Screw-Caps: The Verdict

Some things have a bad reputation, and deservedly so. For example, you wouldn’t expect to go too far on a Ukrainian motorcycle. When at the bookstore, you don’t see magazine racks filled with editions covering British cuisine. In Vegas nobody’s lining up to place a large bet on Detroit to win the Super Bowl next season. It’s not that any one of these examples couldn’t turn out well; it’s just that their reputations keep us from reaching into our wallets and giving them a vote of confidence with a few of our hard-earned dollars.

There are times, however, when reputations are undeserved. For instance sometimes a slider from White Castle hits the spot far better than any food from a five star restaurant. Sometimes Pitbulls are wimpy, meek little lambs. Sometimes Toyotas don’t accelerate wildly into that obstacle in front of them. Lord help me for writing this, but sometimes I’ve even tapped my foot pleasantly to a Miley Cyrus song.

Screw-caps on wine bottles are another perfect example. For years only low-end swill was bottled with a screw-cap and it became a classic case of guilt by association. Over time, though, more and more wineries use screw-caps on higher-end wines. Not only are the caps more cost- efficient bottle closures for wineries to use, they also eliminate the estimated 2-3 percent of wasted wine due to bad corks.  Ruling out a wine simply because it has a screw-cap closes the door on many well-made, high-quality wines.

So next time you’re watching that Tom Green movie on your Kazakhstani DVD player while eating pizza from Iceland, try one of these screw-cap wines. You won’t be disappointed. At least not with the wine.

Badger Mountain 2009, Merlot ($15.99): Take a can of stewed plums, sprinkle it with a dash of oak dust, and smoke it out of a tobacco pipe. Do this and you’ll get an idea of the rich, complex nose this wine displays.

Trentatude 2006, Old Patch Red ($12.99): A blend of five varietals, this wine is packed with flavors of ripe blackberries. Drinking this wine reminds me of listening to one of those eclectic college radio stations. Just when the fruit is getting too soft like a triple play of Air Supply, Green Day shows up in the form of strong, solid tannins to keep everything in check and give it some backbone.

To read more of Kris Barber’s insights on wine, visit his blog at winerogue.wordpress.com.

Taste Washington: A Carnival for Washington Wine Lovers

Just a dozen years ago, in 1999, Washington State was the proud home of 160 bonded wineries. Nine years later, when we started this little publication in June 2008, the list had grown to an exciting roster of over 540 wineries. We observed and celebrated as that number hit 600, and now the number is climbed well into the 700s.

These numbers speak to Washington’s enthusiasm for vino, but what does it say about quality? We’re not the only ones that have been singing the praises of Washington Wine, some of the biggies have too. In September of last year, the Washington Wine Commission reported that Jay Miller of Wine Advocate, one of America’s most influential wine publications, rated 469 Washington wines above 90 points, up 40% from 2009. He also put 561 wines on the recommended list, up almost 45% from the year before. He had nice things to say, too: Riesling “is capable of big things in Washington,” and “the overall quality of Washington Merlot is high and better on average than that produced in Napa and Sonoma.” He said that Cabernet Sauvignon “leads the parade,” that Cab Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot have “become hot tickets,” and that “in due time Syrah is likely to approach the Bordeaux varieties in overall quality.”

In December, Wine Spectator wrote:

The state may still be better known for apples and computer codes, but over the past couple of decades it has become a world-class wine region, and one that is only going to get better with time. Whether you favor Riesling or Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah, Washington can deliver pure fruit flavors and distinctive character at prices that won’t break the bank.

Of course, all of this is just preaching to the choir. We in Washington have known this for quite some time, and we’ve been enthusiastically imbibing in the juice as if each vintage, each glass, was our last.

The fact is, for those who love Washington wine, it’s been a little difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of expansion. It’s a challenge to keep up with the current releases of all your favorite wineries, let alone try all the new ones. Every wine event I go to, like the recent Seattle Food and Wine Experience, Exotic Wines Festival and Taste Walla Walla, I circle the room looking for wineries I haven’t tried before, then new wines from old favorites. It’s no easy task, but a worthwhile and delicious one.

I write about a lot of wine events, it’s true, but perhaps the mother of all wine events in the state–the summum bonum–comes to us in the form of Taste Washington.

Alois Lageder 2009 Pinot Grigio

In my younger days of this blog – a loquacious and long-winded three years ago – I had a slight obsession with Italians. Men, wine, food, you name it – it enraptured me. I think I have older posts that cry rather poignantly about my affection toward all things Mediterranean but just in a desperate attempt to better understand something that I wanted to know so badly. Kind of like a junior high crush on the guy who’s pencil you borrow every day but still doesn’t know your name.

Working for a wine company that specializes in the patron saint beverage in Italy has come in handy by introducing me to the lesser known regions of a country so wealthy in famous wines. This truly brought me back to my original trance under the sultriness of Italian wines and the culture wrapped into it.

An area so distinctive yet so blurry in its geography is the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northeastern Italy (think the right flap of the top of the boot). Resting on the Alpine border of the country, Trentino-Alto Adige touches Tyrol, Austria to the north and Graubunden, Switzerland to the northwest with Lombardy and Veneto to the west and south, respectively.

Needless to say, language is a bit of a toss up. The main language groups are about 60% Italian, 35% German, with a small minority speaking Ladin (a dialect combined of several neighboring languages).

Wine and Nerds: A Good Pairing

Some friends and I were hanging out at a buddy’s house when we started giving him a hard time about his collection of action figures he kept on his bedroom shelves. He’d been buying and selling them all his life. There they sat, still in the box he purchased them in, unused and protected in their special place. After looking at one I put it back on the shelf, apparently in the wrong position because he immediately scooped it up and placed it back in its original hallowed spot. It seemed crazy to me that someone would just keep them almost hermetically sealed and pristine for so long. Some of them even carried a signature from an actor who played a role on the TV series the figure came from. He almost went ballistic when a friend suggested we open one to see it more closely. It was crazy.

He tried to defend himself by turning to me and asking me how many bottles of wine I had tucked away in my cellar. I wasn’t following his point. He then asked if we could open one of my Conn Valley Cabernets. Indignantly I told him he was mad to even think of already opening something from the 2005 vintage. Next he suggested we open a 2004 Cerbaiona Brunello.

“Maybe in ten years,” I retorted, laughing.

“How about a Chateau Branaire?” he asked.

“Sorry, man. Those are in their original wooden box. I might sell them someday,” I replied (years ago I bought those at a great price, and I’m sure some adoring fan would be happy to have them).

“Then let’s have your bottle of Dashe Zin,” he continued.

“Michael Dashe signed that!” I cried. “Are you crazy?”

“Oh, that’s right,” he said. “You keep that right under the Nebbiolo, correct?”

Jeez, was this guy insane? Everyone knows you don’t keep a full bodied California Zinfandel in the medium bodied Italian varietal section.

Don’t get me wrong. He’s a nice guy. He’s just a little over protective with his toy collection. And recommending that we open my signed bottle of Dashe? Honestly!

This week’s recommendation is for the nerdier wine enthusiast.

Marquis de Fonsequille 2007, Vacqueyras ($17.99): Vacqueyras is a little known and under-appreciated appellation in the southern Rhone region of France. MdF is big and tannic, yet structured and balanced. It has a meaty gaminess wrapped up in a medium body: A great match for red meats.

To read more of Kris Barber’s insights on wine, visit his blog at winerogue.wordpress.com.

 

How to Stalk Erin Tonight: El Gaucho’s Legendary Swirl

Thank you the select few Seattle Public Relations firms for believing I am a writer and inviting me to fun events that I wouldn’t normally be able to afford.

This week, it’s El Gaucho Seattle’s celebration of Washington Wine Month, dubbed as their annual Legendary Swirl event. The restaurant has invited some of the finest producers to pour their best juice amongst the steakhouse’s most sensuous bites.

Why I’m going:

1. I have never eaten at El Gaucho, not even with their prudently priced Happy Hour menu.
2. It’s over by 7:30 – wise planning for a Tuesday night when I still get to get to trivia at the Attic in Madison Park.
3. Big and little fish will be co-exiting in a smaller pond, with names like Chateau Ste. Michelle positioned next to Cavu Cellars and Kerloo Cellars.
4. Corliss: Exclusive estate wines brought to you by the masterful hands of Michael Corliss who maintains a devoted cult following to his Walla Walla wines. A favorite of Paul Gregutt’sand Seattle Magazine’s, the closest I’ve come to Corliss is their little sister brand of Tranche, which I have savored each time I get to taste it.
5. A’Maurice: Young, attractive, female winemaker. Gotta love that when she’s also extremely talented. Winemaker Anna Schafer also holds the title of co-founder with her crew and holsters harvest ammunition from Bordeaux-style wines in Mendoza to Tibetan Barley wine.
6. SYZYGY Wines: “When earth, moon and sun align – it’s syzygy. When earth, vine and wine align – it’s syzygy!” Charmingly kitschy and pronounced “szz-eee-gee,” winemaker and owner Zach Brettler takes his approach on Walla Walla wines to a celestial degree both in branding and in his heavenly wines. Hopeful to taste the 93-plus point Walla Walla Syrah for the past three years running.

Assuming you have nothing better to do tonight from 5:30-7:30 and you won’t be there yourself, check my notes on Twitter tonight!

Taste Walla Walla: An Entire AVA In One Room

In the summer of 2009, we traveled to Walla Walla to see what all the fuss was about. For a wino, rolling into Walla² was like Charlie walking through the gates of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Three days of tour de force wine tasting barely scratched the surface of Washington’s wine kaaba. Starting with the downtown sector, moving to the airport district and ending with the southside, with short periods of rest, hydration and bottle drop-off at the Juniper Guest House, we were amazed by the town, the winemakers, and most importantly, the juice.

The Walla Walla Valley is home to a list of wineries longer than Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s shooting arm, with the combined talent of the All Star team. Three days isn’t nearly enough time to spend some QT at each of the 100+ vinolabs operating in the valley, or even to pop into them all. But, even if you were to throw itineraries to the whistling wind and take a flight-of-the-bumblebee approach, you are inevitably going to buzz back home with more eye-popping nectar in the trunk than you know what to do with (helpful hint: drink it).

If you haven’t been to Walla Walla, or if it’s been a while, you should go. But, if you live in the greater Seattle area, you’ll be happy to know that Walla² is coming to you in the form a roadshow called Taste Walla Walla. Fifty of the Valley’s wineries have been caravaning around the countryside pouring their juice for both consumers and those in the trade. Already having been through New York and Portland, Taste Walla Walla will be pitching camp in Seattle on March 13 at SoDo Park from 4:30-7:00. In a single room, you can taste through nearly half of the WWV’s producers, get a firm grip on the fruit and style of Walla Walla, and find your favorites to look for on the shelves of your local wine retailer. It’s a great opportunity to try the new releases of the wineries you know and love, and to taste the portfolios of some of the new ventures that are popping up faster than dandelions on a fertilized lawn.

Anatomy of a Wine Buzz

We all know one of the big attractions to wine is that it just tastes good. But let’s be honest; alcohol is an intoxicant. It also makes us feel good. Thanks to a few college classes in biology, anatomy and physiology, and zoology I have learned exactly how alcohol affects us on a physiological level. Let me give you a quick run-through.

We take a sip of our favorite wine and immediately the alcohol comes into contact with glands located directly under the tongue. These glands are responsible for producing hormones that help us control the volume of our speech. Upon contact, the alcohol interferes with these glands by asking them, “Are you really going out wearing that shirt?” causing them to retract and produce less of this badly needed hormone. Soon we are talking way too loud.

Then, receptors in your spleen detect the missing hormone and immediately release chemicals into the bloodstream. In the blood, these chemicals simulate a reality TV show, fooling the brain into believing that it’s both richer and more popular than it really is. People with an excess of these chemicals have an elevated frequency of saying, “You guys are my best friends,” and display a marked decrease in financially responsible spending.

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