The Wine Knows

Absolutely! Lone Canary does a great job with their wines, and their Sauvignon blanc is no exception. They do several inexpensive red blends, too (Bird House Red, Rosso, and Rouge are all great bottles under $15), and in general, they are a very overlooked yet deserving winery in the Spokane area!

Tim

Hey Andy,

Thanks for the heads up on the Sleight Of Hand Cellars Spellbinder Super Wallan! I love sangiovese blends, and the spicier the better. (I am a zinfandel freak, and I love the big fruit and the spicy finishes.) Are those cabernet's sauvignon and franc in the blend? And it is less than $20? Sweet. Ever had the Chandler Reach Corella (junior Super Columbian??), priced at $16? If so, is it similar?

I am always looking (aren't we all....) for really nice wines that don't induce too much guilt on a Tuesday night...

Thanks again for the tip!
Tim

Tim,

The 05 Spellbinder is predominately cab franc, and then I think is equal parts cab sav and sangiovese. I see that the 06 has less sangio. I have not tried the 06. The 05 is a fun wine, and is $18 in the tasting room, I think, so perhaps you can find it under your $15 guilt limit a local grocer or something. See sofhcellars.com.

We poured the Chandler Reach Corella (04?) at a red blend tasting last winter, where it was a big hit, though I didn't get a chance to try it (perhaps that says something...)

I felt guilty about the >$40 purchase of the 02 Reininger Cima until I opened the bottle...

andy
andyplymale@gmail.com

Just a note on the Spellbinder wines....the first vintage (the "super wallan"!) is actually a non-vintage wine, a blend of 42% Cabernet Franc (from Walla Walla), and 29% each Sangio and Cab Sauv. The Cab Franc and Cab Sauv are from 2005, the Sangio from 2006, and it was bottled May of 2007. No new oak, all older barrels, super expressive Cab Franc nose, with the light cherry and spiciness from the Sangio coming through on the palate. We have about 30 cases left at the winer. The new vintage, just released this past Spring Release weekend, is a more traditional blend of 60% Cab Sauv, 20% Cab Franc, and 10% each Malbec and Sangio. Only 20% new oak, and little brighter fruit, and probably more "consumer friendly" as far as wines go...I tell folks that you really have to love Cab Franc, especially Chinon, to appreciate the first release....thankfully, I love Cab Franc! That being said, the first vintage is more for Italian food, the new vintage is more for burgers and steaks. Both delicious, and both under $20!

Thanks,

Trey

Hi Trey,

Are your wines (specially this Spellbinder that I am hearing so much about) available in Spokane? Do you have a distributor up here? I am a Cab Franc lover as well as a sangiovese lover, so I would love to try them both! It sounds like I might like the first version a little better, with more cab franc and sangiovese in the blend, although the second, with some cab franc, malbec, AND sangiovese in the blend, plus more new oak, also sounds very intriguing. If they are available up here, please let me know!

Thanks,
Tim

Tim,

They are not currently in Spokane, only due to my lack of market visits up that way. I have talked to John at Vino, and need to make a trip up that way to see him (incidentally, I am driving through their this AM, on my way to Montana to sell some wine)...you can order online at my website if you can't wait until your next trip to Walla.

Trey

Hi Trey,

I somehow forgot to mention Williams Seafood and Fine Wines, which is at Sprague and University in the Spokane Valley. They have a killer selection of Washington wines there (along with many hard-to-find California wines). That would be another place you might want to consider.

Cheers,
Tim

Hey Trey,

If you come up this way, I would also stop in at Huckleberries, which has a killer selection of wines, and at Yokes in the Spokane Valley (Argonne at Montgomery). I don't know who the wine steward is at Huckleberries, but at Yokes it is Grant Gondry. He is a very cool guy and I'll bet he would be happy to stock your juice! Yokes and Huckleberries have the best selections of Washington State wines in town. Vino, and John and the crew there are great, but they are a lot more limited on space. Just a tip.

Good luck!
Tim

Ne'er do wells in orange jump suits?? You gotta tell me what that means! Are you talking about a prison break or something? Or is that joke that just went wayyyy over my head? I laughed when I first read that, but then I wasn't sure what I was laughing about!

OK.... now I am feeling stupid.

Help!

Tim

The problem was that I didn't realize that Fort Walla Walla was a winery...

http://www.doc.wa.gov/facilities/washingtonsp-photos.asp

I keep meaning to check out the Foundry winery in Wallatown, though.

Hey WineO!

You are absolutely right about Rulo. They are self distributed, which helps to keep their prices down. We also visited Isenhower, and bought several bottles there as well. We didn't personally care as much for their Rhone stuff or their rose, which Brett Isenhower seemed to be most excited about, but the Bordeaux was great and we bought several. Brett is truly a nice guy, and his dad was very charming as he personally showed us around. Seven Hills was very good across the board, and we picked up several bottles there, including their malbec. It ROCKED. They had a nice 4 pack for $84, which had two whites, the malbec, and a Red Mountain cab. We bought their 2005 syrah, too, which is one of my favorites at the moment. Saviah was pretty good, and their new cab was super tasty, as is their reserve merlot they were barrel tasting and selling futures on.

Now, downtown.... Otis Kenyon, and their new tasting room downtown, was pretty good, although they were sold out of their reserve merlot!! We did get to many of the downtown wineries. Lots of goodies there. Skylite Cellars was pretty good and had very fun people, and Spring Valley was good, as always, and had wonderful food. The Nina Lee syrah was phenominal, as was the duck sausage dish and the chocolate truffles! Ash Hollow was decent as well. We picked up an estate merlot there. Forgeron was excellent, and we even picked up two magnums of their Anvil Red for $25 a piece!!!!!!!!! We also picked up their sweet new zinfandel, a chard, and something else..... (We bought 3 1/2 cases total on our trip... can't remember them all!) We picked up a killer Reserve Petit Verdot as Waterbrook, and many of their wines were great for the price. At the airport, Five Star Cellars was very good. Cougar Crest was decent, but they didn't have their new Cab Franc there - only at their new winery/tasting room on Highway 12, which we didn't stop at. Of course, the aforementioned JLC Winery was outstanding. East of town, Walla Walla Cellars was excellent as always, and we were impressed by amaurice winery. We bought a monster malbec there. The people were great, and a ton of fun. Our first experience there, and it was awesome.

West of town, Reininger was exceptional. We even scored two bottles of 1998 merlot..... crap.... that was supposed to be a secret! Woodward Canyon was top notch as always, and the artist who did their 2005 Artist Series Cab was there. We bought a signed print, on top of the AS cab, some NV red wines, and something else.... hey, it was late!

OK.... disappointments? Basel Cellars was number one. I went in without high expectations, which was good or I would really have been bummed out! Their whites were decent, but not memorable. Their reds? So completely tannic that I could have sanded down a Buick with my tongue! And I don't think they have the structure for aging long term. We stopped by there first on Sunday, and I actually regret it since after drinking their reds, my tongue felt like it was stuffed into an electric pencil sharpener by a 4 year old. L'Ecole was decent, but for the money, I would take JLC, Seven Hills, Five Star, or a host of other wineries. We did buy a few whites there, which were very good. I really shouldn't be talking about L'Ecole here, since they were certainly not disappointing in anyway to us. Morrison Lane had some odd-ball Rhone wines for tasting, a few of which were interesting, and were charging $10 for a "flight" of 3 syrahs. I was most interested in their syrahs, but $10??? Needless to say, we didn't taste or buy any of those. And, our "most annoying" award goes to Patrick Paul Winery, where one of the owners spent 20 minutes convincing us how great they are, what a legendary winery they are, blah, blah, blah, while their wines, in our humble opinion, all tasted like they had cough syrup in the blend. Even their cab franc (we are cab franc freaks) tasted like Robitussin.

Well, I believe it is time for someone else to chime in!!!

Tim

Hey Tim,

Just a quick reply to your comments regarding Basel...I made the wines from 2002-2006 before I left to start a new winery here downtown (called Sleight of Hand, sandwiched in between Spring Valley and Ash Hollow, the two of which you visited). I am writing to defend the wines since those were my babies, even though I have nothing to do with the winery any more. I am a bit confused by your comment that you thought the Basel wines were "highly tannic", and in the same sentence, you mention that "I don't think they have the structure for aging long term". Well, which is it? Are they so strcutured that they are meant for long term aging, or are they soft and flabby, and meant for early consumption? I think that the fact that you started early Sunday morning tasting big red wines should have factored into your evaluation of these wines. 2005 was one of the top vintages for Bordeaux varietals in the past 10 years or so, and those wines are meant to lay down for another 15 years (The Merriment blend and Estate Cab and Estate Merlot especially). I understand that everyone has their own pallate, and I can certainly take critizism for what it is worth. But I think you should revisit those wines in a few years and reevaluate your statement. Again, not defending the winery, just the wines!

Trey

We had a memorable time tasting our way through a number of Walla Walla WWineries. As usual our list of places we wanted to visit was longer than time allowed. One of our favorite newer wineries is Gifford Hirlinger. This was our 3rd visit to their winery. They do not dissapoint. We bought Stateline Red,Cab Sauv & Merlot: all 2005 from their own vineyards. An exciting part of our trip was finding a few bottles of the ever so scarce Gifford Hirlinger 2004 18 Below at Vintage Wine Cellars in downtown Walla Walla. This was a limited production wine that sold out months ago!!!!!
I want to say a few good words about Basel Cellars. We stopped there 1st thing on Saturday morning. We found their staff friendly & knowledgable. We tasted our way through their lineup of reds & selected Merriment & Inspired: both will cellar for awhile before opening!

This is one that I didn't want to mention as I was hoping to find some some where with out everybody going out and hunting it down. Truly one of WWs' best. We bought 6 bottles and have since finished it. I will be going into the wine shop this week. Thanks for the heads up. Good luck with the Merriment and Inspired.

Hey just a heads up on the 18 Below: if it is still available at Vintage Wine, it is very well hidden. We found it on the south facing wall: probably the only reason it was still there, because everyone walks in and checks the wall next to the door as you go in. Good luck in finding it. A find like that does not come around very often.

Hi Trey,

Quite interesting to receive the post from you! Sorry if I offended you or anyone. My comments about the ability to age reflected the extremely rough, massive tannins in the reds I tried. The "structure" seemed to be there for aging, and the acids were good, if the fruit could hold out that long. The fruit, to me, is a part of the structure of a wine. The tannins certainly weren't well integrated at this point. (If I remember correctly, we tried a cab, a merlot, and a red blend - don't remember what it was called, and we started out with three whites, one of which they said had just been bottled about 2 weeks earlier and they were already serving it!) My partner and I were in total agreement on the red wines. They were simply massively tannic and literally sandblasted our palettes. In my humble opinion, and to my palette, it would take many years or decades of cellaring for the tannins to soften up enough to drink, and I didn't find big enough fruit to withstand aging that long. Maybe time will prove me wrong. And you are absolutely correct - they should be revisited in several years. Right now? Not ready for immediate consumption, unless perhaps with extended decanting. The bottles we tried had just been opened by some college students who knew little about the wine and couldn't answer some basic questions we had, although they were very nice and were having lots of fun. (As a side note, I have heard that Basel's current syrah is drinking very well right now and is quite good, but I don't think we had that wine.) It is quite possible that had the wines been decanted well in advance, they would have shown better. After all, they are fairly young reds. The wines definitely weren't soft or flabby. I simply doubt whether the fruit is big enough to last until the tannins mellow out a bit. Again, that was hard to tell since they were so incredibly tannic. As far as the time of day goes, we started out the day before at 10:45am at Seven Hills and Spring Valley and didn't have a problem. (Sorry - we didn't stop in at Sleight of Hand. Maybe we should have!) On Friday morning, we started at Walla Walla Vintners, amaurice, and Cougar Crest. No one has ever accused either of them of making small wines! Personally, I actually PREFER big wines. I like slightly aggressive tannins backed up with big fruit and some barrel spice. Our experience was not a question of our preferred styles.

So, you may be correct about the aging potential. Heck - you are a winemaker and should know. I am simply a wine lover and collector who looks for quality bottles to lay down for several years and more affordable daily drinkers that stand out above the crowd. I suppose for us, the most telling part is that we ALWAYS buy something at every winery we visit, even if it is simply a cheap daily drinker. Even if we don't really like a wineries style, we always support their business - especially on a big weekend like that where everyone rolls out the "welcome mat", has great nibbles, and puts up with a lot of tourists with no intention to spend any money! We show up to taste and to buy. Basel Cellars was the only place we visited, out of at least 25 or so wineries last weekend, that we didn't buy something. Hopefully I didn't make a mistake and pass up one of your previous wines that could be great in 10 years. We got home with over 3 1/2 cases and a few magnums, with lots of the fabulous 2005 Bordeaux varietals plus several syrahs and a mixed bag of whites. I supposed I now owe you a visit to Sleight Of Hand!

Best of luck to you in your new venture. We will certainly stop by next time we are down.

Cheers,
Tim

Would love to have you stop by Sleight of Hand next time you are in town. Email me at trey@sofhcellars.com to set up an appointment so I can be sure to taste you through the entire lineup of wines! We can have an animated discussion about aging potentials of various wines!

Sincerely,

Trey

Hey Trey,

That sounds like a good plan! I'm sure we will swing through Walla Walla at least once more this summer. I would love to try some of your new wines and see what you are up to, and to chat about the aging potential of different wines and the vinification processes that affect it. It must be nice for you to be free of the "corporate" stuff and be free to things your own way. Remember..... "boss" spelled backwards is "double S O B"!!

Thanks for the invite, and we will be sure to take you up on it.

Tim

Remember..... "boss" spelled backwards is "double S O B"!!

Funny....see you this summer!

Trey

Very nice discussion re: Basel cellars. I, and the tasters with me totally concur with Tims' assessment. I don't know that I will live long enough (30 to 40 yrs). I guess we have been spoiled by wines that are or can be ready to drink in 5 yrs or less. Nice tannins, acid, and well structured and balanced. We tasted nothing at Basel that was ready to drink or good enough to buy to drink now. My palate is not good enough to assess a wine that might be ready to drink in 10+ yrs. Other side of the coin was Hence. Very flabby. They had a marvelous Cab and a Malbec that rivaled any last year. This yr the blend is so so at best and I can buy Syrah as good for 15$. Very hard to want to pay 45$ for anything they sell. I could go on and on, as we all know wine taste is subjective, but some are very obvious to all.