Had a Barista Pinotage with brisket last night. We've got some wine-loving friends coming through this weekend so I'm expecting to put a dent in the better corner of my stash.
My basement counters look very similar. The only three I've had are the Martini (good value), Beringer which I like and DeLoach which isn't a bad wine but it's not my preferred style of Pinot (I prefer less fruit, more earth and a lighter body/lower alcohol). I'm guessing, based on AVA, the other two Pinots would be more my style.
Went out to wine country yesterday to beat the rush and had several pickups to do. Had a couple library series 2013, 2014, and 2015 was pretty cool. 2013s are turned and should be good now through the next 3 years. This was a strange year with when the weather hit,so some wines might be huge fruit and others much lighter. 2014 - put in your cellar for another 3-5 years and profit huge. These tasted the youngest by far, but were also the most complex. This will be a banner year people reference in the future. 2015 - drink now for the next 5 years. Super hot year with a lot of vintners picking early. Honestly these were very approachable now surprisingly.
Also my local wine guy has hooked me up with a case of assorted 2010 Washington cabs which have all been amazing so far. What a year.
Yes. I loved 2010. That was more my style than some of the riper, richer versions of the last few years.
I know there was some good discussion about the 2011 vintage in Oregon, but any thoughts on Washington? Obviously a cooler year there as well which generally would fit what i like. Asking as Rasa is offering a solid discount on some 2011 wines. Would allow me to access a few of their wines that are normally outside of my budget (had and like Occams Razor at its price point and already have a couple 2013 special occasion bottles). Just wasn't sure if the 2011 vintage was garbage or whether this was worth exploring.
Not nearly as many brix(sugars) as normal in the fruit which means not as much alcohol. I'm a firm believer that with higher alcohol, the more complex, desired flavors come through. I would stay away from Horse Heaven Hills and Walla Walla wines since they were hit the hardest with vine damage unless you hear otherwise. That year really challenged winemakers and growers since they didn't have the ideal WA conditions that come most years
Coincidentally, Rasa is one winery I emailed last night about doing a tasting this weekend. We tasted there in 2012 and it was a really cool experience with Billo pouring about 6 wines for just my wife (then fiancee) and I while his assistant tinkered with things that were fermenting. Stylistical preference-wise, I would say you and I are pretty similar. Rasa tends to make fuller bodied, richer wines that push a little higher ABV than my wheelhouse but I've never had one where I thought it was overripe--just in-balance and pushing the richness edge. The texture he achieves tends to really stick out to me. Speaking generally to Washington, I had a strong preference for 2010 vs. 2011 vintage because 2010 had much better flavor development in my mind than 2011. I haven't had any of the Rasa wines from 2011 but they had a second label called PB Wines that has been discontinued (more accurately rebranded as the QED line so it could be marketed under Rasa) that I bought a mixed case of when they were liquidating inventory and those were all good. I also bought some 2011 Echo Ridge Cellars (which is a vineyard planted across the border in Oregon by Drew Bledsoe but sold when he got access to Walla Walla AVA site(s) for Doubleback) where Billo was the consulting winemaker for the couple that own and farm the vineyard and those were also very good. If you do the Rasa 2011 offering, make sure you include the 2011 Plus One Cabernet. That is probably the best bang for the buck on the list and Red Mountain shouldn't have had any trouble getting ripe. I probably would also do the Doctrina Perpetua Syrah. I prefer cooler rather than richer Syrah and Bacchus is a good vineyard site. If it was me I would avoid the 100% Grenache because I'm just not enamored by WA grenache.
Awesome, thank you. I've had one of 2011 PB Wines releases (GSM) as well, forgot to mention that in the post above. It was one of the options I ended up exploring when choosing wines for my wedding. Ended up ordering the following: Creative Impulse Doctrina Perpetua x2 Plus One Vox Populi Principia Reserve Syrah As far as Grenache goes, it's a grape I'm still not overly experienced with at this point by itself. I had one from Australia which was definitely not my thing (most wines from Australia really haven't been). At any rate, didn't really consider it here. Generally, I think I'm going to start in Spain when delving further into it, although I did grab a couple bottles of the Renegade Grenache from Full Pull which seems to be considered a good value at the least. Hopefully that's representative of what comes out of WA at $15 a bottle rather than whatever the Rasa would have been even after discount. --- On a separate note, was also hoping to find a red wine pairing for carne asada. Yes, I can always drink beer or a cocktail, but I'd like to have wine available as well. Seems like it would be simple, but spice doesn't play so well with tannin apparently. Zinfandel seems to be a popular call, but that's not my favorite thing nor do I have a lot of it to serve a group. Anyone have any favorites? Perhaps Syrah could work but it would have to be the right one?
I've had the Renegade Grenache in a prior vintage. I thought it was ok. Pairings for carne asada, I'd probably go toward GSM blend from Southern Rhone, Tempranillo (Rioja) or Malbec from Argentina.
Got back from France on Sunday. The wine - my god. Had so many different and delicious things. Toured two wineries in Chateauneuf which was amazing. Wife and I usually split a bottle of white/rose during lunch and a red at dinner. Lots of natural wine too which was fun. Here are some of my favorites (that I managed to remember to take pics of). Drank so much "house wine" at restaurants that was so good, but will never know what they were. The Beaujolais in Lyon was dirt cheap and delicious everywhere we went. Also had a few Cote-Roties and a hell of lot of Cote-du-Rhine villages that were incredible but think those pics are on my wife's phone.
One day done in Walla Walla. We only managed to hit two wineries yesterday because the hosts were so generous. We started at Gramercy Cellars at 11. She had 5 bottles out when we arrived. She ended up grabbing more from the back and before you knew it we had a vertical 2011-14 of WW Syrah amongst others. Awesome experience. In the afternoon we did Reynvaan. Our tasting started at 3 and ended when I mentioned we had to get back for a 7 pm dinner reservation. Great people and an amazing experience. Today we have Abeja and Rasa scheduled and we plan to stop by Rotie Cellars since we missed it yesterday. For anybody planning a wine trip, I highly recommend Walla Walla.
Make sure you do the Maple Counter Cafe for breakfast or lunch. Any chance you venture over to Prosser? Not quite as nice as Walla Walla, but great spots. If you do, go to Wine O'Clock for dinner. One of the best chefs from Seattle and winemakers in WA are married and do meals and serve their own wine. It's fantastic
We are back now. I've heard good things but we didn't do Maple Counter Cafe because as part of our stay we had this Breakfast Arepa for our only other breakfast while in town. We didn't go to Prosser (but after looking up Wine O'Clock I do know Bunnell wines and I do really like what I've had). For the trip we flew in to PSC because there is one direct flight per day to and from MSP. The problem is we landed at 10:00 pm on Thursday and had to depart at 7:15 am on Sunday which left us with two full days. On Saturday we did Abeja, Rotie Cellars and Rasa Vineyards. They were all good experiences but none were as memorable as the two from Friday.
Ended up touring the top four based on rec's from reddit and a few days researching. Toured Elkin Creek, Jones Von Drehle, Raffaldini and Piccione Elkin Creek had the best wines imo especially their 2015 Sangiovese, which was very fruit forward and good without food. The wife of one owner was working the tasting and just one of those people you can shoot the shit with for an hour, great personality. Everyone raves about the homemade pizzas they only do on Sunday so I would suggest timing your visit around that. Spoiler: Tasting List Jones Von Drehle had a nice facility and all their wines are on the very dry side. Their steel chard and 2015 rose were my favorites of the bunch but I didn't love anything enough to buy a bottle. Nice outdoor patio area but no pics. Raffaldini is the panty dropper of the bunch with a beautiful Italian stucco facility with an amazing view. Spoiler: Their patio Didn't end up doing a tasting as they were closing soon, but the glass of dry rose was amazing and their Swan Creek Montepulciano 2014 made me want to buy a $50 steak to do it justice. Piccione vineyard was next door and we hit it on the way out the next day. Their tasting was the second favorite behind Elkin Creek and views second to Raffaldini (it's next door). However they are still building an outdoor structure and the tasting room is temporarily in a double wide trailer so although the wines are great it pales a bit compared to Raffaldini's facility. They do patio live music and a food truck on the weekends. Spoiler: View of the blue ridge from patio Finally I had three separate couples recommend RayLen vineyards as excellent reds at great pricing. Didn't have time to check them out though. Would definitely recommend a weekend trip, sipping some wines looking at the blue ridge mountains and enjoying a summer breeze probably took my blood pressure down 50%.
My liquor store just started carrying stuff from this vineyard. We've had the 2014 and 2015 so I was pretty excited when I saw these on the rack
Btw, I've been holding off from really digging into my cellar while my wife is pregnant. We are in the final weeks and then much wine will be drank. First bottle on tap for her is a Bergstrom Sigrid Chardonnay, followed by a 2009 Penner Ash Zena Crown(maybe her favorite bottle ever) then for when she is up to it, a library archery summit reserve series of 1996-1999.
We spent I don't want to know how much on formula because my wife wanted to start drinking wine again.
I don't think my wife even dumped because she was never engorged. The alcohol is out of the milk at the same time it is out of the bloodstream. Just don't feed/pump after drinking. My wife would feed and then have her glass of wine. By the time she needed to feed again a few hours later it was fine. Obviously if she is going to have multiple glasses of wine that is a different issue but that is what a bottle at night is for.
This was a good way to spend US Open Sunday. New addition to my store and at $13 a bottle I will definitely be buying again
Ste. Michelle owns a bunch of labels, but I'd recommend 14 Hands as well. Same price point and from same area. Both very, very, very good for a wine under 20. H3 Cab is my favorite Washington wine under 20 as well if looking for something red like it
Have a very limited amount of time in the finger lakes Saturday. Have a lunch booked at Ravines. Have time for 1 or maybe 2 more at most if they're close. Thinking maybe Red Tail Ridge and Billsboro? Anyone have experience or knowledge?
I get at least half off at all of their labels and can ship it anywhere that the laws allowed, if people are interested
Discounts include 14 hands Anew Canon 13 Chateau ste michelle Columbia crest Conn creek Domaine ste michelle Drunheller Erath Eroica Intrinsic Motto Northstar O wines Patz and hall Seven falls Snoqualmie Spring valley Tenet Two Villa mt eden Stags leap Col solare There's a bunch of other stuff on the import store too that I don't know right now