Last week I started to share about Tri-Cities vintners, Gordon Brothers Winery. As a late note I found out that the wines are now being distributed locally, and will showcased at a public tasting Friday night the 18th of December at Great Pacific in downtown Pendleton.
Jeff Gordon, owner of Gordon Brothers, will be on hand to showcase their wines beginning at 5 p.m.. As always, Ken and Carol will have their full menu, including their amazing gourmet pizzas available to compliment any wine you should decide to taste or purchase that evening. If you haven’t attended a tasting there, I suggest that you come down. I like to think of Friday evenings at Great Pacific as a community event.
Gordon Brothers winery, which is located on the north bank of the Snake River just east of Pasco, is a certified organic vineyard. The Gordons have gone to great lengths to create a beautiful micro AVA, with plenty of drainage, heat units, and adequate irrigation for producing world-class grapes. Their winemaker, Tim Henley, carefully crafts his wines using a mixture of both old-world methods, and the newest techniques available.
On a tour of the winery a few weeks ago I had the privilege of tasting through the Gordon’s portfolio, including barrel samples of upcoming vintages. Here are a few of the wines I found most notable on my visit.
2007 Sauvignon Blanc - I am thoroughly impressed with both the fruit and the treatment that Henley is using in this wine. The nose is very aromatic with lots of grapefruit, lime, and melon. The flavors are crisp and beautiful, with a very balanced combination of acidity and fruit. Pair this with creamy dishes, seafood, or on its own on a warm evening.
2008 Chardonnay – This wine, as well as the family’s reserve Chardonnay from the same vintage, shows a combination of skillful vineyard management and blending in the barrel room. Henley shows some of his best talents in these wines. A careful blend of stainless fermentation, mixed with the right amount of malolactic, as well as new and neutral oaks creates Chardonnay the way it should be. Aromas of pineapple, apple, melon, and buttery toffee fill the nose, followed by flavors of apples, baking spices, and a balanced finish make this one of my favorite Chardonnays on the market.
2007 Merlot - I firmly believe that Henley’s method of “drain and return” creates the method that allows the wide-open flavors in this wine to shine. Aromas of blackberries on the vine, cinnamon, and leather, followed by flavors of berries and stone fruit, with cocoa and baking spices on the finish.
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – This wine is blended with 4% Syrah, and 2% Merlot to create layers of flavors and aromas. Raspberries, cherries, and currants mix with notes of coffee on the nose and palate, followed by darker fruits and cinnamon. The finish is long, with silky tannins.
2005 Syrah – Blueberries, cherries, and peppercorn fill the senses, followed by flavors of leather and cedar to create a mouth filling experience. Beautiful tannins make this wine one to enjoy with a steak or lamb, or on its own with friends.
I will only briefly mention both the 2003 Tradition and the 2008 Ice Wine. Tradition is the family’s amazing red Bordeaux blend, and the Ice wine is a true Gewurztraminer Ice wine, carefully picked in the deep of winter. Both are beautiful works of vintner art. I would suggest purchasing both if you get the opportunity.
Enjoy!!
Showing posts with label Tim Henley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tim Henley. Show all posts
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Gordon Brothers Celebrates History and Heritage In Their Wines
On a recent visit to Gordon Brothers Winery, on the banks of the Snake River on the Pasco-Kahlotus highway in Southeastern Washington, I had the wonderful opportunity to get to know the family, the winemaker, and the wines better than I ever imagined.
I’ve known the Gordon Brothers owners, Jeff and Vicki, and their children for many years. I sit next to them in church on Sunday mornings. See them at local events. I’ve enjoyed a bottle of Gordon Brothers wine many, many times over the years. However, I had never really gotten to know the Gordons or their wines until a few weeks ago when I was invited to come out to the vineyards for a visit.
As I pulled into the driveway of the simple, but well kept facility I realized that this is not a tasting room for the daily tourist trade, and that I was entering a private winery as a special guest. Always the snoop, I realized quickly from the no-spray signs and other organic markers that I was sitting in a truly organic vineyard, which is rare for this region.
Stepping out of my car I was met with a firm handshake by the winemaker, Tim Henley as he and his staff were washing barrels to be filled. Henley comes to the Gordon Brothers via way of a few famous Central Coast and Napa California wineries including being enologist or assistant at Byron, Zaca Mesa, Pine Ridge, Luna, and Clos Pegase.
As we tasted through barrels and bottles one thing really stood out to me in Henley’s short tenure at the winery… is his genius at pulling flavors from different oak, different blocks, and different processes to create depth and balance from the first sniff, until the last tannin leaves your palate.
Over the next few articles I want to share with you what I tasted that day in the bottles from the Gordon Brothers vineyards, and where I think the family and their skilled winemaker are taking their wines in the next few years.
First, I thought I would start with the winery’s newest baby. Their second label called Kamiak. Kamiak is a two wine labeling including a white blend and a red blend. Named after the famous Yakima chief Kamiak, the family wanted to honor the Yakimas who began the initial irrigation of the Columbia Valley. It was also to honor the Gordon’s grandfather who founded Kamiak ranch in 1907, and gave the family their Eastern Washington farming roots.
The 2008 Kamiak Windust White is a nicely balanced white blend of 90% Sauvignon Blanc mixed with 10% Chardonnay. Henley’s work with both juices is very skillful, but blended this wine fills the nose with a mixture of apricots and baking spices. The flavor is nicely balanced between bright cherries, apples, and a mint, mineral, and delicious acidic finish. I would highly recommend this wine with seafood, white sauces, and salads.
The 2007 Kamiak Rock Lake Red is a blend of 4 different grapes. 44% Cabernet Sauvignon provides the base, with 26% Merlot, 25% Syrah, and 5% Malbec to finish the depth of the palate in this blend. The nose presents with pepper and dark fruits, opening to lush cherries, blackberries, and plums on the tongue. The finish is long, with soft tannins.
Next week I will share several other wines that build the Gordon Brothers portfolio. If you want to taste these wines they will be available in the region for the first time at a new release tasting at Great Pacific in Pendleton on December 18th starting at 5:00.
Enjoy!
I’ve known the Gordon Brothers owners, Jeff and Vicki, and their children for many years. I sit next to them in church on Sunday mornings. See them at local events. I’ve enjoyed a bottle of Gordon Brothers wine many, many times over the years. However, I had never really gotten to know the Gordons or their wines until a few weeks ago when I was invited to come out to the vineyards for a visit.
As I pulled into the driveway of the simple, but well kept facility I realized that this is not a tasting room for the daily tourist trade, and that I was entering a private winery as a special guest. Always the snoop, I realized quickly from the no-spray signs and other organic markers that I was sitting in a truly organic vineyard, which is rare for this region.
Stepping out of my car I was met with a firm handshake by the winemaker, Tim Henley as he and his staff were washing barrels to be filled. Henley comes to the Gordon Brothers via way of a few famous Central Coast and Napa California wineries including being enologist or assistant at Byron, Zaca Mesa, Pine Ridge, Luna, and Clos Pegase.
As we tasted through barrels and bottles one thing really stood out to me in Henley’s short tenure at the winery… is his genius at pulling flavors from different oak, different blocks, and different processes to create depth and balance from the first sniff, until the last tannin leaves your palate.
Over the next few articles I want to share with you what I tasted that day in the bottles from the Gordon Brothers vineyards, and where I think the family and their skilled winemaker are taking their wines in the next few years.
First, I thought I would start with the winery’s newest baby. Their second label called Kamiak. Kamiak is a two wine labeling including a white blend and a red blend. Named after the famous Yakima chief Kamiak, the family wanted to honor the Yakimas who began the initial irrigation of the Columbia Valley. It was also to honor the Gordon’s grandfather who founded Kamiak ranch in 1907, and gave the family their Eastern Washington farming roots.
The 2008 Kamiak Windust White is a nicely balanced white blend of 90% Sauvignon Blanc mixed with 10% Chardonnay. Henley’s work with both juices is very skillful, but blended this wine fills the nose with a mixture of apricots and baking spices. The flavor is nicely balanced between bright cherries, apples, and a mint, mineral, and delicious acidic finish. I would highly recommend this wine with seafood, white sauces, and salads.
The 2007 Kamiak Rock Lake Red is a blend of 4 different grapes. 44% Cabernet Sauvignon provides the base, with 26% Merlot, 25% Syrah, and 5% Malbec to finish the depth of the palate in this blend. The nose presents with pepper and dark fruits, opening to lush cherries, blackberries, and plums on the tongue. The finish is long, with soft tannins.
Next week I will share several other wines that build the Gordon Brothers portfolio. If you want to taste these wines they will be available in the region for the first time at a new release tasting at Great Pacific in Pendleton on December 18th starting at 5:00.
Enjoy!
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