Did you ever wonder what the word Riserva on an Italian wine label means? Does it guarantee a fine wine? Can it still be a bargain? This short article will try to answer these questions, a…
Original post by default@goarticles.com (Levi Reiss)
Common wisdom asserts that you divide your wine choices into three categories; white for fish and poultry, red for beef and rose for whatever doesn’t fit into the other two categories. This was a grea…
Original post by default@goarticles.com (Nancy E. Radler)
Things seem to be running well for the blog, next will be a link to my website! Comments are welcome.
News on the wine front: The weather has been very cold here in Sonoma County-good for the grapes, not so great for the humans. The vines are in deep, deep sleep, waiting for the longer days to arrive. The 2006 wines are doing well with the Rose looking like another winner!
Tomorrow is the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento. This is a fun day-meeting up with friends that I get to see maybe once or twice a year due to distance. It is also a chance to see the newest technology…………technology and winemaking do not always seem to go together in my mind. I will be attending with some co-workers from my ‘day’ job at another winery, let off steam and have a beer, or I mean wine, or whatever seems appropriate at the moment.
Well, it’s back to the cold cellar-again good for the wine, bad for the humans………….The Mustang Winemaker
Original post by The Mustang Winemaker
Cheers to the New Year!
This year will bring Coral Mustang into the ‘tech’ age- newsletters and a weekly blog, if all goes as planned.
The latest news for me is two medals from the San Francisco Chronicle Competition that was just held recently. Good news for us and for Tempranillo wines. This year they were in a category of their own. This doesn’t always happen and this varietal can be lumped with anything that is not Cab, Zin, or Pinot Noir.
This week I will be in Sacramento to check out winery equipment and reconnect with friends in the biz.
Until next week,
Cheers to good food, good, friends and good wine!
Original post by The Mustang Winemaker
Mannina Cellars is a brand new winery located in the heart of the Walla Walla Valley in Eastern Washington State, home to one of the most acclaimed winemaking regions in the world. I actually have a personal connection to this winery: I received a call several months back from a family friend telling me about a great guy, Don Redman, who just released his first offerings at a new winery in Walla Walla. I asked for his number, and the next time we were in town I called Don and stopped by his tasting room.
Don had just opened the new tasting room and we had a chat. He is an environmental engineer by trade, who fell in love with the wines and wine country of Walla Walla so much that he put his background in chemistry to work making wine. I had a great time talking with Don. He spoke in careful detail about hand selecting and hand separating the dense clusters of his Sangiovese before crush. I could tell this is a winemaker who will stop at nothing to achieve perfection!
We tasted his 2004 Merlot (88 points in Wine and Spirits), it was incredible. I was absolutely blown away by his first releases! Next we tasted the 2004 Sangiovese. I enjoyed it so much I bought a case on the spot. Unfortunately, he is now sold out of the 2004 Sangiovese. I did not get the opportunity to taste his 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, but if his other offerings are any indication, I really need to find some! You can visit Don’s website at http://www.manninacellars.com/ and can buy his 2004 Merlot (which I highly recommend) at http://www.lovewashingtonwine.com/ .
Original post by Mark Bolz
Don’t bother mentally processing the infinite pairings possible with food and wine, in any consideration of the world’s best. I must also leave out my personal childhood favorite of Tom’s Peanut Butte…
Original post by default@goarticles.com (Bill Stephens)
Boudreaux Cellars is exactly what you are looking for when seeking the finest handcrafted wines in the New World. Rob Newsom, the Vintner and owner, exemplifies the art of handcrafting wine. From the selection of the fruit, the crush, selection of the barrels to individually labeling and decorating his bottles, Rob Newsom is a creative force of passion and detail. Newsom’s bottles are some of the most elegant I have seen.
Everything about Rob Newsom is unique and frankly…cool! A “crushing Cajun” Rob hails originally from Louisiana, making his way to the northwest (long enough ago to be considered almost native) to make literally one of the best wines in the state. Rob focuses the entire year on making limited offerings of deeply complex wines. Rob is able to get his hands on the best fruit and knows what to do with it! A protégé of Gary Figgins of Leonetti Cellars, Rob prefers to select his fruit from the best Washington State vineyards: Bishop’s, Champoux, Homestead, Pepper Bridge, Sagemoor, Seven Hills, Wallula, and Klipsun. The small lots of wine that he makes go quickly!
His winery is nestled in the Cascade Mountains, secluded and quiet in the middle of nature, up Icicle Creek near Leavenworth. You have to visit his winery (you need to make an appointment first)! Navigate to http://www.boudreauxcellars.com/, where he has posted some great photos of the winery, his friends and his winemaking process - you should really check them out.
Rob climbs mountains…literally, loves nature, his family, dogs, cooking and making wine and is an awful lot of fun to be around. Rob’s offerings are spectacular! Here is what Wine Press Northwest has to say about his 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon:
“Boudreaux Cellars 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon ties with Widgeon Hill Winery and Zerba Cellars Winery for the #1 Northwest Cab in a blind tasting of 128 Cabs. See the Spring 2006 Wine Press Northwest magazine for all the details!”
The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon is almost gone. I think http//:www.lovewashingtonwine.com is one of the last places you can buy it! Rob is ready to release his 2004 Merlot, and we will announce it on the site when he does. Simply stated, Rob’s wines are spectacular, revered throughout the Northwest and by anyone else fortunate to enjoy them.
Visit our blog tomorrow for my post introducing Mannina Cellars from the acclaimed Walla Walla Valley.
Original post by Mark Bolz
Alright the holidays have passed and needless to say you’re tired of turkey, ham or roast beef or what ever and now you maybe watching your diet after indulging yourself. So here are some quick and ea…
Original post by default@goarticles.com (John Maier)
The Cave B Estate winery is something extraordinary. The winery is considered Eastern Washington’s first destination winery resort. Located at a place known as SageCliff, high above the Columbia River near Vantage, Cave B is a place surrounded by natural beauty. If you are going to visit Cave B plan to stay a while…literally! The property includes an Inn where you can stay in a private cliff house, in the inn or in a cavern loft. A stay at Cave B is quite memorable. My parents visit Cave B often (it’s about an hour from where they live) because they are literally transported to world of terrific food and wine that becomes an experience to remember. The Inn at Cave B even received a four star rating from Luxury Travel magazine and was featured in last month’s Alaska Air magazine.
Cave B also features a growing resort and spa. Acclaimed Executive Chef Fernando Divina’s world famous cuisine pared with Cave B wines is the perfect dining experience. You must really find time to get to Cave B!
Rusty Figgins is their award winning winemaker. First honing his skills as an apprentice at Leonetti Cellars in Walla Walla, Figgins then created Glen Fiona and was a winemaker at Northstar and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Viticulture and Enology from Charles Sturt University in Australia.
Jeff Cleveringa, Cave B’s viticulturist, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Plant Science from Dordt College in Northwest Iowa. He is currently an advisory board member for the Good Fruit Grower magazine and past president of the Columbia Basin Tree Fruit Society and former session chair for the Washington State Horticultural Association’s annual meeting.
Together, Cleveringa and Figgins are taking Columbia Valley wine to the next level!
All of Cave B’s fruit is hand-selected and estate grown and made into terrific wine. I enjoy the many offerings of Cave B but have a particular affinity for their 2004 Blanc de Blanc sparking wine, the 2002 Merlot and 2004 Sagecliffe Semillon. They also make a fantastic 2005 Semillon Ice wine that you really need to experience. These are a few of the selections I enjoy. Please visit http://www.lovewashingtonwine.com to view all of their offerings!
Come back Monday and I’ll introduce you to another unique winemaker and winery: Rob Newsom of Boudreaux Cellars.
Original post by Mark Bolz
The Stemilt Creek winery is our newest winery. Stemilt Creek is located in central Washington State on 4785 Stemilt Hill Road in Wenatchee, WA and just opened a tasting room in downtown Wenatchee.
Jan Mathison, the winemaker for Stemilt Creek, put forth some very strong first releases in 2006. Their 2003 Cabernet Franc even received an 89 point rating in the October, 2006 issue of the Wine Spectator Magazine.
My personal favorites are the 2002 Merlot and the 2003 Cabernet Franc. With such strong first releases, this is an up and coming winery to watch! Visit http://www.lovewashingtonwine.com sample their offerings and come back to see what is next!
Visit our blog tomorrow where I will introduce you to Cave B Estate Winery.
Original post by Mark Bolz