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It's a longshot but has anyone even heard of any of the wineries on Bainbridge Island in Washington? Amelia Wynn, Eagle Harbor, Eleven, Fletcher Bay, Perennial Vinters, Rolling Bay? I'm heading out to do some tastings with friends this weekend.
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May 24, 2013 02:30
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I asked my folks who live in Seattle, but they don't really know the Bainbridge wineries. They recommended you just check out all of them, and I'm just gonna make a formal request for a trip report, because I'm pretty curious to know how it went!
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May 26, 2013 03:10
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Thanks for asking at least. It looks like we're going to head up to Port Townsend first and hit a few cideries, then stop at "Coppertop Loop" which has a distiller, brewery and winery tasting room. Then we'll hit the rest of the winery tasting rooms on Winslow Way if there's time left.
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May 26, 2013 05:11
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Trip report on Bainbridge Island... kinda. My friends didn't mention they were going tasting in eastern Washington the day before so they were a little burned out on wines. We went up to Port Townsend to Finnriver Cidery and stopped at the Coppertop Loop complex to check out a distillery and brewery. I did manage to convince them to stop at Perennial Vinters on Bainbridges, which was the only winery I was interested in since they grow their own grapes. We were going to peek inside the Fletcher Bay tasting room at Coppertop Loop but right as we were walking up the guy dumped the spit bucket right on the sidewalk out front, in front of us. Yuck. What is this, France? Perennial Vinters was very small, operating out of the lower floor/basement of a house. The guy was sitting there applying labels to bottles by hand and answering our questions in a room filled with cases and cases of wines, while his partner did the tasting for us. They had 9 bottles open for tasting that day for a $6 fee. He has about 2 acres of vineyards on the property and is looking to get another acre or two when they have the money to clear the trees. All of his wines focus on cool weather varieties so less alcohol and more acidity. The last two summers were poo poo so they had to get grapes from Bellingham. I'm not much of a wine guy so I didn't have a whole lot of tasting notes. There was a dry Orange Muscat that was nice and only one of the bottles had any oak, a Syrah. They also had a raspberry dessert wine that I really liked. It was made from raspberries from the farm next door. He had a nice story about the Japanese family who own the farm, were interred during WWII and got their property back. I mentioned my homebrewing efforts with beer and cider and he volunteered that anyone could contact him in the late summer/early fall and come get vines full of hops he grows for free. Nice guy although he's very passionate about his winemaking, almost to a spergy level. If you're into the locally-sourced stuff and want to talk technical details then I'd recommend a visit.
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Jun 1, 2013 04:21
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that Vai sound posted:Just as people have comfort foods, I'd say Italians are my comfort wine. You can always find a friend in a Rioja, if you want to try something different - I love them. 8 or so years ago they became really popular where I live, but now they're sort of passé and only the best ones still get stocked, and at very reasonable prices. simplefish fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Jun 1, 2013 |
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Jun 1, 2013 16:09
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simplefish posted:You can always find a friend in a Rioja, if you want to try something different - I love them. 8 or so years ago they became really popular where I live, but now they're sort of passé and only the best ones still get stocked, and at very reasonable prices. Rioja have a tendency to be really loving tannic so if you happen to stumble across a young one, it never hurts to decant it a little. Also, I had a really tasty Zinfandel the other day and now I'm going to have to comb the country for importers who actually get something decent in because I am really sick of just falling back on Australian shiraz if I want something really big.
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Jun 2, 2013 12:32
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I had forgotten how Chilean wines have a nice berry flavor and scent. I used to think it was something with just the red grapes, but I've even noticed it in a white from there. It kind of reminds me of South African wines, but less intense.
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Jun 3, 2013 03:52
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I've fallen into a rut lately, pretty much drinking only Oregon Pinot Noir and Champagne. A delicious, expensive rut. The only Champagne I have been buying in the last year has been Ulysses Collin Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Pierrières. It's just out of the price range I like to spend on stuff I drink semi-regularly but it's just so drat good I can't help myself.
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Jun 4, 2013 14:49
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I am enjoying Penfolds Bin 8 (Cab-Syrah blend). How representative it is of Australian wines? Is Penfolds a decent brand overall?
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Jun 10, 2013 17:46
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Exergy posted:I am enjoying Penfolds Bin 8 (Cab-Syrah blend). How representative it is of Australian wines? Is Penfolds a decent brand overall? Penfolds is pretty good if a little over priced for what you get. The style tends be be very overt, sweet, ripe fruit and sweet american oak, although there are some exceptions. Most Australian wines tend to be sweeter flavored (not in actual sugar content) than old world wines and Penfolds are at the extreme end of that, but usually without the very high alcohols you see in some wines that are vying for Robert Parker points. They are part of Treasury Wine Estates, the company that used to be Fosters; Wolf Blass, Rosemount, Coldstream Hills, Lindemans, Heemskeerk and a bunch of other labels are also part of the group.
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Jun 10, 2013 21:16
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Here is me getting a grower Champagne facial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yutJQrl8uuM
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Jun 23, 2013 02:51
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After years of research they've finally worked out how to incorporate TCA into a screw cap. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/06/18/screw-cap-wines-are-screwed-meet-brand-new-helix-c
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Jun 24, 2013 08:03
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4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:Here is me getting a grower Champagne facial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yutJQrl8uuM I wish I was able to embed the Facebook video of Eco RI giving you the Diebolt-Vallois facial the first time we met.
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Jun 24, 2013 08:12
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I'm planning on having a southern-style seafood boil (mostly shellfish, plus the traditional corn, potato, turkey necks, etc.) this weekend. What are some good options to serve? I'm thinking most of the traditional shellfish pairings are too delicate or too acidic for the spicy, heavily seasoned food. I'm thinking a quaffable rose, or an off-dry white, maybe a riesling or chenin.
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Jun 27, 2013 06:11
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I tend to find spice and wine to be a really poor pairing. People often recommend Riesling ory gewurtztraminer but neither seems any good at all to me. I'd stick to beer, or do vermouth and soda or the like.
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Jun 30, 2013 05:50
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pork never goes bad posted:I tend to find spice and wine to be a really poor pairing. People often recommend Riesling ory gewurtztraminer but neither seems any good at all to me. I'd stick to beer, or do vermouth and soda or the like. Off dry aromatic varieties do work well with spice but only delicate spice - if you're dealing with something heavily spiced you can get away with something big and rich (think heavily oaked chardonnay or chenin) but really beer is king when it comes to matching with curries.
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Jul 1, 2013 21:00
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So I just got a job at this really high end restaurant and I know very little about wine besides the colors. Here's their wine list: http://www.ditkasrestaurants.com/downloads.ditkas/OBwine.pdf I've been googling wine classes in the area but with my current work schedule I don't think I'll be able to make any by next Saturday. I read the OP so now I'm looking for some like wine 101 websites. If anyone has any links to beginners wine stuff, or books they would recommend I'd appreciate it.
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Jul 2, 2013 22:53
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Yomofo posted:I've been googling wine classes in the area but with my current work schedule I don't think I'll be able to make any by next Saturday. I read the OP so now I'm looking for some like wine 101 websites. If anyone has any links to beginners wine stuff, or books they would recommend I'd appreciate it. It probably won't help you in a short-term, but I really enjoyed Wine Bible. Surprisingly not boring at all and very well written. You can read it either systematically or sporadically by regions when needed. This book might even launch you into sommelier career. I am also sure someone here will point you to a website where you can learn enough to understand their wine list.
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Jul 3, 2013 00:18
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Yomofo posted:So I just got a job at this really high end restaurant and I know very little about wine besides the colors. Here's their wine list: Honestly read Wine for Dummies. It's a great place to start. Any of you industry folk in the SF area? Moving out there on the 12th.
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Jul 3, 2013 00:36
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Yomofo posted:So I just got a job at this really high end restaurant and I know very little about wine besides the colors. Here's their wine list: Looking at the restaurant and the menu which includes tasting notes, you're going to be fine. They did all of the work for you. That said, learning is good and you're at a place where if you know even a little I'm going to guess you know as much as your customers, unless I'm severely underestimating Ditka's as an establishment. I've heard good things about the For Dummies wine book. Edit: Beaten to the For Dummies recommendation. And hi Crimson, I'm in SF but not in the wine industry (unfortunately).
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Jul 3, 2013 03:19
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Wine storage is messing with my head. I really want to put down some bottles, but a range of problems confound me, some of them actually philosophical. First off, I have no good space for it in my small apartment. Secondly, money. No point storing cheap stuff, and if I buy something expensive, I'll have to get quite a few bottles so I can open one every other year and keep track of its progress. Right? Then there's the time element. It just messes with my head how you can go "this was a nice wine, think I'll buy another and drink it in 10 years". I don't know which job I will have in 10 years or which city I will live in, maybe I'll be a dad, maybe I'll be dead. Anyway, I wish there was some wine storage service in Norway. All our computer stuff is going to the cloud, why not have Wine Storage As A Service? I know there's a few providers in the US, but very few in Europe. Think a business like that would pay for itself? I bet you could do it quite cheap with a lot of good extras like temperature logging, inventory tracking in an app etc. Anyway, other tips for storage in small urban conditions welcome.
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Jul 13, 2013 20:24
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I think you're overthinking it; buy some second-growth Bordeaux from a non-bonanza year, store it on its side in a temperature stable environment (like somewhere cool and dark in your apartment) and drink in ten years. You can age non-expensive wine, just make sure its suitable for aging (i.e. natural cork, plenty of structure/tannins, not something fruity meant to be drunk young). Or maybe go to a nice wine bar and try some older stuff by the glass and figure out what you might like to try in a decade. Or, if you're like me and can't wait, buy some Gran Reserva R. Lopez de Heredia wines; they age them in the cellar and release when they're ready.
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Jul 13, 2013 21:49
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You might find one of those self storage companies will have a wine storage service. Most of the ones in Australia do it.
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Jul 14, 2013 02:14
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gay picnic defence posted:You might find one of those self storage companies will have a wine storage service. Most of the ones in Australia do it. Who does this in Australia? I have 200+ bottles in a wine fridge and I'm moving overseas and need to put them somewhere.
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Jul 14, 2013 02:16
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Mills posted:Who does this in Australia? I have 200+ bottles in a wine fridge and I'm moving overseas and need to put them somewhere. I used Kennards. http://www.kss.com.au/wine-storage I was storing my wine for six months over summer for a couple of years. You can fit quite a bit more in their lockers than they say too as long as you don't mind really cramming it all in there.
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Jul 14, 2013 02:33
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PatMarshall posted:(like somewhere cool and dark in your apartment) There is none such place. I live on the top floor with angled walls so in summer my place is scorching. And who knows how long I live here? PatMarshall posted:Or, if you're like me and can't wait, buy some Gran Reserva R. Lopez de Heredia wines; they age them in the cellar and release when they're ready. How interesting you say that! I had a Gran Reserva this evening, from 1998. This one. In Norway, alcohol stronger than beer can only be bought in the state owned shops. But those shops are actually really good and have a great range, often including well stored stuff. Have never gotten a corked bottle, oldest I've bought was '82. The Rioja was all right, would definitely buy again but I don't think I would dedicate paid space to it.
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Jul 14, 2013 04:13
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Several people in this thread (myself included) store their wine at Willamette Wine Storage. There is at least one other major wine storage facility here in Portland, too. I can't imagine going back to trying to store it all at home. Part of that is the fact that I'm now up to several hundred bottles, but even when I only had a few cases it was less stressful for me to know that they were being well stored and not having to deal the space constraints in a city apartment. Plus we get to use their tasting room, hang out with other interesting wine people, have them install custom racking, and ship and receive wine on our behalf. I just bought a house with a ton of extra space in the basement and I still plan to keep my storage locker.
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Jul 14, 2013 05:23
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Brain In A Jar posted:Rioja have a tendency to be really loving tannic so if you happen to stumble across a young one, it never hurts to decant it a little. For big Red try a good Malbac. Even eg Rufus Stone Malbac (they only produce it when there is a good year) otherwise its a 70% Cab. 30% Malbac.
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Jul 15, 2013 05:54
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PatMarshall posted:store it on its side in a temperature stable environment (like somewhere cool and dark in your apartment) and drink in ten years. All great advice, in my opinion, except for this quoted bit. As someone who attempted to age wine in a cool, dark place in their apartment and ended up destroying half of a 100-bottle collection over a couple years in the process, I always recommend either a small wine fridge or off-site storing of wine if you really care to go that far. By "destroyed" I mean my bottles had seen too much temperature fluctuation, weakening the seal on the cork, allowing seepage and letting wine and oxygen to make sweet love inside the bottles, turning them to sink-wine. I am one of the guys who stores his wine at Willamette Wine Storage and I also can't see going back to storing wine myself. I pay about $55 a month to store ~500 bottles there. The peace of mind alone is worth the money to me, outside of the other benefits that Perfectly Cromulent mentioned. As for storing wine in urban conditions I don't see any option other than a wine fridge.
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Jul 16, 2013 09:46
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Is there anything similar to Canadian icewine made in Europe? I liked pretty much all of the brands I tried there made from Vidal or Riesling grapes, but finding Canadian wine here in rear end end of Europe is impossible. I heard Germans and French make icewine too, but have no clue about brands to look for.
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Jul 17, 2013 09:45
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Pyromancer posted:Is there anything similar to Canadian icewine made in Europe? Yes, it's called eiswein here. Not sure about which brands to recommend, if you are in an rear end end of the continent the selection will probably be limited anyway so just get whatever they have and see how it is.
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Jul 17, 2013 13:53
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Pyromancer posted:Is there anything similar to Canadian icewine made in Europe? I liked pretty much all of the brands I tried there made from Vidal or Riesling grapes, but finding Canadian wine here in rear end end of Europe is impossible. I heard Germans and French make icewine too, but have no clue about brands to look for. How similar? I would consider most late harvest dessert wines to be pretty similar, and generally superior, since many of them maintain more balancing acidity. Trockenbeerenauslese, Ausbruch, Tokaj, Sauternes, and my personal favourites, the Loire sweeties Bonnezeaux & Quarts de Chaumes can all be delicious.
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Jul 17, 2013 19:56
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Kasumeat posted:How similar? I would consider most late harvest dessert wines to be pretty similar, and generally superior, since many of them maintain more balancing acidity. Trockenbeerenauslese, Ausbruch, Tokaj, Sauternes, and my personal favourites, the Loire sweeties Bonnezeaux & Quarts de Chaumes can all be delicious. This pretty much - the first time you try a TBA or a top Tokaji you'll probably be blown away - lusciously sweet but with perfectly balanced acidity - all this incredible ripe fruit but without being overbearing or cloying. I tried a sparkling Tokaji at the London wine fair which was pretty bizarre but interesting.
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Jul 17, 2013 20:34
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The German "Eiswein" literally means Icewine... it's from grapes that were on the vines long enough to freeze. As far as the German grading is concerned, it is also a grading like "Trockenbeerenauslese". Apparently it is pretty top dog sweet wine and usually not cheap. I don't drink sweet wine because I am German and Germans only like bone dry mineral water wine, but yeah they do definitly make icewine and it is supposed to be good. Boner Slam fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Jul 18, 2013 |
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Jul 18, 2013 15:20
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So I am drinking right now: Brancott Estate 2012 Sauv Blanc Malborough, for 8 bucks... Once again a wine from NZ which is really intense imo. It smells like those roasted peppers in oil, those slightly sour ones. It also tastes like it and also gooseberries. Bit bitterness as well but I don't care. I dunno about the grapefruit - I mean it does have the acidity. Amazing thing: I wrote this down in my notes - after that I checked the bottle and it said exactly loving this on the back. What do you know, paid off to stop smoking I guess. So considering I loving loved all Malborough SauvB I tried so far, what are a) The best wines from there b) Other, similar wines from other regions, grapes?
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Jul 18, 2013 20:23
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If you want the pinnacle of Sauvignon Blanc from any country (NZ are under-ripe in my opinion) seek out Sancerre from France. Crochet through Rosenthal is a good place to start. You get the grassiness and lime leaf but there's actually developed fruit underneath it. Of course, Sancerre is't anywhere near as cheap as NZ SB, but they aren't terrible dear either. For SBs with similar character and at similar price, try South Africa (Fairview is a good place to try, but wines that are impossible to spell like Buitenvewachting are pretty awesome for a couple bucks more) or Chile will work for you I think.
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Jul 18, 2013 20:37
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Boner Slam posted:So I am drinking right now: Brancott Estate 2012 Sauv Blanc Malborough, for 8 bucks... MSB: try Dog Point, Greywacke, Isabel. All top examples. S. African SB is a bit more restrained but definitely worth a go - look at Buitenverwachting as previously mentioned for good value - wines like the Vergelegen Reserve SB for something a bit higher end (and the Vergelegen 'The White' for their amazing take on white Bordeaux) Definitely get into the Loire. For me it has to be Pouilly-Fumé - especially higher end examples with lots of texture. The wines of Dagueneau are pretty much some of the most sought after and having tried them are worth it but you can spend not too much and still get a good example.
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Jul 18, 2013 22:16
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Long-timer lurker here. I just passed my WSET L3 Advanced course today. Starting the course for my MW now. You need to be less huffy about the way you look at wine. The Proper Gander fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 16:18
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The Proper Gander posted:Long-timer lurker here. Congrats, but shouldn't you take the Level 4 Diploma first? Also, who is being huffy? I'm not huffy 
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Jul 25, 2013 19:09
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The Proper Gander posted:You need to be less huffy about the way you look at wine. Is this directed at someone in particular or just the whole thread?
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Jul 25, 2013 19:17
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