No other name evokes American wine in the way that Napa does. The consistently excellent quality of the wines coming out of the Napa Valley in California has earned the region an amazing brand. In most instances, a famous wine region is known for producing a single grape or style of wine; think Cabernet blends from Bordeaux or Pinot Noir from Willamette. While Napa certainly has cemented its reputation with Cabernet Sauvignon, the region is also known for excellent Merlot, Chardonnay and Zinfandel, amongst others. Basically anything that has Napa on the label will be able to sell for a higher price than if it was produced elsewhere. This is truly a triumph of wine making skill and excellent geographic site selection

Vineyards popped up in the Napa Valley almost as soon as settlers reached the area in the 1800’s with the first established in 1858. The wine industry in Napa moved along slowly from there, garnering a little attention here and there. Then came the double-whammy of Phylloxera and Prohibition. Phylloxera knocked out the vines and Prohibition denigrated wine production to sacramental purposes only. After Prohibition wine production picked up again and fine wine became the focus of some producers. The seminal moment came at the Judgment of Paris in 1976 when a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa beat the best of Bordeaux. This led to renewed interest in Napa and California in general and began the landslide of activity that has culminated in the industry we know today.

Napa is further broken down into 15 sub AVAs, which are defined by unique microclimate and geographic differences. The geography of Napa leads to several climatic differences within the valley. The southern end of the valley abuts the San Pablo Bay, which brings cooler air in. The northern half of the valley is usually much warmer. Two of the best known are: Rutherford and St. Helena.

Rutherford lies just north of Oakville and is home to the famous Rutherford Bench a stretch of low-vigor soil composed of well-drained volcanic and maritime sediments. The star of the Rutherford Bench is Cabernet Sauvignon. This small appellation is home to some of the best producers in Napa, and some of the most famous wines in California, a sample list: Caymus, ZD, Livingston, Beaulieu, Quintessa, Frogs Leap and Cakebread.

St. Helena is home to some of the most sought after Cabernet produced in Napa. The AVA is the warmest in the entire valley and the vines are able to climb the steep valley walls and soak in the rays. The Grace Family and Colgin Herb Lamb wineries, based in St. Helena, have developed a near cult-like following for their mailing list only Cabernet Sauvignon. The bottles sell for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Others in the AVA are Revana, Nickel and Nickel and Chase Family; and while Cabernet is big here, excellent Zinfandel is also produced.

California Wine, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Red Wine, USA Wine, Zinfandel Cabernet, California Wine, Napa Valley, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel

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Today Washington is the second
largest producer of wine in the U.S. 
The majority of the grapes grown in the state are a product of the
Columbia Valley.  The vineyards of the Columbia
Valley AVA—American Viticultural Area—all benefit from unique set of climatic
conditions and geography.  In addition
to favorable weather, the area has been blessed with producers and a wine
consuming public that is ready to embrace high-quality wines from outside of the
established areas of California and Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

The origins of the fine wine
industry in Washington are unique, even by American standards.  The grapes that started this whole
enterprise were the outgrowth of a couple of guys’ home winemaking hobby.  Of course these couple of guys were a couple
of university professors that knew what they were doing.  They followed the studies of one Dr. Walter
Clore of Washington State University who researched the best varieties of
grapes to plant in the various climatic conditions of Washington.  From there the professors commercialized
their hobby and founded the company that would become Columbia Winery.

The vineyards of the Columbia
Valley, and Washington in general, lie on a broad plateau, in near desert-like
conditions.  They owe their lack of
rain—8 inches yearly—to the semi-coastal Cascade Range of mountains, which
collect the majority of the moisture and form a rain shadow that covers much of
eastern Washington State.  Though this
may seem like a disadvantage to agriculture, it’s actually a bonus for grape
growers.  With these conditions, the
vines struggle and focus their energy on fruit production.  Of course this is only successful with
sufficient irrigation—which the numerous tributaries of the Columbia
provide. 

Popularity is a fickle thing, and
grape vines are certainly not immune. 
The Columbia Valley has seen several waves of grape varieties rise and
fall in favor.  The vineyards of the
Columbia Valley are now home to a variety of grapes planted in times of
popularity, from Chardonnay in the 70’s to Merlot in the 80’s and Syrah in the
90’s and recently Cabernet Sauvignon. 
Today Merlot and Cabernet are considered the best reds and some very
good Riesling is produced in the Columbia Valley.

Within the Columbia lie several separate,
smaller AVAs: Walla Walla Valley AVA, the Horse Heaven Hills AVA, the Wahluke
Slope AVA, Lake Chelan AVA and the Yakima Valley AVA.  You’re likely to find any of these names on a label, otherwise
they can use the Columbia Valley name on the bottle.

Merlot, Red Wine, USA Wine Columbia Valley, Merlot, washington state, Washington wine

I forgot to mention… last month I went to the Monterey Wine Festival. I try to go every year because it’s such a wonderful experience. It was hard to count, but it seemed like there were over 100 different wineries there. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but it was definitely over 50. And in addition there are several premium food vendors offering fine cheeses, seafood, and several other delicacies. It’s basically a wine and foodies dream come true! If you’re curious for next year there’s a list of all the participants on their website. There was also a chef giving free cooking lessons; including recipes such as Caramelized Pineapple Meringue Flambé, Artichoke and Chestnut Velouté with Sautéed Apples, and Tender Calamari Filled with Chorizo, Topped with Tomato Sauce and Served over Soft Polenta. I went to the event at the Hyatt. Apparently they also have a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I’m thinking about trying it next year. I’m sure it would be fine indulging on wine and cheese while you hang out with sea turtles.   Tickets are $99 which seems expensive, but considering its 3 hours of unlimited wine and food it’s not that bad of a deal. According to their website there are over 300 wines to taste. The events are limited to 1,500 guests and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was sold out. So if you plan to attend next year buy your tickets early. This is a highly recommended experience!

Cheers,
Wine Club Insider

Fine Wine, USA Wine, Vineyards, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Tasting, Wine Tours monterey, monterey bay, monterey wine festival, wine and food, wine and food festival, wine festival

After a couple of days in Dundee and Yamhill I decided I need to subscribe to a Portland wine club. The wine there is truly amazing. The first club I found was the Pacific Northwest Wine Club. It’s heavy on Portland wines, but also includes other Northwest greats from Washington to Idaho. They even include some wine from Northwest California. And oh do they have great wines. How is this so? Because of their extensive vetting process. Each year they develop a wine plan of certain varietals for each month. Then samples are requested from all of these wineries and a panel does a blind taste test of all the options. The top rated red and white wines are the ones purchased and presented to wine club members. So there’s no label bias and they’re not pushing the wines they got the best deal on… they only ship what tates the best. Many of us have sampled California wines… isn’t it time we gave the Northwest a try? After my time in Portland I must say there really are some amazing wines waiting to be discovered. Unlike other clubs having multiple types of clubs, at the Pacific Northwest WIne Club it’s simply the best the Pacific Northwest has to offer – nothing more and nothing less.

For Portland locals or those of you visiting Portland I’d recommend the club Portland Uncorked. It’s also a wine club, but not of the usual variety. It’s a 100% free club that’s all about tasting new Portland wines and meeting new people. Everyone gets a member card and will receive notices of where the club is meeting next. I think this is a fabulous idea. I need to find something like this in San Francisco.

Well it’s time for me to signoff for the night. See you next week!

-Wine Club Insider

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I was in Portland recently and I ventured down to wine country. The main cities are Newberg, Dundee, and Lafayette. There’s also Yamhill a little farther out which is supposedly the up and coming area. While in Newberg I checked out a couple of tasting rooms. My first stop was Hip Chicks do Wine. It’s a 100% women owned and run company. For $10 I was able to sample 8 different wines. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! They were quite amazing. You can checkout all of their wines on their site www.hipchicksdowine.com. They also have a wine club worth checking out. This winery was founded by Laurie and Renee, who both didn’t know much about wine until they dove in and just starting experimenting. They describe themselves both as ‘cooler’ girls who first discovered wine in the old days when coolers were actually made with wine. They took wine making courses in Oregon and started developing wines. Though they have many higher end wines the founders favorite is still ‘pink and fizzy’. So for something tasty and a little less pretentious I’d suggest checking out Hip Chicks do Wine.

USA Wine fizzy, hip chicks do wine, newberg, oregon, pink, portland

Wine Club Insider back with you.

As I mentioned, I was out of town doing some work the past week, returning Late Thursday, just in time for a task I was semi-dreading, to be honest… I’m all about helping out, but lately, I’ve been so busy, volunteering wasn’t top of my priority list – I mean, I’ve got lots other other “real” things to do, ya know?

I, like many of you, I expect, am busy, and for the next couple of weeks, I’ll be as busy as any time all year, as we have our largest event of the year coming up – www.adventuresportsweek.com – if you want to see what it’s all about. Well, one of the things we set out to do when we changed our lives around a couple of years back was to try to give back of ourselves if we could, and as luck would have it, it was time to do some givin’.

We live very near an amazing natural resource, Farragut State Park, and with the severity of our winter, there was lots of damage to trails and paths. With our event coming up there in a couple of weeks, myself and a couple members of our working group gathered up chain saws, shovels and rakes on Friday, and hit the trails, clearing dead fall, branches and the like.

12 hours of carrying a chain saw uphill later, we had cleared and restored over 9 miles of trails. Let’s just say this was a job. There’s still 4 miles to go that I’ll try to get to this week, but the main stuff is done.

On top of that, a dear friend who had just had surgery emailed us Friday night in a panic; she was in charge of an aid station for the local marathon, and the group assigned to help out bailed, so she was stuck with no help, and 1800 thirsty runners coming on Sunday morning, so we passed the email around our crew, and as of 6:30 am on Sunday, we were out manning the water station, which was tough, considering I’m way more used to running the marathon than helping at it.

I have to say, though, that it ended up being a great experience! We brought music, oranges, cookies, Heed sports drinks, muffins and a megaphone, and turned our little aid station into a party zone, and the runners loved it! They were so appreciative, and it was well worth the time to help out a friend. The weather was perfect, and all in all, it was a blast!

The bottom line is that despite being swamped, volunteering was a fulfilling and worthwhile experience, and no matter how I felt at the outset, I walked away feeling much better about myself and what we accomplished, and you know what, I’ll still manage to get caught up on my project.

I encourage you to find something you can do to give back and help others without benefit to yourself… you’ll end up giving you and others a gift beyond price. Trust me; you’ll never regret it, and the glass of Mondavi Coastal Pinot at the end of the weekend tasted better than ever!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider, out!

Pinot Noir, Uncategorized, USA Wine giving back, Helping others, Volunteerism

Wine Club Insider back with you!

Well, I’m back from an out-of-town working sojourn in lovely central Oregon.

My last evening there, I competed in a little “Iron Chef meets Chopped” cooking contest against a local chef, and it was a blast!

The key ingredients were chicken, strawberries, Graham crackers, and the secret ingredient was Bok Choy (?). We could prepare as many dishes as we could, highlighting the ingredients, and using a few other things as well, so with the opening gong, the battle was on!

For my dishes, I prepared a double appetizer that was well received… I made a sauteed chicken taco, stuffed with diced bok choy, cilantro and a sour cream, yogurt and wasabi sauce with a lime wedge on top, and I made a mille feuilles of very thinly sliced chicken breast slices and super thinly sliced red potatoes, topped with a jumbo prawn and a strawberry emulsion.

For my main course, I took a piece of the chicken breast, sliced it and stuffed it with strawberry, graham cracker and a piece of Havarti cheese, and the baked it, wrapped in puff pastry.

I served it over sauteed bok choy with a mustard and white wine sauce, accompanied by diced red potatoes cooked up in the rest of the sour cream – wasabi sauce.

For dessert, I made a puff pastry crust, and coated it with Graham crackers and a butter/lemon cream. While that was cooking, I took rhubarb, lots of strawberries, raspberry liqueur and some sugar, and cooked them down to a nice coulis. I filled the pastry shell, let it chill a bit, and served it with a touch of whipped cream.

My opponent Lisa made a spinach and bok choy salad with strawberries and carmelized almonds (which were really good!)).

For her entree, she went with simple, pan seared chicken breast with a balsamic reduction, and baked bok choy in the same sauce. She served it with rice with raisins and almonds. For dessert, she made a graham cracker pie crust, and made a key lime pie topped with a couple of strawberries.

In the judging, I won the appetizer and entree unanimously, and narrowly lost the dessert, but won the overall. More importantly, we had a great time, and ate 5 terrific courses.

We also had some wine, and I’m not talking just any wine!

We started with the terrific Clos du Bois Zin, which, while not as good as the Ravenswood, was pretty special. Next, we had the Concannon Petite Syrah, which is one of our host’s favorites, and it didn’t disappoint. Then I brought out the Borra “Fusion,” a Syrah, Cab, Merlot, Zin blend from Lodi, and it was AMAZING! Everyone loved this wine… it was one of the best I’ve drank in some time, and even better under the circumstances.

For dessert, I cracked one of my treasures: a 750 of 1982 Renaissance Late Harvest Sauv Blanc. I’m not sure if I’ve had a better glass of dessert wine in a long time, Ice wine included.

I bought the last case a couple of years ago, and have been drinking them for special occasions. The wine is now the color of rich caramel, and the flavor just keeps getting better. What an awesome way to end a great evening!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, Sweet Wine, Uncategorized, USA Wine, Vineyards, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Borra Fusion, Clos du Bois Zinfandel, COncannon Petite Syrah, Iron Chef

Wine Club Insider coming at you from on the road this week!

Yup… actually had to go out of town to do some work for a living… I pride myself on being one of the busiest unemployed people I know, but every once in a while, I have to do something at least mildly productive, even if just to keep my wife happy.

With that in mind, I had to make the trip to Bend, Or. to teach a small clinic. I drove down Sunday, and it was an awesome day… mid 80s (warmest day this year around here!), sunny… perfect! By the looks of it, the wine industry isn’t suffering quite as mush as the rest of us in these troubled times… people will always keep sipping their vino, I guess. It was great to see all of the new wineries dotting the Columbia River and Oregon hillsides as I made the trip. I’m planning in hitting a few of them on the way home – strictly for educational purposes, of course!

On a side note, the unsettled weather seems to be following me; the drive down was perfect, it was 86 yesterday, and today, after giving it a chance to catch up, it’s 66 and raining – in the high desert. Oh well… just seems to be my luck this spring. I did get a great run in this morning before the clouds rolled in, though, so no worries!

The folks I’m staying with in Bend are also foodie/winos, so we manage to always find something to drink, eat and chat about, even if it’s just a simple salad, watermelon and cheese like we had Sunday night, accompanied by a very pleasant surprise that I dragged out of my cellar and brought along for the ride…

We opened a 2002 A Mano Puglia, which is made from 100% Primitivo (Basically Zinfandel, or at least modern Zin’s grandfather). It was huge! Rich, full, but not over done. Yup… Zin is my current favorite red grape… it’s been working toward it for a year, and over the past 3 or 4 months, I don’t think I’ve had a bad Zin!

Last night, friends came over for lasagna, salad and bread, and brought, of all things, a Ravenswood Zin. A great coincidence! The Ravenswood was excellent, as usual, but lacked some of the fruit of the A Mano, to my mind. Still a terrific wine, though.

Tonight, I’m facing off against one of the chefs here in town in an Iron Chef-meets-Chopped contest, with pride and a good bottle on the line… I’ll let you know how it goes on Thursday!

(I think I have an edge, because I also brought the fabulous 2003 Borra “Fusion,” the Syrah-Cab Sauv-Merlot-Zin blend from from Lodi for the entree, and with my dessert, I’m serving one of the last 6 remaining bottles of Renaissance 1982 Late Harvest Sauv Blanc in a 750… it’s the color of dark caramel, and will carry the evening for me, I’m sure, no matter what I make!) Almost a shame to have to throw in work in the middle of all of it, but it keeps me in vino, laptops and mountain bikes, so it’s all good!

Have a great week!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, International Wine, Italian Wine, Red Wine, Shiraz, Sweet Wine, USA Wine, Vineyards, Vintage Wine, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting A Mano, Borra Fusion, Chopped, cooking, Iron Chef, Primitivo, Ravenswood, Renaissance Late Harvest, Travel, Wine, Zinfandel

Wine Club Insider back with you.

Rain, Rain, go away, come again another year…

Another day of substandard temps, buckets of rain and overcast here in the northwest. Our summers and falls are marvelous, but Spring kind of sucks until the rain ends… they give us just enough nice days so we don’t move away, but then the next wave of storms comes through, and our drought worries ease for another year!

One good thing is that it’s great for the grapes, though! Wet spring, long, hot, dry summer… maybe that’s why Columbia Valley fruit is getting such a great reputation!

In doing my normal weekly tromp around the cyber-vineyards of the Internet, I came across a new (to me, at least) site called “The Wine Society” out of England.  www.thewinesociety.com

Founded in 1874, it is reputed to be the World’s oldest wine club, and their stated goal is to introduce people to some of the world’s great wines at a fair price.

The way they work their membership is that you actually buy a share in the WIne Society for $60-ish (40 British pounds) and it is good for a lifetime, with no pressure to buy.

Even though shipping to the US isn’t an easy option, there are still plenty of other reasons to join, especially if you want a great wine education or have the option of travelling to the UK or to France at all…

Their wine list is over 800 deep, stuffed full of some of the great treasures from the US, Europe, Australia and beyond. They have a great online library, and if you live in England, they will deliver your wines with their own vans!

They also have several tastings, controlled storage for their members, and a nice futures program. They also have retail outlets in England and France if you “just have to have it today.”

I’m actually thinking about joining just for the extras, and picking up my wine when I next get there… and if I can’t bring it back with me, I guess I’ll just be forced to drink it with a nice piece of cheese and some fresh bread out in the English countryside… could be worse, I guess.

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out

Bordeaux, Burgundy, California Wine, Fine Wine, French Wine, International Wine, Red Wine, USA Wine, Vintage Wine, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Club Gift, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Storage, Wine Tasting, Wine Tours International Wine, The Wine Society, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Education

Wine Club Insider back with you!

I am going to apologize in advance: We’re hosting a 1300 person event with 24 different sessions over 10 days coming up in early June, and as things get closer, I may be a bit sporadic on my postings… I will do what I can to keep current, and will promise to make up any that I miss afterwards.

This is one of the biggest events we have ever done, and it’s rapidly turning into a 25 hour/day project!

Anyway, I hope you all had a marvelous Mother’s Day! We certainly did around here. My own mom passed away very young from cancer, but my wife not only has her mom, she also has a 96 year old grandmother (Omi) and a 93 year old grandmother, both in excellent health (well, excellent for 93 and 96… I’d settle for being that healthy at that age!) so we had a full table of moms.., my wife and I are also expecting our own first child within the next couple of weeks, so she almost counted in the motherhood department this year.

Being a chef, one of the greatest joys is being able to cook for the family, especially one that enjoys good food, as ours does, so I get the pleasant task of doing the family holiday meals, of which Mother’s Day ranks right up there.

Here’s what we did to keep body and soul together for Mother’s Day; our family are big fish eaters, so I based the meal around some wonderful halibut fillets I found, and went from there.

Appetizers:   Cold smoked sockeye salmon (yes, I smoked it myself) with minced egg, herbed cream cheese and home made croutons, accompanied by a nice cheese tray with Havarti, smoked Gouda, aged cheddar and Berliner, an excellent, aged Irish white cheese.

For our first beverage I made one of our signature champagne cocktails, using Whidbey’s Loganberry Liqueur, and then pouring the champagne in so slowly that the liqueur (which is a rich, deep purple) stays on the bottom. Add a raspberry into the drink and straddle a strawberry on the rim, and you have one attractive drink that tastes good, too!

Salad:  We had a spinach salad topped with strawberries, raspberries, diced pears, candied walnuts, feta, and a hot bacon raspberry vinagreitte dressing, served with warm soft rolls. I served a delightful Argentinian wine called “Chumeia,” which is an off-dry, almost effervescent blend of Torrontes and Chenin Blanc that offset the salad very nicely.

For the main course, I seasoned the halibut with sea salt and thyme, sauteed them in olive oil, and served them up over a bit of cooked spinach in a nice three pepper sauce. We also had some pan fried new red baby potatoes and some crisp asparagus, and I topped the halibut with a sauteed giant prawn.

Our two wines were the single vineyard Ironstone “Rosato de Sangiovese,” a bone dry sangio blush that everyone loved, to some surprise. Since our family are mainly red wine drinkers, I also opened a bottle of the 2004 Isenhower “Red Paintbrush.” I ‘ve mentioned this beauty before, and likely will again, as this merlot based blend is an awesome wine, and is drinking perfectly right now.

A quick note on food and wine pairings:  The days of “white with fish, red with meat” are long gone, my friends. Experiment with all sorts of pairings, and you’ll be surprised with what you find that works well. Also, basically, it comes down to “drink what you like,” though that is NOT an excuse to not try new and different wines, even if they’re white, and you’re a “red wine drinker,” or vice versa!

For dessert, I created something new in the spring time vein, and was pleased with how it came out…

I sliced up an Angel food cake loaf, and then French-toasted the slices in egg, powdered sugar and more of the Whidbey’s liqueur. Yummm. Yes, it tasted as good as it sounds. I covered the slices with a bit of strawberry whipped cream, fresh strawbs, and for a touch of flavor and color, I added a splash of Rhubarb and strawberry coulis I whipped up the night before. It was, I must say, excellent. The grandparents were almost licking their plates! We served it with a bottle of Golddigger Cellars 2002 Late Harvest Sauv Blanc for the crowning touch.

Well, that was it for us. I’d love to hear what you all do for traditions, or what you did for meals to bless our moms… let me know, and I can hopefully post some of the best ones.

Until next time,

Cheers!

WIne Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, International Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Sparkling Wine, Sweet Wine, Uncategorized, USA Wine, Vineyards, White Wine, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Making, Wine Reviews brunch, Champagne cocktails, Chumeia, Golddigger Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Isenhower Red Paintbrush, meals with families, Merlot, Mother's Day, Torrontes, Whidbey's Liqueur