This week: Willamette Valley Vineyards Elton Pinot Noir. Are you Washington Wine's Super Fan? Red Wine & Chocolate. Grape growers honor Washington restaurant. Platinum winners. E-edition. What we're reading. Brick 29 Bistro. Where in Northwest Wine Country. Wine funnies.
Feb. 9, 2010
Vol. 11, No. 6
Wine Press Northwest's Wine of the Week is an independent opinion based on double- and single-blind tastings.
Pacific Northwest Wine Of The Week
Willamette Valley Vineyards 2007 Elton Vineyard Pinot Noir
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Here's one of Oregon's premier vineyards - an Eola-Amity HIlls site first planted in 1983 - and winemaker Forrest Klaffke shows amazing grace. Rainier cherries, cranberries, light coffee and allspice aromas transcend to flavors of sweetened pie cherries and light strawberry. Subtle tannins and zippy acidity make this a smooth and easy drink with a flash of citrus in the finish. Rated "Outstanding" by Wine Press Northwest magazine.
Price: $45.
Cases produced: 410.
Food matches: Pair this with veal, duck, mushroom-inspired dishes or braised meats.
8800 Enchanted Way S.E., Turner, OR 97392, 503-588-9463, www.wvv.com
Recent wines of the week
-- Westport Winery NV Dawn Patrol white wine, Washington
-- Gordon Brothers Family Vineyards 2007 Tempranillo, Columbia Valley
Best Buys
-- Fujishin Family Cellars 2008 Bitner Vineyard Viognier, Snake River Valley, $15
-- Gilbert Cellars 2008 Riesling, Columbia Valley, $15
More about Willamette Valley Vineyards
Launched in 1989, this winery in Turner, Ore., has steadily grown into one of Oregon's largest wineries. Last year, it was No. 3 in the state with production of 129,000 cases.
Founder and CEO Jim Berneau is passionate about Oregon wine, and his quest for greatness shows in the details of Willamette Valley Vineyards. In addition to great wines, the winery also offers a wonderful touring experience. While the winery is best known for its Pinot Noir, it also has a well-earned reputation for Pinot Gris and also is one of the leaders in Oregon Riesling.
Willamette Valley Vineyards also owns Tualatin Estate, a longtime vineyard and label in the northern Willamette Valley, and Griffin Creek, a label that focuses on Southern Oregon grapes.
Are you Washington wine's Super Fan?
How much do you love Washington wine? Are you the Super Fan?
Wine Press Northwest and the Washington Wine Commission are running a contest to find out who is Washington's Wine Super Fan. The Super Fan will receive an amazing all-access pass during Taste Washington weekend, which is March 27-28 in Seattle. The prize includes entry to seminars and lunch on "education day" and a VIP pass to the Grand Tasting the next day. The winner will even get a night's stay at a Seattle hotel.
Here is how to enter: Create a video that creatively explains why you are the Washington Wine Super Fan. Beginning next week, you will be able to upload it to our contest site, where wine lovers will then vote on their favorite. The winner will be announced by the end of February.
Deadline to enter your video: Tuesday, Feb. 16. That's next Tuesday.
Click here to enter and upload your video.
Red Wine & Chocolate
Dozens of wineries are celebrating Valentines Day this weekend (and the Presidents Day, for those who get a three-day weekend).
Here are some ways to find out what is going on:
-- Our searchable event calendar.
-- Wine Yakima Valley's Red Wine & Chocolate event.
-- Olympic Peninsula wineries' Red Wine & Chocolate event.
Grape growers honor Yakima Valley restaurant
Last week during its annual convention, the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers honored Picazo 7 Seventeen as its Restaurant of the Year. Owner/chef Frank Magaņa has quickly become a staple of the wine scene throughout the Columbia Valley, especially in the Yakima Valley town of Prosser, where his restaurant opened in October 2007.
Platinum winners
The Winter issue of Wine Press Northwest unveils the results of our 10th annual Platinum Judging, in which we invite wineries to send us their gold medal wines from the year for a "best of the best in the Great Northwest" competition. Each week, I will highlight one of our Platinum winners.
Our 2009 Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year did not disappoint in our best-of-the-best competition. Wild Goose Vineyards in Okanagan Falls, B.C., earned a unanimous Double Platinum for its 2008 Mystic River Pinot Gris (which also was the top Pinot Gris of the competition). Its regular 2008 Pinot Gris earned a Platinum award, as did its 2008 Mystic River Gewurztraminer. In our competition's first decade, this small producer in the Okanagan Valley has earned nine Platinums, fourth most in the Platinum's history.
Wine Press Northwest e-edition
Here's a new feature we unveiled with our Fall issue of Wine Press Northwest: an e-edition. It's a facsimile of the print edition and is freely accessible. There are tools for zooming in and out, etc.
Click here to check it out. As soon as it loads, click on the image to go to full-screen mode.
We have loaded up the past six issues of Wine Press Northwest, with a goal of eventually posting a complete archive of the magazine, going back to 1998.
What we're reading
Here are links to stories and blog posts we think you'll find interesting. In most cases, the stories are related to Northwest wine, though on occasion we will include stories on cuisine or specialty foods.
Here are this week's stories:
Canadian wines take center stage at Winter Olympics
Ernst Loosen raises Oregon profile with new partnership
Olive Marketplace replaces Merchants in downtown Walla Walla
What else are we reading?
Where in NW Wine Country
Last week's mystery photo fooled few of you, a fact that surprised me a bit.
However, 73% of you correctly identified the photo as showing Sokol Blosser Winery near Dundee, Ore, while just 11% guessed it was Bethel Heights Winery in the Eola-Amity Hills. Meanwhile, 10% thought it showed Montinore Estate near Forest Grove, Ore., and just wondered if it was Benton-Lane Winery near Monroe, Ore.
This week's photo, taken by Matthew Rutledge of Austin, Texas, was found on Flickr.com. Though the warm weather we've enjoyed in the past several weeks has provided little snow, this image still fits our winter theme and should provide a decent challenge for you.
Click to vote
Wine cartoon of the week
We have added a new cartoon to our "wine funnies" gallery.
Check it out.
Brick 29 Bistro
This week, we head to Idaho's Snake River Valley and its wonderful Brick 29 Bistro in Nampa, where we meet with Dustan Bristol, co-owner and executive chef.
You can watch the Northwest Winecast two ways (both free):
On our Web site:
http://www.winepressnw.com/
On YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/WinePressNW
Find Northwest wine events
Looking for a wine-related event? Click here for our Northwest wine events calendar.
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