Longshadows 2006 Saggi

Perfect wine doesn’t have a single definition.  There will never be a machine that can turn out ‘perfect’ wines.  There are too many variables and it is the uniqueness of each artful release that brings forth a worthy story rather than a homogenous, measurable string of proper qualities. 

That being said, it is possible to hedge bets toward fantastic releases.  It requires attention to a number of variables:

• Buy the best grapes available from the areas most skilled grape growers (a step that requires longstanding relationships as well)
• Buy the most technologically advanced equipment and finest traditional barrels
• Enlist the help of the finest and most experienced oenologists, practiced using the grapes found in your final release

This is the basis for Long Shadows Vintners. 

Founder Allen Shoup has earned an influential placement at the pinnacle of Washington’s wine industry.   He began with humble beginnings at Gallo in California and rose through vast achievement to CEO of Stimson Lane (owner of Chateau Ste. Michelle & Columbia Crest), Washington’s largest wine company.  With his broad assets of professional relationships, prime properties and ample finances, he’s been able to pair Washington’s best grapes with the world’s finest talent to create tremendously well-made expressions of our Northwest’s best.

Through these efforts come the 2006 rendition of Saggi, the Long Shadows “Super Tuscan” style blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.  Shoup has invited the talents of the Tuscan winemaking father and son team of Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari to craft the wine using grapes grown in the Horse Heaven Hills and Alder Ridge vineyards.

The added bonus of this wine is an additional year of age in the bottle.  The 2007 has been released, but the silky smoothness of the 2006 is showing through with increasing balance and contemplative layers.

Dark cherry aromas and flavors combine with a hint of nutmeg in this Super Tuscan style blend. An elegant entry in the front of the mouth reveals refined tannins with focused concentration, enhanced by the wine’s silky mouth feel and lengthy finish.

This wine is regularly sold for $36.99, but is available to wine club members for only $31.99!

 

• Visit the Long Shadows Vintners website
• Read a few more specifics about Super Tuscan wines
• Check out a clickable map of the castles of Tuscany
• Learn about Horse Heaven Hills, one of Washington’s newest appellations

• Take your pick of Pasta Recipes from the Italian Chef.com
• Here’s a video on how to make Moroccan Chicken Casserole
• Jamie Oliver can help with fantastic Pizza Recipes

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.

 

DiStefano Winery 2005 Meritage

The very recently released DiStefano 2005 Meritage (a blend with roughly equal parts Merlot, Cab Sauvignon and Cab Franc) will do well to calm down for a little while.  We just sampled it for the first time at a recent trade event, and it was a bit warm and just slightly tight…  characters that will rest into the darker fruit structure underneath with a short bit of aging (just 2-6 months).  To be sure, it was delicious and balanced.  The 14.9% alcohol is a high mark in winemaking (a ranting discussion about the creeping alcohol levels in wine can be found on another blog) but knowing this ahead of time can help you match this wine to the occassion you desire.  Drinking this wine conjures up feelings of structure, warmth and relaxation.  Enjoy accordingly!

The release notes mention:

One of our boldest Meritage blends, the 2005 is full of robust flavors. Lots of black berries, blueberry, caramel and spice. Delicate aromas of violet and sweet cigar balance and undertone of dusted earthiness. The palate is alive with juicy berry flavors and wooded spices. Mature, round tannins give great structure to this wine, with a touch of oak giving way to a long, toasty finish. Drink now thorough 2012.

Hillary Sjolund,
Winemaker

“Meritage” is a coined and trademarked wine marketing term used to identify specific Bordeaux-like blends now that we’ve agreed to follow the laws that prevent wineries from simply labeling it “Bordeaux” like they did in the 70’s.   The Meritage Association guides use of the term, which can be used to identify either red or white wines, although Meritage white wines remain quite obscure.  The reds are created from blends mostly using Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petite Verdot and Carmenere. 

DiStefano Winery in Woodenville was born not so long ago from owner Mark Newton’s passion.  His original releases bore his last name until questioned by the older Newton winery of California, giving Mark the perfect opportunity to rename his winery after his soon-to-be-wife Donna DiStefano, and to issue the first DiStefano Sauvignon Blanc as a part of his wedding gift. 

This wine is regularly sold for $16.99, but is available to wine club members for only $14.99!

 

• Visit the DiStefano Winery website
• Read about Meritage at the Meritage Association website

• Learn to make a perfect rib roast at Suite 101
• Create flavorful and tender Pork Tenderloin in a slow cooker
• Braised Duck from SouthernFood.com

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.

 

Bodegas Lurton 2007 Malbec Reserva

There’s a lot of Malbec out there nowadays!  Once a relatively obscure grape grown in France’s Cahors region (and still blended in Bordeaux style blends in France or around the world), Washington is now growing quite a bit of it!  Barnard Griffin, Beresan, Columbia Winery, Dusted Valley Vineyards, Fidelitas and many more wineries are making single-varietal examples nowadays.  In each case, the somewhat-drier, darker-fruit characters show through with enough light spice to create a match for ultra-flavorful foods such as Mexican, Spanish, Indian and Cajun fare. 

But it’s Argentina that has developed a world-wide reputation around Malbec.  The economics help…labor is cheap and so is the transportation to get it up here to North America.  What we receive are outstanding wines at great value, including the delicious Bodega Lurton Reserve Malbec we just discovered at a recent trade tasting event. 

Bodega Lurton is just one of five countries in which the Frenchmen Francois and Jacques have stretched their winemaking arms.  Since the late 80’s Francois has handled the business end while Jacques has created the wines from grapes grown in France, Chile, Portugal, Spain and Argentina. 

This particular example is a feather in the cap of great red value wines, with a dry finish allowing the light spice to smoothly flow off the palate.  Ultra-fine tannins help dry out the palate when oily fats are involved, making this wine a great match with sausage dishes.  It’s also immenently quaffable when a craving for a glass of red hits you.

The winery expounds:

“Malbec finds its most typical expression in this wine. After aging in oak, the wine is bottled and placed on the market after six months, or even a year, so that it can continue to age It is a fine and elegant supple wine. Malbec, the great traditional grape variety of Argentina, gives wines with remarkable depth of color and lots of body. We have selected a raw material that allows us to produce structured wines, enhanced by aging in oak.

The body is a deep ruby red. The complex nose shows notes of spice and meat with a hint of toast. On the palate, the balance is subtle with very fine tannins giving it an aging potential of several years. It is a wine that can be enjoyed young with red meat dishes or in a few years with game dishes”

This wine is regularly sold for $12.99, but is available to wine club members for only $11.99!

  

• Visit the Bodega Lurton Winery website
• About Malbec at Wikipedia
• Peruse the Argentine Wine Guide or Wines of Argentina website
• There’s plenty left to know at French-Malbec.com

• Don’t be afraid to make your own Italian Sausage, adding spice to your own liking!
• Watch videos from a sausage making expert to learn all the culinary skills
• Whip up a great Paella from Spain Recipes
• Enjoy Kolhapuri Sukka Chicken with this recipe from Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor

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.

 

Donna Laura 2006 Bramosia Chianti Classico

One reason locally-produced wines seem to appeal greatly to “the locals”, no matter where “local” is, is that the winemakers and customers grow up together in significant number to create a strong market for those wines with the characters that match the local lifestyle, foods, culture, and palate. 

Our wine club features an array of our own Northwest version of local wines.  When we move away from the local flare, we experience life from another area and with flavors and characters that represent other lands.  Today, we have selected a great wine to represent the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany, Italy!

The beautiful label brought us to the table, with the hopes that the wine inside would impress.  Let’s face it, it’s commonplace to judge a wine by its label whether right or wrong.  When we can avoid the matter altogether by finding a great wine with a great label, it’s a win-wine situation.

So it was with a sigh of relief that I discovered a well manufactured example of Chianti with sweeping, complex earth and berry fruit flavors.  The drying tannins ease throughout as fruit flavors flow effortlessly.  This is a delicious wine to pair with traditional Italian fare.  Meaning “desire” in Italian, the name “Bramosia” was chosen as a moniker to represent the romance of wine.

The "Gallo Nero" mark of Chianti Classico

The importer talks about the winery:  “Donna Laura specializes in producing wines from first-class Sangiovese grapes grown in the Castelnuovo Berardenga region of Chianti Classico. This new venture, spearheaded by owner Lia Tolaini-Banville, seeks to fulfill a need in the American market for high quality Sangiovese wines at an accessible price point that are both representative of the terroir of the region, as well as international in style. To combine the best of tradition and modern characteristics, two Sangiovese clones are grown in the Donna Laura vineyards. CH-20 brings structure, while F9, a more modern clone, augments the fruit intensity of the finished wine.

One of the first areas to classify its borders and become delimited in 1716, Chianti Classico is fixed in minds worldwide as the proto-typical, idyllic Italian wine region.

With a deep ruby color and intense aromas of cherry and red fruit, this Chianti Classico balances ripe fruit and balanced acidity with well integrated accents of wood and spice. A great match with roasted meats and flavorful pastas, this wine is also delicious to sip on its own without food. – The winemaker

This wine is regularly sold for $18.99, but is available to wine club members for only $15.99!

• Read our blogpost Wine Region Profile on Tuscany and its wines
• Visit and browse Italianmade.com for encyclopedic information about regional wines AND foods of Italy.
• Learn about the history of the Chianti Classico DOCG region
• The Sangiovese grape of Chianti is making a name for itself in the Northwest as explained in this Wine Press NW article.

Gnocchi Gorgonzola
Baked 4 Cheese Pasta with Sausage
Chicken Provolone

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.

 

A Pinot Noir each from Penner Ash and Bishop Creek

Oregon Pinot Noir is a difficult wine to understand.  For many people, it takes years of sifting through the inexpensive Oregon wines offered up as examples – and wondering why anyone would cherish the lackluster and dirty wines.  The answer is, because it’s not an easy wine to master, and its rarely inexpensive to do so.  It’s a special wine that delivers both enough fruit and complexity PLUS enough value to make an Oregon Pinot stand far apart from the crowd, and this month we have two releases that do just that.

Our upper-end Pinot Noir is the Dussin Vineyard Pinot Noir from Penner Ash.   I featured the winery in an article for Examiner.com this summer.  Their modern winery is an impressive facility, constructed under the rare opportunity of being fully funded from the start.  The benefit is seen in the well-crafted wines, which are tended in the best way by new, state-of-the-art equipment and techniques.

It’s no surprise then that, when they collect up the grapes from their estate Dussin Vineyard, they’re able to bring forth an on-target expression of what Oregon Pinot is all about.  Layered flavors with elegance, depth and restrained fullness are revealed as a training course in deliciousness ready to age 10 years or more.  Owners and winemakers Lynn and Ron Penner Ash describe the Dussin Pinot:

Aromas of black cherry, rose petals and Asian spice. Broad and elegant on the palate with hints of Italian plum, cherry cola and dark chocolate. Extended finish of blackberries and vanilla.

Be ready to pair this versatile wine with just about any meal, including elegantly-styled beef or extravagant holiday meals.  You can also just relax with a glass on the deck overlooking your favorite scenery and imbibe in the contemplative layers.

The Penner Ash 2007 Dussin Vineyard Pinot Noir is regularly sold for $56.99 but is available to wine club members for only $52.99!

Thankfully, it’s not absolutely necessary to spend $40-50 on a good Oregon Pinot.  For those of us inclined to enjoy a guilt-free bottle of good Pinot, there are some examples out there, noteably present with the Bishop Creek 2006 Barrel Select. 

I had a chance to taste this wine yesterday, and was stunned when I saw the price.  The wine delivered fully with Pinot Noir character, but with a trail-mix blend of berries, cherries, chocolate and herbs.  Medium bodied and smooth, it held its own against several other more expensive wines that showed either more simplistic fruit and/or lifeless personality.   The Bishop Creek wine had a balanced acidity that made it pair very well with the Asian-fusion appetizers nearby, but it would pair wonderfully with a nice salmon dish, pulled pork sandwiches, or even gourmet pizzas.

It would also be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner!

The Bishop Creek 2006 Barrel Select Pinot Noir is regularly sold for $18.99 but is available to wine club members for only $16.99!

• Visit the Penner Ash winery website
• Discover Oregon wines at oregonwine.org
• Read a SF Chronicle article about New Zealand’s recent success with Pinot Noir

• Herbed Pork Tenderloin
• Prosciutto Roasted Figs
• Ham, Beans & Greens Soup

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