03/25/06 (Saturday)
- Stevens "424"
& Woodhouse Dussek Syrah Release Weekend
I actually managed to stay in town for a
weekend, and what better thing to do on
a sunny Saturday afternoon than hit the
wineries. My wife and I (yes I am married,
sorry ladies) started out at Stevens
Winery where Tim Stevens was releasing
his Red Blend wine “424”. With
a blend of grapes sourced from some of the
best vineyards in the state, this wine is
one of Tim’s best yet. And of course
in typical Stevens fashion, there was great
music, people having fun, and gracious pours
of wine! From there we made our way over
to Woodhouse
Family Cellars for the Dussek Syrah
release party. I was very excited to try
this one, as the Dussek Cab is one of my
favorites. As I suspected, this was a great
wine and will be one to stock up on! It
only made sense to go from there over to
Redhook Brewery. We tasted the 06’
Blonde Ale...great vintage! Marcus, who
was also in the area tasting (at new winery Des
Voigne Cellars), stopped by for some
Blonde too. -JC
03/24/06 (Friday)
- An Afternoon
of Tasting at Exceptional New Winery Willis
Hall
Josh and I took the afternoon off from our
real world jobs to pay a visit to Marysville
winery Willis
Hall, an upcoming WineCOW.com featured
winery, and winemaker John Bell. We first
met John a month ago at the Boutique Winery
Showcase in Seattle’s Ballard District,
where we were impressed with not only his
exceptional wines but also his attitude
on winemaking and the Washington wine industry.
What’s even more impressive, given
the overall scope and quality of his wines,
is that this year was his first commercial
release. John Bell is currently featured
in Seattle Magazine (April 2006) as Best
New Winemaker. WineCOW would like to congratulate
John Bell on this accomplishment and remind
you to look forward to our Featured Winery
article on up-and-coming Willis Hall. -MP
03/22/06 (Tuesday)
- Congratulations
Barnard Griffin for PNW Winery of the Year!
In the recent issue of Wine Press Northwest
(a regional wine publication) Washington
winery Barnard
Griffin was voted the 2006 Pacific Northwest
Winery of the Year. In 2005, Barnard Griffin
received 43 medals in different regional,
national and international competitions,
including a "Top 100" vote from
Wine Spectator for their 2003 Merlot. This
is quite an accomplishment given the fact
that this wine, along with most of their
offerings, are priced so affordably (ranging
between $10-$20). Other award winnners included
"Washington Winery of the Year"
Snoqualmie
Vineyards and "Winery to Watch"
Five
Star Cellars. -MP
03/20/06 (Monday)
- Rattlesnake
Hills Becomes Washington’s Ninth Official
AVA
Congratulations to Rattlesnake
Hills for becoming the state’s
ninth federally recognized American Viticultural
Area (AVA) today! Rising high atop the northern
edge of the Yakima River Valley in south-central
Washington, Rattlesnake Hills covers an
expanse of 68,500 acres, and features 17
wineries, 29 vineyards and approximately
1,500 bearing acres. Please stay tuned for
our upcoming Featured Region article on
WineCOW.com. -MP
03/19/06 (Sunday)
- Prefunking
in the Rattlesnake Hills
With the official AVA designation of Rattlesnake
Hills a day away, WineCOW made the quick
two and a half hour drive to Zillah, Washington
to tour the wineries, drink some wine, and
see what the hype is all about. Gail Puryear
of Bonair winery arranged a full day of
touring and tasting for us. The morning
started with a 9am tasting at Portteus Vineyards.
(We are willing to make certain sacrifices
to maintain the integrity of WineCOW and
if drinking wine at 9am is required then
that is just what we have to do.) The day
progressed with tasting and vineyard tours
at Silver Lake, Two Mountain, Hyatt, and
finally finishing with a home cooked lunch
and tasting at Bonair. On our way out we
also managed to swing by Wineglass Cellars
just for kicks. Zillah and the Rattlesnake
Hills AVA is a great place to visit for
a day of touring and tasting and it is an
easy day trip if you live in Seattle. They
even offer a passport that gives you discounts
at 10 wineries and a wineglass once you
visit all ten. -JC
03/18/06 (Saturday)
- Mark Ryan Release Party
Mark
Ryan Winery threw a great party this
weekend, as usual, in celebration of their
recent releases of the 2004 Wild Eyed Syrah,
2004 The Dissident (a red blend formerly
known as Middle River) and their first-ever
white wine, a 2005 Viognier. Their new winery
space, located at the very end (on the back
side) of the same warehouse complex, was
a little hard to find but that didn’t
stop the hundreds of people that showed
up to celebrate. With an encore appearance
from Mark’s mom, chef Suzanne, and
her famous slider cheeseburgers, along with
barrel samples of their upcoming 2004 Long
Haul and Dead Horse, this was definitely
a must on anyone’s list. But, if you
were one of the lucky few to miss out on
this event then just be sure to make it
out to Woodinville for the Stevens Winery
release party in honor of their new red
table wine “424”. -MP
03/11/06 (Saturday)
- A Couple Quality Stops in Woodinville
After taking the dogs for a romp through
Marymoore Dog Park we headed north to Woodinville
for a little wine tasting. I had made previous
arrangements to stop by Stevens
Winery to see how things were going
in preparation of their upcoming release.
Along the way however, I noticed that Matthews
Cellars was open for tasting, so I made
a sharp right into their parking lot off
Woodinville Redmond Road. Matt Losso, winemaker
and owner, was just on his way out, but
lucky for me there were 5 different bottles
open for tasting, including their new Sauvignon
Blanc and award winning 2002 Columbia Valley
Bordeaux style blend. I spent a little longer
than intended chattering away with Christina,
Matthew’s new events and marketing
coordinator, but eventually I hit the road
back on my way. Before reaching Stevens
however, I was definitely tempted to stop
into several of the other wineries that
were open nearby, but running late I decided
to stay the course. But, this is definitely
a great area to taste with numerous Woodinville
wineries in such close proximity to one
another. At Stevens I was instantly greeted
(as always) with a hug and a handshake from
Paige and Tim Stevens. The rest of our time
was spent talking about their upcoming release
March 25th & 26th, along with Passport
the following weekend. This is definitely
a busy time of year in Woodinville. If you
can, I highly recommend taking the time
to stop in both of these great Washington
wineries, whether you’re out tasting
or just happen to be passing by. -MP
03/07/06 (Tuesday)
- A Vegas VINO Excursion
Josh and I made a quick trip down to Vegas
for the Bar & Nightclub industry tradeshow,
which turned out to be more fun than trade.
Actually this is an event that we’ve
made it to now for the last 3 years in a
row. We wouldn’t miss it for the world!
You can’t beat every beer and liquor
label known to man handing out free samples,
along with fast food vendors and plenty
of nifty accessories. This year’s
event also happened to have a wine focus.
Unfortunately most of the wine being tasted
on the show room floor was total garbage.
We did find a couple stomach able options,
but nothing to brag about…except for
maybe the Tequila flavored Agave Wine (yes
we said it, Agave Wine) called "Azul"
that worked great for margaritas. The VINO
party (and wine tasting) that night was
also a disappointment with a lame excuse
for food, including stale bread and cheese
that vanished in the first 5 minutes, and
less than extraordinary wine. CSM did make
a good standing with their Sauvignon Blanc
and their new 14 Hands, which is only available
in restaurants (definitely worth a try though).
Overall Vegas was Vegas and anything else
that happened will stay there. ;) -MP
03/06/06 (Monday)
- Washington Featured in Wine Enthusiast
In the upcoming issue of Wine Enthusiast
magazine (April 2006) Washington shines
as one of the main features. First, in an
article about European winemakers and their
migration to the Pacific Northwest, Washington
gains notice as a place to break from the
traditional mold and make new age premium
wines. Second, in the Buying Guide over
a hundred Washington wines have been rated
and reviewed. Some of the top scores were
collected by such notable wineries as Andrew
Will, Beresan, Cadence, Cayuse, Dunham,
Robert Karl, Barrister, Sineann and Buty.
Pick up this issue as soon as it reaches
the news stands. -MP
03/05/06 (Sunday)
- Betz Family Winery Release Party
Bob
Betz, our current featured winemaker/winery,
recently held a two day release party for
his new wines the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon
Père de Famille and the 2003 Clos
de Betz. The wines were great, which is
to be expected, but besides the obvious
high quality of his wines we were also impressed
by the humility of Bob himself. He definitely
considers himself fortunate to work within
the Washington wine industry and around
such great people. We had a great time chatting
with Bob, the event volunteers and several
of the attendees and recommend to anyone
that they try Bob’s wines or volunteer
at his winery if the opportunity arises.
-MP
03/01/06 (Wednesday)
- Heineken Light Launch Party
At WineCOW definitely love our wine, but
that's not the only thing. Sometimes nothing
beats an ice-cold beer! If that's wrong
then I don't want to be right! Heineken
is releasing a new premium light beer and
to celebrate they through a launch party
in downtown Seattle at the Showbox. Besides
all you could drink beer there was also
live music from the Presidents of the United
States of America. The beer was actually
pretty good for a light beer. -MP
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