This week: Waterbrook Riesling, Precept to open 250k-case winery in Walla Walla, Col Solare to release second wine, barrel tasting weekends looming, what's your wine price threshold? Washington Winery to Watch, Sinclair Philip of Sooke Harbour House, Wine Knows blog.
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April 8, 2008
Vol. 9, No. 15
Wine Press Northwest's Wine of the Week is an independent opinion based on double- and single-blind tastings.
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Pacific Northwest Wine Of The Week
Waterbrook Winery 2006 Riesling
Appellation: Columbia Valley
Exotic and beautiful as an island princess begins to describe this slightly off-dry drink (2.1% residual sugar). Pineapple, papaya, lemon, apricot, apple and vanilla bean form much of the aromas. She's not shy on the lips as delicious pineapple permeates the palate, backed by more orchard fruit, lychee and lemony acidity to balance that sweet disposition. Rated "Outstanding" by Wine Press Northwest magazine.
Price: $12.
Cases produced: 2,284 cases. Look for this in wine shops or order directly from the winery.
Food matches: A perfect foil for spicy dishes such as Thai, Indian or Mexican.
Waterbrook Winery, 31 E. Main St., Walla Walla, WA 99362, 509-522-1262, http://www.waterbrook.com
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Recent wines of the week
-- King Estate 2006 Domaine Pinot Gris, Oregon
-- Robert Karl Cellars 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
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Best Buys
-- Ste. Chapelle 2005 Winemaker's Series Cabernet Sauvignon, Idaho, $9
-- Pavin & Riley 2005 Riesling, Columbia Valley, $10
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More about Waterbrook, Precept Brands
Eric Rindal founded Waterbrook Winery in 1984 as the fourth winery in the Walla Walla Valley. For many years, Waterbrook was off the beaten path because the winery and tasting room were well south of the highway near the town of Lowden, Wash. Rindal was the first to open a tasting room in downtown Walla Walla, a move that has turned into a trend and has transformed the center of Walla Walla.
In 2006, Precept Brands of Seattle purchased Waterbrook, which had grown into one of Walla Walla's biggest wineries.
Just last week, Precept announced a new winemaking facility west of Walla Walla that will be called Walla Walla Wineworks. It will have a 250,000-case production capacity, as well as a tasting room and visitors center. All of the grapes are expected to come from the greater Columbia Valley, rather than the much smaller Walla Walla Valley.
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Col Solare to release second wine
Col Solare, the international collaboration on Washington's Red Mountain, will release a second wine this summer called Shining Hill.
Since its inception in 1994, Col Solare has released just one wine per vintage, a Cab-based blend that retails for $70. Now, the winery jointly owned by Ste. Michelle of Woodinville and Antinori of Tuscany will release a lower-priced red blend called Shining Hill (the English translation of "Col Solare").
In the European tradition, Col Solare's winemakers "declassify" barrels that don't quite fit into the main wine's second blend. Many Northwest wineries, including Quilceda Creek, Woodward Canyon, Reininger and Tamarack, make second wines from similarly declassified barrels. Generally, there's nothing wrong with these wines; they just don't fit into the winemakers' vision for their top wines.
About 500 cases of the 2005 Shining Hill will be released this summer and will be available only through the tasting room. No price has been set.
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Barrel tasting weekends looming
The annual Yakima Valley Spring Barrel Tasting weekend unofficially marks the beginning of the wine-touring season in the Pacific Northwest. Here's a quick rundown so you can begin mapping out your strategy:
April 25-27: Yakima Valley Spring Barrel Tasting
May 1-10: Okanagan Valley Spring Wine Festival
May 3-4: Walla Walla Valley Spring Release
May 9-11: Spokane Spring Barrel Tasting
May 16-18: North Central Washington Barrel Tasting
May 24-26: Willamette Valley Memorial Weekend in Wine Country
May 24-26: Olympic Peninsula Spring Barrel Tasting
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What's your wine price threshold?
How much would you spend on a bottle of wine to open with dinner at home tonight? How about for a special occasion? What's the maximum you would spend on any bottle of wine?
That's the question I posed Monday on The Wine Knows blog, and it has brought in a number of responses from across the board.
Join in the conversation at:
http://community.winepressnw.com/node/799
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Washington Winery to Watch
In our Spring issue of Wine Press Northwest, we featured Tildio Winery in the Lake Chelan region as our Washington Winery to Watch.
Tildio is run by Katy Perry, former winemaker for Tsillan Cellars and assistant winemaker for Chateau Ste. Michelle, and her husband, Milum. Since their launch with the 2003 vintage, the Perrys have released a string of superb wines that have tended to score highly in our blind tastings.
For more information on this rising star, go to:
http://www.tildio.com/
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Sinclair Philip of Sooke Harbour House
Sinclair Philip is the driving force behind the fabulous Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island and also is a leader of Canada's Slow Food movement.
Eric Degerman of Wine Press Northwest sits down with Sinclair in this week's Northwest Winecast.
On our Web site:
http://www.winepressnw.com/video/vodcast/
On YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/WinePressNW
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The Wine Knows
The Wine Knows, Wine Press Northwest's blog, is getting updated almost daily (and sometimes more than daily). Recent highlights include:
-- Col Solare to release second wine
-- DiStefano: Washington Winery of the Year
-- Precept announces 250k case winery in Walla Walla
-- Leonetti won't release Sangiovese this year
-- Buds look ready to burst in Columbia Valley
-- What's your wine price threshold?
-- Pairing wine with Jell-O
-- And more.
Be sure to check out the blog daily to read updates on the Northwest wine scene. If you are into RSS feeds, you can easily get blog updates throughout the week.
http://community.winepressnw.com
If you are into RSS feeds, you can easily get blog updates.
The URL for the RSS feed is:
http://community.winepressnw.com/node/feed
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Pacific Northwest Wine Shop Directory
HELLAMS VINEYARD
Downtown La Conner, 109 North 1st St. # 101 (in Limedock Bldg) Daily .
360-466-1758.
http://www.hellamsvineyard.com
PACIFIC NORTHWEST WINE CLUB
P.O. Box 2081, Lake Oswego, OR 97035.
Each month, we'll select: two top NW wines (red, white, sweet or a combination). Cost per month averages less than $25 plus shipping.
Call 800-288-3008 or join online at http://www.pnwc.com.
