Wine Photos

For the second year in a row I have come home from a wine event with more whites than reds. Hmmm... White wines tend to be more affordable, especially in Woodinville. Finding a $10 bottle of wine was impossible, which is frustrating. When I go to the Spring Barrel Opening in Yakima Valley there are plenty of decent $10 wines.

Anyway, here we go.



Brian Carter Cellars Corrida.
According to the website: Spanish-style Red Blend (Exclusive to Wine Club members)
Modeled after the noble Tempranillo based blends of Spain, the wine also contains Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Granacha. A beautiful dark garnet color greets you with aromas of blackberry, rose petals, cedar and spice. Plenty of fruit flavors envelope the mouth along with soft tannins and a long juicy finish.

Because I joined the wine club yesterday I was able to get two bottles and a tasting of it. It was delicious! Seriously - so yummy. It was smooth but complex.



Brian Carter Cellars Oriana. Again, from the website:

ORIANA (Latin for 'golden lady')
Uniquely Aromatic White Wine Blend
Oriana utilizes two grapes originally from the Rhone Valley of France. The core variety, Viognier, is rich in aromas of peaches and apricots and Roussanne deepens the peach character and adds a hint of melons. Then blend is finished with Riesling to add a touch of pears and apple blossoms. This richly textured wine finishes with food friendly acidity.

I've had this wine before (a couple of years ago) and loved it. Brian Carter is a mad genius of wine blending. Seriously.



Northwest Totem Cellars Salish. It's a white blend that is refreshing and semi-dry. It will be perfect for a summer dinner.



Airfield Estate Winery's Bombshell Red.
From the website: 41% Syrah, 35% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Sangiovese, 4% Malbec, 3% Cab Franc

A beloved favorite of many, this approachable signature red table blend has overlapping aromas of oak, vanilla, raspberry jam, and blackcurrants, leaving lingering flavors of dark fruit and toasted oak on the palate. With a rounded, full-bodied mouthfeel, this red blend provides supple tannins ample for pairing with a wide range of foods.



Airfield Estate Winery's Unoaked Chardonnay. I have discovered that I rather enjoy unoaked Chardonnay (but still don't like oaked Chardonnay). From their website:
Crisp, dry, and refreshing with aromas of honeysuckle, melon, and tropical fruit, this 100% stainless steel fermented Chardonnay showcases authentic varietal characteristics. Citrus flavors engage the palate with a round, lively mouthfeel and a lingering finish. This wine is enjoyable on its own or pairs nicely with seafood and pan-Asian cuisine.



This is the wine I was waiting to taste. I was pretty excited! It is Northwest Totem Cellars Late Harvest Viognier. To say this is delicious is a vast understatement. It is definitely a dessert wine but not overly syrupy or sickly sweet. I love it!



Efesté Evergreen Riesling. From their website:
The Evergreen Riesling combines mineral and slate with flavors of white peach and linden. This wine finishes with wonderful focus and a backbone of mandarin orange.

This wine would be fantastic with Asian food. I could easily see drinking it with some nice Thai food.



Hestia's Chenin Blanc. This was crisp and wonderful! This would be really great with chicken or a light fish like tilapia.



Chatter Creek's Orange Muscat. For some reason this wine is not on their website. This was sweet, light, and a perfect brunch wine.



Page Cellars Lick My Lips Syrah. Are you joking me? Did I really pay $27 for a bottle of Syrah? Oh, yes, I did. It is soooooooooo jammy and yummy. My undying love for the Syrah grape lives on.



Cuillin Hills Dungeon Syrah is another delicious Syrah! From their website:
Varietals: 86% Syrah, 14% Grenache
Vineyards: Snipes Canyon, Meek, Sagemoor Weinbau
Cooperage: 35% New, Mixed
Aging: 20 Months

Tasting notes provided by Wine Advocate-
“The 2007 The Dungeon Syrah also contains 14% Grenache. Dark ruby/purple in color, it offers up a spicy nose of meat, game, underbrush, kirsch, and blueberry notes. Layered, dense, and sweetly-fruited, this impeccably balanced, large-scaled effort will drink well for another 8 years.”

Recommendations: Decant min. 15 to 30 minutes.

Oh yes, yes, yes. I am going to be cellaring this one for a while, I think.



Gifford-Hirlinger Stateline Red. We tasted this one, then a 100% Merlot and a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a blend of the two and, believe me, the best. These two grapes bring out the best in each other like an old married couple or best friends. From their website:
The Wine

The Stateline Red is a simple blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is a very food-friendly, versatile wine with enough structure to pair with a steak, but also fruit forward enough to pair with seafood dishes!
Case Production:
* 418

Varietal Composition:
* 50% Merlot
* 50% Cabernet Sauvignon

Barrel Aging:
* 17 Months

Oak Program:
* 100% Neutral Oak



And that's it! I am really excited to be tasting these lovely Washington wines.

Wine, Wine, Wine!

I will add photos later but yesterday I attended the Passport to Woodinville wine tasting. It was amazing! I tasted wonderful wines. Among my favorites were Brian Carter Cellars (I joined their wine club!!), Efesté, Airfield Estates Winery (their unoaked Chardonnay was fabulous!), and Northwest Totem Cellars, one of my newest favorite wineries! They have a Late Harvest Viognier (YUM!) and a white wine blend called Salish that are good. Their reds were good as well!

I will review the wines as I drink them. I am super excited about my wine purchases yesterday.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

(Sorry for the crappy quality...I took it with my phone and it's after midnight!)


Here are all of the names written on strips of paper, folded, and put in a bowl. (Don't worry - I wasn't cheating. I was recycling! The reverse side had my notes for a review of one of the wines.) Mr Mary Cooks drew the name and definitely did it blind as I made him do it after he had gone to bed and his glasses were off. Heh. Timing is everything! ;-)

Alena is my winner of the $50 Grocery Outlet gift card! Yay!!! Check out her fabuLESS life here. It's a great blog!

Congratulations!

And a special thank you to all who entered the drawing. It was really fun to do and my very first giveaway with special thanks from Grocery Outlet!

2005 Yering Station MVR

I'm a bit late on this entry as well. Came home from work and napped for a few hours. My immune system seems hellbent on catching a cold! Boo!

It's not going to stop me from posting about this fantastic wine, though!!

Front of the bottle:


Back of the bottle:


2005 Yering Station MVR!

To say that I was looking forward to this wine is a vast understatement. The second I put it in my cart at Grocery Outlet (a bargain at $5.99! Elsewhere it's $18.99) I knew I'd want to drink and drink and drink it. This wine is comprised of 54% Marsanne, 36% Viognier, and 10% Roussanne. There's a hint of pear on the nose. Drinking the wine, it's crisp and clean. This is definitely not a sweet white wine. While I was drinking the wine I kept imagining a backyard barbecue with chicken and pasta salads and sun. It's definitely a summer wine so if you have the chance to buy it during GO's wine sale from March 30th through April 3rd you should do it! Summer is not so far away.

But, back to the wine. I definitely get a lot of green apple with this wine. Mr Mary Cooks had only one glass (he's not a fan of whites) but I easily drank the rest of the bottle. I am an equal opportunity wine drinker. If you're only a marginal fan of white wines you may not like this. The Mr said it smelled like Play-Doh. While I could see how he could smell that I didn't think it was a bad thing.

By the way, we drank this with a whole chicken cooked in the slow cooker.



I was intending on blogging the recipe but, quite frankly, the chicken turned out dry (!!) and not all that great. I was disappointed but it reinforces my desire to have a programmable slow cooker vs. my old-school "off-low-high" model.

I have more wines to blog about even though the "official" period has ended. I have three bottles left and I'm intending on sharing them all with you!

2009 Buckley's Cove Merlot

I'm getting this one in right under the wire. I had a crazy day at work and then right after some friends and I went to a book reading and signing by Christopher Moore. It was good fun but we were in line for about 2 hours. Totally worth it, though!

But, to the wine please! We drank a 2009 Buckley's Cove Merlot with polenta pasticciata (recipe coming tomorrow!). The wine costs $2.99 at Grocery Outlet compared to $12.99 elsewhere.

Front of the bottle:


Back of the bottle:


There are berries and cherries on the nose as well as a bit of a buttery caramel. For my money, it is far better than "2 Buck Chuck". It is mild, with very few tannins. It was better than I thought it'd be and fairly charactered for a three dollar wine. There are pepper notes at the end but no bitter lingering flavor. It would be good with a sharp cheese such as cheddar or parmesan. It's not very complex but, then, I didn't expect it to be. We did drink the whole bottle. Most of the time I drank it while sitting at the table surfing the internet on my laptop. It's perfect for sitting, lingering at the table with conversation.

I don't think I would actively seek this wine out but I wouldn't turn it away, either.

The back of the bottle is worth a read! It's very funny!



Here's a teaser of the polenta dish: