This week: Mercer Estate Pinot Gris. Are you Washington's Wine Super Fan? Inside Columbia Crest. Willamette Valley wineries heading to Seattle. Chardonnay actually Washington's No. 1 grape. Platinum winner: Pacific Rim. What we're reading. Where in Northwest Wine Country. Wine funnies. Crest is best.
Feb. 16, 2010
Vol. 11, No. 7
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
Mercer Estates 2008 Pinot Gris
Appellation: Columbia Valley
David Forsyth helped create Hogue Cellars' remarkable reputation for this grape, so this rating with his new Prosser, Wash., winery is no surprise. Estate grapes from Brooks and Sunnyside vineyards in the Yakima Valley were blended with some from Wallula Vineyard, and the aromas include low-hanging apples and pears, starfruit, chalkboard dust and a squirt of lemon. It's a clean, straight-forward and balanced delivery of Honeycrisp apple and tart lemon, capped by apple peel tartness. Rated "Outstanding" by Wine Press Northwest magazine.
Price: $14.
Cases produced: 2,383.
Food matches: Pair this beautiful white wine with seared scallops, grilled halibut or mild Asian dishes.
Mercer Estates, 3100 Lee Road, Prosser, WA 99350, 509-786-2097, www.mercerestates.com
Recent wines of the week
-- Willamette Valley Vineyards 2007 Elton Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
-- Westport Winery NV Dawn Patrol white wine, Washington
Best Buys
-- Covey Run Winery 2008 Gewurztraminer, Columbia Valley, $9
-- Ridge Crest 2007 Chardonnay, Columbia Valley, $10
More about Mercer Estates
The Hogue family sold its Prosser, Wash., winery in 2001 to Vincor International (which subsequently was sold to Constellation Brands). Five years later, Mike Hogue announced the formation of Mercer Estates with the Mercer family. The Mercers were responsible for the original planting at what now is Champoux Vineyards in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills. The vineyard was first planted in 1972, when it was known as Mercer Estate Vineyards (which even had a winery for a short period).
Soon after Mercer's building began construction, David Forsyth joined the fray. Forsyth had been Hogue's longtime director of winemaking, and his impact at Mercer was immediate, as the early releases were superb.
As much as any new winery in Washington, Mercer Estates is poised for success because of the depth of experience and history of its participants.
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: Today.
Click here to enter and upload your video.
Inside Columbia Crest
The Wine Press Northwest crew traveled to Columbia Crest a couple of weeks ago for a technical tasting. Check out this week's Northwest Winecast (below) for our interview with winemaker Ray Einberger.
Also take a look at our photo gallery from the visit.
Willamette Valley coming to Seattle
Here is an event I consider a "shouldn't miss" (and I don't plan to miss it): The Willamette Valley Wineries Association will be in Seattle on March 11 for a big tasting. About 50 wineries representing all the American Viticultural Area (including the six appellations in the northern Willamette Valley) will be in attendance.
The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and will take place at SoDo Park by Herban Feast (a mile south of Safeco Field), and tickets are $45 if purchased before March 1.
Find out more by going to willamettewines.com for event info and tickets.
Chardonnay actually No. 1 in Washington
Late last week, I received a revised report from the USDA on Washington's 2009 harvest. This new report somewhat dramatically changed the Washington wine landscape.
The biggest change was that Chardonnay moved back into the No. 1 spot with 33,400 tons harvested, up from 28,000 tons in 2008. Meanwhile, Riesling rose to 32,100 tons from 28,500 tons.
Meanwhile, Cabernet Sauvignon further solidified its position as the state's top red wine, increasing to 27,600 tons from 26,100, while Merlot actually dropped in tonnage to 24,800 from 25,400 in 2008.
Overall, Washington's 2009 harvest increased to 156,000 tons from 145,000 tons in 2008. The original report, released in mid-January, had the 2009 harvest at 165,000 tons. David Knopf at the USDA in Olympia said his staff went through the reports after receiving feedback from grape growers and discovered that some data had been duplicated, thus the corrected report.
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.
Pacific Rim Winemakers in West Richland, Wash., is somewhat new to the Washington wine scene, but that's only because the Randall Grahm operation only recently relocated from California. Production has ramped up to more than 135,000 cases of wine, primarily focusing on Riesling. The wines are gaining attraction for their quality. In this case, Pacific Rim's 2008 Framboise earned a unanimous Double Platinum. It's a Port-style dessert wine made with raspberries, and it's nothing short of decadent.
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:
Riesling 'taste profile' gives variety boost in United States.
Walla Walla's wild wine woman rants on ranter, social media, wine.
Everett, Wash., considers how to make it easier to attract wineries.
See what else we're reading.
Where in NW Wine Country
I thought last week's mystery photo would be more difficult, yet most of you recognized the snowy vineyard's location.
Nearly 70% of you correctly voted for Eagle Creek Winery near Leavenworth, Wash., while 21% guessed it was Wild Goose Vineyards near Okanagan Falls, B.C. Meanwhile, just 7% thought it was Cold Creek Vineyard north of the Yakima Valley and 3% wondered if it was Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery near Oliver, B.C.
This week, you will play a little game I call, "Name the Chihuly." Good luck!
Click to vote
Wine cartoon of the week
We have added a new cartoon to our "wine funnies" gallery.
Check it out.
Crest is best
A couple of weeks ago, we traveled to Columbia Crest for a technical tasting with Ray Einberger and his team of winemakers. One of the subjects of discussion, of course, was the Paterson, Wash., winery's most stunning achievement: topping Wine Spectator's annual list of the world's greatest wines. In this week's Northwest Winecast, we chat with Einberger about the award, including how he found out about it and why he was in the Middle East just two days later.
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.
Wine Press Northwest e-edition
We have loaded up the past six issues of Wine Press Northwest in a freely available e-edition format, with a goal of eventually posting a complete archive of the magazine, going back to 1998.
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