish. The SB was nice and light. Ninth Island was unoaked, fruit forward, light color but still good body. Pipers Brook Pinot was more complex, oaked, spicy and would pair well with meat. We also loved the blends. The 9th Island Tamar had nice big berry flavors, a light body, and good to taste alone or with appetizers. The Pipers Brook Tamar had softer tannins and a big ketchup nose. We really liked the Pinots and the Tamars, but were more taken with the Tamars so bought the two Tamars.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Jansz (Tamar Valley)
Jansz makes only sparkling. We tasted four of their wines, and even though we were quite impressed, didn’t go away with any. Perhaps sparkling just doesn’t speak to us as strongly?

Non-vintage Pinot Noir and Chardonnay – fresh apple juice.

Rose: faint blush, not as unique on the nose. No oak on the non vintages.

2004 Jansz vintage – can smell the oak on this one. Nose like like orange peel pound cakes. Actually like the chocolate orange truffle we had.

Jeff: The non vintage was very light and nice, I liked it. Vineyard was big, grand and glitzy. I remembered we liked the Vintage the best.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Daryample (Tamar Valley)
Small vineyard. Used to be family owned, but in 2007, the Sundstrup family sold to the Yalumba Group, which also owns Jansz. 2007 wines and beyond use glass corks. tried five wines – the SB 2008 was nice and bright with stone fruit. Wasn’t too big a fan of the Chardonnay. It wa ok but not exciting. Well they are reducing their crops of chardonnays and concentrating on the SB which we think are better anyway. Tried the 2005, 2006, and 2008 pinots. The first was very fruit forward and super light finish. The 2006 was a little more subdued on the nose with more spice than fruit but fuller bodied with longer finish. The 2008 had a completely different nose!!! I liked it. We left with the latter two.

Jeff: The SB was well balanced, very good nose ( stone fruit? ), and very good finished. 2005 Pinot had a very fruity nose. 2006 had a much fuller body and a better finish. The nose was more subdued but you get more of the spice. 2008 definitely tasted younger, could age a little more but drinkable now.

They are planning to cut down on Chardonnay production, and concentrate on Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noirs. They’re also the only winery in Tasmania that uses glass cork stoppers.

The cellar door was also a pretty stark shack, pretty bare in the interior except for the wine, which is all that matters. We were greeted by this hearty fella sitting on a wooden stool behind the counter; we could have mistaken him for some shopkeeper in a small town except he was selling some very good wine. He was a cool chill guy, cheery, nice guy. It was practically a private tasting because we were the only ones there and he gave us tips on things to do and see along the route.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Delamere (Tamar Valley)
Currently 6.5 ha. The owner just bought a whole ton of cuttings. Planning to expand to 20 ha. Owns 150 ha of land. He has worked in the industry for 9 years including Oregon. Thought their blanc de Blancs was better than the one at Jansz. The Pinot was good but not the best we have had so far. The rose was interesting – floral with a slightly bitter edge. Dined on the property, in the sun with the resident dog and chickens.

Jeff: Shane Holloway is the the owner/winemaker here. He struck us as a little rough on the edges, hippy, laid back west coast dude. He’s been the winemaker for 9-10 years, and has worked in Oregon as well. He wants to concentrate on just chardonnay and pinot noir. Bought property 2 years ago. They have a lot of land to expand, only planted a small part of the property. Have new cuttings that they are going to plant. They market a lot through sommeliers and have them come to taste their wines and add to their wine lists. Send some to the UK and Harvard group of students. We had a good experience here because he let us lunch on the lawn with his dog and chickens.

The blanc de blanc was pretty good. Rose was not bad. The chard was ok.The Pinot was ok, not the strongest. But he said the newer plantings should be higher quality vines, the wines from those vines should be better.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Bay of Fires (Tamar Valley)
Five wineries in and my palate is getting tired. About hundred thousand cases max. Liked their Riesling. – well balanced with a good nose. Like their Chardonnay too. Lightly toasted fun nose! Light body. The 2008 Pinot noir was pretty good. Long finish nice spicy and fruity nose but the body was a little on the light side. Tannins were very soft.

Jeff: Mostly white wines. Only red is Pinot Noir. Pretty big winery with 100K max production. They source their wines from all over Tasmania (unlike the smaller wineries) and some of the other vineyards labels use the winery facilities at Bay of Fires. They had a couple of sparkling but liked their sparkling pinot noir / chardonnay. Riesling was very good. Good nose, crisp, well balanced, not too light and watery. The SB had good nose but weak body, very light color almost like water. The Pinot Noir – very light body and color. Good noise, good long drawn out finish but the body was weak and soft. Might be better with age, or not. Lacking in complexity. TPS liked it. Chardonnay was a bit oaky, more oaky than previous chards I’ve tasted in Tassie.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Grey Sands (Tamar Valley)
This winery owned by couple who also have day jobs. Tasting by appointment. We had a private tasting on a patio overlooking the slopes of the vineyard. Amazing view. They don’t make their wines but send it over to the Bay of Fires to make. Everything is pretty much done by hand.

Greysands Romanesque Glengarry Tasmania 2005 – Jeff: Blend of 3 grapes – Touriga, cab franc, cab sauv. Very interesting nose is due to the Touriga grape. sweet bbq smell.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Stefano Lubiana (Hobart)
Jeff: Tasting room is also in their winery building, a big wooden barnyard building. Monique, wife of the winemaker, poured the wines for us. She was really nice and helpful and we had her ship the wines for us to Singapore. Their Alfresco Riesling was very refreshing and light, had a good floral nose. Their other whites – chards, sauv blanc were ok. Given the two styles of chardonnay, I couldn’t really taste too much of a difference. Their oaked version was really oaked very much and wasn’t that complex. Their Pinots were also a bit weak, because I don’t remember them being spectacular, and we were a bit disappointed because the winery had gotten good reviews for their Pinot. But I remember the Merlot being very well rounded and rich and full bodied and being surprised by the quality of it.

Meadowbank Estate (Hobart)
Jeff: Stefano Lubiana recommended we go visit Meadowbank. The vineyard is pretty big (40 hectares) and they have a big fancy tasting room cum restaurant with great views but pricey food. For such a big vineyard we were surprised that they didn’t make their own wines but sent their fruit over to Frogmore Creek next door. They had some pretty good wines. We liked their chardonnay, and preferred their unoaked ‘Meadowbank’ version. Their Pinot, especially their ‘Henry James’ Pinot was very good, very rich and full bodied wine. It was our most expensive bottle too at 49.50. I also liked their regular Riesling. The FGR Riesling was too sweet. They also sell a lot of their grapes to Bay of Fires for sparkling production.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Frogmore Creek (Hobart)
Jeff: They are also very big, and they have several labels under their control. In addition to Frogmore Creek, they also have the 42 Degrees South Label, the Wellington Label and the Rosalyn Estate Label. They have around 40 hectares (don’t remember if this includes their recent Rosalyn Estate acquisition). They also do a lot of winemaking for other vineyards as a contract winemaker including Meadowbank and Puddleduck. They had a lot of really good wine. I liked their Riesling better than Meadowbank’s. They also had a very good Gewurtz with a really big lychee nose. We liked it a lot. I also liked all three styles of their Pinot. They are all different but good in their own way, smooth, some with more tannins than the other but we decided to buy the Frogmore Creek 2007 Pinot. That Pinot had a little more tannins and a long finish. Their ruby pinot noir port was also very good, less sweet than your normal port. Their cab merlot blend was also excellent.

From 2009 Sep-Oct Tasmania

Merryvale: Not so Merry

2001 Merryvale Starmont Merlot, Napa Valley – I had high expectations of this bottle, seeing how I had enjoyed wines from these vineyard on two previous occasions.

The wine had a strong woody smell in the nose though, bit odd for a Merlot. My aunt detected some currant, which is characteristic of the grape. When I tasted it, the wine felt still closed, green and still tight in the finish. Definitely not my favorite example, but hey, as they say, good enough for government work.

Jeff Wines: A Flight of Blind Tastings

I’m living vicariously through Jeff’s wine adventures back in Chicago – here is the review of the wines he’s had in the past week, starting with the bottle of Russian River Petite Syrah he picked up to complement his home-cooked Korean meal.

 
Castle Rock Russian River Petite Syrah (US$15)

A smoky, full bodied wine with a bit of spice. I like wines with some bite and this one paired well with the spiciness of the bi bim bap and complemented the bulgolgi well. I like. 

At the Karaoke Night blind tasting with the wine-n-climb gang, Julian shared four bottles of wine with the crew. Jeff’s notes:

2005 Hawk Crest, Cabernet Sauvignon (US$9; from Stag Leap Wines)

I liked this one out of the two reds. When I tasted this in a regular glass, I preferred the taste and the finish to the other red, but when tasted in the Reidel glasses, I preferred the nose, taste and finish. I think this wine has a little bit more complexity – it’s a bit more tannic but I like the tickle on the tongue sensation. It also has a longer lasting finish. Has a nice fruity nose – unfortunately, the nose seemed to have been obscured a bit by the cardboard smell due to the packing of the glasses. 

2005 Clos Marsalette, Bordeaux (US$27)

This tasted more mellow than the other red. It’s very drinkable and enjoyable, but the finish is a bit flat. It seemed to have a bigger nose in the Reidel glass but it might’ve just been the effect of the glass. 

Chateau St Michelle Merlot

Don’t remember too much – i think it was yummy though 

2005 Chalone Vineyard Chardonnay (~US$30)

Good nose and taste. 

L’ecole 41 Chardonnay (~US$20)

A tart, acidic wine – perhaps a bit young, but mellowed out after a while in the bottle

Chile, the latest wine country darling

At dinner last night, I randomly selected a bottle of Casa Lapostolle Merlot Colchagua Valley Cuvée Alexandre Apalta Vineyard 2006 from the wine list. When the server gave me a taster, I expectantly lifted the glass to my nose and took a deep breath. Not a big nose, a little on the sourish side. Ok… I took a sip and immediately tried not to grimace. The wine wasn’t bad, but it tasted somewhat astringent. The tannins were probably a little too heavy.

I was a little disappointed, but still hopeful that it would soften through the night. Out of habit, I whipped out my phone and jotted down the label. As I started to put my phone away, I rememered I had downloaded the Wine Spectator Mobile Phone Application, so I decided to look up the winery. 

Woah, what do you know! Casa Lopostolle won the Wine Spectator Wine of the Year in 2008! 

Obviously, the bottle in front of me was not amongst the top 100 wines, but the Wine Spectator had actually given it a pretty generous 90-point rating:

Muscular, with broad cocoa and plum sauce notes leading the way for an ample core of currant confiture and licorice. The rock-solid finish will need some cellaring to stretch out. Best from 2009 through 2011. 20,337 cases made.

I was skeptical, but encouraged. Thankfully, the wine did soften up considerably as the evening went on, and towards the end, mellowed out enough such that it had a pleasantly sweet currant body and long finish. Personally, I think the wine could stand cellaring for another few years at least for the tannins to soften some more.

Culinary Adventures in Amsterdam and Innsbruck Part I

The limited amount of time we had on this vacation curtailed the amount of sightseeing we could do (that, and the tiresome jet lag we suffered for the bulk of the trip – Austria being exactly seven hours ahead of Chicago and behind Singapore). However, we made up for the sightseeing by widely sampling the culinary and wine adventures that both Amsterdam and Innsbruck had to offer. 

Because I don’t usually pay that much attention to the food, and because in my sleep deprived state, I’d forgotten to jot down notes on some of the wines we had, Jeff said he’d help do a food and wine review; his words are in italics.

Day One

Our first night in Amsterdam, we dined at a supposedly French restaurant, Sluizer, (the cuisine seemed more international to me; and besides, there were barely any French wines on the wine list). We ordered a bottle of the Santa Julia Merlot from Mendoza, Argentina. (For the life of me, I cannot recall if that was the vineyard Peiyun, Minghao and I visited; I lost all my photos when my hard disk crashed.)

Jeff says: On the first night in Amsterdam, our helpful concierge recommended to us a French restaurant, Sluizer, that was just right off the side of Rembrandt Square on Utrechtsestraat street. Despite being a French restaurant, the food didn’t seem particularly French, but rather more modern international fare. P chose a duck breast dish and I went for the John Dory fish ( J: who’s John Dory? P: It’s dory fish silly, like dory from Finding Nemo?? J: Oh… ) and we had a beef carpaccio as a starter. We paired our meats with a bottle of Santa Julia Merlot from Argentina. I think the year on the wine was 2002 because we both remembered it being old. I remembered it had a good nose, almost cab like, and we were surprised how hardy and robust it was considering it was a Merlot. Don’t remember much else about the wine except that it was good and we wished we could’ve drank more  

From Amsterdam and Innsbruck 2009

From Amsterdam and Innsbruck 2009

Day Two

Jeff says: The second night of our trip, being our first night in Innsbruck, we again relied on our hotel reception for restaurant recommendations. Our hotel receptionist gave us a popout map of all the restaurants in the Altstadt ( Old Town ) area where our hotel was located. At first we thought she was just recommending to us all the touristy spots, since many of these restaurants were located in hotels, but being hungry we decided to choose one of these nearby spots. The restaurant was located in the Weinhaus – not a bad name since we were intending to drink. This was our first experiment in Austrian cuisine, and I don’t think it left that good of an impression on us. I had some meat dumpling which were a bit too salty. I think P had a veal dish which tasted better. Being in Austria, we chose a Gruner Veltliner. Again, don’t remember too much of the nose or the body, but it was a good wine. 

Day Three

Jeff says: After the first day of skiing, we got a restaurant recommendation from a Brit we met earlier in the day who has been to Innsbruck many times in the past. He asked if we liked Mexican food and we gave him a hearty affirmative reply, he told us about a very good Mexican restaurant, but he then qualified his recommendation with the caveat that he’s never been to Mexico, so his idea of Mexican might just be Tex-Mex. He told us the name of the restaurant was “Carlos” – well that’s what I thought I heard, given his english accent “ar” tends to sound like “ah” and it was Carlos was a Mexican name. It wasn’t until I went back to the hotel to search for the restaurant that I realized he said Kahlo’s, as in Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter. We had some misgivings that we would end up eating some Tex-Mex food but still we trusted a real person’s recommendation. Upon entering the restaurant, we noticed flags of Spain and Sweden, but not Mexico, and that was just a preview of things to come. The chips and salsa we ordered came with the smoothest guacamole ever – they clearly whipped it up in a blender and it almost felt like they mixed in some cream cheese because it had the same consistency. Then the pork fajitas that I ordered came with the usual vegetables and the unusual addition of peas. P’s ordered a special beef dish, something called a Mihuaca. We paired the food with a margarita which tasted too strong and a little off – too much rum I think. However, although the food wasn’t exactly authentic Mexican, we ended up having some very good Aus-Mex food  

Wah, I’m impressed he actually remembered the name of my dish; I’m terrible with names. Anyway, I have to agree – even though the food was hardly authentic, it was really pretty tasty.

Hari Raya Haji

It’s been a good week of catching up with friends, drinking and laughing. Had a sort of mini primary school class gathering at Dempsey Hill on Monday – I wanted to meet up with Valerie since she was in town, and also got several classmates along as well. Loved the choice of location, Dempsey Hill. Hehe, even though Cristalle lamented it was far and out of the way (which it is, being at the top of a secluded hill), I reckon its offering of braised duck and uber generous serving of foie gras makes the visit entirely worth the while. Mmm!

On Tuesday, I accepted Cristalle’s invitation to drink and play board games with some of her friends down in Boat Quay, and we somehow managed to laugh our way into the small hours of the night. Thank goodness for the public holiday today! Made it home half past one, and then spent another hour and a half chatting with friends half a world away.

Today, I luxuriated in bed for till half past noon, re-reading, probably for the twentieth time, David Edding’s Belgariad series (no, it never, never gets old!), before I headed all the way out west to climb with Bijuan, Vincent, and Jack. Pity the inclement weather prevented us from scurrying up the natural rocks at Dairy Farm; we did put in several good climbs at the gym though!

After, Bijuan patiently waited at Denise Wine Cellars at UE Square for me while I tried to put together a case of wine for this Sunday’s DGS. Boo – I was somewhat disappointed at the paltry Italian collection there… they only carried TWO labels of Italian white. Not even a Moscato d’Asti!!! Seriously. I really miss Sam’s Wine. We also popped into Cold Storage for a while, and I must say that I was pretty impressed by their collection there, tiny as it is. After all, they had four different bottles of Italian white, including two Orvietos that I’m really tempted to pick up (do you remember this, Jeff?), and a bottle of Carpineto Dogajolo I had previously tasted in the Belmont Wine Styles.

Anyway, for dinner, we ate at Tasting Notes, which Bijuan really liked for the ambience. The rain had cooled the weather considerably too, so it was really pleasant to sit alfresco style and watch people walking by. Since there were only two of us, we ordered glasses of wine instead of a bottle. Though the selection of wines by the glass was very limited, we were pretty pleased with our wines – a surprisingly delicious Merryvale Vineyards Napa Station Merlot 2005 for her (will have to keep my eye out for it!), and a Lugana DOC Superiore Moline 2006 for me.

Hehe, it looks like it’ll be a week of drinking for me. Probably more drinking with a client tomorrow evening, and Oktoberfest with Xavier on Friday. Meet up with Wellian and Pinn who will be in town Saturday, and DGS Singapore Sunday.