WCI back to finish up our Townshend dinner with winemaker Don Townshend. (www.townshendcellar.com).

Now, to jump back a sec, Townshend is a family owned business started in 1979, but Don says he didn’t make his first ‘real” wine until the 1995 vintage, which ended up being an extraordinary year. Since then, they’ve grown into a 10,000 case/year winery, and they make the nationally famous “T3,” a non-vintage Bordeaux blend, and the new “Vortex,” another blend rapidly gaining critical acclaim.

When last we talked…

So far, we’d enjoyed a champagne cocktail, “Relentless DRG,” the new Down River Grill Blend to be released this week (good), a Ste. Chappelle Reisling (very nice), the Townshend ‘00 Cabernet Sauvignon (awesome), a St. Supery 2000 Dollarhide Ranch Cab (smooth and tasty), a Townshend 2000 Cab Franc (huge!), a 1997 L’ Ecosse Cab Franc (not bad) and the 1999 Townshend Merlot (amazing).

Dinner wasn’t too bad, if I do say myself. We had lamb chops served over a curry and turmeric rice with golden raisins, accompanied by grilled asparagus and a slice of fried eggplant over sauteed spinach. It held up well to the wines, and was appreciated by all, though it was really a night for the wines to shine. We even brought out the Reidel glasses (www.riedel.com), putting their Cab glass, their Merlot glass and their Port glasses to the test. Somehow, great wines do taste better in great glasses!

Now, dessert…

I love cooking desserts, and one of Don’s passions is making ports and dessert wines.

Dessert was my version of a baked apple, which consists of using a melon baller to partially core a Macintosh apple, and then stuffing it with raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon. The real secret is to then bake them in a bottle of Sauternne for an hour or so. I served them warm with homemade whipped cream, and an 2005 “Neiges,” an apple Ice wine from Quebec that can compete with the grand dessert wines of the world, and which was a perfect accompaniment.

Don had brought a bottle of his Huckleberry Port, which is truly an awesome wine. Made from 100% huckleberry juice, it is an exquisite spirit. and he had found a lone bottle of 1977 Vintage Rebello Balente port, which we poured and took to the hot tub. It was a perfect way to end the evening! Rich, fruity, beautiful color, great legs, and rare. Shared with good friends, it doesn’t get much better!

Townshend also has a great little wine club; The “Diamond T Club,” which sends out four shipments of two bottles per year, and also gives the members a nice 20% discount on every Townshend wine. Check them out!

All in all, it was a great evening… one of those where you have maybe a drop too much, but no one was driving, the hot tub was warm, and all was right with the world.

Cheers,

WCI

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WCI here, and I’d like to take a small diversion today and talk about some great wines I was able to try this weekend.

I was lucky enough to have some of my dearest friends come into town over the weekend, and so, if I was going to make dinner, I might as well fill the table, so I invited Don Townshend, winemaker, salesman and chief cook and bottle washer for the acclaimed Townshend Cellars in Spokane, Washington, and we had ourselves a party! www.townshendcellar.com is their website, and is worth checking out.

Don is one of the most talented winemakers I’ve met–almost the A.D.D of winemakers, as he makes almost 30 different wines. He’s one of the few winemakers I’ve done a dinner for where I can do an entire 8 - 10 course dinner using only their wines, as he makes everything from a sparkling Huckleberry Brut to several different ports and dessert wines, and everything in-between.

Don and his guest Cathy arrived right on time, and, as is his wont, Don brought a few bottles of some of his best wines to share with us, combined with a couple from my cellar, and let me tell you, folks, what an amazing evening of wines it was!

We started with one of our special champagne cocktails, accompanied by a plate of hummus, crackers and couple of great cheeses; in particular, a two year old, aged cheddar and a lovely smoked Gouda, and then, corkscrew in hand, Don started opening…

First up was his brand new release, entitled “DRG,” for Down River Grill, the restaurant Don crafted the wine for. They are actually having the release party this week, so we got a bit of an early taste. It was quite nice, with tons of fruit, and was a great way to start the evening.

Next up was a salad, with fresh Roma tomatoes, cucumbers, Craisins, fresh sliced pears and a raspberry vinaigrette. We diverged from the list to serve a crisp Riesling, but then, it was time for Big reds!

I’ll be back tomorrow with the tales of a great evening, and about their fun wine club, too!

Until then,

Cheers!

WCI

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