Red White and Wine Gala March 10th

This week is all about shameless promotion and a chance to party with the stars! I want you to come to an event with me next Saturday night, March 10th for the 2nd Annual Red White and Wine Gala. This year’s event will be held at Terra Blanca Winery on Red Mountain, just outside Benton City Washington. Consider this my personal invitation!

So, what is the event all about? It is an event that was created two years ago by my friends Chef Jesse and Susanne Ayala at Tuscany Grill in Prosser. They have been working very hard to help the poor and needy in the region, and have taken on the monumental task of feeding many of the poor during holidays, not to mention many regular days of the year.

The Ayalas have built a wonderful annual event to help fund this program. The Red White and Wine Gala is an all out “Red Carpet” event featuring a six course dinner prepared by Chef Jess, and paired with wines from Terra Blanca, Martinez and Martinez, Mercer, Desert Wind, Airfield Estates, Coyote Canyon, and Gamache Winery. There will also be beer by Horse Heaven Hills Brewery.

The menu for the event includes Dungeness Crab and Artichoke Cockail, Baked Brie with Washington Fruit, Antipasto Skewers. And that’s all before you sit down to dinner!

The seated portion of the meal will offer butter lettuce, squash shooters, Swai with Laguistino, and Tenderloins with mushrooms and Gorgonzola. Desert will feature a Dark Chocolate Creme Brule with cherries.

As a very special course there will be three more wines and pairings for people who wish to purchase VIP tickets to the event. These will offer a chance to meet and visit with Keith Pilgrim, the owner and winemaker of Terra Blanca. Keith is a fantastic guy, and if you haven’t had a chance to spend time with him I recommend it.

The cost of this event is fantastically low! Seats are available for $75 each. VIP tickets are $100. For a table of eight, the cost is $525, with VIP eight tops for $700. I know that we are taking an entourage to the event ourselves. I recommend that you bring your buddies too.

Music by the amazing Eddie Manzanares and Cafe Blanco will keep you dancing into the night, and a silent auction with several bottles of wine, including some pretty nice magnums will occur during the event as well.

Oh, and did I mention red carpet? Part of my contribution to this great event this year is that I will be taking pictures of everyone as they enter the event on the red carpet Oscars style! That’s worth the price of admission alone! Just imagine having your picture taken by the amazing Onerichwineguy. Pictures will be available for no additional cost for download from my business website after the event, or you can purchase prints and the proceeds will go to support the event.

Let me ask you this. When was the last time you got really dressed up, went out for a fantastic dinner and dancing, and just had an absolute blast? If it has been a while I really do want to see you at the Red White and Wine Gala! Call Susanne at 509-205-9466 to get your tickets to this great annual event.

See you there!

What Drives Your Desire?

I was meeting with my friends Sara, Kevin, and Theresa at Sara Nelson Design yesterday when a great question came up having to do with people purchasing wine off of the internet.

Sara Nelson Design is one of the most cutting edge wine industry designers in the Northwest. They do work for several area vintners, as well as vintners from as far away as New York. Their work on branding, logo and label design, websites, and your social networking persona is fantastic. I’ve had the pleasure to be able to do some really fun work with them over the past few years.

So, getting back to a global version of yesterday’s question: What makes you want to taste and buy a bottle of anyone’s wine?

I’ve found that wine is both a commodity as well as a piece of art. Because of this it is actually a very tricky product. There are reams of paper written on this, and entire courses and degrees available on it from prestigious universities both in the U.S. and abroad.

The first thing that makes you want to drink any vintner’s wine is the winemaker, or the owner’s, personality. A perfect example of this is Charles Smith of K Vintners Fame. Charles’ personality is huge and luckily enough his wines follow that level of persona. Other winemakers such Mike at Coyote Canyon Wines in the Horse Heaven Hills are just so personable and kind. When you drink these wines you feel like you’re part of the family.

The key ingredient to personality driven wine choices are tasting events, tasting room visits, and winemaker dinners. This can carry over into twitter and facebook, but that is just an extension.

Second, the wine gives you a good memory. I have very fond memories of my younger years surrounding Ste. Chapelle winery. I’d buy the Riesling just for that alone.

A third reason to drink a wine is that it looks like something you want to drink. I get at least one or two bottles each week in my studio that I wouldn’t try if I didn’t do this article, and then I get many more that I really want to crack open.

A great example of this was a bottle that I tried this week of a wine with a bright blue stopper and label. The whole bottle was frankly, ugly. Unfortunately/fortunately the wine inside was quite approachable, but I wouldn’t have purchased it otherwise.

Taken to the next step, attractiveness is especially important on the website or store shelf. I can’t tell you the number of really good winemakers who make the mistake of not getting GOOD bottle images. If the wine looks crappy then you will assume that it probably is and not buy it. A website and point of sale materials such as tasting notes that are attractive makes you the consumer really want that $30 bottle over the Three Buck Chuck.

Last, and pretty much the least is the actual taste of the wine. Believe it or not, most people don’t know what a good wine is. I can’t tell you the number of people that tell me wines that I know are hideous are their favorites. One winemaker I know must purposefully intend on making vinegar, but he has a huge following of admiring fans because he does everything else above pretty well.

So, the next time you purchase a bottle of wine, think about what makes you want to make that purchase.

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!