It was a “magical” yacht voyage and a beneficial relationship with Oregon’s David O’Rielly that allowed ZanZibar Cellars to burst onto the Willamette Valley winemaking scene a few years ago.  Winemaker Ziad Keirouz’s young-adult voyage to exotic locales ended with the realization that a life of engineering was not for him.  Meeting David while researching the benefits of a winemaker’s life afterward provided a firm sense of placement for a new career.  Thus, the ZanZibar’s Northwest wines are created with Washington State grapes in the equipment at David O’Rielly’s Owen Roe facilities.

I first encountered the wine a few years ago from several customers.  After sampling this new wine at an event, restaurant or winery, they would come to Salut! and gush praise for the “massive and exuberant” Sandra they had tasted.  When I finally had the chance to taste it for myself, I had to agree.  The flavors were bold, extraction was complete, and the lush, sexy appeal comes from a full and velvety experience.

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah from Columbia valley vineyards. Grapes are hand harvested and undergo small batch whole berry fermentation and extended maceration to ensure the development of remarkable and supple structure and body. Malolactic fermentation is completed in 100% new French oak barrels, where the wine continues to age and mature for 12 months until it is bottled. It will then be cellared for the next 12 months before it is released.

You’re going to want to drink a glass of this wine before dinner, with hearty appetizers, to appreciate its full depth.  Then, let the wine carry you into a big meal with the second glass.  Beware, however…there won’t be too many wines that can follow it willingly.  Perhaps just have a second bottle ready to go.

If you want to experience more from ZanZibar, there’s a unique “Sandra Solera” created from multiple vintages of  the Sandra blends.  Each year, a limited 2 barrels are blended with past vintages to form a unique expression of Ziad’s work.  It sells out quickly, but let me know if you want me to seek out this wine for you.

This wine is regularly sold for $48.99, but is available to wine club members for only $44.99!

• Visit the ZanZibar Cellars website
• Read a full article about the development of ZanZibar Cellars at AvalonWine.com
• Learn about the Solera system, used almost exclusively in Spain and Madeira to create blends from year to year.
• Watch Billy Joel play and sing “Zanzibar” (the motivation for naming the winery)
• Check out Owen Roe’s website for more of our favorite wines of the Northwest.
• See our Best Wines on Planet Earth post about Owen Roe’s Ex Umbris Syrah

• Here’s an array of hearty appetizer recipes from Better Homes & Gardens
• Saucy Beef Kabobs
• This might be a time to try Buffalo recipes from Blue Stem Buffalo

Have you tasted this wine? When you’ve had a chance to enjoy this wine, please return to this blog and leave your comments! Others will appreciate your input, unique viewpoint, and recommendations.

For many wine drinkers, sweet wines represent childlike or simple flavors.  This thought can be a stigma, rising from the fact that most beginning wine drinkers enjoy sweet & light wines while long-time wine drinkers move away from sweetness toward dry and complex wines.

A Solera system of barrels used to make Sherry

Port, Madeira and Cream Sherry

Before yeast converts all the sugar to alcohol, extra grape spirits can “fortify” a wine to kill the yeast and leave some sugar remaining in the higher-alcohol result.  The Iberian peninsula is the birthplace of these full-bodied, complex after-dinner wines, where ships destined for the US and Britain were once filled with the stuff!

Each of these three selections has a different and unique production method.  Find out more about: Port, Sherry or Madeira.

Moscato & Brachetto

In Piedmont in northern Italy, Muscat and Brachetto grapes respectively create this pair of white and red semi-sparkling summer dazzlers.  Moscato d’Asti has a pear and apricot flavor profile while Brachetto delivers with Strawberry, raspberry and rose notes.  Drink them with fresh fruit and cheese platters at your next picnic.

Ice Wines

When grapes are left on the vine during the season’s first frost, the resulting juice squeezed from the frozen fruit is decadently sweet – a result of the water ice staying frozen while the sugary juice (which does not freeze at the same temperatures) flows under gentle crushing.  Canada has built a worldwide reputation for the best ice wines, which are only produced under the strictest regulations.  For more info:  Ice Wines

Botrytis Wines – Sauternes & Tokay

The Botrytis "Noble Rot" mold

Chateau d’Yquem is the most famous wine affected by the Noble Rot mold called Botrytis, yielding a complex and unique taste from the blend of late-harvested Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes in France’s Sauterne area of Bordeaux. It is the historical benchmark for similar wines produced worldwide.

Click here to learn more about Sauternes

Tokaj is a specialty of Hungary made from the Noble Rot grapes and is available in varying levels of sweetness, ranked increasingly sweet with higher “puttanyos” numbers on the label.  The Hungarian Wine Society can tell you more about this elixir.

Dried Grapes – Vin Santo & Recioto

Vin Santo is a product of Tuscany made with partially dried grapes, lending a raisiny quality to the full-bodied and nutty character.  It makes a perfect match to almond and pecan desserts. Recioto is made in the Veneto area of Northeast Italy near Venice, made from the dried  red grapes of Valpolicella.  Its flavors are deeper, richer, and more suitable for chocolate explorations.  Originally, dried-grape wines were invented by the Greeks, who coined the name Vin Santo. 

It’s time for adults to enjoy the sweet tastes

Drying grapes for Vin Santo

There are many more sweet wines on the market, which pair beautifully with salty cheeses, spicy Asian and East Indian cuisines, fresh fruit as well as sweet desserts. Don’t miss out on your opportunities to experience these complex and unique expressions of the winemaking art as part of your passage through adulthood!

If you haven’t had the chance to taste a find Madeira, you’re missing one of life’s rare joys.  The creamy full body, nutty, citrusy and calming beauty of this historic fortified beverage can lift the end of an evening into romantic contemplation.

Madeira is a Portugese island off the northern coast of Africa where unique fortified wines are created, and Salut! Wine Co. is one of the few places in Vancouver where you can buy a bottle of some of the best Madeira wines available.  See the location of Vancouver and Madeira with this video made by Google Earth:

It was during the birth of the United States over 200 years ago that Madeira was most popular.  The founders’ favorite beverage was often a good Madeira, which at the time was one of the rare wines that could withstand the long journey across the Atlantic without spoiling. 

Madeira doesn’t spoil because it is a fortified wine, like Port wines.  As the wine ferments (as yeast turns sugars to alcohol), at an opportune time during the process the winemaker fortifies the wine with brandy to bring the alcohol percentage up to about 20%.  This kills the yeast while some sugar remains, leaving a high-alcohol and sweet wine.   Port wines are aged in barrels or bottles.  Madeiras, by comparison, are aged in large vats, at higher temperatures, which draw out citrusy flavors and the unique character Madeiras exhibit.

Madeira wines are available in several different levels of sweetness corresponding with 4 different more popular grape varietals (Sercial = Dry, Verdelho = Semi-dry,  Bual = Semi-sweet, Malmsey= Sweet) and one obscure grape varietal once almost extinct named Terrantez, made medium-dry.  (There are some other grapes used even more rarely, and the examples that remain are less frequently imported.)

We’ll be sampling Madeira at our Port Weekend Event at the end of February!  See our Events Calendar online for more information.

Today, the Rare Wine Co. is one of the few companies still importing Maderia, and is most certainly the source of the best Madeiras available in the United States.  Less expensive brands including Feist and Broadbent are also available from other distributors, bringing a full selection and range available for customers at Salut! 

Tour the island with a visual introduction to Madeira with this video from YouTube

Read a very complete reference about madeira at the Maderia Wine Guide
The Rare Wine Co. provides reference information as well as an inventory of wines available in the US
Listen to an intro to Madeira on NPR