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Col Solare Cabernet Sauvignon~ #WineoftheDay
From Washington State’s Red Mountain region within Columbia Valley, Col Solare is championing robust, earthy, expressive Cabernet Sauvignon wines that showcase the region’s terroir. Red Mountain lies in an area once engulfed in the Missoula Floods, depositing fossils into the sand, silt, and loam-filled soils. The hot, arid terrain with very little rainfall causes vines to dig deep into the earth…
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Taste Washington Grand Tasting - Get Your Tickets
Taste Washington Grand Tasting - Get Your Tickets @TasteWashington #wine #Seattle
Washington Statehas an amazingly large number of wineries. 800+ wineries. Compare that to the 273 wineries in British Columbia. Washington State has much more land available for viticulture. In BC we are quite constricted by our mountain ranges in the interior. But we here in BC can enjoy Washington state wines as it is just a short trip to go across the border from Vancouver. One of the…
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Last week I attended the Enotria Winecellars tasting lunch at the House of Tides in Newcastle.
House of Tides has been awarded its first Michelin star only the day before. Enotria were showcasing some of their wines from Napa, Oregon and Washington State and Vriend Sander, the export manager of Washington State’s Chateau Ste. Michelle was there to present them.
We started with a glass of Michelle Sparkling in the downstairs bar and moved two floors up to a smart private dinning room for the tasting and lunch. We sat at a long table and drank Eroica Riesling and Karia Chardonnay with a ‘soup’ of peas, pine nuts and chives. Erath Pinot Noir and Columbia Valley Syrah were served with venison tartare, beetroot, blackberries, sourdough and bitter chocolate. A main course of sweet, tender lamb, sprouting broccoli, grelot onions, kohlrabi and mint accompanied Indian Wells Cabernet Sauvignon and Col Solare. Four Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignons – Artemis, Fay, SLV and Cask 23 were poured with a dessert of dark chocolate, strawberries, rosewater and rose ash meringue.
Venison Tartare
Lamb
Dark Chocolate & four cabernets
The Wines
*Michelle Sparkling NV, Chateau St. Michelle, Washington State (11.5%): Grapes for this Traditional Method sparkling wine come from the Columbia Valley and the blend of 63% Chardonnay, 19% Pinot Noir, 18% Pinot Gris is aged sur lie for 18 months. It is well made, dry, has fine persistent bubbles and a hint of autolysis and was a pleasure to drink. A wine to buy. (16.5)
2012 Eroica Riesling, Ste. Michelle, Washington State (12%): Made in collaboration with Mosel’s Dr. Ernest Loosen, it is a full, juicy, grippy and ripe Riesling with a hint of sweetness and naphthene. Enjoyed by most present. (16)
2013 Karia Chardonnay, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley (14.5%): 86% barrel fermented. 65% of the wine was allowed to undergo the malolactic and was aged in 21% new French oak for 7.5 months. It is an austere wine with a slightly bitter finish and the high alcohol stood out. (15)
2012 Estate Selection Pinot Noir, Erath, Willamette Valley, Oregon, (13%): Aged 13 months in 40% new French oak barrels. Burgundy nose. Even though the wine was decanted two hours before the tasting, it tasted harsh and closed. (15)
*2012 Columbia Syrah, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Washington State. (13.5%): 1% Viognier. Aged for 18 months in 16% new French oak, 15% new American oak, and 69% neutral oak barrels. It is a lovely wine closer in style to Syrah from new Zealand. Well worth buying (16.5)
*2012 Indian Wells Cabernet Sauvignon, Chateau St. Michelle, Washington State (14.5%): 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Syrah, made in the “New World” style and aged for 16 months in 51% new American and French oak barrels. It is a lovely soft, rich wine which matched the lamb beautifully. Well worth buying. (17.5)
2012 Col Solare, Col Solare (15%): Col Solare is a collaboration between Washington state’s Chateau Ste. Michelle and Italy’s Marchese Piero Antinori. The 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot and 4% Syrah blend spent 22 months in 100% new French oak barrels. It is a soft, well balanced and complex wine, beautiful to drink now. (17.5)
2012 Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley (14.5%): 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% merlot and 2% malbec aged in 25% American and French new oak barrels.(14.5%)
2012 Fay Cabernet Sauvignon, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley (14.5%): 100% cabernet Sauvignon aged for 21 months in 85% new French oak barrels. Perfumed. Delightful. (16.5)
2012 SLV Cabernet Sauvignon, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley (14.5%): 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged for 21 months in 100% new French oak barrels. Mineral notes. Beautifully poised wine. (17)
2012 Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvignon, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley: Combines the signature perfume notes of FAY vineyard with the structure and minerality of S.L.V. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged for 21 months in 95% new French oak barrels. Fabulous! (18)
Enotria & The House Of Tides Last week I attended the Enotria Winecellars tasting lunch at the House of Tides in Newcastle.
2011 Col Solare to Carry Red Mountain Designation
Col Solare the partnership between Chateau Ste. Michelle and Italy’s Marchesi Antinori has released the first Red Mountain-designated vintage of its flagship wine. The 2011 Col Solare Red Blend ($75) is a limited-production bottling of 2,500 cases available at select restaurants and retailers, online, and at Col Solare’s Red Mountain winery and the Col Solare Bottega at Chateau Ste. Michelle.
Since establishing its estate vineyard and winery on Red Mountain in 2006, Col Solare has been working toward its current designation, which requires wines to be at least 85% sourced from Red Mountain. The 2011 vintage is made from 87% estate vineyard and 89% Red Mountain fruit for the final blend. Each subsequent vintage of Col Solare will also carry the Red Mountain designation.
About Red Mountain At just 4,040 acres of total land area, Red Mountain is the smallest appellation in Washington state. The vineyards of the Red Mountain appellation, currently totaling approximately 1,200 acres, occupy the southwest-facing slope of Red Mountain itself, which lies at the eastern edge of the Yakima Valley and is also contained by the larger Columbia Valley. Red Mountain is also consistently one of the warmest and driest appellations in Washington state, with daytime temperatures during the growing season typically near 100°F and average annual rainfall of just six to nine inches.
Red Mountain is increasingly being recognized by prominent wine critics and journalists as one of the world’s premier growing regions for red wine grapes, most notably Cabernet Sauvignon. Most recently, Red Mountain was nominated for Wine Region of the Year by Wine Enthusiast magazine for 2014. Wines made from Red Mountain grapes are routinely among the highest-scoring, most sought-after wines in the world.
THE PRE-SEATTLE INVASION COUNTDOWN BEGINS: K2'S CONTINUING SELF-IMPROVEMENT HYPERBOLE AND SELF-EXORCISM, PLUS 4 ALSACE WINES AND A PRE-ROAD TRIP HUDDLE WITH MYSELF
Opening up. It’s something of a double-sided coin with me. While my co-workers would find me to…
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