Two Plugs (but only one is shameless)

Let’s dispense with the shameless plug first. Today at Full Pull Wines, we opened our mailing list for the first time. People who sign up now will be able to participate in our month-long beta-test at launch, which should happen later in the summer. The plan is to work out some of the kinks of the business model during the beta, so I need to keep the list relatively small during that period, which means I will close the list if it starts to reach critical mass. If you’re interested in being part of the beta, probably best to sign up sooner rather than later.

Now for the non-shameless (and yet also non-shameful; how does that work?) plug. Tonight is the virtual tasting over at Washington Wine Report. I just picked up my bottle of 2007 Charles Smith Boom Boom Syrah, and you should too!

Report from an All-Too-Brief Stop in Walla Walla

In between dodging rattlesnakes and climbing Palouse buttes over the long weekend, I managed to sneak in a few hours of wine-tasting in Walla Walla. If you want a more comprehensive report on the Walla Walla, check out Sean Sullivan’s sneak preview of his Spring Release report, the full version of which should come out soon. If you want to hear about the three wineries we had time to visit, read on.

JLC

For my money, this is the best under-the-radar winery in Washington. Every wine coming out of Spofford Station (the estate vineyards) the last few years seems to be outstanding, and the Syrahs are especially mind-boggling. The 2005 Syrah Spofford Station was recently released and was the highlight of the tasting for me. Smelling this wine is like walking into a diner at 9 AM on a Saturday; just waves of breakfast meats rolling out of the glass. At $32, this is very good quality-price-ratio territory.

Tamarack Cellars

After loving their 2006 DuBrul Vineyard Reserve at Taste Washington, I was intrigued to visit this winery, and I wasn’t disappointed. They were pouring an impressive lineup of wines, with the 2006 Merlot (pure, focused red fruit; $28), 2005 Syrah (peppered bacon, dark fruit; $28), and the DuBrul Reserve (the dark lord; black fruit and smoke; $50) as the standouts.

K Vintners

Charles Smith was alternately pouring and prepping for a visit from Jay Miller of Wine Advocate. The heavy hitters from this lineup were the 2007 The Boy Grenache (tons of earth and red fruit; $45), 2006 Guido (80% Sangiovese, 20% Syrah; massively tannic; needs time, but fascinating enough right now; $40), and 2007 Syrah Pheasant Vineyard ($35).

The Pheasant Syrah was a real show-stopper: an incredibly generous wine, with waves of blue and purple fruit. Pheasant Vineyard is one of the Wahluke Slope sites farmed by the Milbrandt brothers, and the quality of the fruit blew me away completely. This is actually one of K’s cheaper Syrahs, and I highly recommend it.

Walla Walla Targets

I’m about to head to eastern Washington for a Kelli-birthday road-trip. It will mostly be a hiking trip, but we will be spending a few precious hours in Walla Walla. My order of priority right now is 1) JLC (what the hell is going on with this winery? have they released the 2005 Syrah Spofford Station yet?); 2) Trust/Rollat tasting room; 3) Waters; 4) Gramercy. Time permitting, I have K, Buty, and Sleight of Hand on the radar as well.

Anyone want to advocate for additions/replacements to this list?

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

2005 Morrison Lane Cinsault – $27 @ Winery

Rating: 3

Loads of cherry licorice on the nose, and those aromas carried through on a fairly linear palate. A variety of brown spices and slight green notes also appeared on the palate: cumin, nutmeg, coriander. This was a palate-expander that is definitely worth trying, but I found it to be a little flat, and a little one-note.

Cinsault is a grape best known for its use as a blending varietal, especially in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in south-central France. Browsing CellarTracker, it looks like maybe 15-20 producers in the US and another 15-20 in France have tried bottling this grape varietally. I can see the attraction as a blender, because it would put some of those licorice and spice notes into the background instead of in the foreground.

Morrison Lane is a Walla Walla winery (and vineyard) that seems to have a soft-spot for grapes that are a bit on the fringes in Washington, including Roussanne, Nebbiolo, Carmenère, Cinsault, Counoise, Dolcetto, and Sangiovese. If you’re a bit bored with Cabs, Merlots, and Chardonnays, Morrison Lane would be a good place to check out!

1 Room, 2 Bloggers, 3 Wines

I had the pleasure last week of tasting through some wines with the sharp-palated Sean Sullivan of Washington Wine Report. Kelli and Sean’s friend Lindy rounded out our foursome, and Lindy was kind enough to host us. As per the usual routine, I won’t give numerical ratings to wines that were provided free of charge, but all three of these wines were great, each in its own way.

We started by drinking two wines side-by-side: NV Ensemble Cellars Release Two and 2005 Pomum Cellars Shya Red. Both are gorgeous Bordeaux blends. The Ensemble had a monstrous nose that exploded out of the glass with earth, tobacco, coffee, and dark fruit aromas. The palate was elegant, with everything in balance: good acid, more dark fruit, and a spicy cocoa finish. Ensemble makes just one wine, and it is a stunningly complicated blend of three vintages (2003-05), three grapes, and seven vineyards. I can only assume that blending trials require 762 glasses, 72 hours, and 1 Oracle database.

I didn’t take detailed notes on the Pomum since this was my second tasting of that wine, but whereas the Ensemble’s strengths were subtlety, finesse, and elegance, the Pomum exulted in its exuberance; in its big acids, its bright red fruits, its spice-cabinet finish.

We finished up with the 2006 Va Piano Syrah Estate Grown, a wine that I believe is only available to mailing list members. This had a crazy nose of charcoal, mushrooms, and flowers. The palate seemed a little disjointed, but we popped-and-poured and had to leave before this really had time to open up. It has the potential to evolve in some very interesting directions.

All told, a great night of tasting.

http://wawinereport.blogspot.com/

2007 Pacific Rim Riesling Wallula Vineyard – $19 @ McCarthy & Schiering

Rating: 4

Note: this is not the biodynamic version of the Wallula Riesling, which generally retails at more than $30.

Decadent nose of peaches that have just begun their noble decline towards rotting. On top of all that fruit and funk, there is a fresh, saline character to the nose that is gorgeous. On the palate, the fruit is in the background, and it’s the minerals and acid that shine. This is dry Riesling, and it’s awfully good.

Dude News: Drink Wine, Live Longer

Wine Spectator reports on a Dutch study that followed men for 40 years and concluded that wine drinkers outlived their abstaining counterparts by five years.

I am pursuing my own similar study related to bacon. Results forthcoming…