Jamie Peha with her husband Benson Grinspan. Photo by Team Photogenic.

Jamie Peha is doing it again. Or, rather, she’s doing something that she hasn’t done before. Or, more precisely, she’s doing something that no one has done before. But, doing what nobody has ever done is what Jamie Peha always does, and we’ve come to expect nothing less from her. I mean, if I were to tell you that Stephen Hawking just made a new discovery and published a theory about how all the tiny bits of matter in the universe play together at recess, you’d rush, I’m sure, to read the details of his groundbreaking (spacebreaking?) idea, but not before an initial, natural shrug of the shoulders mumbling, “Well, of course he did.” So we’ll stick with our original thesis statement and suffice it to say that Jamie Peha is doing it again. Capisce?

This may sound like a wholehearted endorsement of Jamie Peha as if she were a candidate in a local or national election. (“Peha for Prez!” does have a nice ring to it.) Maybe it is, but it’s not unqualified. I’m reminded of the Hair Club for Men commercials, “I’m not just the president of Hair Club for Men, I’m also a client.” Well, we’re not just big fans of the magnificent food and wine events that Peha dreams up and cobbles together; as a matter of full disclosure, it should be mentioned that our enthusiasm has led us to take up our post as media sponsors for damn-near every event she’s done since we met her last year, such as the Seattle Food & Wine Experience, Merlot Gone Mad and Wine Rocks. And “Blend,” on September 12, is no exception.

I sat down with Jamie Peha recently to shoot the breeze and drink some vino. We met at Sixth Avenue Wine Seller in downtown Seattle, and shared a bottle of Sparkman Cellars 2007 Wilderness Red Blend, a delicious and smooth blend of Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet Sauvignon–a kitchen-sink wine, if the kitchen is in Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace.

That’s when she started telling me all about Blend.

It’s been said that a winemaker’s talent is proven with blends. As easy as it is for us to pop into our local wine shop and pick up a single-varietal bottle of juice to go with dinner that night, it’s just as simple (comparatively) for a winemaker to produce them. That’s not to say it’s easy; there’s still much brow-furrowing, sleepless nights and unrelenting anxiety that a vintage will live through adolescence and find a well-balanced maturity in the glass. But, blending takes it a step further. To perhaps take the parenting metaphor a bit past its usefulness, it’s not just making sure the kids get their homework done before putting them on a bus to public school; it’s volunteering at the school, going to PTA meetings, writing the curriculum and weighing in on the little yard-apes that your kids associate with at recess.

The art of blending is like genetic engineering in that winemakers try to Frankenstein together one gorgeous wine out of the best parts of others. We’ll add this one for structure, this one for acidity, this one for color, this one for mouthfeel, this one for the fun of it…the possibilities are endless. By selecting the wines that will pony up at the table with the biggest ante, winemakers hope to build a wine with the biggest payoff.

I asked some winemakers once–innocently, I maintain–if they blended wines to compensate for flaws in any of the components. The immediate answer was a predictable collective gasp of shock and indignation. The short answer is “no.” The philosophy behind blending wines is to add greatness, not mitigate deficiencies–to build a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Fair enough.

If blends are superior wines, then why aren’t all wines blended? Well, actually, they are. It’s harder than you might think to find a wine that is made from 100% of a single varietal. A bottle has to contain only 75% of a varietal to bear that grapes name on the label, which leaves winemakers to play around with the other 25% in order to achieve all the characteristics they’re looking for in a wine (for example, Syrah is typically co-fermented with Viognier).

To venture much beyond that 25% is, in my estimation, a pretty ballsy move, because unless it’s a classic “Bordeaux blend,” it loses recognizability on the shelf. For shoppers, picking a “Syrah” that’s only 75% Syrah is still pretty safe–it’s going to taste like a really good Syrah (or a bad one if you’re unlucky). The ability to label a wine as “Merlot,” even if there’s a little Cabernet Sauvignon in the mix, makes the wine easier to sell to those who are looking for a Merlot, and the wine, for the most part, is going to taste like Merlot. But, picking up a bottle of “Madrona” by Camaraderie Cellars, for example (a quirky and tasty blend of Dolcetto, Syrah and Merlot), is riskier, because you really don’t know what to expect or if it’s what you’re in the mood for.

So, how do you find the blends that you’re going to love if you’re not the adventurous type that’s willing to drop thirty bucks every other day to try out a new one? That’s where Jamie Peha’s Blend event comes in.

Wine events tend to be themed, mostly by place, time or the crowd it’s marketing to. Those that focus on themed wines tend to showcase a certain varietal, such as Merlot Gone Mad, The Riesling Rendezvous and others. Blend, however, is the first event I’m aware of that sings the praises exclusively of wine blends.

On September 12, you’ll have the opportunity to sip and sup for three and a half hours at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center, enjoying “the world’s best wine blends” from over forty top producers alongside tantalizing, signature nosh from the menus of Columbia Hospitality’s hotels, inns and conference centers.  But, of course, there’s more.

“Whenever I do an event,” Jamie Peha told me, “I like to have some kind of educational component. I think the wineries, too, want to impart education on people. That’s what they’re doing in the tasting rooms, and this is another way to do it.” The educational component comes in the form of two seminars prior to the blend-binge.

The first, hosted by Chateau Ste. Michelle, will take you through juice from the winery’s small wine lots and different wine tiers (Artist, Ethos, Single Vineyard, Vintage Reserve, and Columbia Valley). Then, you’ll participate in “American Idol” rounds where you’ll taste through the wine lots, then blends from each tier to get to the final blend masterpieces.

The second seminar is a hands-on blending session, where you can take the five Bordeaux varietals (Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec) into your own hands, and concoct wine blends to suit your own palate, while the pros guide you through some of the secrets of blending.

As the idea for Blend was fermenting, Jamie Peha interviewed Hillary Sjolund from DiStefano Winery on her radio show Table Talk, and asked her about blends. Hillary’s response was how much winemakers love to blend. It’s their creative outlet, allowing them to artistically express themselves. As she began to canvas others in the industry about blending, responses were much the same from the likes of Annette Bergevin of Bergevin Lane, Chris Sparkman of Sparkman Cellars (“everything’s a blend one way or another”), Brian Carter of Brian Carter Cellars and others, and all of them said in their own way what Peha paraphrased as, “it’s like taking your paint brush out and being able to paint the picture that you want to paint, and to try all these different levels and tastes and mix them and match them.” There was a consensus that it’s the most fun part of being a winemaker.

With the product of that much artistic enthusiasm concentrated in one room, Blend is sure to be a highlight of the season, if not the year. And, net proceeds will benefit the Washington Wine Industry Foundation. Be sure to get your tickets right away. We’ll see you there.

The two-year certificate programs in viticulture and enology are continuing education programs offered through Washington State University Extension. These non-credit, professional certificate programs are tailored for people who are seriously interested in working in the wine industry — grape growing and winemaking — but are not interested in obtaining a college degree.

But that doesn’t mean the mapmaker doesn’t try. Especially when there is tremendous pent up demand from Washington grape growers for a vineyard site-selection tool.

In the heart of Washington wine country, Ian Yau is mapping complexity. Photo by Brian Charles Clark/WSU.

Ian Yau is the mapmaker, and he’s a grad student based at WSU’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser. Yau is trying to wrestle a vast amount of information to the ground in order to turn raw data into useful knowledge.

“It’s a lot of spreadsheet manipulation,” Yau said, the wry understatement of his project causing a smile to play across his face.

Consider what you’d want to know if you wanted to plant a vineyard in Washington. You’d want to know, of a given plot of land, how many growing degree days it got at a certain elevation on a particular slope. You’d want to know about the soil beneath your feet: is it going to drain properly so the grape vines don’t wallow and rot? Is there hardpan or some sort of other restrictive layer close to the surface that will prevent the plants from sinking their roots deep into the soil? And what’s the soil’s water-holding capacity and pH?

The very model of a modern major variable: Three of them, in fact: climate, topology and soil. And each of those is in turn a complex system that makes site-selection prediction a number-crunchers nightmare. As Ian Yau says, “It’s a lot of spreadsheet manipulation.”

As a future wine-grape grower, you might not even know that you do, in fact, want to know these things. But Yau does, and that’s because he’s working with Joan Davenport, a WSU soil scientist who has been studying grapevines and the (“don’t call it dirt!”) soil they grow in for years.

“I saw Ian’s graduate school application and noticed he had some geographical information systems experience from his previous work for the Oregon Department of Forestry,” said Davenport. “And I thought, maybe he’d be interested in working on this site-selection project. It’s one I’ve had on my wish list for years.”

“I met with Joan, and I met with a weed scientist who also had a GIS project. So it was either wine or weeds.” Yau shrugged; no brainer.

Slope: site-selection modeling has to try to take into account the variability of hills and valleys, as air flow and temperature gradients can make part of the slope ideal and others not so good for growing grapes. Add to that further complicating factors like swales at the bottom of slopes, which can mix air in complex ways, and you’ve gotten yourself into the middle of a complex set of calculations.

“Nothing will ever replace an on-site inspection of a potential vineyard site,” Davenport said. “But with the massive growth of the industry, we get a lot of calls asking about the suitably of a site, so having this tool will help us weed out sites that obviously won’t work.”

Yau, just beginning year two of his master’s project, already has a working iteration of the site suitability model for Washington. Thomas Henick-Kling, director of WSU’s viticulture and enology program and a strong proponent of GIS, helped secure funding for Yau’s project.

“We’re testing the validity of the tool by comparing the model’s predictions with established vineyards,” Yau said. That means walking vineyards to check the accuracy of soil-type data, topology and much more, as well as interviewing experienced vineyardists about the conditions in their fields.

“Establishing a vineyard is very expensive,” Yau said, “so, of course, people want to get it right.”

Click and learn: with the site-selection map Yau is developing (above), the user clicks on a potential vineyard site (or pinpoint a site by entering its latitude and longitude) and the tool gives back a variety of information (below), including an evaluative overall rating for the site as a vineyard.

Yau has already fielded calls from landowners who want advice about which cultivars will do well on their property. The requests have helped him focus on developing the site-selection tool for specific areas. As well, he’s had help from Greg Jones, a geographer at Southern Oregon University who has worked extensively with viticulturists and has a great deal of expertise in site selection, as well as Rick Rupp, a geographic information systems coordinator in WSU’s Lab for Geospatial Research, Education, and Outreach whom Yau considers to be WSU’s go-to guy when it comes to GIS.

“Refining, refining, refining,” Yau answered when asked what comes next. The complexity of the project is daunting, simply because there are so many variables he’d like to be able to account for. “I’m narrowing this down to what is possible in the time I’ve got.”

Yau's site-selection model returns ratings for particular sites based a the data he has so painstakingly entered into the system.

Yau said the eventual goal is to make the site-selection tool publicly available, perhaps through a Web-based interface.

“But that,” he said, “is going to be a project for some other graduate student.”

Davenport agreed: “Initially, the model will be available internally for WSU research and extension people, who field these questions all of the time. Eventually, we want to have this publicly available through the Web, but we are working on that at a larger scale which will include work by Greg Jones of SOU in both Oregon and in the Puget Sound.”

The Auction of Washington Wines‘ 2010 “A Wine Odyssey” cast their usual star line-up of Thursday’s barrel picnic auction, Friday’s winemaker dinner, Saturday’s Covey Run race along the Burke-Gilman trail following with the grand finale gala event. Altogether, the 23rd annual auction raised $1.4 million for uncompensated care at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the Washington Wine Education Foundation.

As promised through name in the likes of Master of Wine Bob Betz, Executive Chef Bobby Moore of the Barking Frog and “investigative reporter” Jesse Jones of KING 5 News, the Barrel Picnic was just the spectacle I anticipated it to be for my third year in attendance, minus the scorching heat from 2008 and the melancholy drizzle of 2009.

Barrels were auctioned off by Master Sommelier Shayn Bjornholm, of the Washington Wine Commission, and auctioneer John Curley, formerly of Evening Magazine. The top five bidders then split the barrel, approximately taking home (once the wine is bottled in the near future) five cases each. The top bidder, however, takes the cake with an add-on of the intricately designed barrel head with the winery’s logo.

Considering I not only got in for free but brought my lovely new blogging friend Alicia with me to genuinely use my second media pass, we both decided to participate in some ring toss action so that we weren’t complete assholes for going to benefit on the house.

Okay, read closely because this is a tricky one – for a measly $25 donation (I’m poor, don’t judge!), you get three rings to toss at a table full of wine bottles. Oddly enough, we didn’t hit a single bottleneck but somehow we both won three bottles of wine! Woo!

Poor decision as this was nearly the first thing we did when we got to the five hour affair and three bottles in a bag does not equal a light load.

The food, brought to you by the 10-man culinary chef team of the Tulalip Resort and Casino, was pretty solid considering the quantity those guys were pumping out. Noteworthy delicacies included:

• The deconstructed potato salad with all of the fixings stuffed into a purple carved potato
• The rich man’s fried chicken that was pecan-crusted and prosciutto-wrapped, served with a raspberry beurre blanc
• Star-anise braised lamb leg that must have just came off the spit
• Smoked peppercorn salmon drizzled with an apple glaze and laid next to a fresh spring roll
• The best dessert ever created: Chocolate-coated cheesecake bit on a stick

Six plates later, I started to focus a bit more on the wine and Alicia. We hit up the few barrel sample tables I really wanted to test out. I’m greatly anticipating a few, with a few more that I think I’ll wait patiently for them to age in their bottles. Stand-out grape juice included:

• Cadaretta 2008 Springboard Red Blend Columbia Valley
• Grand Rêve 2009 Collaboration Series VI (Mourvedre, Granache, Syrah):
• Seven Hills  2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Seven Hills Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley
• Woodward Canyon 2009 “Old Vines” Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley

Another event well done in my most hedonistic manner, a grateful hedonist nonetheless and for such a worthy cause. Thank you to all of those who helped rack up $1.4 million in the name of wine education and world class child health care.

"White" next to the orange-ish lily-like flowers I also bought at Met Market!

How many wine months does this state have? Granted, March was “Taste Washington Month,” discreetly differing from its big sister “Washingtone Wine Month” in this blessed 31-day span.

Duh.

For Washington Wine Month (August – duh) I decided to conquer a few things, including a mystery I wanted to unfold.

Side note: this is my 100th bottle I’m reviewing and it falls on a grocery store brand? Hey, no hating. I’m open to all flavors, man, especially ones that sit above a $8 price tag when I’m in serious need of a heat reliever and life is burning a hole in my pocket.

And so – Metropolitan Market, a local, family-owned operation first opened its doors on Queen Anne in 1971 and now has become an award-winning grocery store with six thriving locations throughout the Seattle and Tacoma area.

With the Houghton Store taking Kirkland by storm (sorry to the PPC across the street, you got served), Met Market has received big ups from numerous local publications and recently was awarded best grocery store for the Washington Wine selection by Seattle Magazine’s Reader’s Choice 2010.

Knowing that even their personal customers – who have been coming to some specific locations for decades – love their wine selection, Metropolitan Market stepped it up one by offering their own private label of Washington wine. The wines are nonchalantly yet modestly christened by their color – the “Red” and “White.” The latter was my selection because 80 degrees is f’ing hot for me and I needed some white wine up in here.

The “White” is into its “Selection #3,” as the wine for the 2009 vintage is labeled. Co-fermented and stated to be done so in stainless steel, the “White” is 83% Chardonnay and 17% Viognier – an increasingly popular blend for Washington winemakers it seems.

Tropical fruits of pineapple and peach blow out the nose, fleshy and juicy, with red apple juice, citrus and banana. A toasted hit up front makes me think this booze spent some time in at least some neutral oak.

Even more so when you commit to the wine fully on the palate – light and crisp yet round and creamy. Malolactic fermentation? Aging on the lees? So many options to accomplish the texture… Which unfortunately dwindles after a short burst of pineapple, banana and acid.

The mystery I have uncovered is who makes this. Drumroll please… After some seriously probing of the Oracle (Google), I found out that it is none other than the folks of FMNW2 Wine Company… Aka the powerhouse that is Barnard Griffin Winery. A-ha!

I’m too quick! And for $8, this Chard-Vio was gone too quick… Get it while it’s hot. Literally.

Score: 6.5.

Illana.

1626 made a pretty hefty dent as a page in the history books.

Much like this blog entry, it started on a Thursday.

King Charles the First was crowned in February, remaining on the throne until his timely execution 23 years later (the guy attempted to start not one, but two civil wars in the greater British empire, which was of wealthy stature at that time!)

In May, the Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrived in “New Netherland,” now more commonly known as Manhattan Island. Ever heard of it?

An earthquake in Naples killed nearly 10,000 in July.

November of 1626 brought the consecration of St. Peter’s Basilica, which still to this day has the largest interior of any Christian church on the planet, busting at its seams with a maximum of 60,000 people.

Also in 1626, Bodegas Illana y Vinedos established itself as a full-production winery in Cuenca, Spain.

Maintained by the same family for the past 4 generations, the winery took a modern spin in the late 80s by updating to trellised vineyard plantings, focusing on how the vine is trained to grow on the trellised wires/posts/what have you to get maximum exposure to their life source – the sun. This innovation was the first to be seen in the area, brought to the old world by the folks at Bodegas Illana.

The principal family member and winemaker, Javier Prosper (alongside his wife), leads the winery today, rich in knowledge from his graduation from formal Spanish enology school in 2003. The co-owners have branded the winery’s image into a Spanish-style Thomas Kincaid painting called “Finca Buenavista.” Scenic, green and congenial, the new winery production facility gazes over the estate vineyards like a mother hen guarding her chicks.

And rightly so, the winery owns over 22,000 acres of land. 100 of which are planted with a few completely foreign varietals (to me) like the native grapes Cencibel (a derivative of Tempranillo), Bobal (seen mostly in Valencia, Spain) and Moscatel de Grano Menudo (Muscat Blanc). The rest is filled with staples like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.

With the best of both worlds within this massive vineyard, the Prospers elected Bobal, Tempranillo and Syrah for the 2006 Tradicion Red Wine (45%, 30% and 25% respectively). The Bobal and Tempranillo vines have a good amount of age on them, dating over 20+ years as the youngest.

The nose is what I expected to find with 30% Tempranillo – spice, vanilla, cherry cola, sherried mushrooms and licorice, typical tones I think to be presumably Spanish. But the Bobal varietal pulls out a freshness in the wine with red fruit, acid and black olives.

On the palate, the attack is gentle with acidity, pushing out spicy plum and other dark stone fruits. The mid-palate is a little grapey but is balanced out with licorice flavors and fine, rounding tannins.

Although 1626 was a very good year, it looks like 2006 worked out for Bodegas Illana as well.

With backing from the Wine Advocate and Wine Enthusiast, positive reviews for Bodegas Illana are flourishing and more are recognizing the winery as a major value producer from Spain.

Score: 7.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.
–Matthew 12:25

It seems appropriate to open here a little bit biblically, since what we’re about to talk about has as its roots the puritanical principles of the Prohibition Era, roots that have withered and died in many places around America, yet have lingered in Washington State. These anemic roots are the liquor laws that are simultaneously and paradoxically both nourishing and stunting the public’s consumption of liquor, beer and wine. But, there are exciting developments that may change that very soon.

The Problem

All sale of alcoholic beverages in the state are controlled at least in part by the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB), who’s “mission is to contribute to the safety and financial stability of our communities by ensuring the responsible sale, and preventing the misuse of, alcohol and tobacco.” To do this, however, in addition to licensing and enforcing rules surrounding the sale of beer and wine, the WSLCB requires liquor to be sold exclusively in State-run stores, ostensibly to ensure that minors are unable to buy liquor (the WSLCB boasts a 90% turning away of minors attempting to buy alcohol, as opposed to an estimated 80% in other stores), to maintain moderate liquor consumption through limited access (the WSLCB operates just 315 stores statewide), and through alcohol awareness campaigns.

The fly in the ointment is that while ensuring moderation and preventing “misuse,” the state also makes a pile of money through both the profit margin and taxes on liquor sales ($332 million in 2009). This was brought to light last Christmas when the WSLCB decided to open a number of additional stores in high-traffic malls during the Holiday season in order to generate extra revenue to compensate for a shortfall in the State’s coffers. So, it would appear, that moderation is a crucial moral position considering the health and safety of society unless there is a budget deficit, in which case, drink up!

According to the WSLCB, for each bottle of liquor you buy at a sanctioned liquor store, the price of the bottle is composed of:

Get that? Between the markup of the bottle and the tax on the bottle, the State makes 61%. Part of that goes into the State’s general fund, and the rest goes to awareness campaigns that warn of the evils of alcohol.

To sum up, the “house is divided” in that the WSLCB simultaneously has two contradictory motives, ensuring moderation and driving revenue, and in both cases providing direct competition with the private beer and wine sellers it oversees (liquor stores also sell beer and wine). It is incongruous to forcibly limit accessibility to alcohol, fund educational campaigns about the dangers of alcohol, all the while earning a huge, healthy profit from its sale.

The Solution

A new Initiative of the People has come into play that seeks to eliminate the disparity between the WSLCB’s mission and operation while opening up the market for private businesses. This is I-1100. On July 12, Secretary of State Sam Reed certified I-1100 to appear on the November ballot.

I-1100 is sponsored by Modernize Washington, which, through the initiative, aims to support small businesses, allow the state to focus on education and enforcement, and to create private sector jobs.

The nuts and bolts of this Initiative is essentially the privatization of liquor sales–allowing private businesses to sell liquor, while leaving control of licensing, enforcement and taxes in the hands of the Liquor Control Board. Let business people do business, and let government govern. Section 1 of I-1100 explains it’s purpose:

Sec. 1. (1) The people of Washington state desire that the liquor control board focus on its core mission of education and enforcement to protect the health, welfare, and safety of the citizens

(2) In order to strengthen the agency to more effectively educate the public, combat abuse, collect tax revenue, and enforce state liquor laws, the Washington state liquor control board will stop selling liquor and end its prohibition-era monopoly on selling distilled spirits. The state will license the sale of distilled spirits to strictly regulated vendors who are already proven to be responsible sellers of beer and wine.

(3) This act will improve regulations to prevent abusive and underage drinking, enforce licensing regulations, and collect taxes for the state’s general fund.

There’s ample debate, of course. Many are whooping and hollering about the benefit this initiative will bring to businesses and consumers (profit in the private sector and increased accessibility and convenience for us), while others are decrying the initiative as a threat to public safety and to the revenue pouring into the state needed for important programs (according to the WSLCB, “Cities and counties receive more than 18 percent of this money. The money returned to local governments is used for prevention programs, law enforcement support, affordable health care coverage and health benefits for children and pregnant women, and many other related programs and services”).

In my mind, the best part of this initiative is the breaking of the iron grip the WSLCB has on the sale of liquor.

As Cameron Fries explained to readers of WINO back in September 2008, when Prohibition ended in 1933, laws were set into place to prevent the mob (who thrived on bootleg liquor sales during the ban) from becoming legitimate businesses by preventing collusion between retailers, distributors and producers, all of which were essentially monopolized by organized crime syndicates. No single entity could produce, distribute and sell liquor–they could only do two of the three to prevent a monopoly on liquor trafficking by the mob.

But, isn’t the WSLCB’s practices just as bad? They have a monopoly on liquor sales, they make money off of other alcohol sales by their “competitors” (beer and wine retailers), they have strict control on the licensing that allows these competitors to operate, and yet can expand or retract their own footprint on a whim whenever they want to make some extra cash for themselves, even at the detriment of the private business owners trying to make their way in the world. It stinks of the classic “protection” offered to small businesses by the mafia–give us a cut and you can do business free of harassment, but refuse our “services,” and we will ruin you. And, like the murderous mob boss who attends church every Sunday morning, the WSLCB spends money on public health campaigns and programs warning about the dangers of its own wares.

Separating sales and enforcement would not only allow businesses to make money and increase convenience for the consumer, but it would allow the WSLCB to focus on what it claims is its mission statement (public safety) without the conflict of profit motive.

I-1100 clearly spells out the responsibilities and liberties of all parties.

The board has the power to make regulations, in accordance with the provisions of the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW, to implement this title. Because the board will no longer be selling liquor, regulations adopted by the board must be to enforce the licensing requirements of this title, the collection of tax on liquor, the prevention of underage drinking of liquor and alcohol abuse, and managing the board and its employees.

It goes on to say that the Liquor Control Board will:

(4) Accept and deposit into the general fund-local account and disperse, subject to appropriation, federal grants or other funds or donations from any source for the purpose of improving public awareness of the health risks associated with alcohol consumption by youth and the abuse of alcohol by adults in Washington. The alcohol awareness program shall cooperate with federal and state agencies, interested organizations, and individuals to promote alcohol awareness;

(5) Perform all other matters and things to carry out the provisions of this title, and shall have full power to do every act necessary to the conduct of its business. However, the board shall have no authority to regulate the content of spoken language on licensed premises where wine and other liquors are served and where there is not a clear and present danger of disorderly conduct being provoked by such language.

This last part I find interesting. Essentially, it’s saying that while the WSLCB can spend all kinds of money warning people about the dangers of alcohol, it can’t hinder private businesses from actually trying to sell the stuff. The government can educate, and the businesses can promote.

Other points of interest:

• The WSLCB cannot advertise liquor itself, but can adopt rules about the form and location of private advertising to the sole extent that it has a demonstrable effect on alcohol abuse and underage drinking.
• Fees from liquor licenses can only be used for the administration of issuing these licenses and for education programs about misuse and underage drinking. Essentially, they can’t jack up these fees in order to bolster the State’s general fund.
• The Initiative specifies that any distiller can also act as a distributor and/or retailer with no additional fees. This does away with the odd post-Prohibition laws we discussed above. This bill later raises the issue again by striking out the previous verbiage that the separation of the three tiers is important, and replaces it with, “The historical total prohibition on ownership of an interest in one tier by a person with an ownership interest in another tier, as well as the historical restriction on financial incentives and business relationships between tiers, is unduly restrictive.”
• Among all the different licenses specified for the sale of liquor by particular types of businesses, there are ones designated for hotels and motels, which will allow them to sell small bottles of liquor to be consumed in the rooms of registered guests. What’s funny is that it explicitly states, “No license may be issued to a motel offering rooms to its guests on an hourly basis.” I guess the idea of of getting boozed up with a hooker in an hourly “no-tell motel” is too much even for Modernize Washington.
• The Initiative states that “Nothing in this act is intended to restrict the authority of cities and counties to enact or enforce land use regulations governing where liquor may be sold.” So, for example, a city can still decide that it is inappropriate to have a bar next to a school.
• The WSLCB must dissolve its liquor stores by December 31, 2011, and any unsold liquor at that time must be sent back to the vendor or sold at auction.
• The tax on liquor (unopened bottles) would be a flat 10% of the selling price.

Not surprisingly, Costco, the giant retailer in the Pacific Northwest, has been the largest advocate of this proposed Initiative. It has handed over $350,000 in campaign contributions, and spent another $107,000 in payroll and miscellaneous expenses associated with the collection of petition signatures in its stores. I-1100 would benefit Costco by eliminating the three-tier system and allow Costco to buy alcohol directly from producers rather than distributors, thus bringing the price down. Removing the mandatory 28% markup would also allow for competitive pricing. Costco has waged war on State liquor laws before–most recently, last summer–with only moderate success.

So, this November, you will get a chance to vote. Will you vote to retain Prohibition-era laws that hinder private business, inconvenience consumers, preserve a State monopoly on the sale of goods, and muck up the mission of the Liquor Control Board, or will you vote in favor of I-1100?

The choice is yours.

Read a book. Seriously.

Ah, summertime. The sun creeps over the edge of the earth a bit earlier every day, smiling down upon the bikini-clad, the surfer, the runner. God’s flashlight illuminates the previous night’s debauchery, but cloaks it in a warm smile that hides the regrets so akin to winter. Summer is a time of freedom, of possibility, of the shift in debate from “What should we do today” to “What will we do today.” An optimism infuses every dog-walk. A pep infects every step, and yet a walk takes a bit longer. Quite literally, a time to stop and smell the roses, the marigolds, the dandelions. Views become expansive, sun-drenching becomes a favored afternoon activity. Hope flies from the rapidly growing grass. Fireflies flit within the reach of children with dreams of overnight glows in a hole-punched jar. Sundresses replace sweaters, the hoodie finally gets a much-deserved washing and rest, journeys are undertaken to the edge of the earth, relationships flower, the scent of barbecue drifts on the breeze, the drinks go in a cooler, the fruit becomes fresher, the street performers go to another level. Patios open, and eyes hide behind dark lenses.

The city is abuzz with activity. You are going hiking, camping, rock-climbing, kayaking, shopping, walking, dancing, heading to baseball games, parks, frisbee golf tournaments, meeting friends for pub crawls, cooking out, hitting the beach and JUST A DAMN MINUTE! Can I get a little bit of ME time?

Indeed. After all, it IS summer. So take a second. Heck, take a few. Grab a good book, and a bottle of wine. Sit in the sun, breathe. Soak it in. Relax, and escape for a while the hustle and bustle that can take over during a summer, the feeling that you MUST NOT WASTE THIS WEATHER! I am offering you an alternative. I am presenting to you the Top Ten Wine and Book Pairings for Summer Escapism.

Pretty specific, huh? Well, there is a reason for that. Chew on this, if you will: Washington State alone has over 530 wineries. As for books? Good lord, I have nearly 15000 myself. There are literally millions out there, especially with Google Books offering many public domain titles in eformat. I love to read and drink, but trying all of that would take a little too long. And would involve quite a few bad wines and more than a few terrible books.

So what do I mean by “escapism?” I am not looking just for a book that is mindless entertainment. Truly enjoyable escapist books engage your mind in a way that allows you to forget where you are, and to get carried away to another place (you know, kind of like too much wine). They are also not filled with heavy themes, or difficult reading. The words flow like water through the cavernous depths of your mind. As an example, The Modern Library called Ulysses by James Joyce the best novel ever written. Please. You can appreciate Ulysses, but you will never convince me you enjoy it. If you have to stop every five minutes to process exactly what in the hell is going on, it is not escapist. They also need to be books that are easy to carry and read outdoors. Therefore, while my favorite book to read with wine is Griffin and Sabine, the opening of letters and envelopes risks too much in the breeze, and requires two hands, so it doesn’t make the list. So that’s how I narrowed the books down.

As for the wine, this one was much easier. As anyone who knows me can attest, I love a thick, full-bodied Cab Sauv that punches me in both jaws with tannins; however, I consider that a winter wine. In the summer, I like to sit in the sun and drink lighter, more fruity reds or delightfully crackling whites. I enjoy the melon flavors that creep into some dessert wines as well. So I am limiting wines initially by my consideration of them as “refreshing.” Obviously, this can mean different things to different people. This is my list, though, so there. Further, I have found that one of my favorite places to sit and read is the patio at The Tasting Room in Post Alley, simply because I can intersperse my reading with some FANTASTIC people-watching. So this list includes only wines available there. That makes it much more manageable.
So, dear friends, here is your summer reading list. Papers will be due on Labor Day:

10. The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster:
Nathan Glass has lung cancer, and has returned to Brooklyn to die. Any story that starts here would seem to be too heavy for a good summer read, but Auster’s time as host of NPR’s National Story Project taught him to appreciate the authenticity and humor of modern urban fables, and he brings that wide-eyed wonder about human relationships and the seemingly far-fetched to bear here. Nathan’s interaction with his long-lost nephew and his attempts to write a memoir of his life bring a surprisingly Victorian feel to a delightful novel. This novel starts out very simply, but finishes with a powerful explosion of smoke. Try it with: 2007 Semillon from Wilridge Winery. The nose and opening flavors start simply, with a hint of melon to refresh, but then the burnt oak creeps in, and you realize that there is a lot of redemption in this glass.

9. The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberly: This is a one-afternoon kind of read. It tells a hilarious, laugh-out-loud story of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, a proudly pre-industrial nation only 3×5 miles in size that not only declares war on the United States, but through a series of mishaps, wins. Wibberly’s grand satire shows the laughability of superpowers that are actually vulnerable to their own progress and paranoia. Try it with: Well, the war starts because American winemakers produce a Pinot that is a rip-off of Fenwick’s only export, so you should probably have it with 2009 Pinot Gris from Naches Heights Vineyards. The grapes are grown in high-altitude volcanic soil, just like Grand Fenwick’s, and the fruity flavors have a deeper undercurrent of spice. The acidity and grapefruit give it a deeper meaning than just the light apple flavors would initially indicate.

8. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole: Ignatius J. Reilly, the incredibly over-weight and over-educated “hero” of this picaresque fable, is one of those characters in literature that becomes a train-wreck: you hate how much you can’t stop watching him. His adventures in the seamy underbelly of 1960s New Orleans give an insight into white-trash Cajun culture that cannot be found anywhere else. He treats everyone around him with disdain, lives off his mother’s welfare checks, and pens (okay, pencils, he’s too fat to hold a pen) mighty Luddite diatribes in Big Chief tablets. And he turns the world of New Orleans upside-down in a raucous, good-time, Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy. Try it with: Justin Wilson, he of Cajun Cooking fame, always drank a strong shiraz while hosting his show. This leaves us with only one choice of wine, really, even though it kind of violates my rules for wine selection: the 2005 Minick Vineyard Syrah from Harlequin Cellars. This kicking little syrah carries a hint of beefiness and leather that hides behind a syrupy blackberry nose. Imagine a nice steak with blackberry cobbler, in a cowboy bar.

7. Lamb by Christopher Moore: When you read the Gospels, Jesus disappears for fairly long stretches of time. The question is, what was he up to? Now, thankfully, His long-time best friend Biff has emerged to tell us the story. At turns profane and hilarious, a book with the potential to be controversial instead becomes a touching tale of friendship under easily the most trying circumstances possible. Moore can sometimes become overwhelmed by his incessant need to be clever, but in this book, he surprises with his ability to let a good idea speak for itself. Try it with: This light tale is told in an effervescent, joie-de-vivre method that lends itself to a sparkler, but with a bit more complexity. Mountain Dome Winery’s Brut Rose is a delightful cuvee, with more complex flavors than a traditional bubbly. It lingers on the palate with a hint of pinot noir to remind you that you did, in fact, just take a sip.

6. How I Became Stupid by Martin Page: Antoine is a brilliant man. Unfortunately, his intelligence leads him to have empathy for everything around him, and makes him miserable. He is a reflection of Flaubert’s metaphor of being so concerned with the number of sand grains on the beach that one forgets to walk along the water’s edge. And so, he decides to do something about it, embarking on a quest to dumb himself down, that he might find the bliss of the ignorant. His many failed attempts lead him through a wide range of misadventures, culminating in a loss of self that challenges notions of happiness in the modern world. But in a funny way. Try it with: Wilridge Winery’s 2008 Pinot Grigio from Two Coyote Vineyard. This book is a quick read, and that pairs well with this wine, which inundates you with flavor from the first sip. Melon, citrus, peach, omigod was that mint, I have to stop and think on that for a moment, crackling on the tongue like a moscato, leaves you breathless and wanting more and wanting to drink it all, and drink it all quickly. Yep, that’s Martin Page’s style, alright.

5. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: 1939, young Joseph Kavalier arrives as a Jewish refugee in New York City, where he moves in with his cousin, Sammy Klayman. Thus begins an adventure about adventures, as the fascination of both boys with Houdini-style escapism carries them into the Golden Age of Comics. The novel, which explores themes of Jewish roles in pop culture as well as the innately human need for a superhero to “rescue” us from modern threats, was the winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2001. And there is something kind of cool about reading an escapist book about escapism. Try it with: 2003 Harlequin Cuvee Alexander. The medium body of this ruby wine refreshes the palate with raspberry and decent tannins, so while the medium might seem light, there is a nice little kick of meaning and depth that will leave you lost in thought, and filled with dreams of shadow and light.

4. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Follow seven generations of the Buendia family, as the family patriarch founds the city of Macondo and each successive generation struggles with endless rains, insomnia, and war. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of “magical realism,” this book carries you away to another world, but still manages to mirror the history of Colombia, and to comment strongly on the cyclical nature of human history. That he manages to do so in a way that is neither heavy-handed nor overbearing is a testament to Marquez’s skill as a storyteller and commentator. Try it with: 2004 Reserve Port from Wineglass Cellars, and a Theo Chocolate sampler. I know, I added a dessert for this one. But once you savor the lingering allspice and vanilla from the port, with a bit of bitter chocolate from Theo, you will have taken a nice rest from a book about which Harold Bloom once said,  “My primary impression, in the act of rereading One Hundred Years of Solitude, is a kind of aesthetic battle fatigue, since every page is rammed full of life beyond the capacity of any single reader to absorb . . . There are no wasted sentences, no mere transitions, in this novel, and you must notice everything at the moment you read it.”

3. The Alienist by Caleb Carr: 1896. Teddy Roosevelt is Chief of Police in New York, but he is helpless to stop a madman who is killing people all around the city. So he creates the first team of “forensic criminologists,” the leader of which is an Alienist, or psychologist. The team races to find new ways to track down a killer in a meticulously researched, fast-paced thriller with a surprising amount of intelligence, and a surprising amount of historical accuracy. Think Criminal Minds for the intelligentsia. Try it with: Latitude 46 N Clifton Cuvee. This young wine balances the berry flavors with a hint of woodiness, and somehow manages to be perfect for a warm summer day, or as a replacement for hot chocolate when curled up next to a fire. Which is pretty much the thing about this book, too: it works as summer escapism or as by-the-fire comfort.

2. Truck: A Love Story by Michael Perry: Michael moves back to his hometown in Wisonsin, and sets himself a very simple goal: He is going to rebuild the 1951 International Harvester pick-up truck from his youth, and he is going to grow a garden. All within one year. Along the way, he sets himself on fire, helps a quadriplegic ex-Hell’s Angel ride again, hunts deer, and falls in love. In the end, it is difficult to decide who is more transformed: Michael, or the truck. Perry’s deadpan style is reminiscent of Tom Bodett at his best, and his sense of humor carries you away into a Greg Brown soundtrack of surprising tenderness and laugh-out-loud idiosyncrasies. Try it with: Harlequin Wine Cellars Late Harvest Chenin Blanc. If you can read this book without smiling, then you are probably dead. And can’t read anyway. So sue me. Bad metaphor. But the same goes for this wine. Honeysuckle dances on the edges of you tongue and nose, and helps to emphasize the honeydew. Try not to smile.

1. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: Neil Gaiman is best known as a fantasy/horror author, for his work on the Sandman comics. Terry Pratchett is a silly sci-fi author, known for the hilarity of his Discworld novels. The combination is beyond impressive, and difficult to summarize. Basically, the time has come for Armageddon, but the angel and demon left in charge on Earth have not only become friends, they have decided they like Humanity. The AntiChrist gets switched at birth, and ends up being raised by a nice country family. The Four Horsemen ride motorcycles, and everything goes as wrong as is possible for everyone involved. Be warned: this one will make you laugh out loud, and people will look at you. Try it with: Well, a blend of two of the best writers out there today beggars the imagination, and pushes the limits of what wine can measure up to. This leaves, really, only one choice. After all, it is summer. So laugh it up, but do it with a pitcher of house made Sangria. When you look up to wipe the tears of laughter from your eyes, you can look full into a delicious blend of fruit and red wine that will enhance the buoyancy you feel from the book. A truly, truly perfect pairing. Enjoy in health and good cheer!

And thus are you rejuvenated, and ready to once again stand up, stretch, and face the summer. With a hint of wine on your breath, you weave through the crowds, to stand, refreshed, facing the sound as the cool breeze comes across carrying the scents of Uli’s sausages, of Salmon being tossed around like hacky-sacks. Thus do you remember why you love summer: because, for a time, your time is yours. There is none of the leaving for work in darkness of the morning and returning in darkness of night that plagues the winter. Summer has provided a reading light that lasts into the night; but most importantly, summer has provided you a moment to release, to escape, to need no excuse whatsoever for laughing out loud at a table in a busy market, for drinking while the sun is out, for standing up and stretching and looking at those harried tourists and realizing that they are on vacation, but you, you have found a lost relative in Brooklyn, conquered the USA, sold hot dogs in New Orleans, met Jesus as a child, attempted to become stupid, created comics, traveled to Colombia, chased a serial killer over the rooftops of turn-of-the-century Manhattan, rebuilt a truck and fallen in love, and looked the end of the world in the eye and laughed. And on top of all of that, you’ve done it with wine.

Yeah, it's empty…

I find it sad that I have to rely on the oracle that is Google to give me answers that my brain is gradually (and very slyly) erasing. Such as, have I already reviewed this wine?

Blame it on the alcohol, a worldly Jamie Foxx would recommend, but I am far too young to be forgetting things – placements of keys, movies I’ve already seen or wines I’ve consumed. Nay, recites the Oracle after multiple searches in several different word formations, I am safe. At least this time.

It gets even a tad trickier when you’ve had a handful(s) of wines from the same producers. Such is this case with the wines of said Ross Andrew Mickel. I am guilty to have sauntered into The Ross Andrew Winery Woodinville tasting room to flirt with his beautiful Bernese Mountain dog (Galena, like the city in Idaho) and beg for the winemaker’s claim-to-fame bottle of Pinot Gris from the praised Celilo Vineyard in the Columbia Gorge. Refused many a’times for the limited wine, this purchase time I decided to dive for the Meadow White Blend, the alleged “little sister” to Mickel’s exalted white.

And why shouldn’t it be well-reviewed? The man is a direct descendant of the Bob Betz School of Fine Wine, having played in puddles of grape juice with Bob for nine years before breaking out on his own with the 1999 harvest. Before that, Mickel was gathering experience at Rosemount Estate in South Australia and later with DeLille Cellars also in Woodinville.

Mickel is a textbook Woodinville winemaker. Zero formal education, all hands-on field study. I think it worked out okay for him – dude’s got flowery accolades from Tanzer, Parker, Wine Enthusiast and more. An added bonus is he’s sourcing fruit from the likes of Boushey, Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval and Celilo that dress his wines to the nines.

With that, Mickel’s philosophy (as stated on his Web site) is: “Don’t mess up what the vineyards give us…” In the 2008 Meadow’s case, this white blend is wholly from the great state of Oregon, mostly from Willamette but also dipping into the Rogue Valley. Having spent all of its time in stainless steel, this “Pinot Blanc (basically)” wine was also blended with Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewurztraminer.

The nose is a serious fruit basket. Honeydew, green melon, citrus shavings, starfruit and even some red berry balance itself against the flinty, spice (cardamom?) and waxy minerality of the Oregon terroir. The aroma itself is completely engaging.

Ripe, yet to the point with clean acidity and a crisp finish, the tropical fruits come out with melons, starfruit and lychee, with a citrus backbone. The wine is round yet cut with precision, staying true to the fruits’ home without messing it up like Mickel vows not to.

Serious pool-side sipper, given a day of sunshine and warmth. Can you make that happen, Mr. Mickel? Thanks.

Score: 9.