This week:
July 13, 2010
Vol. 11, No. 28
Wine Press Northwest's Wine of the Week is an independent opinion based on double- and single-blind tastings.
Heymann Whinery NV Cranberry Wine
Appellation: Washington
Three years in a row Centralia, Wash., vintner Bob Heymann has received our top rating for this delicious fruit wine. Impeccable color gets your juice flowing. Next come succulent aromas of ripe strawberry and then deep cranberry. Sweet berries leap out of the glass, balanced by Sauvignon Blanc-ish acidity. Terrific tartness completes this dangerous package for adult and conjures up thoughts of Thanksgiving turkey. Rated "Outstanding" by Wine Press Northwest magazine.
Price: $14.
Cases produced: 412 cases.
Food matches: Try this racy fruit wine with roasted turkey or picnic fare.
Heymann Whinery, 212 N. Tower Ave., Centralia, WA 98531, 360-623-1106, www.heymannwhinery.com
Recent wines of the week
-- Sleight of Hand Cellars 2007 Levitation Syrah, Columbia Valley
-- Abacela 2009 Albarino, Umpqua Valley
Best Buys
-- Pine & Post 2007 Merlot, Washington, $8
-- Chateau Ste. Michelle 2009 Harvest Select Riesling, Columbia Valley, $9
More about Heymann Winery
If you tend to turn your nose up at fruit wines (and I was once like that), don't turn down the opportunity to taste Heymann's truly remarkable cranberry wine. Year in and year out, it is stunning - and it's a perfect wine for summer afternoons as well as holiday meals.
Bob and Flossie Heymann launched their Centralia, Wash., winery in 2004 and have focused on fruit wines but also craft vinifera grape wines using fruit from Eastern Washington.
Read more about Heymann Whinery.
Is the 100-point system a victim of inflation?
Over the weekend, I was chatting with a prominent Washington winemaker, who casually mentioned he recently received a score of 92 for a red wine from the world's most prominent wine magazine. What he said next was shocking: It didn't seem to help him sell a single drop of wine.
A decade ago, wineries often bragged about scores of 85 and up from those who use the system, including Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate (Parker), Wine Enthusiast and Steve Tanzer in particular. A score of 90 assured a winery's phone would ring off the hook long after all the wine was sold. But now, a score of 92 doesn't sell a single bottle for a top winery?
As I thought about it, I began to wonder if point inflation is playing a role. It seems 85 points is the new 90. A decade ago, the 100-point scale really was a 20-point scale because none of the publications that used the system would publish scores below 90. Now it seems that is being compressed into a 10-point system because even a score of 90 isn't moving cases. Are consumers being dulled to scores of 90 because of their proliferation?
Read my blog post on The Wine Knows. Then either send me an email or comment below the blog. I'm interested in your take on this issue.
Riesling Rendezvous remarkably rewarding
I have spent the past few days in Woodinville and Bellevue, Wash., attending the third annual Riesling Rendezvous, hosted by Chateau Ste. Michelle and Dr. Loosen. It has been an amazing event highlighted by the "Grand Tasting" on Sunday evening at the chateau, in which producers from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Michigan, New York, Germany, Austria, France, Australia and New Zealand poured their Rieslings. Hundreds attended the three-hour outdoor tasting.
On Monday and Tuesday, seminars and tastings were conducted at the Bellevue Regency Hyatt, bringing together global experts and enthusiasts for education and collaboration. The focus was on dry Rieslings from around the world, and the highlight for me was a tasting that compared newer wines with those at least 10 years old. One of the wines was a 1946 German Riesling.
Check out photos from the Riesling Rendezvous.
Chinook Wines and Cabernet Franc
In this week's Bobcast, longtime wine writer Bob Woehler travels to Prosser, Wash., to sit down with Kay Simon, winemaker and co-owner of legendary Chinook Wines. The focus of their conversation is Cabernet Franc, a variety Simon has championed for several years. She makes a dry red and a rose from the Bordeaux variety.
Listen to it now on winepressnw.com.
The Bobcast is a weekly audio podcast. You can subscribe to it at no cost through the iTunes store. Simply search for "Bob Woehler" and click "Subscribe." Each week's episode will automatically be downloaded, allowing you to listen to it on your computer or your iPod.
Great Northwest Wine Destinations
The cover of our Summer issue of Wine Press Northwest features "100 Great Northwest Wine Destinations." We created 10 categories of destinations (wineries, restaurants, etc.) and featured 10 businesses to spotlight. Each week, we will highlight one category to provide you with ideas to consider as your travel through the Pacific Northwest.
Restaurants: One of the joys of wine touring is the cuisine you discover. In the Northwest, we are blessed with talented chefs who recognize the quality of fresh local ingredients and the importance of being in the heart of wine country. Here are 10 restaurants to check out.
Read more.
Wine list competition
We are seeking entries for our 12th annual Great Northwest Wine Lists Competition.
If you are a restaurant dedicated to wines from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho and even western Montana, we encourage you to enter the judging. There is no cost to enter.
If you are a winery or consumer who has a favorite restaurant that you think deserves to be honored, we want to hear from you, too.
Email Managing Editor Eric Degerman at edegerman@winepressnw.com.
Upcoming wine events
Each week, we highlight an upcoming wine event in the Pacific Northwest.
This Saturday, the Horse Heaven Hills Wine Growers Association puts on its annual Trail Drive, in which a wine tasting and barbecue supports its viticulture/enology scholarships.
To see more events (or submit yours at no cost), go to our calendar. We currently have 76 upcoming events on our calendar.
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:
Let sommeliers do their jobs.
What did the HoseMaster of Wine learn at the Wine Bloggers Conference? He's famous!
See what else we're reading.
Where in NW Wine Country
Once again, last week's mystery photo kept you off balance.
In fact, just 15% of you correctly identified it as Suyematsu Vineyard on Bainbridge Island, Wash., while 62% thought it was Shea Vineyard in Oregon's Yamhill-Carlton District. Meanwhile, 13% guessed it was Celilo Vineyard in the Columbia Gorge and 11% wondered if it was Salt Spring Island Vineyard in British Columbia's Gulf Islands.
In fact, just 7% correctly identified the photo as coming from Idaho's Snake River Valley. Meanwhile, 42% guessed the Puget Sound AVA, 28% thought it was Vancouver Island and 23% went with the Columbia Gorge AVA.
This week's photo was taken by yours truly and should provide a solid challenge.
Click to vote
Wendy Stuckey at the Riesling Rendezvous
On Sunday, we caught up with Wendy Stuckey, the Australian-born white winemaker for Chateau Ste. Michelle. She was pouring at the third annual Riesling Rendezvous and took time to chat about Riesling in Washington and around the world. At the first Riesling Rendezvous, she was with an Australian winery and ended up interviewing for the job she now has at Ste. Michelle.
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 eigh 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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