The LOCAL VINES & the SMALL LOTS

My thursday ended up being incredibly busy. Not only did I get my wonderful haircut today by one of our most prized winos (80a), but Nick and I also finished our application for WA state Alt. Proprietorship permit for production of wine, finished up all the banking issues, went to a late night Wine Bloggers Event in Bellevue and just before that I was able to go to The Local Vine Belltown with our webmaster Jules Fann and MeetUp with the rest of the Underground Winos of Seattle in our FLASH WINO "Repressentin' " Event.

We even got an option to taste some great picks by Darin & Ashley from Small Lot Co/Op (Twitter: @SmallLot). Unexpected $5 tasting, but I was happy to add my contribution to the cause. My picks of the night were of two. The MORRISON LANE | WALLA WALLA 2005 Carmenère - $28 - Such a bright, fruit forward wine with tones of lush red to dark cherry. Almost ready to fall off the tree kind of cherry. So night to drink something different for a change and when you thought the Carmenère was already such a huge wine, came this little ditty. The KANA WINERY | YAKIMA 2005 Dark Star - $20 - Oh my!!! This wine was "HUGE". As Jules and I were just about to take this from the nose to the mouth, we both smelled this wonderful smell coming from outside The Local Vine, of a large chunk of meat being barbequed on some roof-top close by. The smell of the steak and the smell of this wine was perfect together, and then we gave this wine a shot. WOW. Big. It was like taking a piece of meat from the grill, adding a cherry reduction sauce on top and then dowsing it with black pepper. Plus, we had the smell as well. This wine is big. This wine ended up being my pick, but because I love crazy obscure varietals, I felt as if I needed to put the Carmenère in the mix as well. Thank you to Darin Williams and Ashley Sinko from Small-Lot Co/op.

Antoine Pin - The Parallel Winos - 06/03/2010

http://www.meetup.com/Underground-Winos-of-Seattle - @winos_seattle

The Local Vine - Seattle - Twitter: @TheLocalVine

Weird Winos & their Weird Wines - Weird WA Wines Under $16.00 - EBP - Seattle, WA

A couple weeks ago I decided to hold another Underground Winos of Seattle http://www.meetup.com/Underground-Winos-of-Seattle/ event. I had just recently come back from a week in Walla Walla where I tasted through some incredible malbecs, sangioveses and many more off-the-wall grape varieties. I was eager to taste more and I knew that most of my Winos would have a kick out of tasting other types besides the usual cabs, merlots, syrahs and chardonnays. So I scheduled the event for last sunday.

I didn't know what to expect, so I set up a few interesting rules that would have made my Winos think about what they were going to bring to the event and maybe even do a little research. And they did. Those rules were simple. The wines had to be anything but the following:

• Cabernet Sauvignon


• Syrah / Shiraz


• Pinot Noir


• Merlot


• Sauvignon Blanc


• Chardonnay


• Riesling


• Pinot Grigio / Pinot Gris

And the wines had to cost under $16.00 before taxes.

Not easy finding wines with that price point. The Winos also knew that the wines could not include, even if it was blend with a minimal amount, any of those varietals. They were put to the test. They all did extremely well.

We all met last sunday at EBP on the roof deck for this event. This time, unlike most events, we drew a very large group of about 20 to 22 Winos. Some Winos brought some friends and some brought their dogs. But every Wino had a bottle in hand. Very cool.

We tasted everything from Carmenere to Cabernet Franc to Dolcetto and Roussanne. Two Winos even found two different Muller-Thurgaus. How about that. In the end, we voted on the best of the best, white and red. We came up with this:

Favorite Whites (in favorite order):

1. 2008 Novelty Hill Stillwater Creek Vnyd. Roussanne http://www.noveltyhillwines.com/


2. 2009 J. Bookwalter Winery Tercet White http://www.bookwalterwines.com/


3. 2009 Mt. Baker Vineyards Muller-Thurgau http://www.mountbakervineyards.com/


4. 2009 Bainbridge Vineyards Muller-Thurgau http://www.bainbridgevineyards.com/

Favorite Reds (in favorite order):

1. 2008 Airfield Estates Mustang Red http://www.airfieldwines.com/2006


2. Willow Crest Winery Cabernet Franc http://www.willowcrestwinery.com/


3. 2007 Skylite Cellars Walla Walla Malbec http://www.skylitecellars.com/


4. 2006 Morrison Lane Estate Winery Carmenere http://www.morrisonlane.com/


5. N/V Pacific Rim Winery Autumnus Red http://www.pacificrimwinery.com/


6. 2007 Two Mountains Winery Rattlesnake Hills Lemberger http://www.twomountainwinery.com/


7. 2007 Camaraderie Cellars Cabernet Franc http://www.camaraderiecellars.com/


8. 2007 Stomani Cellars Columbia Valley Dolcetto http://www.stomanicellars.com/

And Baise brought us the Cherry on-top, that one wine that makes every head turn. This is the kind of wine that will take a beer drinker and turn them into a very high-maintenance wine drinker. Baise brought us a 375 ml. bottle of 2006 Covey Run Reserve Semillon Ice Wine http://www.coveyrun.com/. For a bottle of Ice Wine that costs in the low $20's, I was fairly impressed. I'm not a huge fan of Covey Run Winery, but this little treasure takes the cake. As for myself, my favorite wine of the day was the 2007 Skylite Cellars Malbec. I tasted this wine when I bought it at the tasting room last month. I really liked it. And I loved it this time. Unfortunately for me, I can't buy it here. I'd have to drive out to Walla Walla to buy more. Oh well, I guess I'll have to drive out to Walla Walla soon. Such a hard life.