This week: Covey Run Fume Blanc. More on Covey Run. The story behind Fume Blanc. Auction of Washington Wines raises $1.4 million. Legends of Washington Wines Hall of Fame. The legend of Chateau Ste. Michelle's 'estate' vineyard. Bob Woehler chats with wine legend Bill Powers. Great Northwest Wine Country picnic spots. Upcoming wine events. What we're reading. Where in Northwest Wine Country. Wine funnies. Preparing for harvest at Goose Ridge Vineyards.
Aug. 24, 2010
Vol. 11, No. 34
Wine Press Northwest's Wine of the Week is an independent opinion based on double- and single-blind tastings.
Covey Run Winery 2008 Fume Blanc
Appellation: Columbia Valley
Kate Michaud is responsible for some of the largest lots in the Northwest, and her attention to detail shows with this absolutely stunning Sauvignon Blanc. She worked with Art denHoed, Buoy and Smith vineyards to unleash classic aromatics of gooseberry, lychee and honeysuckle with enjoyable notes of wheat grass. Succulent flavors of orange, grapefruit and lemon make this tasty and refreshing with a high-acid, low-oak profile that marries the fruit and the herbaceous quality of the variety while keeping it nearly bone dry. Rated "Outstanding" by Wine Press Northwest magazine.
Price: $9.
Cases produced: 5,000 cases.
Food matches: Enjoy this smooth red wine with grilled meats or hearty Italian fare.
Covey Run Winery, 14500 148th Ave. N.E., Ste. 211, Woodinville, WA 98072, 425-284-2218, www.coveyrun.com.
Recent wines of the week
-- Canyon's Edge Winery 2006 Sagebrush Red, Horse Heaven Hills
-- Tualatin Estate 2009 Semi-Sparkling Muscat Frizzante, Willamette Valley
Best Buys
-- Mount Baker Vineyards 2007 Barrel Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley, $14
-- OS Winery 2009 Champoux Vineyard Riesling, Horse Heaven Hills, $15
More about Covey Run
Covey Run Winery started life in the early 1980s as Quail Run Vintners. A name conflict with a California winery led to a lawsuit and a name change to Covey Run. The winery and vineyard were near Zillah, Wash., in the western Yakima Valley until the operation was sold to Associated Vintners (later Corus Brands).
In 2001, Covey Run (along with Columbia Winery and Ste. Chapelle) was sold to Constellation Brands, which closed the Zillah tasting room (now occupied by Silver Lake Winery). In 2008, the newly formed Ascentia Brands of Sonoma County, Calif., purchased Columbia, Covey Run and Ste. Chapelle.
This weekend, Covey Run opened a tasting room in Woodinville.
Fume Blanc
Fume Blanc is the exact same grape as Sauvignon Blanc. Back in the 1960s, California Sauvignon Blanc had a poor reputation, so Robert Mondavi changed the name of his wine purely for marketing purposes. Today, the names are interchangeable and do not denote style differences.
Auction of Washington Wines raises $1.4 million
Even with a rocky economy, Washington wine lovers were more than willing to open their wallets last weekend at the 23rd annual Auction of Washington Wines. The event, which benefits Children's Hospital and the Washington Wine Education Foundation, raised $1.4 million, down slightly from last year's $1.5 million.
A DeLille Cellars 192-bottle collection sold for $19,000, and a 27-year vertical of Woodward Canyon wines went for $11,000.
Legends of Washington Wine Hall of Fame
This Saturday, the Walter Clore Wine Center in Prosser will honor two pioneers as the latest inductees of the Legends of Washington Wine Hall of Fame.
Bill Powers and David Lake are this year's honored inductees.
Powers pioneered organic wine grape farming and low-sulfite winemaking with Badger Mountain Vineyards. The late David Lake, the maverick winemaker for Associated Vintners and Columbia Winery, introduced Syrah to Washington state in the mid-1980s.
Tickets for the event are $145.
The legend of Ste. Michelle's 'estate' vineyard
It has long been rumored that the few rows of vines at the entrance to Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Wash., were required so the winery could be called a "chateau."
Not so, says CEO Ted Baseler. Rather, when Washington's iconic winery was built in 1976, the owners felt a long lane and vines leading up to the chateau would provide visitors a special experience - and Ste. Michelle with an Old World feel.
The problem was that these vines were not used for any of the production and got a bit wild and run down. Additionally, because much of the area leading up to the winery was taken up with these vineyards, some visitors were under the impression that these were Ste. Michelle's production vineyards, rather than bird feeders.
"People actually talked about us planning to expand into Eastern Washington!" Baseler said with a deep chuckle.
A few years ago, Baseler had the vines pulled out and more climate-proper varieties put in. They are now maintained better, and there are just a few rows, so there is little chance visitors will think the winery's nearly 2 million cases of wine come solely from them.
Bob Woehler chats with wine legend Bill Powers
In this week's podcast, Bob Woehler sits down with Bill Powers, who will be inducted this weekend into the Legends of Washington Wine Hall of Fame. They talk about organic grape growing, low-sulfite wines and Champoux Vineyards, which Powers is a part-owner of.
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.
We also post it each week on our Facebook Fan page.
Great Northwest Wine Country picnic spots
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.
Wine Country picnic spots: Many Northwest wineries provide excellent locations for picnicing. Here are 10 great locations to put down a blanket and share a meal.
Read more.
Upcoming wine events
Each week, we highlight an upcoming wine event in the Pacific Northwest.
On Thursday the Leftbank Annex in Portland will play host to a fascinating tasting called the "Dundee Hills Wine Experience," in which wineries from the Dundee Hills will be presented in chronological order from the 1970s onward.
To see more events (or submit yours at no cost), go to our calendar. We currently have 93 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:
The HoseMaster of Wine's guide to wine blogging ethics.
Dr. Vino pairs white wines with temperature readings.
The Silverton area is emerging as Oregon's next important wine region.
See what else we're reading.
Where in NW Wine Country
It appears everyone had a good idea where last week's mystery photo was taken.
In fact, you were evenly split - 35% each - between Sokol Blosser (the correct answer) and Archery Summit (which is nearby), while 22% guessed Penner-Ash Wine Cellars (not far away) and just 8% thought it was Cooper Mountain Vineyards in Beaverton, Ore.
This week's photo was found on flickr.com (credit: "Travis S.").
Click to vote
Wine cartoon of the week
We have added a new cartoon to our "wine funnies" gallery.
Check it out.
Preparing for harvest at Goose Ridge Vineyards
This week, we chat with Kendall Mix, winemaker for Goose Ridge Vineyards in Washington's Columbia Valley. We take a look at grapes in Washington's largest contiguous wine grape vineyard (1,600 acres) and talk about impending harvest, which is likely to start about 10 days later than normal. Mix produces wine for the Goose Ridge and Stonecap labels and also provides custom-crush services for a handful of producers, primarily Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.
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 eight 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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