I have a friend that seems to have everything.  It’s hard to think of the perfect gift every year, but I know he loves wine.  And every time I give it as a gift, he loves it!

The beauty of it is – the wine is different every year.  He loves to be surprised.  One year he received a 2006 Balletto Teresa Chardonnay that he absoluted loved.  More a red wine person, he fell in love with this steel-barrelled white wine that tasted fresh and crisp like water, with bright notes of apple and pear.

The Wine Gift Club makes it easy to give wine for someone’s birthday.  You choose from over 25 wines or a variety of sampler packs that make up your gift.  Your chosen wine bottles are then wrapped with fun birthday accessories such as mylar ballons, hats and a corkscrew.  For a more personal touch, you can even have labels designed just for your recipient.  There are a variety of ways to make a wine gift just perfect for a birthday, or any occasion for that matter!

This year, as I pondered what to give my friend, I chose a 2007 Harlow Ridge Pinot Noir and personalized his label with a saying that can never possibly get old……”like a fine wine, you age gracefully my friend.”

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Wine Club Insider back again…

Maybe spring is finally on it’s way, though the only real clue is that it’s raining a ton, instead of snowing…

One of the neat things about this time of year is that the “young” wine – the fresh whites and fruity wines from the ’08 vintage are starting to come out, and of course, you can always buy the futures in the Grand Crus for the next few years…

Another cool trend we’re starting to see is an – admittedly slight – shift toward being a greener industry…

For example, Boisset, the second-largest producer of Beaujolais Nouveau, bottled its entire 2008 harvest in plastic bottles.

The lightweight PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles drastically cut shipping costs without affecting the young Gamay wine inside and created packaging that was “absolutely recyclable,” according to a company spokesman.

Now, there are certainly other (myself included) that don’t think the wine industry has developed more than a green tint yet, despite the rise in the number of biodynamic and organic wineries internationally.

PET bottles are only at the very leading edge, but there are huge hurdles still left to climb, including the wineries shipping their wines in wooden crates. The number of wooden crates that are opened at warehouses and stores is incredible. Some of them weigh nine pounds, just for the case!. If they were serious about the green trend, the wineries would forget the wood and ship in recycled corrugated cardboard.

This isn’t even touching the entire cork issue, which is going to come to a head soon as supply and disease (not to mention the improving effectiveness of synthetic cork and screw caps, which are making huge inroads, even in higher end Australian wines).

I’m optimistic that our indusrty will start developing a cure to the serious case of “traditionitis” they are suffering from (mind you, it is brought on by us, the consumers!) and get on the environmentally friendlier bandwagon…

Yes, we may have to get used to our favorite vino coming in a plastic bottle (I can deal with that easily) and using a screw cap (a tougher sell for many, despite the inevitable “corking” that is going to occur in your bottles), and know that we are doing our part… a great excuse to drink more wine, if you ask me!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back.

In the middle of a 80 mile bike/run training day yesterday, we rode the VERY steep trail up to Arbor Crest Winery, high on the bluff overlooking the river, and took a little lunch picnic break.

Arbor Crest  – www.arborcrest.com- has to be one of the most beautiful wineries I have seen outside of Napa, France or Italy. The original Cliff house is a national historic landmark, and can be rented for special events, weddings, etc.

They have beautiful grounds with waterfalls, gazebos and the like, and a new tasting room to feature their wonderful wines, which segues beautifully into my topic of the day…

One of my favorite items in my cellar is a 3L bottle of Arbor Crest’s flagship wine, Dionysus, a Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc blend that has garnered great reviews, and is one of my top twenty, I would say.

I started collecting large format bottles almost by accident a few years ago when I won one at an auction, and since then, I’ve been hooked.

I now own more than forty, with about sixteen being 3L, 5L and even one prized “Imperial” (6L) of Silver Oak.

Surprisingly, there are even three larger sizes, including a fifteen liter (twenty bottle) “Nebuchadnezzar.”

I also have 3 liters of “Millennium Cuvee” Champagne, a 5 liter Amarone… ah!

There is something about seeing a great large bottle in a cellar, especially when it is still filled with actual wine, and not just being used as decoration!

Besides the decorative value, larger formats also help the wine last much longer. One thing to remember is to store them on their sides to keep the corks moist (except for display, of course! )

Contrary to most “bulk” products, you might find that larger format bottles are not priced proportionate to their equivalent number of bottles – for example, a 3 liter is often more expensive than 4 regular bottles. This is due to the cost and expense of the actual glass – the bottle itself, which are often custom made, and in my mind, well worth it!

I have received a few large format bottles as gifts, and each of them has and is treasured to this day; there’s just something special about them. If you have a chance, bid on one at an auction, on line, or even just go and invest in a bottle that you will remember for years to come.

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back again!

I don’t know about you, but every once in a while, it’s nice to have one of those “not-leave-the-house” kind of days, and today was one of ‘em! I actually spent 20 straight hours working on a new web site I’ve been developing, while my wife worked on her projects right beside me. On Sunday, besides the football, you also get a great run of 80s and 90s movies, as well as episodes of one of my favorites; the Thirsty Traveler! If you haven’t seen it, it’s a great show! www.thirstytraveler.tv

Canadian Kevin Brauch has one of the greatest jobs in the world: he travels from country to country investigating, learning about and – quite liberally – sampling the various types of alcoholic beverages they produce! Man, I wish I’d thought of that gig!

Anyway, yesterday, we started talking about the various wine making grape varietals, and what better place to start then the “Big 6″ Bordeaux blend varietals.

As I mentioned, virtually all Bordeaux wines are blends, and to bear the Bordeaux label, they must be made from one of the 6 grapes so blessed: Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Carmenere.

Let’s start with the two Big Boys of the bunch, Cab Sauv and Merlot… first the Cab Sauv, and tomorrow, Merlot.

Cabernet Sauvignon, while often thought of as the grandaddy of red wines, is actually relatively new on the block. It is a hybrid of the Cab Franc (hence the “Cabernet” part) and Sauvignon Blanc – yes, the white grape (thus the Sauvignon!), and was developed in France in the 17th century.

Until the 90s, when it was surpassed by merlot, it was the largest cultivated wine grape in the world, and has found a home everywhere from Canada’s Okanogan Valley to Lebanon’s Beqqa Valley, and from California to Australia, and parts in between. The berries are thick skinned, fairly resistant to frost, and easily grown, especially when compared to something like Pinot Noir. It’s also a fairly consistent grape in terms of character, making it easy to develop year after year.

Many of the top Bordeaux wines are Cab or Cab-Merlot based, and its popularity in the New World (California, mostly) has led to the development of the “Cult” wine phenomenon of certain California Cab houses, for good and bad.

Hey, we’re just getting started! I’ll be back tomorrow with Merlot!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out!

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Wine Club Insider back!

Got a chance to get out and do a great five hour long snowshoe trip up Boulder Basin today with a couple of friends. There was over 10 feet of snow at the top of the peak as we stopped for a quick Jet Boil meal. On one of our real mountain climbs last summer, we took wine up in Nalgene bottles for dinner, but I forgot today, so I had to wait until I got home… there’s not much better than a nice glass of wine after a great day outside in the snow!

Well, to business…

We’ve talked about dozens of wine clubs, several different wines and wineries, but we haven’t really taken much time to talk about the specific wine varietals and grapes that make up our favorite beverage!

For the next few days, I’d love to chat a bit about some specific grapes, and the wines made from them, but today, just some basic grape info…

All red wine is made from red grapes (which can be black or purple as well). White wines can also be made from red wine grapes, though there are plenty of good white grapes to choose from.

In all, there are more than 400(!) varieties of wine grapes grown around the world. Who knew? Yup… I bet if I polled 100 people, the majority couldn’t name twenty… A couple of years ago, I probably couldn’t have, though I’m getting better.

One good site to look at for info on the various “cultivars” (the correct name, though “varietals” has taken on such everyday familiarity that it’s unlikely to change anytime soon) is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_grape_varieties#Red_grapes

Now, the Bordeaux grapes that everyone has heard about are Merlot (the number one red grape in France, and likely the number one red grape world wide by the end of the year, no matter what “Sideways” says), Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Carmenere. Almost all Bordeaux wines are blends of these six grapes, usually with Merlot or Cab Sauv as the majority. There are none that I could find that use all six, though several used four.

There are also several popular “New World” grapes, such as Zinfandel, which is also named “Primitivo,” Syrah (or Shiraz, if you’re from Down Under), Petite Sirah, which isn’t related to Syrah, Sangiovese and Temperanillo, big Mediterranean grapes (ever hear of Chianti or Rioja?)

On top of that, we’ve got to look at the labels, and the (sometimes silly!) laws and rules that govern our passion!

Okay… we’re off and running! I’ll see you tomorrow!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back with one of my favorite wineries and favorite wine clubs, and with only a week to go before Christmas, it’s a perfect time to get that special someone a wine club gift…

Brett and Denise (“The Boss”) Isenhower were both successful chemists and pharmacists when they made the “natural” leap to wine making…

Actually, it’s not that much of a stretch really, and they are living proof!

They founded Isenhower Cellars in 1999, and opened their winery in Walla Walla in 2002. They make premium, highly allocated wines from a combination of their own estate vineyard, and seven of the most highly rated Columbia Valley vineyards, including Seven Hills, Horse Heaven Hills and Weinbau, to name a few.

They make several uniquely named wines based on Merlot, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Grenache, Rousanne and Syrah. Some of their famous names include “Red Paintbrush,” a Cab-Merlot blend that I tried last night. FYI, the 2002 was perfect, though it could have stayed in the bottle for another five years or more. Inky, tons of fruit… excellent!

Their Wild Alfalfa-a Syrah-received 93 points from Parker no less, and sold out within a week. Their River Beauty, another Syrah, is even better, according to Brett.

I’ve been friends with the family since they opened, and have done several wine maker’s dinners for them, and they are wonderful people! They really make an effort to get to know their growing list of customers, and especially the folks in their wine club, called “FOI;” short for “Friends of Isenhower.”

One of the neat things about FOI is that they make a number of “wine club only” bottlings, including Malbecs, blends and others that are only available from the winery.

For the quality of their wines, the price for being a member and receiving the twice yearly shipment of gems is well worth it!

The last shipment featured A “Batchelors Button” Reserve Cab, and a unique Barbera. One of the things I like about Isenhower’s wine club is that they name all of their wines after some of their favorite poems (Road Less Travelled, a sold out Cab Franc), Flowers (Red Paintbrush) and original sayings, such as “Rara Avis,” a rare, Grenache blend.

All of their labels are from paintings from local Walla Walla artist Jeffrey Hill, who also happens to be one of their growers, and several of their early bottles featured pictures of their labs, who are still constant hosts around the winery.

Check out Isenhower, and tell ‘em I sent ya!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider

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Wine Club Insider (the blogger formerly known as “WCI!”) here again!

So, you’ve built your new cellar, got your shelves installed, and your ready to open all of the cases of your wine club collection and put them away for years of perfect aging, but before you do, you really need to come up with a system to keep track of what you’ve got, where you got it, how much you paid for it, and where it is.

Trust me.

If you’re planning on collecting more than a couple hundred bottles (which can happen pretty quickly when you belong to a few nice wine clubs, and when people are giving you wine club gifts) this becomes increasingly important for a number of reasons.

The most important reason is because, except for a very few rare vintages, wine doesn’t last forever. As I emntioned earlier, wine is a living, growing thing, and like most living things, it will reach a point where it will pass its prime, and start heading downhill.

Now, personally, I love old wines, but there’s a tendency to “forget” about some of the well-stored bottles of vintage vino in your wine cellar, and next thing you know, your bottle of 1994 Napa nectar is on its way out.

I also like to have a reminder of where and when I got a bottle of wine, or if it was a wine club gift. I also like (and this is really important!) is that it gives you a record for insurance purposes, in case of a fire or other disaster.

My product of choice is actually the wine collection database template available with Microsoft Office Access. Yup. Microsoft.

I downloaded the basic wine club template, and within a 1/2 hour, I was up and going. Okay, by then I did have over 1800 bottles, so it took me three days to input everything, and get it organized, but it was kind of fun playing. I mean, wine is one of the only hobbies where to play with your collection negates its value… hey, while you can drive your vintage car, no one is going to give you $300 for an empty bottle of Opus.

After you’ve got your wine club collection entered in the computer, another good idea is to use neck tags when you put them on the shelf. These are available from several sites. I got mine from www.iwa.com.

Organized? Excellent! Next time we’ll talk a bit about the glasses and other necessities you will need to properly finish out your perfect wine cellar!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider, out!

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WCI back with you on this 2nd day of December!

As we continue on our trek to discover the best of the fruit of the grape, here’s a club I think you’ll enjoy…

I’m not a member here, but a very well informed friend speaks highly of them from personal experience, and their offerings are among the best, with eight clubs to choose from.

Cellars Wine Club (www.cellarswineclub.com) is based out of Monroe, Washington, and as I mentioned, they have eight programs to look at. Every month you’ll receive two bottles of red, or a red and a white, a newsletter, discounts on ordering, and a custom gift announcement if you decide to bless someone else with the gift of wine!

The Premium wine club is perfect for the wine novice or for anyone interested in discovering wines they normally do’nt have access to.  They offer wines from the classic regions of Italy, France, and California as well as more recently discovered premium regions in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and South Africa.  The best known varietals such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are all covered, but , you’ll also get a chance to try lesser known red varietals such as Tempranillo, Carmenere, Malbec, Pinot Nero, Shiraz, and other white varietals including Pinot Grigio, Semillon, Alvarinho and Torrontes.

The cost is only $39.95 per month.

The Platinum Club is $59.95, but offers a nice selection of more upscale choices, for the more seasoned aficionado.  These wines are produced in limited quantities from boutique wineries & vineyards and include all the favorite varietals as well as lesser known varietals often from grapes indigenous of a particular region. 

The third choice is the “West Coast Club.” Just like in real estate, success is all about location, and in the USA, the West Coast reigns supreme!  They cover the standard California areas, as well as Oregon and Washington, and add Pinot Noir and Cab Franc to the favorite varietals list. It runs $39.95 per month.

I’ll be back tomorrow to finish the rest of Cellars’ fine offerings, but remember, you only have 22 shopping days until Christmas, and what better gift for the wine lovers in your life than the gift of a wine club!

Cheers,

WCI

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