The Wine Knows - white wine

Ascentia bought NW brands for Riesling

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:28:31 -0400

I just got off the phone with Jim DiBonis, CEO of Ascentia Wine Estates, which last week purchased Columbia Winery, Covey Run Winery and Ste. Chapelle from Constellation.

We had a long-ranging conversation about DiBonis' new company and where the Northwest fit in, and the big take-away was this: One of the biggest reasons for wanting these three Northwest wineries was Riesling.

Wither Gewürztraminer?

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:12:52 -0400

Once upon a time, Gewürztraminer was a grape variety of some importance in Washington. Part of this was the thinking that Washington is so far north of California that it would require cool-climate varieties to be viable.

These days, we all realize the folly of that thinking, with the Columbia Valley's general lack of rain along with the long, hot summer days.

Yet I still love a good Gewürztraminer, and Washington continues to make a fair amount. In 2007, it was the No. 4 white wine grape with 4,100 tons harvested.

Riesling judging brings out best in winemakers

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:40:06 -0400

We have put the Summer issue of Wine Press Northwest to bed, and I'd like to get into a little more detail on our Riesling judging. One of the remarkable trends to come out of our blind tasting of 116 Northwest Rieslings was that those wineries whose focus is on Riesling rose to the top.

Tasting notes for seventh-graders

Sat, 31 May 2008 01:11:11 -0400

I just completed my article on Northwest Riesling (ah, the thrill of deadline!). For a variety of reasons, I chose to use Google Docs to write it.

A cool little tool in Google Docs is a word counter that also includes reading levels. According to this, I've written to a seventh-grade level. That makes sense since newspaper journalists tend to target about seventh- or eighth-grade reading levels.

Currying favor for Riesling

Fri, 30 May 2008 14:50:08 -0400

Last night, I put together a dish of curried chicken using some Thai red curry paste and coconut milk. I'm a sucker for spicy foods, but danged if I didn't put a bit too much red curry paste in the wok.

Jumping for joy

Wed, 28 May 2008 14:33:18 -0400

Friends of ours spent the long weekend at their family property near Shelton, Wash., on the Olympic Peninsula. As I've learned, this is good for me because they tend to bring back oysters.

Last night, we were invited over to imbibe. I was asked to supply the wines.

Lack of corked wines in Riesling judging

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:03:06 -0400

During our judging Saturday of 116 Pacific Northwest Rieslings, we had just one corked wine. In fact, the far bigger problem was oxidation.

One might see this as a good trend that we found just one wine infected with TCA, the compound that makes a wine smell like a wet dog sleeping on rotting cardboard in a musty basement.

Rieslings and the state of alternative closures

Sat, 10 May 2008 11:24:29 -0400

Going into our big Riesling judging today, I figured we would be able to get a sense of where the Pacific Northwest stands in alternative closures. With Riesling being a white wine that generally will be drunk in its youth, there would be a greater likelihood of alternatives such as screwcaps and synthetics.

Breadth of Northwest Riesling production

Fri, 09 May 2008 12:17:53 -0400

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.

A problem with Rieslings

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:27:43 -0400

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.

Is Riesling the greatest white wine grape?

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:47:25 -0400

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.

Ste. Michelle Dry Riesling tops Riverside judging

Sun, 04 May 2008 22:46:53 -0400

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.

And the award for most ignorant wine award category goes to: Seattle Magazine

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:06:46 -0400

I don't normally pay great attention to "wine award" issues conducted by other publications, but I was reading the latest issue of Seattle Magazine (a favorite publication of mine) and can't help but comment.

Most of the "Washington Wine" awards were fairly straight-forward (if heavy on Walla Walla picks). But when I ran across one category, I had to close the magazine and walk away.

Alcohol levels in wine reviews

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 13:29:39 -0400

I came across this blog item from a blog on Washington and Oregon wines called Beyond the Bottle. The author wants to know why wine writers complain about alcohol levels, then do not include them in reviews.

Great question.

Hogue a big player in Riesling

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:02:10 -0500

Between the mammoth amounts of Riesling that Ste. Michelle makes (more than 1 million cases as a company) and the excitement that Randall Grahm has brought to Washington with Pacific Rim Riesling (130,000 cases in 2007), somehow Hogue occasionally falls off my radar, even though the Yakima Valley winery produces about 200,000 cases of Washington's second-favorite white wine.