Rhone Rangers Roam Seattle

The Rhone Rangers – a membership group of winemakers who produce Rhone-style wines —seem to have developed a following and a great way of educating the public. Originally created by Randall Grahm when he was head wine dude at Bonny Doon, it has morphed and changed, but I still enjoy the annual tastings when the Rangers roll into town. This year, 39 wineries set up booths at Bell Harbor and it was an education making the rounds.

By making the rounds, I mean tasting every white wine in the room, and a few reds if I could get to them. When I go to a tasting, there’s no way you can tasting everything, so I usually go with a plan, according to what is being poured. Here’s my thought pattern, however convoluted

1. Get the big picture – what is the point to the tasting? All Washington? All pinot noir? in this case, all Rhone varietals?

2. Have a plan: If it’s a pinot noir tasting, I usually try a few whites from the region, just to get a sense of the ripeness level that I’ll encounter with the reds, and to prime the pump, so to speak. In this case, the list of very interesting, and mostly obscure Rhone whites were on my mind, and I wanted to clearly compare the differences in single varietal whites vs. blends, etc. In this case, viognier leads the pack, usually on its own, then blends of roussanne, marsanne, grenache blanc (which I discovered I really enjoy for its high acidity, and green apple – even apple Jolly Rancher – flavors) as well as bourboulenc, clairette blanc, muscat blanc a petits grains, picardin, picpoul and ugni blanc. Of the latter list, picpoul was represented, but I didn’t see the others in blends.

3. Spit! You’d be completely toasted if you didn’t.

4. Talk to the winemakers/marketing guys/gals. It is easier to remember what you like if you know something about the terroir, landscape, blend, etc. Sometimes they rattle off percentages of grapes in the blend, which I’m not really interested in – I want to know what the soil and climate and elevation, etc. is like. I usually ask – Tell me about where this wine is grown… and they are usually very willing to talk about the place – a fun way to picture the region and have a geology and geography lesson at the same time. It is kind of a neumonic device for me to picture the place with the wine made there.

5. Take a few notes in your own code, and remember the good ones! My favorites from this tasting were Paso Robles’ Adalaida Cellars White Blend of grenache blanc and roussanne – very minerally with that candied green apple taste that still had killer acidity and a slightly soft mouthfeel with peach and apricot flavors – an interestingly balanced combo of acid, fruit, soft and sharp. Love it!

Other wines I tasted -

Cass Winery Viognier – Paso Robles, mineral and mint!

Cline Cellars Viognier – Sonoma/Carneros, white peach, herbal notes with crisp white peach, not too ripe!

McCrea Cellars Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Viognier – love this producer! Fruity but lean with a lean, herbal – lavendar even – note, but also soft lemon and peachiness that is characteristic of Viognier. The difference here is that everything is in balance and delicacy and elegance are the goal.

Sawtooth from Nampa Idaho! Their Snake River Valley Viognier shows that this area has promise! A lean, mineral wine with white blossom and peach aroma, high acidity. A very refreshing wine!

So check out these Rhone-style wines – great for summer!

Thunder Shows, or When You are Lost at Sea, Wine is Where You Find it

Stuck in the Ballard locks with a bunch of stinkpots

Vaynerchuk may have left the building, but in his wake were two days of the most intense thunder storms we’ve seen (or heard) in years. My ex (now friend) was going to sail down to Hood Canal for the 4th and had a window of opportunity to leave at about 5 or 6 a.m. on the 3rd because of the tides, but that ended up being the craziest hour of lightening, buckets of rain and ear-splitting thunder.

So he couldn’t make the trip, and later that day, when the storm had left billowing clouds and still water behind, I was roped into–I mean graciously volunteered–to help him bring the boat BACK through the Hiram H. Chittendon locks, where the water level is raised and lowered between the salt water of the Puget Sound and the fresh water of Lake Union. We got stuck waiting for a gravel barge and ended up stuck outside the locks for THREE HOURS, getting to know the mussel-covered pylons, the kingfishers, and a few purple seastars very well. So of course, after a while, I started rummaging below decks and came up with a bottle of white wine that was fairly cool from being stored below the waterline. In desperate times, wine is where you find it, and I thought this was the perfect occasion for my first wine post – the essential Seattle moment. Stuck on a boat with the cityscape and the water all around, searching for refreshment.

What is your favorite boat wine? I have to say, I usually like dry rosé, but that is a fall back all summer, whether i’m on a patio, a boat or whatever. This 2006 Casalone dry Italian white from the Piemonte region made from the Cortese grape, definitely hit the spot, and was eye opening in terms of what we usually think of as dry crisp, refreshing summer wines. This one smelled of lemon gumdrops to me! Not a lot of fruit, just white flowers for sure, and a funkiness like light mushrooms. Interesting! There’s SO much to learn about Italian wines, but the main thing is to stay open to their classic combination of fruit and funkiness. This Cortese was a great example. Fresh, and light, it still was full of minerality, acidity, yes, but also mushroom and dried leaves. Not what I would usually choose for a boat sipper, but it was actually great with the salty chips that were the only food on board.

Come to find out, this wine WAS the perfect thing to drink with the scent of boat exhaust, salt air and fish in our nostrils, as it is produced all along the Ligurian Coast and served in the fish restaurants of Genoa—an area that probably looks very similar to the salty, mast-packed shores of Lake Union. Citrus complements salt – that lesson was learned here, with a little exotic mushroomy funk thrown in that I will remember for my next fish fry.