Juice - The latest on Washington Wine Country
Perfectly Balanced

November 2005

This e-zine has been designed to inform readers of news, facts, events and updates from Washington's wine country. We welcome your ideas, comments, questions and submissions. Please e-mail them to us at info@winecountrywashington.org. Thank you for reading!

In This Issue:

A note from the Editor

As we enter the holiday season, I am once again reminded of the magic that is transpiring in Washington's wine country. Picture this . . . crush is coming to an end. Most of the grapes have been processed and are now bubbling and fermenting in large steel tanks. By mid-late November, the 2005 "juice" will be put into large oak barrels. What now you may be wondering? In December, many of the wineries begin "racking" their 2004 wines. This means that just as they are putting the 2005 wines to rest, they are awakening the 2004 varietals. It is at this point that winemakers begin tasting through the wines, cleaning the barrels and making decisions. They decide upon issues such as which wines will work nicely together for blending or which wines will need a little more time.

I stand in wonder at the art of this process and to me it is just as magical as the holiday season itself. Read on to learn of some amazing wine country finds that will add a touch of sparkle to your holiday entertaining. We at Washington Wine Country wish you and yours a Thanksgiving and Christmas full of friends, family, good cheer and great wine!

Salut!
Jackie Walsh
Communications Director
Washington Wine Country
jwalsh@winecountrywashington.org

Add Sparkle to the Holidays . . . with Treasures from Wine Country

Why not add some sparkle to your holiday season with some unique wine country finds? Throughout my many travels to Washington's wine country, I've come across many hidden treasures. I've grown quite fond of many of my tasting room finds and thought I would share them with all of you. Here are a few things that can turn your tables into shimmering delights, your parties into festivals and your meals into feasts.

While on a visit to Barnard Griffin Winery in Richland, my colleague and I came across an amazing selection of sea salts. I bought a beautiful cranberry and herb blend while she opted for the Camargue, often touted as "the champagne of sea salt." Le fleur or “the flower” of salt, is gathered in salt marshes of the Atlantic ocean in Brittany, France. Coastal Good's Autumn berry Blend brought out the flavors of a perfectly roasted pork tenderloin while the Camargue seasons a wide variety of fresh seafood and vegetables, including grilled asparagus. A perfect addition to your holiday meals.

I rarely go to Walla Walla without stopping by  L'Ecole No. 41 and I rarely leave without a bottle of their Chocolate Merlot Sauce which is specially bottled with L'Ecole's own Walla Walla Valley Merlot. It's a great way to spruce up the simplest of desserts and a wonderful topping for brownie sundaes, your favorite ice cream or fresh fruit.

My favorite place to go for exotic cheeses is Kestrel Vintners in Prosser, right in the heart of Washington Wine Country. Right now they have a wonderful selection of dessert cheeses that pair beautifully with their new 2004 Chardonnay Ice Wine or their Platinum wine, a nice blend of Gewurztraminer and Viognier. Try the mango and ginger stilton from England or the Picon Cabrales bleu cheese from Spain. The tasting room staff will be happy to cut and package cheeses as they sell them by the pound rather than by the wheel.

Piety Flats Winery & Mercantile Store in Wapato, just outside of Yakima, offers gourmet food galore. Choose from an amazing selection of preserves, jams and jellies. They offer anything from traditional cherry, peach or apricot preserves to more unconventional flavors like fig, black raspberry or pepper jellies. The mercantile also has carries a wide array of finishing sauces, holiday teas and mulling spices and pickled items as well as gifts items like cookbooks, candles and wine glass charms. It's a one-stop shop for picnic supplies and regional gourmet finds.

Italian pottery and French linens abound at Three Rivers Winery in Walla Walla. They carry many pieces of a beautiful line of Artistica Italian Ceramics. Choose from biscotti jars, pitchers, platters or olive oil cruets. Dress up your holiday table with fine French linens from Provence. This blue and yellow "Olives" pattern comes in both round and rectangular cloths.

Many of these items also make wonderful gift ideas. If you can't make it over to the wine country before the holidays, you can always call and have items shipped to you or your loved ones just in time for the Holiday season. After all, it's always better to give than to receive. Well . . . maybe not when it comes to wine.


 

Facts & Tidbits

Wine Drinkers Care Where Their Vino Comes From

Did you know . . .
A recent National study by the newly founded Center for Wine Origins reveals that American wine consumers rank location, where a wine comes from, as one of the leading criteria to consider when choosing wine. In fact, the survey says, a wine's origin ranks higher than virtually all other factors, including brand, price and recommendations received from a store.

 "This survey showed that 57 percent of Americans believe where a wine comes from is one of the single most important issues in choosing a wine. This underscores the increasing importance Americans are placing on location when it comes to selecting quality wines. Whether a wine comes from Napa Valley  or Champagne, France, Walla Walla, Washington or Oporto, Portugal -- location really matters," said Shannon Hunt, director of the Center for Wine Origins.

Source: Center for Wine Origins, PR Newswire

Living Wine Country

Along The Wine Road

Desert Wind Winery to Open 34,000 Square Foot Facility in Prosser

Produced from their family-owned vineyard from the same name along the Wahluke Slope, the new Desert Wind Winery is slated to open at the end of the year in Prosser.

Another addition to Wine Country Road in Prosser, Dessert Wind began construction in May of this year next to the future site of the Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center.

The new facility boasts a 4,700 square foot tasting room, 3,200 square feet of banquet space, a state of the art exhibition kitchen, three guest suites, a private two-bedroom winery suite, a production facility, distillery and two outdoor plazas overlooking the Yakima River.

Desert Wind's current production is 4,000 cases and includes: Viognier, Semillon, Bare Naked (unoaked) Chardonnay, Barbera, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and “Ruah” (a red wine blend). Retail prices range from $15 - $20. For more information visit www.desertwindvineyard.com
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Get a Taste of the Destination

Holiday Wine Pairings
by Richard Kinssies

Turkey, the bird of choice for most American holiday tables, is one of the most amiable of foods when it comes to pairing it with wines. By keeping in mind a very short list of caveats almost any wine will do. The side dishes are another issue but they can be easy to work around. Here are some tips.

Minimum of oak and alcohol - Turkey, and most food for that matter, doesn’t do well with wines that show lots of oak or alcohol so avoid those big muscular tooth-staining reds.

Red or White? - Well, that depends on one’s preference for white meat or dark meat. The lean white breast meat goes best with white wines while the rich fatty dark thigh meat can stand up to a hearty red. Most people will have a bit of each so I suggest setting the table with two glasses and having bottles of both red and white on the table. Guests can pour what they like. As for myself, I have wine in both my red and white glass.

Drink what you like - This is the cardinal rule of matching wines with food. It seems so obvious, but we often get so caught up in being enologically correct that we lose sight of it.

Beware of sugar and acid - Some side dishes can ruin any wine. The main culprits at the holidays are those containing lots of sugar and acid such as sweetened sweet potatoes and especially those very sweet and very acidic cranberry dishes. The solution is simply to avoid putting wine and these foods in you mouth at the same time.

What to drink? - Washington, with its almost 400 wineries, has such a wide array of types and styles there is plenty to choose from. Here are some ideas but please don’t be limited by this list.

Red - Cabernet Franc is a grape that can give us wines with good structure and a nice tart berry fruit. Lemberger is the little grape that could. It can be fruity, spicy and rustic at the same time, which can work very well with turkey. Pinot Noir is considered one of the best choices for the holidays and now Washington has some pretty good efforts, especially from some Chelan area wineries.

White - Viognier is being offered as the white partner to the syrah grape and there are some very good Washington examples. Its pear and peach aromas and flavors are its appeal. Dry Riesling and even not so dry Riesling can work very well with the white breast meat – and even some of those side dishes.

Bon Appetite and Happy Holidays!
 

Richard Kinssies, owner of the recently opened Wine Outlet in the SoDo district of Seattle, has been a wine journalist since 1976 and the wine columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer since 1982. He is a feature writer for The Wine News, a national wine publication and the author of Seattle Epicure, a book on dining in Seattle and The Art of Wine Tasting, an illustrated guidebook.

Kinssies, an experienced wine educator, is the director of the Seattle Wine School, which he founded in 1981. He created a wine curriculum for the Seattle Central Community College’s Culinary Academy and a wine professional certification program for the Washington Wine Commission. He has also been retained by the French government to educate the local wine trade on the wines of France.

Richard has worked as a sommelier, and owned and operated a highly acclaimed Seattle restaurant and wine bar. He has traveled extensively to all the major wine regions of the world and is frequently a judge at national and international competitions.

Washington Wine Country Collection

Posters and Coasters Make Great Holiday Gifts

We are excited to announce a new addition to our line of Washington Wine Country merchandise. . .  wine coasters!  Just in time for the holidays our 8 pack gift pack makes a nice accompaniment to a bottle of wine for a hostess gift. The 4" heavy weight wine coasters are nicely packaged in a clear plastic gift box. Each coaster is double sided with two unique images from our ever popular “Perfectly Balanced” campaign. The gift packs are available to retailers for resale or for purchase by consumers for $9.95.

The new coasters make an excellent addition to our art prints. We currently sell the 20x28 posters in three unique designs and they are also available for both retail and consumers alike.

For more information on Washington Wine Country merchandise, call us at 206-285-0514.

Washington Wine Country Teams with KJR-FM for Holiday Promotion

Keep your ears open in Seattle for our three week radio promotion November 7 - 27th where we will be spotlighting Thanksgiving in Wine Country. Participants include Barnard Griffin, Cave B Winery and Inn at Sagecliffe, Fidelitas, Hedges Cellars, Snoqualmie Vineyards, Waterbrook Winery, Wine Yakima Valley and the Yakima Valley Visitor's and Convention Bureau. Together we are working to raise awareness of this time honored holiday event while also bringing Washington wines "top of mind" during the busy wine buying holiday season.

Mark Your Calendar

Please submit your upcoming special events or regional events to events@winecountrywashington.org and we will post them in our next issue.

November / December

11/4-11/5 Cayuse Weekend - Come taste Cayuse's new releases. This is the only time that Cayuse is open (although private appointments can be made for other times). This year, a number of other Walla Walla wineries are making it their release weekend, notably Abeja, Northstar and Spring Valley Vineyard. www.cayusevineyards.com/

11/4-11/19 New Vintage Releases - Drop by the Spring Valley Vineyard Tasting Room in Walla Walla and taste our new 2003 releases: Frederick, Nina Lee Syrah (limited), Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot (very limited). For more information visit  www.springvalleyvineyard.com

11/4-11/20 New Vintage Releases - Stop by Northstar in November and taste the new releases: 2002 Walla Walla Merlot, 2004 Stella Blanca Semillon and one mystery wine. For more information visit  www.northstarmerlot.com

11/4 Walla Walla Valley Wine Tasting & Auction - Annual wine tasting/auction to benefit Planned Parenthood. All ticket holders enjoy Silent Auction and wine tasting that starts at 7PM with hors d'oeuvres, live music and dancing. Limited number of $75 tickets. For more information visit  www.marcuswhitmanhotel.com

11/5 Vine to Wreath Ladies Day - 4th annual Vine to Wreath Ladies Day event. Join in for grapevine wreath making, lunch, and wine tasting. Make as many wreaths as you want. Feel free to bring your own decorations to adorn your wreaths. Glue guns and supplies are provided. Limited space, sign up early. For more information visit  www.chateauchampoux.com

11/9 Holiday Open House - Join Oakwood Cellars from noon to five for a special holiday open house. For more information visit  www.oakwoodcellars.com

11/11-11/12 Tri-Cities Wine Festival - Sponsored by the Tri-Cities Wine Society, a chapter of the Northwest Enological Society, this professionally judged wine competition culminates in a public tasting where wines from small boutique wineries are poured side-by-side with those from large producers. The public tasting is a venue where casual and serious wine lovers can advance their knowledge of Pacific Northwest wines while meeting winemakers, winery owners and their knowledgeable staff. For more information visit  www.tricitieswinefestival.com

11/25-11/27 Thanksgiving in Wine Country - This event has become a Northwest tradition. More than 50 wineries open their doors following Thanksgiving to celebrate the season. Come sample the finest wines of the Yakima Valley and carefully selected culinary pairings from local restaurants. This event offers consumers a perfectly paired recipe with a Yakima Valley wine, and education on why the two pair well together. For more information visit  www.wineyakimavalley.org

11/25-11/27 Thanksgiving in Wine Country at Columbia Crest- Celebrate the holidays while sampling gourmet cheese and wine. Complimentary gift-wrapping will be available to start your holiday shopping before the rush. All guests welcome. For more information visit  http://www.columbia-crest.com

11/25-11/26 Jazz in Wine Country - Jazz will be a part of Thanksgiving in Wine Country in the Yakima Valley. On November 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. up and coming jazz bassist and vocalist Kristin Korb and her group will be performing at the new Seasons Performance Hall in downtown Yakima. Seasons opened in October with a successful performance by the critically acclaimed Bill Mays Trio and will be conducting jazz and classical music performances by national recording artist throughout the year. Tickets are $15. For tickets and information call (509) 453-1888.

12/3-12/4 Holiday Barrel Weekend - Walla Walla Valley wineries offer tastes of upcoming releases directly from the barrel. Purchase the Backstage Pass ($35) offered by WWV Wine Alliance for waived tasting fees or discounts at participating wineries. For more information visit  www.wallawallawine.com

View a complete wine country calendar at www.winecountrywashington.org/eventCalendar.aspx.

Formed in 2003, Washington Wine Country is a non-profit association of Eastern Washington businesses promoting wine-related tourism, economic development and recognition of the world-class wine-growing region comprising the Yakima Valley, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley and Red Mountain appellations. www.winecountrywashington.org

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