How To Drink Wine Like A Pro

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are a lot of people that like to drink wine, but most of them just don’t know how to do it. Sure, anyone can screw the cap off of the bottle of Arbor Mist Blackberry Merlot and slug it down in the store parking lot. I’m not talking about that. What I’m talking about is really learning how to drink and enjoy wine.

To begin, a wine needs to be smelled. Yes. Smelled. I was told the other day that the reason dogs are so good at smelling is because their noses are so close to the ground. At first this made me snortle a little. Of course their noses are close to the ground. But, after thinking about it a few moments I thought “how profound”. Ask any teenage boy who wants to wear a shirt for the second day. If you put your nose close to anything and breathe deep you can smell everything.

For years I’ve been preaching to people that they need to smell their wines. There is so much in the enjoyment of wine that comes from putting the glass right up to your nose and giving it a deep sniff, just like fido would do.

To intensify the esters coming off of the wine, and helping it lift the odors a bit you need to swirl the wine in the glass. This requires you to not pour a full glass. Instead, pour just 1-3 ounces in the bottom of a large wine glass. Swirl it using the base or the stem. With some practice you’ll be able to keep that white silk blouse from becoming burgundy colored.

Once you’ve adequately swirled your wine, and adequately equals intensely, go ahead and put the glass to your nose again and breathe deep. Do you notice any nuances or changes? Do you detect any odors of fruits or spices? Are there any odors such as sulfurs or dirty odors that make the wine not so pleasant? All of these things are more easily found when you’ve learned how to smell your wine like a dog.

After you smell and swirl your wines multiple times it is now time to take that first sip. I always take a small sip and let it pass over the tongue from front to back and side to side. Let it slip down the back of your throat, swallow, and take a deep breath to get all of the flavors.

Does the smell of the wine match the flavors? If not, why not? A perfect example of a wine that has a completely different “nose” from the flavors is Bergevin Lane’s Oui Deux Syrah. The nose is intensely floral from the blended Viognier, but the flavors are full bodied Syrah with dark berries, vegetable garden, and a complete spice box.

Next, I suggest doing the same swirl and sniff technique, followed by another small sip, and then suck air in between your teeth with the wine still in your mouth. Doing this will blend the wine in your mouth and break up the dullness of any tannins or acids that are present. This method allows you to get the full body of the wine in a single mouth-full.

If you are in a winery tasting room and you do these techniques the staff will assume that you are some amazing wine critic and they will ask you to come back to their VIP area for private tours, dinner with the owners, and free cases of your favorite beverage. Just kidding! However, you will amaze your family and friends with your wine tasting skills.

Enjoy!

Winemaker’s Dinners Leave You Feeling Like Royalty

I think I’m finally figuring out how the other half lives, and I think I like it. To say the least I would admit that I feel a little spoiled. To say the most, I feel like a fat king on his Eastern Washington throne.

Last Sunday was the dinner at Wildhorse Resort with Long Shadows and Forgeron wineries. I wrote about this dinner a few weeks ago in this column, and was pleased to see several of you there. Chef Brian and team did an amazing job pairing local foods with the skilled enology and presentations of Gilles Niccault and Marie Eve Gilla. If you are not a member of the Plateau Wine club then I suggest you need to call Jeff at the Plateau and get signed up.

This most recent Sunday was spent with my friends at the Tuscany Grill in Prosser. Jessie and Susanne Ayala opened Tuscany in January and have turned their little 6th street Italian diner into a spectacular eatery.

Jessie, a 5 star executive chef, who has developed restaurants throughout the region over the years, and his beautiful wife Susanne decided last winter that it was time to open a place to call their own. With a lot of hard work and great family support they are doing it fantastically well. One of the things that they are really excelling at is doing winemaker’s dinners.

On Sunday, Jessie and Susanne joined forces with Apex Cellars and Master Sommelier Angelo Tavernaro. The Ayalas provided the amazing food, Denise from Apex provided the wine, and Angelo offered pairings and advice to the fun-loving crowd.

To begin, a well adorned cheese tray was paired with Sparkling Syrah and Brut from Apex. I love a good sparkling Syrah, and this one truly hit the spot. A slight amount of residual sugar brings out the fruit in the wine to balance with the yeast in the bubbles, finishing smooth and dark.

Jessie then offered a delicious smoked salmon canapé with olive tapanade. Ayala’s tapanade still has my mouth watering. The beautiful, slightly fatty salmon dish was paired perfectly with an 2008 Apex Pinot Gris to cleanse the palate. This semi-dry wine offers up flavors of apple, pear, and melon throughout.

The second course was a Gnocchi Puttanesca. Jessie and his assistant chef made beautiful Gnocchi by hand in the kitchen, and coated them liberally with Ayala’s spicy Puttanesca sauce. Tavernaro paired this dish with the 2008 Apex Chardonnay. The Chardonnay uses 30% stainless and 70% mixed oak fermentation program. This leaves the wine citrusy on the mid-palate and butterscotch flavored on the finish.

After a short break with a homemade Limoncello Gelato, Ayala brought out an amazing Pork Osso Bucco. This was paired with the 2006 Apex Merlot, which offers up dark cherry and cocoa flavors.

The dinner was finished in most galiant fashion with a moist chocolate cake topped with genache and a homemade raspberry chipoltle gelato. Denise, the General Manager of Apex offered a very special 1992 Apex Tawny Port for the occasion. This port is truly a must buy while it lasts at $35/bottle from the tasting room.

Isn’t it time that you got to feel like royalty? Well, here’s your chance. The next winemaker’s dinner at Tuscany is next Sunday with Davenlore winery. Call Susanne to get your hands on these very limited tickets. Her number is (509) 786-7600.

Enjoy!

Lemberger Wine Gets Showcased in the Horseheavens

The other day I was talking with someone, when they mentioned that they had found Lemberger wine for the first time. They were surprised that it was so good, and nothing like the name sounded. I guess they had expected something to come out of the bottle and rot on the end of their noses or something. Lemberger wine is NOT stinky cheese wine. Quite to the contrary, Lemberger is a fabulously mellow and yet complex red that is easy to drink.

Blaufränkisch, which means “blue Fränkish” in German, is a dark blue grape that is rich in tannins. Grown throughout the Slavic regions of Europe, the grape is known in Germany and Austria as Lemberger. The grape is known throughout Europe as the Pinot Noir of the east because of its rich velvety tannins mixed with deep dark fruit flavors, and a touch of earthiness.

One thing that is oddly known about this grape is that outside of Eastern Europe there are few regions that this variety is grown. One of the only serious yields of this variety outside of Europe is in the Yakima region of Washington State. There are also a few vineyards in the Olympic Peninsula who are growing this grape because it handles lower temperatures so well.

Of the Lembergers that I’ve had in this region, none is more memorable to me than the one produced by Kiona winery in Benton City. The Williams family has been producing this varietal since 1980, when they were the first and only vineyard in the United States to grow it.

Priced at around $10 per bottle, Kiona has produced some amazing award winning Lembergers over the years out of their estate vineyards. The current vintage is extremely smooth and drinkable, with flavors of fleshy, dark, fresh fruit and a spiciness that lingers. I especially like the velvety tannins in the finish.

If you are interested in exploring more about the world of Lemberger, I highly suggest that you attend Chateau Champoux’s 8th annual Lemberger Lamburger barbeque. This event is a fantastic time, with a showcasing of the variety along with food, music, and artists.

This year’s barbecue will be held June 19th, and the Chateau located in the horse heaven hills on the other side of the river from Boardman. The featured wineries will be Camas Prairie Winery, Olympic Cellars, Yellow Hawk, and Fairwinds Winery. Entertainment by my friends at the Tri-Cities Big Band, and lamb burgers (and chicken) will be served by Tip Pit barbecue.

If you’re interested in exploring the world of Lemberger, I would highly suggest you attend this fun event. The cost is $55 per person, or $90 for a couple. Get your tickets right away by calling (509) 894-5005. There is more information also available on the Chateau Champoux website at www.chateauchampoux.com . You can even make an entire weekend out of it by getting a camping site at Crow Butte State Park near Patterson, which is just a few miles away from the event. The website to reserve a space there is www.crowbutte.com.

Enjoy!

Airfield Winery A Great Place To Land

Sometimes I hear so many reports about a winery that I just have to drop in and see what is going on for myself. Such was the case for my visit last week to Airfield Winery in Prosser.

I’ve had several people in the past few weeks and months tell me that they had been out to Airfield, and what a great visit they’d had. Even one of my friends, who is no wine slouch by any means, had shared with me that his recent trip to the winery was “quite memorable” in a good way.

I was up in Prosser meeting with my friends Jessie and Susanne Ayala, the owners of Tuscany Grill. Susanne shared with me that they have a huge Airfield following at their restaurant. (As a side note, there is going be a fantastic wine event there on Sunday the 13th of June with Apex Winery and Master Sommelier Angelo Tavernero. At $55 a ticket it will be awesome! You can contact Susanne for tickets at 509-786-7600.)

With all of these great reports, and a little time to burn, I decided I needed to make a stop at the Airfield and taste. The winery sits parallel to the freeway along side Olsen Estates, Thurston Wolfe, and Milbrant Wineries.

Walking into the spacious, hanger-like facility was actually kind of spunky and refreshing. The place is decked out in flyer paraphernalia, and looks kind of like a fancy, leather seated version of my brother’s airplane hanger in southern Idaho.

I was met by a bar full of 20 somethings who were an extended wedding party, and the very pleasant staff. They offered to pour the entire list of probably 15 wines for me, and I thought “why not?”.

Starting off with the whites we went right into the 2009 Flygirl White, a spicy, floral, and peachy blend of Viognier, Roussanne, Chardonnay, and Gewurztraminer. Followed by the un-oaked 2009 Chardonnay, which was creamy and rich from malolactic fermentation. These wines would go nicely with my chicken spring rolls or a nice yakisoba.

The 2008 Pinot Gris was on special for $99 a case, which I snatched up. Spicy and dry, with mangos, peaches, and honeydew dancing across the tongue. Yum!

I taxied into the 2009 Ruby Rose’. I’m a Rose’ fan, and cannot ever turn down a good one. This is an actual “foot-stomped” wine, created at the crush festival last fall. Made from Syrah and Grenache, this wine is full of rhubarb and strawberries. I couldn’t help but pick up a few bottles of this as well.

My attention headed directly down the runway of reds with the 2007 Aviator, a blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. This dark, rich blend opens with vanilla and spices, and finishes with velvety fruit and baking spices.

The 2008 Mustang blend is all Rhone with Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Counoise, and Morvedre. This super tight blend eventually opens up deep and rich, with so many layers that it’s hard to explain. Just be ready to decant this one.

Last, I thoroughly enjoyed landing with the 2008 Zinfandel. Jammy plum flavors, cocoa, and allspice. This wine is ready for a great steak in my back yard.

I hope you can fly to Airfield Estates Winery in Prosser sometime soon.

I’ll see you at the Plateau at Wildhorse for the big winemaker’s dinner on Sunday the 6th!

Happy Anniversary!

I don’t know if you remembered or not, but this week is our anniversary together. Two years ago in June George Murdock and Skip Nichols from the East Oregonian sat down with Maryl Featherstone from Graybeal Distributing and yours truly. Our plan was to conquer Eastern Oregon one bottle and 550 words at a time!

Our thought was that Eastern Oregon needed an “occasional” column to talk about wine and wine related events going on in the region. Even though the majority of drinking age people in the region prefer Pendleton Whiskey, Keystone Light or Natural Light beers, we knew that there were a lot of people with growing interest in wines.

Personally, I thought I’d write a few articles and then the space would get filled with something else. Honestly, I figured that I’d run out of hot air before too many weeks, and had even asked a few other people to help me in the endeavor. I really didn’t think that I could write this much, this often, or this “intelligently”. The article would be one of those quickly forgotten things that happened and then disappeared until a few years later when someone would come up with the idea again.

Well, to my surprise I am still writing this column every Friday morning and emailing it off before 6 a.m.. Every Thursday I look around my office and ask myself what the heck I’m going to write about this week. And, surprisingly enough there is always something to write about. Each and every week the wine world changes and grows in so many ways. It really is shocking to me that I still have things to write about, and yet just as shocking is that I don’t have enough space to write about everything.

A few things have changed over the past two years. The largest factor, and one that has greatly affected both my own drinking style as well as the industry as a whole, has been the economy.

The great recession has definitely “moved the cheese” for most people in the industry. Where you used to be able to open a winery, build a beautiful building, and produce oak-heavy, half-cooked wines for thirty plus dollars a bottle is definitely a thing of the past.

Wineries won’t admit it straight out, but they are hurting badly from having a glut of wine that isn’t moving due to price point issues. Vintners that produce overpriced and undervalued products are now closing or selling out. We are drinking wines I never thought would be less than twenty dollars for under ten every day.

Another thing that has happened to wine in the last two years is social network marketing. Twitter and blogging are specifically is changing the way we drink wine. There are thousands of bloggers all over the world, and their network of choice is Twitter. As a wine enthusiast I can read the daily thoughts of Paul Gregutt, Gary Vaynerchuck, or most of the other famous wine writers throughout the industry. My own blog, www.onerichwineguy.com , which started a year ago as a way of archiving this article has hundreds of readers every day. If you are interested in any particular wine you can Google it and know just about anything you want or need to know in just a few seconds.

So, I guess we’re in this for the long run folks. I look forward to many more years with you. Happy Anniversary, and see you again next week!

Enjoy!

Earth, Wind, Air, Fire, and Wine

Ok, for those of you who always tell me you would love to join me at a wine event, I am excited to announce that there’s a big one coming up that you’re going to love!

My Friend Brian VonEggers from the Wildhorse Plateau contacted me several months ago and asked me what I thought about doing a big gala event at the Plateau. My response was nothing but pure excitement.

For those of you who are familiar with the Plateau, you know that Brian and his staff have created a fantastic menu, brilliant wine list, and nothing short of incredible service that makes you want to keep coming back. For those of you who don’t know about Wildhorse Resort’s fine dining, all I can say is you are missing out.

A few weeks ago my cell phone rang as I was walking around Prosser’s Wine Village with friends. Brian wanted to know my opinion on a 9 course meal with famed winemakers Gilles Nicault of Long Shadows, and Marie-Eve Gilla from Forgeron Cellars. All I could think was “This is going to be incredible”.

I’ve written quite extensively about Forgeron wines in the past, however I honestly haven’t spent much time focused on the wines of Long Shadows. Why? Because they frankly aren’t easy to acquire. Long Shadows is a consortium of world class micro wineries developed by wine industry leader Allen Shoup. Each wine produced by Long Shadows is independently grown, pressed, and blended by a single winemaker of world renown.

Gilles Nicault is one of those renowned winemakers at Long Shadows. His wine, the Chester-Kidder Cabernet Sauvignon Blend, is consistently rated over 90 points by all of the industry wine magazines year after year.

Gilles and Marie-Eve are both passionate about wines, each, other, and about this region. The couple were classically trained at the University of Avignon, and worked in Cotes-du-Rhone and Champagne before moving to Washington to produce some of the world’s best wines.

The menu, based on the elements Earth, Wind, Air, and Fire will showcase artisan cheeses, fruits, vegetables, and meats grown locally. Here are just a few samplings from the menu that I received:

From the Earth Element comes a salad of Pea Shoots, Joe Daugherty Porcini Mushrooms, Locati Farms Asparagus, and raspberries, served with Long Shadows Poet’s Leap Riesling.

The Earth and Water Element is combined to create a soup make from Finely Farms Roasted Carrot Ginger, Caramelized Pearl Onion, Monteillett Fromagerie Cheve, served with Long Shadows Sequel Syrah.

The Water Element offers a seafood course of fruits of the sea carpaccio, deconstructed puttenesca, served with Forgeron Zinfandel.

The Air Element will be a poultry course of honey glazed squab, roasted corn risotto, tarragon peas, served with Forgeron Roussane.

The entrée course will combine the Earth and Fire elements with an apple wood grilled buffalo ribeye, rosemary root vegetables from Finely Farms, Double Demi, Shaved Pecorrino served with Long Shadows Chester Kidder Cabernet Sauvignon Blend.

As I mentioned, the meal is a total of nine courses, complete with perfected wine pairings. If you are interested in attending the event, I strongly suggest calling the Plateau right away for available seating at 541-966-1610 . The dinner will be held on Sunday June 6th, starting at 4 p.m..

I look forward to seeing you there!

When All Else Fails – Large Wineries That Make Good Every Time

The other day for lunch I headed to a busy little bistro in my neighborhood, but with my busy schedule and looming deadlines I decided to go to McDonalds for the first time in months. Looking across the street at Starbucks, I realized that I don’t frequent places like this often.

Actually, with the great options that we have in our area, I usually prefer to eat and get my coffee at local establishments. Being in an artistic business myself, I guess I have an affinity towards buying from other artisans. What chain food burger could compare to sitting down to a perfectly made sandwich at Farmer’s Kitchen in Hermiston? What single-tall latte from a coffee chain could ever compare to a handcrafted crema from Great Pacific in Pendleton? Of course, the answer is none.

However, even though I do tend to be a bit of a “foodie”, (a term I hate), I still have complete appreciation for the chain establishments as well. When you consider it, the one thing you are pretty much guaranteed is that a double tall caramel macchiato from the Starbucks in Pendleton tastes exactly like the one on Waikiki Beach. I know this because I’ve tried it. You can’t just go into any coffee shop in Indianapolis and expect the same thing you get at Great Pacific.

What I’m talking about here is the power of replication. Whereas you might be into artisan things, you can’t always find exactly what you want just anywhere. I have been all over, and when it comes to wine selection I have been horribly disappointed by the local options at times.

That is when you can fall back on the big wineries to perform. They are widely distributed everywhere wine is sold. Honestly, they aren’t ever going to Score 100 points from Robert Parker, but you can rely on them to always taste reasonably good in any setting.

Sterling Vintners Label - Located in Calistoga in the Napa Valley, Sterling Vineyards offers a full compliment of vintages from Riesling to Syrah in it’s Vintner’s label. Priced between the 10 to 15 dollar range, the wines are quite drinkable. Probably my favorite Sterling vintage to grab is their Chardonnay. Gently oaked, with a nice balance of fruit and butter on the palate and nose.

Columbia Crest Twin Vines Label – Of course, our own local option right here in our own back yard. The Twin Vines label is Columbia Crest’s least expensive, however it is ever consistently drinkable. My favorite Twin Vines grabs are their Sauvignon Blanc, and their Merlot-Cabernet blend. The Mer-Cab is very jammy and filled with warm fruit and baking spices. Surprisingly good year after year, and for under 10 dollars per bottle it is a must have for serving to large groups.

Clos Du Bois – A few months ago I did a complete write up on this winery, but I think it definitely deserves mention here. Their Merlot is spot on every time regardless of vintage year.

Gallo Sonoma Label - Last, I must mention a winery that turns up a lot of people’s noses, but they consistently produce delicious wine year after year. My favorite label of this brand is their Cabernet Sauvignon. A rich nose and flavors of dark plums, leather, and pepper. You can pair this with a steak or burger in any pinch. At under $15 per bottle it is guaranteed good.

Enjoy!