Supporting Cast

Hey, that’s you!

One year ago, in June of 2008, something remarkable happened. A new magazine hit the stands. This magazine. WINO Magazine.

The story of WINO isn’t altogether different than that of many upstarts. The evolution is one of paper types. What is now a comprehensive, didactic, bi-monthly publication on sleek, glossy FSC-approved paper stock, existed on about fifty pages of all-purpose 8.5×11” copy paper in the form of a business plan until just a year ago, which in turn can trace its lineage back just a few months to a wine-soaked, ink-tagged cocktail napkin—the whiteboard of sudden inspiration.

We are frequently asked, with ostensibly genuine curiosity, how WINO came about. The inquiry often dons the unsavory but amused tone that bespeaks the real question, “Are you out of your friggin’ minds?” In an age where print media seems to be falling by the wayside (if you listen to the naysayers who are putting all their eggs in a basket of interwebs), why would we decide to publish a magazine?

Label of the Month: Sapolil Cellars “Papa Loves Mambo”

SAPOLIL CELLARS
PAPA LOVES MAMBO

Art is just so damn subjective, wouldn’t you agree? There’s really no other way to start a thought when hoping to discuss objectively the merits of an “artist series” wine label such as the one above by Walla Walla’s Sapolil Cellars. While there are some timeless pieces that we all seem to agree are worthy of pure objectively, things like “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh and the “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci, it becomes a little more difficult to come to an overall positive consensus on, say, your nephew’s finger painting mounted on the refrigerator. Adorable as it may be, it sucks.

Artist series labels sometimes scratch the art critic itch in all of us, which would seem to throw all of the otherwise complementary marketing efforts to the wind. “Here is my heavier-than-average-bottle, my glass topper, my Red Mountain fruit, and a label that was done by my dog.” It just doesn’t make sense.

O Wines

O Wines
Stacy Lill and Kathy Johanson

If you’ve ever had a mentor, raise your hand. If you’ve ever had a mentor who sells wine to raise money enough to help put you through the college of your choice, get up, do a dance and thank your lucky stars.

O Wines, the brainchild of Stacy Lill and Kathy Johanson, does just that—a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of their “O Wine” goes to assist low-income, high-potential girls from disadvantaged walks of life in pursuing their dreams of higher education. Fittingly, the “O” stands for “opportunity.” Partnering with the College Success Foundation here in Washington, the O Wines Endowment is combined with other such scholarships and awards, allowing those aided by the CSF to attend nearly any school they choose.

Terroir Matters

By Doug Haugen

A trained geologist with degrees in Earth Science and Soil Science including a Ph.D from UC Davis, and a résumé that includes a professorship in geology, agriculture and soil science, years of scientific research, consulting on a majority of the AVA petitions in the State of Washington and finally starting a vineyard consulting company called Vinitas, it seemed a natural matter of course for the legendary Alan Busacca to dabble in the wine side of wine. Dabbing, however, just isn’t his thing, so he cannonballed right in.

Having worked so closely with vine and soil, Busacca understands the influence and impact of terroir on the finished juice, so it makes sense that his debut in the winery business emphasizes just that, and how.

It’s a Buyer’s Market

The economy has shifted focus back to what’s important, the wine.
By Christopher Chan

Regardless of how “big” you think the Washington State wine industry is ($3 billion total economic impact), it wasn’t until recently that our fair state has become the United States’ second leading producer in terms of volume, far behind the Golden State of California and just last year surpassing the venerable state of New York. Yes, that’s correct, New York has quite the “old” wine industry. How? Well, something about Ellis Island, immigrants and vitis vinifera root stocks stowed in suitcases…the old country folk didn’t need to go far to find a new country for wine.

The Thing About Vineyards

On a challenge, we headed out into the dirt to talk to the guys who grow some of the best fruit in the world.

By Doug Haugen

“Wine is made in the vineyard.” This is a common adage in the wine world, perhaps trite, maybe cliché, but probably one of the most succinct ways of communicating the importance of the virgin fruit in the overall lifecycle of wine. Another way to phrase it is, “You can make bad wine out of good grapes, but you can’t make good wine out of bad grapes.” The phrase is ubiquitous among winemakers, viticulturists and professional tasters. No doubt you’ve heard it in tasting rooms or wine parties.

Here’s why: Winemaking is a much more complicated process than just leaving a pitcher of Welch’s in the fridge for too long. Nearly every stage of it is an effort to bring aspects of the fruit out in some way. The acids, tannins, sugar and alcohol, let alone all of the nuanced flavors that can be drawn out and expressed, all of these things are only there but by the grace of the grape.

Vin et Robe: A Pictorial

Photos by Kyle Goldie.
Dresses by Sabrina Del Rey.
Locale DeLille Estate, Woodinville, WA.

Trade Route Brewing Company

Ain’t nothin’ but a Chi thing, baby

By Cody Ellerd

When customers are drinking like fish and having a splashing good time, some Buddhists believe that it is the Laughing Buddha (a.k.a. the Patron Saint of Bartenders) who is responsible for all the fun.

It is precisely this figure, with his gleaming golden skin and proud beer belly, who welcomes visitors to the Trade Route Brewing Company, a small, two-year-old craft brewery in South Seattle that is becoming a local favorite among fans of unusual beers and Asian cuisine.

Your Mother Doesn’t Work Here

The Northwest Grape Foundation Service and WSU are keeping Washington’s vineyards clean

By Brian C. Clark, Washington State University

The Northwest Grape Foundation Service is part of the National Clean Plant Network, a nationwide effort to supply agricultural producers with “clean,” virus-free plant material. Considerable scientific expertise and rigor is needed to thoroughly screen plant material for viruses and to propagate the clean material. The clean material is then released to certified commercial nurseries throughout the Pacific Northwest, where it is grown for sale to producers. Considering the prevalence of viruses and the expense of keeping them at bay, the National Clean Plant Network is not only a great investment, it is a necessary one.

Late in 2008, the organization Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) issued an analysis of the 2009 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, also known as the Farm Bill. The organization focuses on government waste of tax payers’ money, a laudable form of activism.

Seattle Wine Awards

Breaking it down

By Doug Haugen

It smelled like a winery in full production. When we walked up the stairs to the third floor of the Rainier Club, we realized that the directions the concierge gave us were wholly unnecessary. Like Toucan Sam, we just had to follow our noses.

It was the yeasty, fruity smell of upwards of 300 bottles of wine, the second half of an extensive two-day evaluation, and it was drawing us up the stairs like the call of the sirens. Walking into the Grand Dining Room, we were met with tables blooming like tulip fields with Riedel stems filled with wine, seated with groups of relaxed but studious evaluators with the smugly serene, sagely amicable expressions of people who think they’ve landed the best jobs in the world. The sunlight streaming through the tall, ballroom style windows gave them a cherubic glow. It was like walking into a cocktail party in heaven.

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