Don't Overlook This Chardonnay




Landmark Overlook Chardonnay

  A few weeks ago when I was out of town I received a familiar looking package. This particular bottle came from a winery located at the Northern tip of Sonoma’s Highway 12.

Landmark Vineyards, in operation since 1974 has been one of the bright stars in the Sonoma wine culture. The winery initially started in Windsor, California, and was relocated in 1989 to a state-of-the-art facility at the base of Sugar Loaf Mountain to get away from the urban sprawl. The facility is built in a beautiful Spanish style, and offers gorgeous grounds to its visitors.

In 1993 world renowned enologist Helen Turley came to work with then winemaker Eric Stern. The winery quickly gained world acclaim and has seen the Wine Spectator top 100 many times since. Their flagship wine, the Overlook Chardonnay has graced the list seven times since 1997.

The current winemaker, Greg Statch, works closely with Eric Stern as the winemaker emeritus. Statch, who was originally a journalist went back to school to become a winemaker, graduating from Fresno state in 2001. His specialty is clearly Pinot Noir, and he has brought a great amount of acclaim to the winery for his skill with this tough grape. He also works as Pinot Master at nearby Kanzler Vineyards.

Together, the winemakers crush, ferment, and bottle approximately 20,000 cases of wine each year at the winery. The secret to their success is careful shopping for grapes throughout the California Coast. Their mantra is “Your wine is only as good as your vineyards”. Their vineyard sources include names like Heintz, Rodgers Creek, Flocchini, Sangiacomo, and Bien Nacido.

The grapes are harvested early in the morning and delivered to the crush pad for a process of whole cluster pressing. They then rack the juice into French Oak and allow indiginous yeasts to ferment the juice. The wine spends 8-10 months in oak. A second, malolactic, fermentation softens the wine afterwards. The wine is then blended from the various lots and a special portion is set aside to sit in barrels for an additional time of up to 13 months. This is the juice that is used to create their Overlook label Chardonnay.

I received the 2010 Overlook label wine in its burgundy style brown glass bottle. It has a look and heft of a quality bottle of wine. The wine poured from the glass with a beautiful fresh straw color. Soft fresh bread notes, lemon, vanilla, and peach fill the nose. The flavors are creamy with peaches and warm toast mixed with baking spices. The finish was very balanced. Clean and yet softly lingering.

I served this wine with a baked chicken dish that I make with cream, bread crumbs, and pickled cherries. The wine paired perfectly. I would serve it with any poultry dish.

The question people always have from this region when I write up a Californian wine is “where can I get it?”. My answer is that it is full distribution in many areas around the northwest. If all goes well it should be available in our area. You can also get the wine direct through the winery. Contact them at www.landmarkwine.com.

Enjoy!

Grocery Outlet Ticks Me Off

Chateau Larkan 2010 with a steaming dish of Cioppino

I have this strong policy about writing anything bad about anyone.  But today I'm feeling like I need to bend my rule a little bit. 

Grocery Outlet, a company that I have written several columns on over the past 3 years is giving me the cold shoulder.  Apparently they don't think that I have the pull.  My readership stats are quite substantial, and by and large my readers like it when I write about Grocery Outlet wines.  There have been over 1000 reads on my various past GO writeups in the last month alone. 

They reached out to me initially and asked me to write for them.  The only compensation was that they would supply the bottles for the tasting.  I could say anything that I wanted.  With my policy in place, if I tasted a crappy wine there I just didn't write about it.  It was a good relationship, or so I thought.  There have been some ownership changes at my local store, and the company representatives claim that they are looking at their "blogger relationships". 

This is where you come in.  I need you to do a couple of things for me to prove my worth.  If you don't do these things then it will simply prove me wrong and that's ok too. 

First, I tasted a bottle of 2010 Chateau Larkan Bordeaux that I purchased from there last week.  Initially it opened in the bottle with a little sulfite and oxydation, but once I gave it some air and swirrled it in the glass a little the wine opened up beautifully.  This French Bordeaux from Gironde is a beautiful soft red.  It offers up soft cherry and chantrelle notes on the nose, with a fruit forward mid palate and a very nicely balanced finish.  At $5.99 this bottle was a steal of a deal so I went back and bought a case for myself.  The Kennewick store has five or six more cases available as of yesterday.  I suggest getting down there and buying as much as you can.  Go ahead and empty the shelves. 

Along with that, the owners of the Kennewick store, Aaron and Lisseth, are holding a wine tasting on February 16th from 5p.m.-7p.m..  The tasting is free and offers four whites and four reds.  My ask is that you attend, drink their wines, and buy some while it is an additional 10% off.  While you're there make sure you tell them that I sent you and that you want them to put my notes back in their store.  You can also email them at kennewick@groceryoutlet.com and let them know that you enjoyed my wine notes in their store.  

Thanks, and Enjoy!!  

What Is It About Red Wine And Chocolate?



Bittersweet and SemiSweet Chocolate
with yummy Jack Syrah from Saviah



I was looking back on my old articles and noticed that over the years I have written three articles on “Red Wine & Chocolate”. The funny thing was that when I wrote those articles, each time I was talking about events and not about the actual reason behind why we eat chocolate with red wines.

Actually, I hadn’t really thought about it quite frankly. Everyone always just eats chocolate with red wine. There are always the big events that happen around Valentines season. But, those are just a marketing gimmick to get you into a tasting room somewhere and buy some wine from a starving winemaker.

My question goes a lot deeper. What makes red wine and chocolate so tasty? Why do we even go so far as to manufacture and drink wines that are chocolate? (Personally, I think the whole chocolate wine thing is nasty, but there are people who buy and drink a lot of the stuff.) Also, for those of us who have failed at this, what is a good pairing verses a bad pairing.

Part of understanding of paring wine with chocolate has to do with the astringency and strength of both the wine and the food. Some dark chocolates can be very bitter and astringent to taste. On the other hand, some chocolates can be creamy and smooth, such as Swiss milk chocolate. Some chocolate is sweet, and other is relatively bitter. Some is fatty, and other types can be quite dry.

Likewise, there are wines that are also astringent, sweet, bitter, acidic, and fruity depending on the varietal and blend. In doing my research for this article, (no cocoa beans were killed in the making of this column), I found several charts that explained this methodology in detail. The best chart that I found online was written by Karen Hochman in an article on thenibble.com .

Hochman carefully explains different kinds of chocolate and the esters found in that particular kind. She then explains how that pairs with different wines based on their own makeup. For example, Hochman explains that bittersweet chocolate has features of roasted, ashy, woodsy, and nutty notes. This is chocolate that is in the 70% to 100% cacao range. Because of the strong flavors found in this type of chocolate there is a demand for stronger red wines. Dark red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Zinfandel, and Merlot tend to pair better with this type of chocolate.

Semisweet Chocolate has a tendency to pair very well with the same dark red wines as the bittersweet types. Ports and Zinfandels bring out the spices of the chocolate. Bordeaux varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot tend to bring out the nutty and fruit notes of chocolate.

Milk Chocolate is a much sweeter, and higher sugar content type of chocolate. Because of the milk content you will taste more vanilla, brown sugar, and other creamy-caramel flavors. This type of chocolate does not pair with dark wines. Try pairing these with Muscats and Ice Wines. You can also pair milk chocolate with very mature Tawny Ports.

For more in depth pairings I suggest going to Karen’s article at thenibble.com . It is very well written, and a great resource.

Enjoy!

Add Market Vineyards To Your Portfolio



Market Vineyards Merlot



Back in 2008 three executives from Wadell and Reed financial were sitting in the dining room of Hotel Beijing overlooking the forbidden city. They were beyond talking about their day jobs, and were ready to talk about something that they all loved dearly. Wine. Not just any wine, but really really good Bordeaux styles wines.

Matt Reisenweber, Daniel Schulte, and Steve Anderson formed Market Vineyards in their minds that night, and soon added Bob Bertsch to their dream. With two of the partners being right here in the Tri-Cities region they were sold on making sure that the wine was sourced and made here. They looked high and low for just the right winemaker, and decided that the only man for the job was Charlie Hoppes from Richland, Washington.

If you haven’t heard about Charlie Hoppes, and his fantastic wines you are obviously not into wine. Charlie either currently makes, or has made wines for just about every top winery in this region. He is quite possibly the Godfather of Washington wine. His reputation and accolades are miles long.

This week I had the opportunity to visit my friend, and Market Vineyards salesperson Erin Sagadin at the Richland tasting room. I’ve known and worked with Erin and her husband Christopher for many years and it was great getting to taste through the wines and get to catch up with her.

Market Vineyards wines are all given financial names in accord with the partner’s background. The first that I tasted was their 2010 Liquidity. The wine is a 50/50 blend of Viognier and Roussanne that was sourced from Gamache Vineyards. Liquidity offers a light gardenia and pear on the nose and palate with a long acidic finish. Serve with anything creamy or buttery.

The 2007 Benchmark is the winery’s first Merlot. It is 100% Merlot sourced from Stillwater, Weinbau, and Conner-Lee. This wine has fantastic dark stone fruit, and a wonderful velvet texture that finished for me like buttermilk.



Erin Sagadin serving customers in the tasting room.



Market Vineyards 2008 Benchmark is sourced at Stillwater Creek and Conner-Lee. This wine is extra large with tons of deep complexity. I loved the baking spices mixed with the dark berries that make this wine go boom.

Basis Points is the name of the winery’s blend. The 2008 is 58% Cab Sauv, 17% Merlot, 17% Cab Franc, and 8% Malbec. Once again sourced from some of Washington’s greatest vineyards. This wine shows a nose of black pepper and mineral, opening to black cherry and currant, moving on to spice box, and finishing with berry pie notes. Very long and complex with soft tannins.

The 2008 Arbitrage is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is sourced from Gamache, Stillwater Creek, and Red Mountain. This wine hits all of my flavor profile and is one that I could drink all night. Full of fruit, spices, and delicate tannin.

Last, I tasted the 2008 Acquisition. This is Market Vineyard’s member’s only wine. Sourced of 100% Red Mountain fruit, this wine offers tons of dark fruit, earthy notes, and spicy complexity. Absolutely fabulous!

Located in Queensgate Villiage in Richland, the winery is open late on weekends and nights when they offer music, so make this one your last stop. You can also pick it up where fine wines are sold throughout the region.

Enjoy!

A Single’s Guide to Pairing Wine With Your Date

Thanks to my gorgeous friend Suzanne for coming up with the question for this week’s column. Suzanne, being a sexy single girl, suggested some dating situations in which a good wine is definitely needed. Being a loving and caring friend, who hasn’t even thought of dating in 25 years, I figured I would be the perfect person to give awesome advice!

The Endless Talker: Suzanne explained this person as “the guy who has already talked about his two exes and is now on to the rebound girlfriend and the night is still young”. My suggestion to this is a good Prosecco. Prosecco is light and bubbly, gently sweet with a lightly acidic finish. The reason why you want this wine is because you can consume a lot of it over a pretty long period of time without too many bad effects. You’re going to need it to calm your nerves and give you something to smile about.

The Inquisitor: My friend explained this as the guy “who is good at firing off questions, but not good at listening to the answers. He spends a lot of time looking under the table at his phone because he’s holding a full-on text conversation with someone else”. My thought is hopefully he’s paying for dinner. If so, order something really expensive. A really high end Cabernet Sauvignon or red blend that hits all the notes. Ask your server if they have any “library wines”. If he doesn’t remember another thing about your date, he’ll at least remember the bar bill!

The Silent Type:  Suzanne explained this as the person who “gives monosyllabic answers and grunts as you try to hold a conversation”. What you really need here is a truth serum, but in the wine world the only thing that really cuts a guy, or gal loose is a little extra ethanol. You can either go high class, such as a nice Tawny Port such as Graham’s, or you can take him down to the tracks with a bottle of Night Train. The magic word here is “fortified”. Either way, his lips will be looser.

The Groper:  What to have, or not have if your body parts seem to keep getting in the way of his hands. What do you want? I suggest keeping your options open here. You might want to go with something like a good Mead. After all, Mead is considered by many to be an aphrodisiac. If you want to go the other way I suggest just hitting him with the bottle on the side of the head.

The Inhaler:  Suzanne explained this as when you “just get your main course and you look up to find his plate totally empty”. Ok, I resemble that remark. Suzanne and I haven’t even seen each other since the 7th grade and she still talks about my eating habits. Ugh!!

This is my friend Suzanne, who helped me with this column!

The Dream Date: Suzanne says this is the date where you don’t want to forget a single minute, and you don’t want to wake up. I say, awwww! That is so cute! The trick to ordering a wine in this situation is to pick a wine that you really really love. The thing is, wine affects our olfactory senses as well as our taste senses. These are the two senses that are most critically tied to our memory. When you smell or taste something it often reminds you of a past event or place. I would personally go with a great Pinot Noir. There are several, but many of my favorites are from the Salem, Oregon area. Erath, Eola Hills, Firesteed, and Sineann are among my favorites.

My best to all of you lonely hearts out there. Enjoy!

A Different Type of Fruit Winery

This week I was down in New Orleans at a conference. Yes, I did take in all of what is N’walins! If you haven’t been there, then you are missing out on one of the true cultural stewpots that this country has to offer.

Among all the places that I adventured, I took in the Riverwalk Mall next to the convention center downtown to see if I could find some nice souveniers for my wife and kids. Little did I know that I would find a winery right there in the mall.

Sho Nuff! In the Riverwalk Mall there is a wine tasting room for the NOLA Tropical Winery. I just knew in my heart this wine was going to be nasty. But, like a train wreck, I just had to see what this was all about.

As the story goes, the owners, from Mandeville, Louisiana, were on a trip to St. Petersburg when they happened onto the Florida Orange Groves and Winery. They were very taken by the wines made there, and entered into an agreement to have their own wines made by the Florida staff.

The friendly manager, Carrie, met me in the brightly lit and colorful winery. I’m not a fan of sticky sweet and cloying fruit wines. There seems to be so many “panty droppers” (as we call them in the alcohol industry). So I was extra surprise when several of the wines that I tried were either bone dry or semi dry.

The first wine that I really enjoyed was the Orange Sunshine. It is a little off dry with approximately 1% sugar. Lots of fantastic orange flavor that I likened to the soft creamy flavor from inside the orange peel. The wine’s floral and citrus nose was fun to just smell.
When Carrie broke out the Key Limen I was in love. I am a huge key lime fan. I could live on key lime pie if my arteries could hold up. The flavors and nose were soft and citrusy, very dry, and with just enough acid that it finished beautifully.

Another wine that stood out was the Dry Blueberry. It has a lot of the same characteristics of Pinot Noir that has been fermented and stored in steel. Lots of flavors of dried blueberries. Smoky, and rich with flavor.
NOLA’s Black Gold comes in a dry and semi sweet version. I went for the dry. Dark and rich, with blackberry flavors, this wine has all the flavors of a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Other wines that I enjoyed were the Cherry, make with Montmorency style cherries, the King Kiwi, which was just like eating kiwi with your breakfast, and last but certainly not least, the Black and Blue Port. Fantastic!
For those who are hardcore grape drinkers, the winery has developed some traditional red and white wines. The Roux St. Louis is a very nice white blend, and the Dah Red is a very nice blend of Napa Syrah and Cabernet grapes that were shipped in to make a real wine drinker’s wine.
If you are ever in N’walins, for whatever reason, I suggest you go check out the NOLA Tropical Winery. I also suggest going down to WINO, the Wine Institute of New Orleans, just a few blocks away, where you can enjoy these, as well as wines from around the world. Oh, and you can carry your solo cup of wine down the road with you in that town!

Of course, if you can't make it to New Orleans any time soon you can find the winery at http://www.nolafruitwines.com/.  They ship wine all over the country, as long as you live in a state where you can have wine shipped to you. 
Enjoy!

This Year I become the Real “One Rich Wine Guy”

Believe it or not I’ve been writing this column since 2008. I know. A little scary to me too. Hard to believe you’ve been reading my dribble now for that long.
It is kind of surreal to me, being a kind, mild mannered professional photographer most of the week, and then...Kazoweee!!...on Thursday nights... I become One Rich Wine Guy. I strip into my latex speedo and little black rubber cape, grab a glass of wine, and sit in front of my computer for an hour composing something so great that you will hopefully read it come Saturday morning.
What started out in March of 2008 in a meeting with the powers to be at the East Oregonian has now become my complete alter ego. Sometimes I don’t know where one personality starts and the other ends. All I know is that the part of me that is One Rich Wine Guy is ready for world domination Bwah... Ha... Ha... Ha!!
Ahem. Now, on to what I think has become my goal for 2012. I hear from many of you, my faithful followers, that you want to be able to get inside my brain and find out more about what I like, where I’ll be, and where all the really good insider deals on wine are here in our area. Some of you have even asked me to host a really big wine garage sale somewhere. (The problem with the garage sale idea is that it is a licensing nightmare. But with my speedo and cape on I’m sure I can do anything.)
I’m open to these ideas, and many more. However, I need your input like never before. I need to know what you really want of me, your faithful servant. Do you want me to continue things as they are? Do you want the East Oregonian to double or triple my wages? This could all be done with your direction.
My ask is that you tell me what you want of me in 2012. What would you like to see more of? What would you like to see less of? Would you like hints on where the good wine buys are at? These are things I need to know in order to serve you with this column better.
The following are ideas that people have given to me so far in 2012:

1. A phone app for finding good wine deals in the region.

2. More wine note kiosks in grocery stores and wine shops to ensure that you find the wines I’ve enjoyed.

3. Gigantic wine sales (all done within the comfortable arms of the law).

4. Wine cruises or trips with the One Rich Wine Guy and his beautiful wife. (The opportunity to have your name included in my upcoming book would surely go along with this one.)

5. Or, simply, more columns on how to be a wine slob like me.
There are many ways to let me know what you want from my column this year. You can email me at photos999@charter.net. You can reply to my blog at www.onerichwineguy.com. Or, you can call the East Oregonian, which will likely get me fired or get my salary reduced.
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Enjoy!