The Wine Knows

I know better than to dry my crystal wine glasses by putting a cloth inside the glass then twisting the base.

I know better.

One item of note as we prep for our Riesling competition this weekend: The noble white wine grape of Germany and Alsace is produced throughout the Pacific Northwest. In fact, I'm a bit amazed at how many various appellations are represented on wine bottles.

One of the versatilities with Riesling also is one of its perception problems with consumers. This came to light as I entered wine for our Riesling judging into our databases.

Very few Rieslings provide signals about whether the wine is dry, off-dry or sweet.

The Wine Press Northwest crew is prepping for a Riesling judging this weekend, and I am salivating as I enter wines into our database.

While Chardonnay still is far and away the most popular white wine in America, I have to think that Riesling is the greatest.

On Sunday, I posted an item about Ste. Michelle's 07 Dry Riesling winning best white wine at the annual Riverside International Wine Competition, run by Dan Berger, an international wine judge, writer, author and columnist for Wine Press Northwest.

Ste. Michelle wasn't the only Northwest winery to do well amid the 2,500 entries.

Chateau Ste. Michelle not only makes the most Riesling in the world - but it also produces some of the finest. This was proven once again this afternoon in Southern California.

Ste. Michelle's 2007 Dry Riesling won the sweepstakes award for best white wine of the Riverside International Wine Competition, which concluded this afternoon.

Today has been blissfully sunny and warm, with temperatures in the mid-70s and nary a cloud in the sky over Washington's Columbia Valley.

In my humble but growing backyard vineyard, nine of my 10 Brunello clone Sangiovese vines are leafing out quite nicely. The 10th is just finally showing full bud break but is a good two weeks behind the others. Odd. Nine of the vines are entering their fifth leaf, and the 10th (though not the one slow in leafing out) is a cutting from late 2006 that I planted last spring.

It's Spring Release Weekend in the Walla Walla Valley, when thousands descend upon the valley in eastern Washington and Oregon to visit nearly 100 wineries now open to the public.

The genesis of this event lies with Leonetti Cellar, the valley's oldest winery. Since the early 1980s, Leonetti has enjoyed cult-like status, and early May has been when its customers have come to the winery for its annual open house.

How would you like to hang with celebrity chef Bobby Flay in New York City? Flay and Columbia Crest are teaming up with a contest called "Flayvors of Washington." All you have to do is come up with an original recipe that uses ingredients from Washington state and is inspired by a Columbia Crest Grand Estates wine.

Two years ago, Leonetti owner Gary Figgins judged the Northwest Wine Summit on Oregon's Mount Hood. I'd recently seen my first glass "cork" from Alcoa in a bottle of Sinnean. Over dinner, my buddy Hank Sauer and I showed the cork alternative to Gary. He was fascinated and wondered if he might be able to talk his son, winemaker Chris Figgins, into testing the closure.