It must be summer, as Memorial Day…or Decoration Day as I knew it growing up…is over. The many cars creeping through Leavenworth toward points east and north made me wonder if gas somehow costs less on the Other Side.

This summer, many usual vacationers will be taking “stay-cations”, a newly coined word popular with TV advertisers. As we here in NCW already live in vacation heaven, this shouldn’t be too hard on us. We have mountains for hiking, rivers for rafting, trails for walking or biking….or, if that is too active…we have porches and decks for sitting and enjoying the scenic views which surround us. Tired of your own view? Visit friends in the area and sit on their deck. Invite that person you’ve been wanting to see again, share some food, wine and conversation and get to know one another better.

Another near-to-home attraction we have in abundance these days is wineries. Many have an outdoor table or two where visitors can picnic, sip wine, and enjoy just ‘being’. Others serve delicious lunches in scenic settings while others offer evening events, dinners, and a variety of live entertainment. The point, in this time of economic slow-down, is to take advantage of what we have; shop locally and “stay-cation”. Help keep the local economy alive by spending vacation dollars here at home and discovering - or rediscovering - all that our area has to offer.

One thing I recently discovered is another - yes, another - winery: Kyra Winery in Moses Lake. Andy Perdue of Wine Press NW says it has the best Pinot Noir in the state. As soon as I get back to Wenatchee to the Wine Bin or Food Pavilion, I’ll look for it.

Tastings at the recent weekend barrel event proved more than satisfactory. We didn’t get past the Wenatchee area, but had some great barrel wines there. St. Laurent, Number One for scenery and ambiance, was sampling Syrah from their celebrated Wahluke Slope vineyards. Horan Estates offered a unique tasting with their Southern Rhone blend of Syrah, Cinsault, and Mourvedre, plus an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon and an exquisite, intensely rich Merlot. It was truly an Experience. Stemilt Creek’s outstanding Syrah was a spicy, fruity pleasure, as were the Cabernet Franc and Merlot. And of course tasting the Faire le Pont Elerding Cabernet Sauvignon was a must. Their futures offerings are a good way to buy some of their wines at a nice discount.

A wine unique among others tasted, and very popular among visitors to Wedge Mountain Winery, was the Lemberger. Also in the barrel was another of Charlie McKee’s Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignons. Here, too, people took advantage of futures offerings and are anticipating returning next spring to taste and to pick up their wines. And last, as an excellent end to an enjoyable day, we pulled into our driveway and stopped at Eagle Creek Winery for some of the fruity new Bacchus vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. I’m looking forward to enjoying these wines after they have been bottled and released.

While it was not possible in the time we had to go everywhere and taste every wine, I think those wines we did taste are a good indication of the growth - both in quantity and in quality - of the local wine industry. When asked, “Where is your favorite place to taste wine? I have to reply, “Wherever I am, that’s my favorite.” It’s impossible to choose one when each winery has something special about it. Location, scenery, friendliness, a favorite wine: all these help make each place special. So answering that question is almost like trying to answer, “Which is your favorite child?” We love them all.

A quick look at Grocery Outlet yesterday found some Washington Hills Rainier White at $2.99 ($8.99 for a 3 liter box). Also on the shelf were Pavin & Riley Shiraz and Riesling, and Struktur, a Riesling from the Mosel -Saar-Ruhr in Germany…all at $4.99 each. Avery Lane is back with a Red Blend at $2.99.

Having recently tasted NW Totem Wineries ‘Low Man Red’, I am really looking forward to the Northwest Totem Lake event, with wine sales, at the Museum June 19. I hope to see you there, too.

Joanne Saliby

How many of you have at some time bought a bottle of wine because of the label?

All of us have our favorite things to do. These hobbies, or passions, might be knitting, sewing, gardening, woodworking, sampling wine, reading, hunting, fishing, or numerous other activities. It is often fortunate and surprising that some of our passions overlap in our lives. I have experienced this as my passion for fly fishing and my passion for wine have come together, and as I have indicated earlier, when my fishing buddy, Barney (nickname … long story), and I plan our outings or while we are out on one of our adventures. In the past, one of the wines we shared was a nice Chardonnay from the Sawtooth Winery in Nampa, Idaho, which is located in the southwest part of the state not far from Boise. The wine is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes and was quite tasty out in the wilds of Montana.

I recently was pouring (get the pun?) over my newest edition of “Northwest Fly Fishing” magazine when I came across a small article about the Sawtooth Winery wines - in a fly fishing magazine! I have every edition of this magazine from its first edition, and the first-ever article about alcohol is about a winery whose wines I have personally sampled. For me, the unique thing about the wine is the label, which shows the snowcapped Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho in the background with a stream in the foreground. This is most likely the Snake River, as the Idaho portion of the Snake River is a major fishery for fly fisherman. The label shows a fly fisherman casting his fly forward into the stream. In addition, the foil wrapper over the top of the bottle has a dry fly image stamped into the top portion and the cork in the bottle also has a dry fly image on both ends.

Many times people are attracted to a wine by the image depicted on the label, such as that of a beautiful woman in a sleek red dress or of a favorite old pick-up truck. Sometimes the attraction is an imaginative name such as “Mad Housewife”, “Lady in Red”, or “Joe Blow Red”. These labels are done for the sake of marketing, and it works. Since the first time I saw the label and bought the Chardonnay from Sawtooth, I have also purchased and enjoyed their Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Marketing is certainly the key which opens the door to many good wines.

Sawtooth Winery wines are not bold, complex, set-the-world-on-fire wines, but they have a nice smooth taste which complements many different foods without overpowering them, and are reasonably priced at somewhere between $10 to $15. I have found their wines at Food Pavilion. Sawtooth Winery was given the 2006 Winery of the Year Award by Wine Press Northwest.

Bruce Campbell 

On the scale of wineology (my word) knowledge I am at maybe stage 2.5 out of 10, so it is fun for me to find different ways to sample wines, compare or pair them with various flavors and enjoy them with friends. I realize that many of you are much higher on the scale than I, but maybe you can share with all of us some of the ways you incorporate wine into your social events by sending in ideas for the Enological Society’s website.

Kathy and I have experienced several different types of events, other than those at the Enological Society’s tastings each month, with friends. We attended a vertical tasting last winter at a friends house in East Wenatchee where we compared Fielding Hills‘ Cabernet Sauvignon from 2001 thru 2005. It was educational to be able to learn the percentages of various grapes used in the making of each of the wines and the affect that composition had on the various years.

Horizontal tasting involves picking a specific year and varietal of wine to compare, such as 2005 Syrah’s from various wineries. You can take that one step farther and make the tasting blind by putting the bottles in bags so that people do not know which wines they are tasting and rate the wines as to preferences or identify the wines from a provided list of tasting notes for each of the wines. We did this last February for the Enological Society’s Cabernet and Chocolate event. Some other suggestions might be continent tastings, regional tastings, or country tastings. The potential is limitless.

Paring wines with specific foods is another way to have a delightful event with friends. I’m sure many of you probably have done your own research on pairing wines with specific foods. Joanne Saliby has shared many possibilities for us in her newsletter articles.

I encourage you to share your experiences with events or food pairings, along with recipes, with the rest of the society on the website. E-mail your information to Beth Stone at:
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Bruce Campbell

At last, around the edges of my gardens and on the north-facing slope, my daffodils are released from their prison of ice and snow. As Wordsworth wrote over two hundred years ago, “And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.”

There’s no time left for winter blahs; with garden to tend, garage to clean, and wine events filling the calendar, who has time to remember the dark days of winter? My first “dance” was a trip to the second weekend of Chelan Nouveau, where the wineries were offering their new whites and rose’s for our delectation. Sunshine, bright tulips and daffodils, friendly winemakers and great wine: how could it get any better? With food, of course! Wapato Point Cellars and Vin du Lac offer lunches and snacks in idyllic settings; May 1, Lake Chelan Winery will begun serving lunch, while its evening barbecues are already well-known and popular.

Tunnel Hill, adjacent to the Sunshine Farm Market, has built an attractive new facility with a pleasant, comfortable tasting room and very friendly pouring staff. If things develop as planned, a major complex to rival Sun River and Whistler will be built between Tunnel Hill and Tsillan Cellars winery, and in the hills above.

In downtown Chelan a bit of sad news awaited us. The CR Sandidge tasting room and Bistro ceased operation April 30. CR Sandidge wines will be available online, through the Wine Club, and in various restaurants and stores. As always, the Tri*Umph was superb, as were the new Whistle Punk, the Klingele 2004 Syrah and Stonetree.

Scott Benson’s new Pinot Gris is a delight to the senses, as is the Viognier. He was also barrel tasting his new Cabernet Franc. I put in an order at once, as the 2005 sold out in a few weeks, before I even knew it. He recently released his 2006 Sangiovese and Pinot Noir, both good representatives of the grapes, and pleasantly food-friendly.

On up the road, Milum Perry of Tildio welcomed us with the new Sauvignon Blanc. Now I like grapefruit and am very fond of gooseberries, but not in my Sauvignon Blanc. Tildio’s was delightfully crisp and fresh, with hints of citrus and melon and a very faint whiff of gooseberry. The 2005 Robusto, an elegant blend of Merlot, Cab and Petit Verdot, topped off a fine morning; however, it was time for food, so we headed down to Wapato Point and tried their new lunch service, complete with rousing music, excellent service, and sun in a scenic outdoor setting. We tasted a new wine, also, and one which could become a standard for this annual event. Named “Chelan Nouveau” after the two-weekend celebration, the wine is styled on the order of the French Beaujolais Nouveau. It is light, fruity and red, and compatible with a variety of foods. Best served slightly chilled, it is refreshing and enjoyable.

At Lake Chelan Winery we tasted the new Maximum Meritage, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and think it is destined to be very popular. Apparently the Wine Spectator agrees, as they recently gave it a 90 rating.

Balsam Root Winery was a lively place Saturday, with family entertainment to accompany its excellent wines. The Cab Franc and the very lightly oaked Chardonnay are not to be missed.

The Pinot Gris “Grisant” at Vin du Lac is always a crisp, delightful accompaniment to their delicious food offering, and; their outdoor tasting room is one of the most pleasant places in the area to lunch and sip

One can only taste so much wine before one’s good sense says, “Enough. It’s a long drive home.” With the advent of more new wineries, tasting will take an extra day next year in order to cover them all. Meanwhile, area Barrel Tasting-May 16, 17, 18-is next. I hope to see you there..

Joanne Saliby