Grape vines have actually been growing in Southern Russia near the Caspian and Black Sea for thousands of years. The first evidence of viticulture is along the shores of the Black Sea where wine was traded with the Ancient Greeks. In present day there is over 80,000 hectares of wine country. One of the best wine producing regions in Russia is Krasnodar. Unlike Northern Russia, they typically have over 200 frost free days a year which allows for ample growth and ripening. Wine vacations are always a great time. How about doing something really unique and flying over to Russian wine country? Every year Krasnodar hosts an exhibition where more than 200 wineries show off their creations. And they’ll have a Southern Russian wine tasting competition where you can evaluate the local wines. For more info check out their site here: KrasnodarEXPO.

International Wine, Wine Tasting foreign wine, russian wine, Wine Tasting

Oregon Pinot Noirs have been hailed as some of the best.  What got them this distinguished status among the world’s best Pinot Noirs?

The grape growing conditions of the Willamette Valley are ideal for this varietal.  Iron-rich red soil, combined with warm sunshine and nourishingly damp climate make for the perfect growing conditions.  There was something magical about the 45th parallel, that imaginary line around the Earth that brought us fantastic Cotes du Rhones from France and Piedmonts from Italy.  Tapping into this little-known fact, Dick Erath experimented and planted over 23 varieties in the hills of Dundee over 40 years ago.   Through some trial and error, the Pinot Noir grape flourished in Oregon’s warm Summers and cool wet Autumns.  The marine climate allowed bright fruitiness to come forward through a well-developed grape.

Erath Winery put Oregon Pinot Noirs on the map in 1972.  Today, the Willamette Valley is home to hundreds of wineries, making it the Sonoma Valley of Oregon.  If you are visting Portland, Oregon, don’t miss Erath Winery located in nearby Dundee.  The tasting room is open 11am-5pm everyday.  You can also arrange a tour of the cellars by calling ahead.

The legendary Erath Winery has a wine club that is free to join.  You enjoy 20% off regular pricing on any of your orders.  The catch is that they only ship 4 times a year, but each shipment comes with a selection of 3 wines costing less than $85.  These wines are fantastic and well worth the anticipation!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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Wine Club Insider back with you!

Yesterday, we took part in one of the great festival/sporting events anywhere in the USA; The Lilac Bloomsday Run, a 12 k (7.46 mile) run through the streets of Spokane with 52,000(!) of our closest friends.

In its 22rd year, Bloomsday – www.bloomsdayrun.org – is one of the largest (2nd largest, I believe, behind Bay to Breakers), best organized runs anywhere, and is a giant party that captivates an entire region for several days, including a huge fitness expo, community fitness and training classes etc.

It is also held the 1st Sunday in May, which nicely coincides with “Cinco de Mayo” festivities, which, this year, is being celebrated on the 5th of May…

I have to admit that I spent Saturday evening with my friends Jose and Margarita, rather than wine, but still managed to complete the pretty challenging run in 58 minutes, which isn’t bad for an old guy!

Dessert wines, as I have mentioned, are some of my favorites, with Ice Wine – or Eiswein – topping that list (okay, maybe Port is right up there).

We’ve talked a bit about Port in an earlier article, but I wanted to chat about how Ice Wines are made, since several vintages will be coming to market soon, just in time for your summer enjoyment.

So, what do you get when you let the grapes freeze on the vine, waiting until December or even January to pick them, by hand, in the dead of night, at less than 10 degrees?

Ice Wine, or Eiswein in Germany, is perhaps the most difficult to make, best-crafted wine in the world, and creates wine with such character and depth that it is hard to describe until you have tried it. These are world class wonders of delight and delicacy, with world class prices, to boot. In Germany, Riesling grapes are used for Eiswein, but other varietals are used around the world, including Gewurtztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc, Vidal, Muscat, Pinot Gris, Semillon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and even Pinot Noir and Catawba. Canadian Ice Wines are viewed as perhaps the greatest in the world, and can easily fetch more the $90 for a 375 ml bottle! New Zealand, Austria and the US also make wonderful Ice Wines.

Here are just a few of your choices:

Inniskillin (Canada)                             Vidal and Riesling         $65 – 90/375ml (maybe the best in the world!)

Terra Blanca (Washington)                  Chenin Blanc                $50/375 ml

Bonny Doon ‘Vin Glaciere’                    Muscat                         $24

Mission Hill Reserve     (Canada)          Vidal                             $60

Selaks (New Zealand) and Covey Run (Washington) make excellent Ice Wines for under $30!

Of course, there are a whole raft of German Eisweins, including the famous Dr. Loosens, which are spectacular, if a bit pricey.

Some wineries freeze their own grapes, which seems to me like cheating, but there is little argument about the finished product. Dolce from Far Niente Vineyard ($80/375 ml) is a great example.

So, there’s a bit of a primer on “the Nectar of the Gods.” Enjoy!!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back with you!

It appears my predictions of the final demise of old man winter were a bit pre-mature, and did nothing but stir him up, as went from a nice mid 70′s on Monday-Tuesday, to the current conditions, which include a temp of 35, blustery wind, and an inch of new snow (!) on the ground. I apologize, and will keep my mouth shut from now on. Is it just me, or is anyone else looking forward to the shift into summer mode?

Have you noticed if your wine tastes change as the weather gets warmer? I continue to like reds anytime, but I do find I drink more whites and roses in the warmer weather… anyone else?

All Whining (as opposed to “wineing,” which never goes out of style!) aside, I have a nice site to recommend to you.

I was cruising the Web yesterday, and came across a new-to-me site called Bottlenotes at www.bottlenotes.com. At first I was struck by the “cleanliness” of the site… crisp, bright colors, easy to navigate, but as I puttered around, I was impressed with the wide variety of information they offered; they had everything from comprehensive tasting notes and reviews, easily navigable by price, varietal, winery etc, as well as access to their own podcasts featuring such notables as Jack Cakebread, Pete Mondavi jr., etc.

They have a nice feature called “Winecylopedia,” which is a pretty extensive collection of wine info, and they also have “The Daily Sip,” which is, as they describe it, like a cross between “Daily Candy,” and “US Weekly” for the wine industry.

Aside from all of these little perks, they also offer some really fun wine clubs, and their “hook,” so to speak, is that they will completely customize your wine club to your tastes, budget, schedule etc.

They have 9 offerings, including the Explorer’s Wine Club, which is pretty much the standard “get started for $25″ club, and they also have the obligatory Intermediate wine club (The perhaps less than originally named “Connoisseurs Club”) and a high end offering called ”Limited Addictions” (nice name!) wine club, which features pretty high end, rare products such as Gaja, Pavie etc.

From there, they start to get cool, though…

They have a seasonal wine club, which is also customizeable, so you can choose Rhone in the spring, Napa cabs in the fall, etc.

Perhaps the coolest wine clubs they offer are the smallest…

They have a “Jet Setters,” which is a  tour of the world’s wines, they have a “Dinner party in a box” club, which provides all the wines for before, during and after a dinner party (a neat idea, really!), “Pop,” a champagne and sparkling club, a Kosher club for those looking for something beyond Manischewitz (who knew?), and a new Sake club, with some premium sakes on the menu.

All in all, a pretty nice stop on the web, and I’d recommend you check them out for the extras, as well as the interesting wine clubs.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back with you after a very busy weekend!

On Friday, some friends were passing through town, and stopped for the evening, forcing us to open some wine… I mean, what is a host supposed to do, right?

They were kind enough to bring a couple of bottles with them, as any good guest would, and to my surprise, they were both Petite Syrahs, a favorite of one of the guests.

The first was the 2005 Concannon Petite Syrah, which at less than $10/bottle, is an amazing value. It was also an awesome wine! For me, Petite Syrahs have always been a bit austere to me, but this was pretty soft, while still being dry enough for pleasure’s sake.

The second wine was the Bogle Petite Syrah, which was also tasty, with a nice berry finish. It was also a great value at only $12!

So far, the evening was going well, and to contribute to the festivities, I opened a bottle of 2002 Weston Cabernet Franc from Caldwell, Idaho… yes, you read that correctly, Idaho.

I love Cab Francs, as many of you know, but with its affordable price tag, this was a very pleasant surprise!

It was a robust, well crafted wine with hints of cherry and chocolate. Even though it was from Idaho, the winery uses Columbia Valley fruit, and, as is the case with several of the Columbia Valley Can Francs, this was a pretty hefty wine.

We finished the evening with a nice Gold Digger Cellars Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, which is just a gem of a wine… sweet, but not cloying, refreshing, and very much like fresh apples, to my mind. We enjoyed it with some fresh Havarti cheese, and it was the perfect end to a great evening.

The weather is turning for the better, spring has sprung (I’m getting to play golf today before going to dinner at Beverley’s in the Coeur d’ Alene Resort, which features one of the world’s finest wine lists!) and it’s time to get out with friends, enjoy some great wine and celebrate life… see you there!

Cheers!

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider backatcha!

We’re in the turbulent “April showers” period, alternating between 65 and sunny, and 35 and snowy, but generally getting warmer… the golf courses are all open now, even if they’re still passing out hand warmers at the first tee.

This past weekend, we split our time between Seattle and Coeur d’ Alene, where we donated a wine dinner for 8 to the local Chamber of Commerce “Aw$um Auction,” their major fundraiser of the year.

We participate in several charity events each year, and I’ve got to say that they are some of the most enjoyable things we do.

There are so many worthy causes and charities, and this is a great way to be a part of the community and to help people. Just as important, you get to meet some great people, many with similar interests, and the networking that happens can be fantastic!

Even beyond the people who win our dinners, they always bring friends who have friends, and so the circle grows.

We also try to attend as many of the functions ourselves as we can, because, hey, they’re plain fun! The best events may have as many as 100 wineries pouring several hundred different wines, so you’ve got to plan your tastings accordingly… learning to taste and spit is essential if you don’t want to end up under a table somewhere (not that I know ANYONE who would have done that…)

I’m not sure how many different wines I have bought or ordered at these things, but it’s in the hundreds of bottles… I admit that I can get caught up in the moment, but, hey, it’s all for a good cause, and the wineries often go all out… I’ve also joined a few wine clubs based on the wines I’ve tasted.

Many of the large format bottles I have collected (most autographed) I have won at various live and silent auctions during charity events, and because of that, they have a certain special significance that you can’t buy at the store.

So, go ahead and check out your local charity and wine event scene… you’ll end up hooked on helping good causes, as well as on having a great time, and you’ll probably end up with some free wine glasses!

Cheers,

WIne Club Insider out.

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