As I write this I’m getting ready for a big annual professional conference that I attend every year with my wife and about 150 of my closest buddies, and competitors. One of the big events happens to be dinner nightly where we all bring a bottle to the table to share.
Depending on the caterer, some years we have to sneak in our bottles in our briefcases and pour a glass under the table for each other. Other years (the better years) we can just pay the caterer a corking fee to open the bottles and clear away our glassware. Either way, the wine gets consumed and everyone has a great time.
The reason I bring up this story is not to tell you of the rockstar lifestyle that I lead, but to discuss a common problem that occurs every year. The problem of somebody bringing an everyday wine to a special event. I know it doesn’t just happen to me and my friends. It happens way too often.
Let me explain the issue in more detail so we are all have an understanding. The problem is that most of us are cracking open bottles of 50, 60, or even 100 dollar bottles of wine, and some dude will inevitably show up with a bottle of Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot.
Now, please understand that I AM a huge fan of Columbia Crest. And, Yes, Grand Estates Merlot has earned the winery many many awards over the years. What I’m saying is that Grand Estates is ten to fifteen George Washingtons in most grocery stores. Believe me, most of us who are winos know the price pretty well because we drink it as a regular drink every night.
The problem isn’t the wine. The problem is that if you bring this bottle, or many others like it, we know you’re a tightwad who won’t splurge on a nice bottle for your friends. Heck, you aren’t even cunning. You are the guy who buys the bottle from the first display rack you see in the store!
I’m not going to beat up on you any more for the rest of this article. I promise. I’m here to help.
Do you want to be the hero and not the zero the next time you bring a bottle to an event? Do you want to win the praise and admiration from your peers? Do you want to go down in history as the guy who brought the “good stuff”?
You have a few choices. In my opinion the number one thing to do is never buy wine for a good impression at a drugstore or grocery store...EVER. Sometimes, if you buy only the best and they have a really nice selection, you can get a nice bottle from a convenience store. An example of this has been Dave’s Chevron in Pendleton, or a few other gas stations down in Hood River or in Yakima.
The best option is to buy a wine from a wine shop. There are several great ones in the region. They can help you find a nice wine at a price you can afford. Even if you don’t want to spend a lot of money they can suggest something you can fool everyone with.
Last, if you’re traveling, you can find a local wine shop. It’s worth the effort. Trust me, showing up with the “good stuff” makes you a hero.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Gordon Brothers Wines Now Available Locally
Last week I started to share about Tri-Cities vintners, Gordon Brothers Winery. As a late note I found out that the wines are now being distributed locally, and will showcased at a public tasting Friday night the 18th of December at Great Pacific in downtown Pendleton.
Jeff Gordon, owner of Gordon Brothers, will be on hand to showcase their wines beginning at 5 p.m.. As always, Ken and Carol will have their full menu, including their amazing gourmet pizzas available to compliment any wine you should decide to taste or purchase that evening. If you haven’t attended a tasting there, I suggest that you come down. I like to think of Friday evenings at Great Pacific as a community event.
Gordon Brothers winery, which is located on the north bank of the Snake River just east of Pasco, is a certified organic vineyard. The Gordons have gone to great lengths to create a beautiful micro AVA, with plenty of drainage, heat units, and adequate irrigation for producing world-class grapes. Their winemaker, Tim Henley, carefully crafts his wines using a mixture of both old-world methods, and the newest techniques available.
On a tour of the winery a few weeks ago I had the privilege of tasting through the Gordon’s portfolio, including barrel samples of upcoming vintages. Here are a few of the wines I found most notable on my visit.
2007 Sauvignon Blanc - I am thoroughly impressed with both the fruit and the treatment that Henley is using in this wine. The nose is very aromatic with lots of grapefruit, lime, and melon. The flavors are crisp and beautiful, with a very balanced combination of acidity and fruit. Pair this with creamy dishes, seafood, or on its own on a warm evening.
2008 Chardonnay – This wine, as well as the family’s reserve Chardonnay from the same vintage, shows a combination of skillful vineyard management and blending in the barrel room. Henley shows some of his best talents in these wines. A careful blend of stainless fermentation, mixed with the right amount of malolactic, as well as new and neutral oaks creates Chardonnay the way it should be. Aromas of pineapple, apple, melon, and buttery toffee fill the nose, followed by flavors of apples, baking spices, and a balanced finish make this one of my favorite Chardonnays on the market.
2007 Merlot - I firmly believe that Henley’s method of “drain and return” creates the method that allows the wide-open flavors in this wine to shine. Aromas of blackberries on the vine, cinnamon, and leather, followed by flavors of berries and stone fruit, with cocoa and baking spices on the finish.
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – This wine is blended with 4% Syrah, and 2% Merlot to create layers of flavors and aromas. Raspberries, cherries, and currants mix with notes of coffee on the nose and palate, followed by darker fruits and cinnamon. The finish is long, with silky tannins.
2005 Syrah – Blueberries, cherries, and peppercorn fill the senses, followed by flavors of leather and cedar to create a mouth filling experience. Beautiful tannins make this wine one to enjoy with a steak or lamb, or on its own with friends.
I will only briefly mention both the 2003 Tradition and the 2008 Ice Wine. Tradition is the family’s amazing red Bordeaux blend, and the Ice wine is a true Gewurztraminer Ice wine, carefully picked in the deep of winter. Both are beautiful works of vintner art. I would suggest purchasing both if you get the opportunity.
Enjoy!!
Jeff Gordon, owner of Gordon Brothers, will be on hand to showcase their wines beginning at 5 p.m.. As always, Ken and Carol will have their full menu, including their amazing gourmet pizzas available to compliment any wine you should decide to taste or purchase that evening. If you haven’t attended a tasting there, I suggest that you come down. I like to think of Friday evenings at Great Pacific as a community event.
Gordon Brothers winery, which is located on the north bank of the Snake River just east of Pasco, is a certified organic vineyard. The Gordons have gone to great lengths to create a beautiful micro AVA, with plenty of drainage, heat units, and adequate irrigation for producing world-class grapes. Their winemaker, Tim Henley, carefully crafts his wines using a mixture of both old-world methods, and the newest techniques available.
On a tour of the winery a few weeks ago I had the privilege of tasting through the Gordon’s portfolio, including barrel samples of upcoming vintages. Here are a few of the wines I found most notable on my visit.
2007 Sauvignon Blanc - I am thoroughly impressed with both the fruit and the treatment that Henley is using in this wine. The nose is very aromatic with lots of grapefruit, lime, and melon. The flavors are crisp and beautiful, with a very balanced combination of acidity and fruit. Pair this with creamy dishes, seafood, or on its own on a warm evening.
2008 Chardonnay – This wine, as well as the family’s reserve Chardonnay from the same vintage, shows a combination of skillful vineyard management and blending in the barrel room. Henley shows some of his best talents in these wines. A careful blend of stainless fermentation, mixed with the right amount of malolactic, as well as new and neutral oaks creates Chardonnay the way it should be. Aromas of pineapple, apple, melon, and buttery toffee fill the nose, followed by flavors of apples, baking spices, and a balanced finish make this one of my favorite Chardonnays on the market.
2007 Merlot - I firmly believe that Henley’s method of “drain and return” creates the method that allows the wide-open flavors in this wine to shine. Aromas of blackberries on the vine, cinnamon, and leather, followed by flavors of berries and stone fruit, with cocoa and baking spices on the finish.
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – This wine is blended with 4% Syrah, and 2% Merlot to create layers of flavors and aromas. Raspberries, cherries, and currants mix with notes of coffee on the nose and palate, followed by darker fruits and cinnamon. The finish is long, with silky tannins.
2005 Syrah – Blueberries, cherries, and peppercorn fill the senses, followed by flavors of leather and cedar to create a mouth filling experience. Beautiful tannins make this wine one to enjoy with a steak or lamb, or on its own with friends.
I will only briefly mention both the 2003 Tradition and the 2008 Ice Wine. Tradition is the family’s amazing red Bordeaux blend, and the Ice wine is a true Gewurztraminer Ice wine, carefully picked in the deep of winter. Both are beautiful works of vintner art. I would suggest purchasing both if you get the opportunity.
Enjoy!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
I Can Read Your Mind!
Ok. I have a serious Halloween style confession to make. I am a people watcher. I’m also a horrible snoop. Nothing in this world is more entertaining than just standing or sitting in a place where I can watch people’s behaviors and just see what they do. I also learned at a young age that going through people’s stuff really tells you a lot about them.
This brings me to yesterday, when in the checkstand isle at the grocery store I totally freaked out the woman in front of me. She was unloading her cart, and I noticed that she had a bottle of Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot. A good bottle of wine for the price, and also a huge help to our local economic growth.
As I watched her unpack her cart I quietly watched each of the items on the conveyor belt. My mind started checking through her shopping list of all the things she was purchasing, and I started to get worried. Where were the onions? Where were the darned onions? She forgot the onions!
Finally I spied a baggie of fresh green onions lying behind a box of fettucine, right next to the beautiful flank steak. “Whew…oh good” I exclaimed, before I knew I was speaking, “you purchased onions”.
She looked at me like I was some crazed psycho. Now I was compelled to go on and explain myself. “You are 90% more likely to purchase red wine if you purchase onions. I just saw the wine and did not see the onions until now.” She still looked at me like I was a lunatic, paid the cashier quickly, and ran out of the store. Probably dialing 911, or her gun toting husband as she escaped.
What I told her is true. There has been a huge amount of consumer research done in the past few years by the wine industry. One of the things that the industry has found is that people who cook with onions and garlic are truly 90% more likely to drink red wine. The reason is that onions and garlic associate with a “fancy” meal that almost requires a glass of wine to go with it.
Other grocery purchases that have been found to almost guarantee a wine purchase are steaks and roasts, rotisserie chicken, and flowers. You have probably seen wine displays near the meat counter, deli, and floral sections of the grocery stores. If you haven’t, just look around the next time you go shopping.
Something else about wine purchases in grocery stores. The most successful wine shops are located to the right of the main entrance of the store. Normal shopping patterns of the average consumer are in a counter-clockwise progression. By placing the wine shelf to the right of the entrance the customer is more likely to make a purchase of wine before their basket is full of toilet paper and potato chips.
I’m telling you all this so you can become a people watcher too. If you already are, then I suggest you join me in looking for onions and wine in other people’s carts. If they forget one or the other I suggest you step out and give them a hand by mentioning their mistake.
Enjoy!
This brings me to yesterday, when in the checkstand isle at the grocery store I totally freaked out the woman in front of me. She was unloading her cart, and I noticed that she had a bottle of Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot. A good bottle of wine for the price, and also a huge help to our local economic growth.
As I watched her unpack her cart I quietly watched each of the items on the conveyor belt. My mind started checking through her shopping list of all the things she was purchasing, and I started to get worried. Where were the onions? Where were the darned onions? She forgot the onions!
Finally I spied a baggie of fresh green onions lying behind a box of fettucine, right next to the beautiful flank steak. “Whew…oh good” I exclaimed, before I knew I was speaking, “you purchased onions”.
She looked at me like I was some crazed psycho. Now I was compelled to go on and explain myself. “You are 90% more likely to purchase red wine if you purchase onions. I just saw the wine and did not see the onions until now.” She still looked at me like I was a lunatic, paid the cashier quickly, and ran out of the store. Probably dialing 911, or her gun toting husband as she escaped.
What I told her is true. There has been a huge amount of consumer research done in the past few years by the wine industry. One of the things that the industry has found is that people who cook with onions and garlic are truly 90% more likely to drink red wine. The reason is that onions and garlic associate with a “fancy” meal that almost requires a glass of wine to go with it.
Other grocery purchases that have been found to almost guarantee a wine purchase are steaks and roasts, rotisserie chicken, and flowers. You have probably seen wine displays near the meat counter, deli, and floral sections of the grocery stores. If you haven’t, just look around the next time you go shopping.
Something else about wine purchases in grocery stores. The most successful wine shops are located to the right of the main entrance of the store. Normal shopping patterns of the average consumer are in a counter-clockwise progression. By placing the wine shelf to the right of the entrance the customer is more likely to make a purchase of wine before their basket is full of toilet paper and potato chips.
I’m telling you all this so you can become a people watcher too. If you already are, then I suggest you join me in looking for onions and wine in other people’s carts. If they forget one or the other I suggest you step out and give them a hand by mentioning their mistake.
Enjoy!
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