2006 GraEagle Red Wing – $24 @ Utah State Liquor Store

Rating: 3

I will be in the Beehive State from now until early Janury. For me, Utah is the home of  in-laws and wine laws. Fortunately, a few of their state liquor stores carry expanded wine selections, and Washington was represented pretty well.

On the nose, pronounced dark-chocolate-covered black cherries. On the palate, toast and blackberries initially, moving to espresso on the finish. Sweet tannins, some spicy notes, and below-average acidity. This was rich and tasty, but the presence of oak was a bit too much for me.

GraEagle is the second label for Nicholas Cole Cellars. A producer like Nicholas Cole makes some very nice red blends that sell in the $40-$50 range. However, the blend that ends up in those wines might not be the exact blend of grapes that Nicholas Cole received at harvest. The solution to the problem of excess juice is to put together a second label, so that there’s no brand confusion.

The good news is, you get the exact same grapes that went into the high-end wine, just in a different blend, and for half the price!

Restaurant Review: Gaudi Braseria

Here is what you will do to cure your case of the Seattle winter blues. You will travel to 3410 NE 55th Street and enter the pastel-colored world of Gaudi Braseria. You will be greeted and seated by the bubbly, chatty, growley woman that is Jo Luna. She will bring over a wine list filled with off-the-beaten-path Spanish wines.

You will order one from Galicia, a region you know nothing about. This is okay. The main grape varietal will be Prieto Picudo, a grape you know nothing about. This is okay. You swirl, you sniff, you sip. You smile. This is better than okay.

Juan Luna is cooking bacalao fritters tonight? Don’t hesitate. Don’t let doubts about the nature of salt cod creep into your brain. Just order and wait for the ethereally crunchy globes of creamy fish to arrive.

Perfect. You have now held off the wolves of your appetite long enough to wait for the masterpiece: seafood paella. It arrives at the table. You gasp. Jo scoops everyone at your table the perfect first plate: rice, fragrant with saffron, clams, perfect mussels, cuttlefish, hake. You absolutely, absolutely, ask for a few sides of alioli (Spanish garlicky mayo) and you slather your paella. One squeeze of lemon juice; eyes closed; mouth open; shock and awe. Repeat.

Do you have room for dessert? No? Maybe enough room for a light crema catalana. Maybe enough room for a 20-year-old Porto.

Now. You will collect the check. You will be amazed that, even with the bounty of seafood, your paella is less than $20 per person. You will pay. You will leave an excessive tip. You will vow to return to the best Seattle restaurant no one has ever heard of.

2005 Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Indian Wells – $13 @ QFC

Rating: 4

Note: this was tasted as part of Washington Wine Report’s virtual tasting for December.

Hugely expressive nose of blackberry jam and milk chocolate, along with alluring hints of banana and orange. Given the giant nose, I expected this to be a total fruit bomb, but it wasn’t. It was rich and fruit-forward, but I didn’t find it to be sweet or over-the-top at all. On the palate, great acid for a cab, along with moderate, chalky tannins. I got some red fruit flavors up front, fading to a finish of more chocolate and bananas. This was a generous, hedonistic, gem of a wine and is a ridiculous bargain at $13. I’m pretty sure it’s the best cab under $15 that I have tasted. Wow; I’m impressed.

This wine is from CSM’s Indian Wells Series, which sets out to provide “rich, luscious mouth-filling ‘best of region’ wines – jammy, fruit-driven reds and juicy, tropical whites.” While CSM does have an Indian Wells Vineyard, this wine is not made solely from that vineyard’s grapes but instead includes grapes from all over the Wahluke Slope. The composition is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest filled out by Syrah to enhance the jam component.

I think I got the last bottle of ‘05 from the shelf at QFC. They had a lot of ‘06, and I don’t know if that will be as good. If you see any of the ‘05, snatch it up.

Oh The Weather Outside (Part II)

Looks like BC is not the only area harvesting grapes for ice wine. Chateau Ste Michelle, the lion of Washington wine, has picked ice wine grapes for just the sixth time in its 40-year history (but the fourth time in the past seven years). Previous CSM ice wine vintages were 1978, 1995, 2002, 2003, and 2006.

If you enjoy drinking your dessert, look for the 2008 Chateau Ste Michelle Eroica Riesling Ice Wine to hit the shelves in Autumn 2009. Or you can buy the 2006 version right now, from CSM’s website, for the low low price of $75.

Jargon Central: Body (and a little Typicity too)

As I mentioned when writing about acidity, body is one of the four critical elements in tasting wine (flavor, body, acid, tannin).  Other words that can be used as synonyms for body are mouthfeel and viscosity.

Descriptors

The body of a wine is generally called light, medium, or full. On the full side of the spectrum, you will sometimes see fun words like unctuous used as well.

Influencing Factors

In general, higher alcohol content leads to fuller body. Similarly, higher residual sugar equates to fuller body.

Evaluation

The best way to evaulate body is to taste the wine, and here is the analogy that I have found most useful:

Light-bodied : Skim milk ::

Medium-bodied : 2% milk ::

Full-bodied : Whole milk ::

Unctuous : Whipping cream

Another method for evaluating body is to swirl the wine in the glass and look at the viscosity of the “legs” or “tears” as it runs down the side of the glass. And this is a nice segue into the next topic:

Ratings (Me)

When I write a tasting note, I frequently reference the body of the wine, but body has absolutely no impact on how I rate a wine. Why? Because body does not equal quality! There is a common misconception that fuller-bodied wines are better wines, such that if you can’t see a wine’s “legs” on the glass, then it is probably cheap plonk. Untrue!

Some varietals are, by their nature, lighter-bodied. Pinot Noir, for example, is typically light-to-medium bodied. Gamay Noir (the grape used to make Beaujolais) is light-bodied. This doesn’t make them lower in quality. In fact, lighter bodied wines can be more subtle, complex, and elegant than their full-throttle cousins.

I suspect that “light” has taken on pejorative connotations, especially in the United States, due to products like these:

In the future, I am going to try to use “delicate” to describe lighter bodies in the hopes of avoiding any unintentional negative biasing.

Ratings (Professionals)

While I don’t rate wines based on body, some professional reviewers do, and their ratings of body are really ratings related to typicity. Typicity is another tricky term that basically means, “does this wine taste like a typical [insert varietal].” So, some reviewers would ding a full-bodied Pinot Noir because it lacks varietal typicity. Of course, that begs the question: who decides what a typical Pinot Noir should taste like? Well, the French of course! (Just kidding. Vive La France!) In reality, each reviewer has his/her own definition of typicity and makes a decision about the shouldiness of each wine (that’s a word I just made up to describe how much a wine tastes like it should; feel free to use it).

Some folks call bullshit on the whole typicity judgement, arguing that it stifles creativity in winemaking and is akin to wine stereotyping. On the other side of the fence, what the hell is the point of making a Pinot Noir that tastes like a Syrah, unless you want to have a gotcha moment during a blind tasting (hmmmm… those can be fun). I guess I come down slightly on the side of those who argue for typicity, but my mind is still open on this topic.

Oh The Weather Outside

There is a good chance that you, like me, are sipping your morning coffee and looking out the window at a winter wonderland here in the Pacific Northwest. There is a lesser chance that you, like me, are worrying about what this will mean for the Washington wine vintage of 2009.

Fortunately, there are fellow bloggers who are equally concerned:

Sean at Washington Wine Report discusses the current weather as well as the last freeze, in 2004, which wiped out most of the Walla Walla Valley crop.

Andy at Wine Press Northwest talks about the recurring pattern of freezes in Washington, but he also finds silver lining in the snow-clouds: British Columbia is having a banner harvest of ice wine!

Time to bundle up for a walk over to QFC, where I will pick up a bottle of 2005 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Indian Wells so that I can participate in this month’s virtual tasting at Washington Wine Report. It’s 8:17 AM; anyone care to predict the time at which this bottle gets opened on a snowy vacation day?

2006 Corliss Estates Red Blend – Barrel Sample (Washington Wine)

No rating for this barrel sample that was given out at the release party for the 2003 Corliss Estates wines, but I will go ahead and post tasting notes:

Nose of purple fruit with captivating hints of orange peel and flowers. On the palate, silky mouthfeel; lots of juicy red fruit; black tea component; some harsh oaky notes.

To me, this is a wine with huge potential that is not fully integrated yet. Then again, it won’t be released until 2011, so there’s time to see how it comes together. I wonder what I will be doing in 2011. Riding Seattle Light Rail? Rooting for the MLS Champion Seattle Sounders? Drinking wine from my gold-encrusted chalice? Time will tell.

2006 Dusted Valley Vintners Chardonnay – $20 @ ? (Washington Wine)

Rating: 3

Great nose with nary a hint of oak, which makes it my kind of chardonnay. Loads of red apples, hints of citrus and cream. With air, the nose took on some yeasty characteristics. Linear, high-acid palate with apples all the way through the beginning and middle and continuing onto the long finish.

I tasted this at Cellar 46 today, but I’m not sure we’ll carry it. Part of the problem is that the label is aesthetically-impaired. It looks like this, only green:

Thankfully, Dusted Valley (a really excellent Walla Walla winery) has gotten their act together and developed a professionally-designed label to match the quality of their wines:

I see better days ahead.

2005 Pomum Shya Red Yakima Valley – $35 @ Cellar 46 (Washington Wine)

Rating: 4

Drunk-blogging (hey, if Hemingway could write drunk, why can’t I? Did I just compare myself to Ernest the Great? Uh-oh.), so let’s dispense with the tasting notes first. This is a Bordeaux blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot, and it is the best Yakima Valley wine I have ever tasted.

This continues a roll of fantastic wines of late. On the nose, tart red fruits drowning in a bucket of soy sauce. On the palate, black tea for hours, dark fruits, perfect acid-tannin balance. This kicked the shit out of a giant T-bone and is a strong candidate for Grandpa Noda Prime Rib Christmas Dinner Wine 2008.

Why Wine: I bought this after watching Gary Vaynerchuk give it 95 points back in April and have been sitting on it since.

Where Wine: Kelli and I are staying at Pebble Cove Farm on Orcas Island. If you live in the Pac-NW and haven’t traveled to the San Juan Islands, then I say shame on you.

Who Wine: Kelli and I. I already said that. Are you even reading this blog?

With What Wine: Oh, momma. I was a little ambitious for cabin cooking. At the U-Village QFC yesterday, I bought a gigantor T-Bone, some celery root and potatoes, and a bunch of asparagus. Apparently I expected my entire kitchen to travel with me on the MV Chelan. Much to my chagrin, no such luck. I was working with two burners and no oven, and I had a 1.5″-thick, 1.63-lb steak.

The solution: stir-fry the asparagus as an appetizer, make the celery-root-puree first and keep it warm on the burner, then pan-sear the steak and create an “oven” on the stove-top using the frying pan and a crap-ton of aluminum foil. We ended up with a steak that varied in places from moo to medium-well. But the good news is that the wine was complementary with all levels of doneness; thank you, Pomum! And thanks to Pebble Cove Farm for forcing me to cook MacGyver style.

Listening to What Wine: Okkervil River, The Stand Ins – that gets a 4 out of 5 too, for what it’s worth.

Thinking About What Wine: An amazing, incredibly sad, and (for me) emotionally evocative New Yorker article by Roger Rosenblatt; and specifically, a reference from a book review by the same author. In the review, Rosenblatt discusses the main character, Desmond, coming “upon a letter dug out of a pile of human ashes, written by a prisoner to his wife and asking her ‘forgiveness for not sufficiently appreciating their life together.’ Desmond cherishes one sentence in particular: ‘If there have been, at various times, trifling misunderstandings in our life, now I see how one was unable to value the passing time.’” As I take another sip of wine, I propose a toast and wish for all of  us for the ability to properly value our passing time.

More of the Same? Obviously this is a longer, more free-flowing tasting note than the usual fare. Please leave comments letting me know if you enjoyed this post or if you would prefer that I stick to the wine and keep my thoughts on the meaning of life to my introspective self.

And One More Thing. As I sip the last of the Pomum, some lovely chocolate notes are emerging. Get your hands on this wine if you can find it.

2004 OS Winery Ulysses Sheridan Vineyard – $50 @ Metropolitan Market

Rating: 4

Big, fresh, minty nose, with hints of red cherries. The palate is rich and juicy, with those same red cherries exploding all over the place. Hints of licorice and zingy, spicy acidity. Finishes with smooth, sweet tannins.

This wine was surprisingly similar to the Quilceda Creek Merlot from Tuesday night. The Ulysses is a Bordeaux blend, with 45% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 20% Cabernet Franc. I see Ulysses as the exuberant nephew to the more restrained Uncle Quilceda, but the aroma and flavor profiles are not too different, and both are tremendous examples of Washingon merlot at work. Really delicious stuff that was great on its own and with a Spanish Chorizo and White Bean Stew.