Annual Northwest Best of 2011 Wine Review

Ok. So, this is the one article that tends to bring me more hate mail than any other diddy of the year. I know it’s crazy, but I look forward to this annual event. One of my friends on Facebook has nicknamed me “firestarter” because something in me craves abuse. If anything starts that fire, it would be what I’m about to write.

This is my one article of the year, where I review my wine notes for the previous 12 months and give you my opinion on what my favorites were. These opinions are not the opinions of the Eastern Oregonian or any of it’s staff. It isn’t the opinion of my family. It isn’t the opinion of blogger.com that hosts my blog. The following opinions are mine alone.

Best Chardonnay: I’ve had some doozies this year. Some made me think I was in heaven. Some made me want to puke. The best one I had was one I found on a trip to Portland with my wife. We stopped in a few different little wineries in Hood River on the way home and found Phelps Creek Winery. Their Reserve Chardonnay (I believe it was the 2009 but I can’t find that in my notes). The crispness on the front of the palate, nice acidity, and wonderful butterscotch overtones was fantastic!
Best Red Blend: Once again, this was all over the board. I would have to say that my favorite red blend this year goes to Davenlore for their Recovery Red. You would think that a bottle with a Grolsch style refillable bottle, and low priced to boot, would be bad. But, I had this wine many times this year and was never disapointed.

Most Unique Red Varietal: I’ve gotten some pretty wild stuff sent to me this year, but I had some local Primitivo that was outstanding this summer. My favorite was Coyote Canyon’s Primitivo. Deep, ruby color and rich with plum, cherry, and spices.

Best Malbec: So, I can’t help it. Malbec is my favorite grape of all. The best Malbec that I had this year came from Hamilton Cellars. Charlie Hoppes, who is the winemaker for Hamilton was forced by Stacy the owner of the winery to make this stuff. Thanks Stacy for beating it out of him. I love it!!

Best Riesling: Rich Funk from Saviah created his Jack Riesling this year for the first time an it hit the market by storm. I finally got my hands on a bottle this fall and fell in love. OMG!

Best Cabernet Sauvignon: This is usually where I tick off the purists. Once again, I’ve had a lot of Cab this year, and this is was a very tough choice. I have to say that my bottle of ‘07 Cooper Walla Walla Cab was the best of the year. If you didn’t get any, I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to prove me wrong.

Best Pinot Noir: At the end of the year I received as a gift a bottle of Swiftwater Cellars 2009 Willamette Pinot Noir. The Watts family has spared no expense in making this hard-to-get wine. Beautiful fruit backed up by layer after layer of spices makes this bottle truly one of the best. My hat is off to winemaker Tony Rynders.

Once again, these are the best that I tasted. I’m sure you have your own opinion. Please let me know at www.onerichwineguy.com.

Cheers!

Yummy Easter Wine Pairings

Happy Easter!! I have to say that this is probably one of my most favorite religious holidays of the year. I think it is because the days are noticeably longer, and usually, this year excluded, the world is a little warmer. It is possibly also because we get to eat!

After surviving the last few weeks of fasting, sackcloth, and ashes I am ready to get my feast on. Ham, lamb, prime rib, deviled eggs, lime Jello with fruit cocktail in it, and all the rich dark chocolate that I can possibly inhale. All those wonderful Easter foods make my mouth just water. Many are foods that the majority of us eat only once a year. This makes a terrible quandary as to what wine to pair with them.

The Easter Ham - Yes, thanks to Jesus we can eat Ham! After all, it isn’t what we put into our mouths, but what comes out of them that makes us saints or sinners. The natural pairing for ham is Merlot. Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot is a hands down favorite for this region. It has considerable fruit on the front of the palate, with mid tones of cocoa and anise, and a velvety finish.

If you are wanting to try something a little more on the edge with your ham I suggest a Pinot Noir. I suggest the Eola Hills Pinot Noir. It offers nice cherry and raspberry on the front, with a slight earthiness, and beautiful finish.

Leg of Lamb – The perfect food to celebrate the resurrection of the sacrificial lamb. Many families pull this meat out only once a year and ruin it with lack of knowledge. If you want to know how to cook lamb you need to take a lesson from Mario at Mario’s Basque Barbeque and marinate and spice the meat. Actually, forget the lesson, just have Mario cook it for you!

Many people love to pair with Merlot. Columbia Crest’s HH Merlot is great for this. I also suggest going for something a little larger such as a bottle of Merlot from my friends at Forgeron. This wine is full of fruit and spice that blends so well with the richness of the meat.

I really prefer a spicier wine to pair with Lamb myself. I would really suggest a delicious Temperanillo, or Sangiovese. There are several locals available on the shelves. Maryhill Sangiovese is a local favorite, with lots of great fruit and spices that pair themselves nicely with lamb.

Prime Rib – This is always the great celebratory meat for this region. I’m sure Jesus would have loved smoked Prime Rib. Of course, the natural pairing for beef is Cabernet Sauvignon. Once again, many great local Cabs are available in our area. From Red Mountain I suggest the Cooper Hightower vineyard. This wine is large but beautiful with cherry and minerality that pairs oh so nicely with the meat.

Egg Dishes – You can’t really have Easter without eating deviled eggs, scrambled eggs, or some other egg dish. Eggs are symbolic of Easter, and I’m sure you aren’t a good Christian unless you eat an egg that day (I’m joking).

My personal love for pairing eggs with wine is Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Chenin Blanc. Deviled eggs require a lot of citrus and acidity to pair correctly. My local favorite is Gordon Brothers. I’ll be drinking a lot of that on Sunday.

Jello, and Chocolate Easter Candy – No I’m not going to pair wine with Jello. As for the chocolate, do what feels and tastes good!

Enjoy!

Local Boy Makes Good

It happens every day that someone from small town America pulls it off and really does make it into the spotlight. What really makes it special is when that person is someone that you know personally, and maybe even hung out with in high school.

Neil Cooper is just one of those people. Coming from the grass seed fields around Stanfield, Oregon, Cooper is just one of those fun-loving guys that you’d expect to see fueling up at the Pilot Station any summer afternoon.

Now switch scenes with me, and imagine a simple but upscale wine tasting room and barrel storage facility on the gateway of Sunset Road on Red Mountain. Just outside of Benton City, Washington. The virtual cornerstone of the Washington wine industry, with grapes from the vineyards around the winery drawing some of the most prestigious recognition possible.

As of last Saturday, the 11th of September, Neil Cooper now has firm hold of that cornerstone property, and has launched his brand of Cooper Wine Company wines. Located in a completely renovated facility that was once Seth Ryan Winery, Cooper has definitely done it right.

With help from Charlie Hoppes and staff from Fidelitas, Neil was able to build the winery basically from scratch. He has spent the last few years buying barrels, tanks, and equipment, not to mention juice, to get his winery off the ground with resounding success.

So, enough about the facilities and the land. How about the wines? Well, I can tell you that I tasted through all of them, and will share with you a few of my favorites.

Cooper offers two whites. A Pinot Gris, and a Chardonnay. The 2008 Pinot Gris has a nose that offers up light floral accents of orange flowers and mineral. The flavors are a nice blend of floral and citrus, with a clean finish. Perfect for evenings on the porch.

The 2008 Chardonnay is beautifully advanced. Butter and citrus on the nose leads to wonderful caramel cream flavors from the perfect malolactic fermentation.

Neil’s focus is on Bordeaux wines so it only makes sense that his first wine L’inizio (the beginning) is a wonderful Bordeaux blend. The wine wakes up your nose with hints of black pepper and spice box, leading to flavors of oak, vanilla, dark stone fruit. The finish is silky smooth.

Cooper’s lineup of Cabernet Sauvignons is amazing. To taste through them is not only fun, but educational as well. He has 2007 vintages from Walla Walla, Red Mountain, and Columbia Valley. Each one having its own flavor characteristics and strengths.

Because my palate tends to lean towards jammy flavors with vanilla accents, I found myself at the Grand Opening really leaning toward the 2007 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose starts off with dark berries and jam, with slight undertones of spice and mocha. The flavors are rich with berries and vanilla, with a long silky finish.

If you have the chance to break away to Red Mountain I know that Neil would love to see you. The winery is located at 35306 North Sunset Road in Benton City. Maybe you can catch up on old times and enjoy a bottle. If you can’t make it up to the winery I suggest you get onto his wine club at www.cooperwinecompany.com .

Enjoy!