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!

Some Of The Best Wines Start In A Garage

About a year ago I was talking with an employee at one of the area grocery stores about wine. She asked for my card and whether her friend could call me about his wines. She said it was a hobby of his and he was looking for an opinion about his wines. Out of curiosity I agreed to have him contact me.

My thoughts were that I’d meet this hippie who was fermenting a few gallons of juice each year and creating nastiness to give friends at the holidays.

When Sam Regev called me I became even more curious. First, his very thick Israeli accent hit me like a brick. Next, through the accent I realized that this highly trained chemist has been growing a few acres of grapes outside Richland for a few years. Not your normal Merlot and Cabernet varietals either. We’re talking Primitivo, Dolcetto, Amarone, and several other strains you don’t normally hear of from this region.

Meeting Sam at his house I realized that this truly was going to be an experience. His house is filled with beautiful racks of wine bottles lying on their sides, aging wines to perfection.

Regev’s story goes like this. He moved to this country to attend school at UC Davis for Chemistry back in the 1970s. He has worked at inventing additives for the petroleum industry and as a nuclear chemist his whole professional career. But, having studied at Davis brought him in contact with the wine bug that was emanating from that school back in those days.

Regev caught the bug and made it his hobby for many years. His wife calls herself a “wine widow” for all the time he spends out in the vineyards, and buried in his wine barrels.

As I mentioned, a year ago was when I met Sam. His problem, quite frankly, wasn’t his wine. His problem was that he couldn’t get rid of it. He was a hobbyist. Not able to sell all the wines he has been making.

With that, I directed the Regevs to get a bonded winery license, and to start working their way to a marketing plan. I put Sam in touch with a few people along the way and was pleasantly surprised when he contacted me a few weeks ago telling me that he was now licensed and ready to sell his label “Chateau Le Garage”.

I met Sam again this past week, and tasted through some of his newest vintages. Currently his wines are only available at Albertsons in South Richland, however he is in discussion with several wine shops in the region. My hopes are that he will be selling at Bellingers and Great Pacific soon.

Here are a few notes I gathered from last weekend’s tasting. If these wines interest you I suggest contacting Sam at samregev@yahoo.com.

Chateau Le Garage 2008 Primitivo - Fresh squeezed prune juice right out of the field, mixed with tobacco, cardamom, and a nice tannin to acid balance makes a wonderful finish. This is what Primitivo is supposed to taste like.

Chateau Le Garage 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon - Rich, dark plum and berries, with a soft tanned leather in the background. This wine is perfect for a T-bone steak on the grill, or just sitting on the deck.

Chateau Le Garage 2008 Shir Raz - Dark berries and fruit on the nose and palate, with dark cocoa overtones.

Enjoy!

Italian Wines Are Great For Summer Grilling

This is the time of year that I personally really love to grill. It keeps the house cool, and the food just tastes so good. When it’s really hot you really can’t beat an ice cold beer with your meat, but when it starts to cool off a little there is nothing better than a bottle of dark red wine to go with a rib steak.

Normally, most people in this region go for a big Cab or a nice Merlot. If you’ve got some knowledge of your wines you might even reach for a bottle of Zinfandel to go with your saucy ribs. Those are great choices, but I’m all about stretching out and trying different things.

Looking to the other side of the world, I know that there are other parts of the world that deal with hot summers just like they do. Italy is one country that offers some amazing food friendly wines worth having with your grilled beef.

This week I tried a few different red wines from around the country. Here are some of my favorite samplings from this week.

From the Abruzzo region I found a bottle of Caldora Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2009. Abruzzo is located along the Adriatic coast where mostly Trebbiano and Montepulciano grapes are grown. I love Multepulciano personally because of it’s dark jammy qualities.

The Caldora is a dark ruby to purple in the bottle with a strong scent of prune orchard and vanilla. The finish is nicely balanced between tannin and acid. I love to grill spicy Italian sausages with onions and peppers. I load them on a big hoagie roll with Provelone cheese. The Caldora was a fantastic pairing! I would also try it with pulled pork or ribs.

Earlier I mentioned one of my favorite wines, Zinfandel. In the Italian countryside you can often find its Great Grandfather, Primitivo. The Primitivo grape is indigenous to many areas in the country, however one of the regions that has a strong holding on the vines is in Puglia. In the “heel of the boot”, is the Puglia region. Known for intense heat, it is a great region for this grape to produce it’s best juice.

Feudi Di San Marzano 2010 Primitivo is a wine that you can find fairly readily at wine shops. It has a relatively low cost at around $12 per bottle.

The story behind Feudi is that it was a government owned winery for many decades. In 2003 the winery was purchased by the Sciotti company. They have turned a wreck of a facility into one of the highest producing wineries in the country.

The Feudi Primitivo is deep, dark reddish purple. Both bright red fruits, some dark fruit, and baking spices make this wine one of my grilling favorites. Enjoy with saucy ribs or a spicy steak off the grill.

Last, you can enjoy a nice Chianti Classico. The one I opened this week was from San Leonino, a winery located deep in the heart of Tuscany. The San Leonino 2007 is made from 90% Sangiovese, 5% Syrah, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Like most Chiantis it is bright ruby in the glass, with a bright red cherry and raspberry flavor and nose. Nice and spicy on the mouth with a brightly tannic finish. Great with red sauces for sure. It went well with my burgers this week.

I hope you enjoy these wines with your end of summer meals this year!

Enjoy!