Category Archives: Must Visit Destination

Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

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Indulge in a port that tastes exactly like concord grapes. Photo by Brenna Arnesen.

Tefft Cellars Concordia Port is a Portal to the Past

*Update 2023: Sadly, Tefft Cellars and their one-of-a-kind Concordia Port are no longer. Look for a ruby port or other port-style dessert wine for a similar pairing. A good excuse to go wine tasting, don’t you think? 😉 

Peanut butter & jelly is one of those timeless flavor combos of childhood. We might get really sick of it after years of it in our school lunches every day, but after a while, we come back to it because it’s just so good! For some reason, we can’t escape its classic appeal.

Here is a nostalgic spin on pb & j for grownups that gives the ol’ smooshed sandwich from your crumpled brown bag a run for its money.

This port was made from the Concord grape, the very same one that is commonly made into jelly.

Instructions:
1) Buy some dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Trader Joe’s has some very tasty ones. Or if you’re fancy go to Seattle Chocolate Company and just get a few so they don’t linger in your home too long.

2) Buy a bottle of Tefft Cellars Concordia Port. Puget Sounders can make a drive out to Woodinville and buy some at Tefft Cellars. The nice thing about this winery is they are open daily from 11:00 am – 7:00 pm so you can have a productive trip.

From the tasting notes: “This fine wine is made from the Concord grape and was barrel aged for 10 months. The Concord grape adds a very fruity edge to this wine.”

3) Eat them together and be happy. You might not be 6 anymore, but you can feel that way when you taste these two lovelies together.

Microwineries: Serving Up Macro Wines

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A lovely Petit Verdot leaf.

A fabulous trend I’m a glutton for is the “micro” trend. Not microwaves, microfiber, microfiche, or Microsoft even, but microwineries… limited production facilities where the wine is high quality because it benefits from the extra love and attention of the winemaker, like an illustrious private school for grapes. Also, the grapes can be from prized, small lot vineyards. Microwineries (and breweries, for that matter) are concentrated havens of artisanal artistry and craftsmanship. Fortunately, micro is no trend du jour; it is a permanent fixture on our gourmet food and beverage landscape. Has the espresso-to-go trend died yet? Nope, and neither will this! We humans love our high-quality handcrafted beverages, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get our hands on them.

As we get less and less handy in modern American society and purchase more of our needed items pre-made, do you think there is a correlation to our desire and propensity for all things “hand-crafted?” Discuss.

A particular wine from a particular microwinery I’m quite fond of and that I encourage you to try is the Andrew Rich Vintner 2008 Columbia Valley Petit Verdot Ciel du Cheval Vineyard. This treasure was found on one of our Willamette Valley wine trips.

First of all, who is this winemaker, Andrew Rich? From the winery website: “Named one of Wine & Spirits magazine’s top 100 wineries of 2009, Andrew Rich Wines has been crafting distinctive wines in Oregon’s Willamette Valley since 1995. Along with Pinot Noir, RhĂŽne Valley varietals from the Columbia Valley–including Syrah, Roussanne, Grenache, and MourvĂšdre–take pride of place, though the winery is equally well known for its seductive GewĂŒrztraminer dessert wine. Production averages 5,000 cases per year.” (www.andrewrichwines.com).

Andrew Rich crafts his premium wines in the state-of-the-art Carlton Winemakers Studio, the nation’s first “green” cooperative winemaking facility. An “environmentally friendly facility,” the Studio is home to several wineries that seek to produce wines of the highest caliber. My husband and I showed up there five minutes to close, but the gal in the tasting room was kind enough to let us do a quick tasting and we loved the Petit Verdot and wound up taking a bottle home.

On a side note, what should you call someone who works in a tasting room? Might I suggest something colorful, like Bar-ista, Grape Goddess, Sip-erintendent… stop me now!

What is Petit Verdot? Single varietal Petit Verdot wine is like black ink in a glass. Petit Verdot is typically used in small quantities in Bordeaux blends to lend tannic structures and flavors. Just remember, if red wine grapes are on a spectrum of darkness/thickness/intensity, Petit Verdot is as far away from the light as you can get… a dark, inky black wine with dynamic flavor and complexity. It is more successfully cultivated as a single varietal wine in the New World as opposed to the Old World (aka the cradles of civilization where wine was first made, e.g. France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, etc.). How did “A Whole New World” get stuck in my head? Great, moving on….

Now, about the Ciel du Cheval vineyard. Those of you possessed of Washington Wine Wherewithal know that the Ciel du Cheval Vineyard is equivalent to a Gucci or Prada handbag. It is one of the best vineyards in the USA, and arguably the world. According to Cole Danehower at Northwest-Wine.com, “Famed for the elegance and complexity of the wines it produces, Ciel du Cheval and its owner Jim Holmes have become near-legendary exemplars of what Washington wine is all about. The desirability of fruit from Ciel du Cheval can be seen in the names of the wineries that produce wine from the vineyard. Culling through a client list that includes 25 producers in Washington and Oregon reveals some of the Northwest’s most prestigious labels: Fidelitas, Mark Ryan, Quilceda Creek, Andrew Will, McCrea Cellars, Cadence, Betz Family . . . among others.”

I will review some of these wines in later posts (hold your chevals!). 🙂

Andrew Rich’s tasting notes sum up this wine perfectly:

“Long-time club members know that I’m not able to get this fruit every year (there was an ’07; there’s none in ’09). This vintage continues the tradition of massive fruit, tannin, and acidity seamlessly sewn into a pitch-black cloak of mystery. What the heck does that mean? Taste and ye shall see.”

Perfect in time for Halloween: a dark, mysterious red wine! Hop on board the microwinery train with this Petit Verdot!

Wine Tasting in a Secret Garden

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The Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection at Weyerhaeuser. Photo courtesy http://www.weyerhaeuser.com

In Which Two Tasty Woodinville Wines Are Sampled Amidst a Bonsai Collection

It’s September – scratch that – mere hours from October, and I need to play major catch up here, so consider this a two-for-one special! It’s a Rambling Vine Groupon! Read one wine review for free, read another in the same post, also for free. Er…. anyway.

Recently I had the privilege of pouring wine for Woodinville Wine Cellars at a Habitat for Humanity fundraiser at the Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way. A wonderful gal I know roped me in to volunteering for this event, and am I glad I did! I love chatting up people and gabbing about wine, so this was the perfect gig for me. It was a hot summer day, fantastic event, extremely worthy cause, and an ideal, relaxing setting in which to savor some wines. Everyone who tried the wines I poured liked them.

I have never seen bonsais like these in my life! Each tree has its own staging area, platform and backdrop. It’s just amazing. You could spend hours contemplating just one. I have lived in Western Washington my entire life and had never been to this beautiful, extravagant garden! Check this place out soon! And don’t just look at the photos, use your own eyes and go enjoy the garden yourself. Who knows how many more glorious warm days we have until darkness/cold/the evil dead of winter creeps up on us? (Me, biased? Nah.)

Here are the wines I got to pour and my takes on them. I haven’t yet been to Woodinville Wine Cellars, but after tasting these I think I would like to go out there sometime and try some of their other varieties! Have you tried any of their wines?

Woodinville Wine Cellars 2011 Sauvignon Blanc Columbia Valley

$18 or so. Delicious! A great Sauvignon Blanc, perfect for a hot summer day. Sophisticated and very drinkable. It has bright fruit flavors balanced out by a
clean mineral dimension that doesn’t make it too tart. This was perhaps the
most popular white wine that night (and there were two other wineries there).

From the tasting notes: “This wine jumps from the bottle in a sophisticated and complex style. The aromas are floral and mouth­watering, with hints of pineapple and citrus and some subtle mineral highlights. In the mouth it is rich and well balanced, showing a hint of grapefruit, citrus and tropical tastes on a long finish. A great  complement to seafood, chicken, or your favorite soft cheese.”

Woodinville Wine Cellars Little Bear Creek Columbia Valley Red Wine

Wine Spectator awarded Little Bear Creek 90 points (that’s high!). This Bordeaux-style blend is only $20. Not bad for the price. The tasting notes point out the “warm spices and rich black cherry scents in the glass” and “concentrated flavors of blackberry, black cherry and mocha complete the finish, lending balanced acidity with a zing!” LBC (I think Snoop Dogg even likes LBC 😉 ) consists of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec. I liked it for its warm fruitiness and spice notes.

While double-fisting it is not recommended here (start with the whites and move to the reds, generally speaking), these wines are perfect to toss together for a little impromptu wine party. And if the weather is still nice a bit longer, take it outdoors. Happy sipping!

Ode to An Old Soul: Vintage Tastes in Vino

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Chardonnay, a true golden oldie.

Virgin Chardonnay from Naked Winery: Because Winemakers Just Wanna Have Fun!

*Naked Winery is now known as Evoke Winery.

Just because something is old doesn’t necessarily make it a classic. Beringer White Zinfandel, one of the top-selling wines in the US, might be an old, familiar favorite, but in my personal opinion it’s not a classic, just a convenient go-to wine (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases). While some styles of wine might not be trendy at the moment, it doesn’t mean they’re not good. Here at The Rambling Vine, I want to celebrate the grand flavors that have saturated my palate and broadened my perspective on a particular varietal. I also like to pay tribute to wines that sealed the deal for friends and family members.

My husband’s absolute favorite Chardonnay happens to be made in a style that is currently not as popular as it might have been a couple decades ago: oaked. This is not surprising. He is an old soul, preferring classic rock bands like Jethro Tull, Rush, and Queen to more contemporary music (when we were dating, I had to educate him on the true bands of our youth, like Soundgarden, Weezer, Spice Girls, wait, nevermind). But he knows a good thing when he experiences it, and when he first sipped this wine, I could tell this was the best Chardonnay he’d ever had!

Today’s Chardonnay drinkers generally favor the kind that has fermented in stainless steel casks, which give the wine a completely different, lighter character (some of which are good). So if you’re on the other end of the spectrum and prefer buttery, rich, hefty white wines, you’ll want to try this!

Naked Winery’s Library 2007 Virgin Chardonnay ($35 per bottle) is heavily oaked (it spends 17 months fermenting in new oak) and very tasty. The oak is rewarding to this wine. It is “a velvety and youthful wine” that possesses an “extremely tantalizing bouquet. Its soft tannins, creamy butterscotch and vanilla flavors will delight and excite you. It ends with a memorable sweetness. Enjoy strong flavors of pear, papaya and vanilla. Spicy Thai dishes will be just right with this wine.” Smooth, rich, thick, complex; a standout wine, it is not to be missed.

Another reason we really like this wine is the winery: Naked Winery. If you’re out and about gallivanting through Oregon, stop by Hood River and linger in the Naked Winery tasting room. Try everything they offer! But be warned, we tried close to 12 different wines, so don’t overdo it; use that spit bucket so you don’t do anything you would be ashamed of. This place makes awesome wines and they have FUN while doing it. Who else would paraphrase Madonna on the back of their bottle? “Enjoy this Virgin like it was the very first time.” The only thing they take absolutely seriously is their winemaking craft. After they create a great product, they are excited to share it with you and answer all your questions. Each wine name and description oozes sexual innuendo (they even have Orgasmic! Wine – to be reviewed later). They have been criticized for this by some in certain snooty wine circles, who obviously don’t have a sense of humor. Pshaw, let’s just support them all the more! Down with wine snobbery and puffery!

They also vehemently support the use of wine to aid in la romanza.

When the mood strikes and all the stars align to enjoy a particularly special bottle of wine, indulge in this exquisite, classic Chardonnay! Our life is made up of a series of delicious moments, might as well have a rich one.