Lake Crest Winery, Washington

Recently, we stumbled on a true gem of a winery. Lake Crest Winery, in Oroville, Washington, is a fairly small (1,000 cases) regional producer in the Okanogan Valley, just a few miles from the Canadian border. The Canadian Okanagan Valley (yes, it’s spelled differently) is becoming well known for excellent wines, and if Lake Crest is any indication, the Washington-state side is primed to excel also.

We tried Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and a couple of late-harvest and ice wines. Every single wine we sampled was simply excellent, and the prices were fabulously affordable ($10-15 per bottle for the table wines, $11-18 for late-harvest half-bottles, $40 for the ice wine half-bottle).

Co-owner Boni Mathews told us that she and her husband, Ken, had been growing apples, pears, and other fruit in the area for decades, but about five years ago switched seven acres over to vineyards. We were amazed that every wine – every varietal – was estate grown. They’re growing great Pinot Noir farther north than I ever imagined it could thrive.

Apparently, the grapes love the hot summers in the valley, yet the winters get cold enough to produce ice wine. We tried a Syrah ice wine that had beautiful flavors of ... rhubarb. Not what you’d expect in a dessert wine, but fabulous nonetheless.

Lake Crest has limited distribution in the central Washington region, but Boni told us that they’ve just signed with a distributor that will be getting their wines into the Seattle area. If you have a chance to try any of their wines, don’t hesitate – just buy a bottle and enjoy.

We don’t often give plugs, but visit LakeCrestWinery.com to see their current offerings. You can buy from them online.

Crème Fraiche & Milbrandt Riesling

Crème Fraiche

Yes, we’re pretty late to the party. We make our own garlic Aioli by grinding fresh garlic cloves in a mortar. We use fresh herbs instead of dried whenever possible. We cook just about everything from scratch. But we never bothered to make Crème Fraiche.

Crème Fraiche is a French matured cream, but not at all like our U.S. sour cream. We’ve never found it in our semi-rural grocery stores, but we’ve read for years how “easy” it is to make. Even Julia Child has a recipe. The typical recipe calls for a cup of cream and a tablespoon or two of buttermilk. But who in the world has buttermilk in the fridge anymore, especially when it comes in quart cartons? Yet a few weeks ago we found a tiny half-pint carton of buttermilk, and decided to try this creation.

We mixed (without measuring, as usual) the cream and buttermilk and let it stand overnight until it actually did develop a nice, thick creamy consistency. It had a wonderful bite yet a smooth creaminess that sour cream just doesn’t have.

Since then, we’ve mixed it with Dijon mustard for a salad dressing; we’ve added honey and vanilla for a topping for fresh wild raspberries (not that the raspberries really needed anything); and we’ve mixed a bit of it with a leftover tomato-artichoke-olive sofrito to go on top of red potatoes steamed with fresh rosemary.

We’re hooked. Our most recent meal using Crème Fraiche was as the potato topping mentioned above, and for that dinner we also had halibut sautéed in butter and herbs accompanied by a crisp Washington state Riesling, reviewed below.


Milbrandt Riesling 2006 – Washington

When we bought this, we had no way of knowing if it were dry or sweet. Many Rieslings will note a style on the label (and we wish all wineries would), but without that information it’s hard to know whether to open a bottle of Riesling as an afternoon sipper or as a dinner wine. We took a wild guess, and were right with this one.

The nose is mild, with a bit of apple and herbs. The tastes are a nice medley of crab apple, apple, mild herbs, maybe a little grassy or leafy. It finishes crisply, with some mild but nice acidity. Surprisingly for a Riesling, it was still fine as it warmed in the glass on an 87-degree evening. It developed more depth and complexity, without losing that distinctive Riesling character.

The best part is the price – only $6.50 when we found it. At that price, it’s a House/Yes wine for sure (depending on availability).

Maryhill Sauvignon Blanc 2007 – Washington

Mayhill is a big winery on the Washington state side of the Columbia River a couple of dozen miles east of Hood River, Oregon. The winery has a big tasting room, filled with gifts and wine accessories, as well as a friendly and enthusiastic staff. The tasting room felt very Napa-ish, but was uncrowded when we were there midweek in April.

One thing that really creeped us out, though, was that there were a LOT of sterile, annoying, little “nag” signs all over the tasting room, the grounds, even in the parking lot, along the lines of: “Keep Off The Grass,” “Put Trash Here,” “Bathrooms Only For Customers”, “Don’t Feed The Dog Your Leftover Lunch,” “Blah, Blah, Blah.” Sort of like Windows Vista, the computer operating system that nags you at every turn.

Anyway.... The Maryhill Sauvignon Blanc is very Bordeaux-ish. It opens with a nose that makes you think it’s going to be more New Zealand – grassy, bright, lemons. But the tastes are more California/French in style – grapefruit, no grassiness, some smooth roundness and defined acidity. Try it if such is your style; for us, Maybe. $14

New! New! Not.

We’ve been going through a phase. We’re actually a little tired of trying new this, new that, in search of another good affordable everyday wine. We’ve just been buying our known favorites – two of this, three of that, maybe even a case of something just to have Old Reliable on hand.

Thus, we don’t have a lot of new reviews we’re excited about (although we do have a backlog of tasting notes still to post). So we thought we’d list – for you and as a reminder for ourselves – some of our current all-time-favorite fallback affordable wines. These are the wines we’re buying in multiple quantities and keeping on hand for everyday drinking.

• Castle Rock Pinot Noir – California
• Barnard Griffin Syrah – Washington
• Red Diamond Syrah – Washington
• Concannon Petite Sirah – California
• Barnard Griffin Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot – Washington
• Tapeña Garnacha (Grenache) – Spain
• Tapeña Tempranillo – Spain
• Beringer White Zinfandel – California
• Brancott Sauvignon Blanc – New Zealand
• Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc – New Zealand
• Barnard Griffin Sauvignon Blanc – Washington
• Covey Run Fume (Sauvignon) Blanc – Washington
• B&G Vouvray (Chenin Blanc) – France
• Kiona Chenin Blanc – Washington
• Columbia Crest Pinot Grigio – Washington
• Ryan Patrick Naked Chardonnay – Washington
• Barnard Griffin Chardonnay – Washington
• Bogel Petite Sirah – California
• Bogel Old Vine Zinfandel – California

All of the wines on the above list should be readily available for under $15, many even for $10 or less. And they all should be widely available.

You might notice, sadly, that there aren’t any affordable Zinfandels on that list. We absolutely adore Zin, yet have been disappointed with several (many) sub-$15 wines we previously enjoyed. The closest we have come are Dancing Bull and Ravenswood (for when we don’t want to break out a Ridge or Turley; both of which are generally in the $30+ range), but we just don’t think they quite make this list. It’s also unfortunate that there are so few nice Pinot Noirs in our “affordable” price range. We could drink Pinot Noir every day – if we could find a few in our everyday-budget range. UPDATE: We've added Bogel's Old Vine Zin to our list – the best "cheap" Zin we're recently discovered.

Finally, note that there are four Sauvignon Blancs on the list – probably because it’s summer and we love those wines this time of year. The two New Zealand wines are bright, crisp, and grassy – typical NZ styles. The two Washington wines are more mellow but still fresh and lively – excellent summer dinner wines.

Winery of the Half-a-Year

We still have more than half a year of tastings ahead of us, so we won’t finalize our Winery of the Year until the end of 2009. But we did want to highlight a winery that has incredibly impressed us so far, and is a top candidate for WOTY honors.

Without exception, every wine we’ve tried from Barnard Griffin winery has been a winner. We don’t generally care for most Cabernet Sauvignon, yet their non-vintage Cabernet/Merlot received our House rating, as did both their Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc. We gave both their Chardonnay and White Riesling a Yes rating.

The winery is located in the Yakima Valley in south-central Washington (Richland), and in our experience the wines have good availability at retail in Washington state. Barnard Griffin also has three different wine clubs available, as well as an online store, if you can’t find the wines in your area.

Watch for our Winery of the Year 2009 post in January (which may, of course, contain surprises), but until then, sample some of the Barnard Griffin wines.

Columbia Crest Shiraz – Grand Estates 2006 and Two Vines 2005 – Washington

We’ve generally believed that many high-volume production wines vary little from year to year. We’ve been buying these two Columbia Crest Syrahs for several years, but when we opened these last two bottles they tasted a bit “different” from what our taste buds remembered. So we judged them again, and only later went back to see our postings about the 2003 Grand Estates and the 2003 Two Vines (the only vintages we’ve published online).


The 2005 Two Vines wine was tight and earthy. We didn’t finish it the first night, and it definitely softened and “improved” the following evening. On that second evening, we opened the 2006 Grand Estates wine (about $3-4 more expensive). It was certainly more integrated, and this time Francesca liked the Grand Estates wine better – the last time we reviewed these, she preferred the Two Vines.


The significant difference from the older vintages is that these newer ones are more earthy and less fruity. That could be from the grapes and growing conditions from the different years, or it could also be an intentional stylistic change by the winemaker.

We’d certainly buy either of these Syrahs no matter what the vintage year on the label. These are still solid Washington state Syrahs, and they remain on our House wine list, despite the slight changes in these latest vintages. Change is not a bad thing – these wines are just as good, just different.

Rhubarb Apricot Chutney & Chardonnay

It’s spring, and rhubarb is busting out in the garden. We’ve been trying to find other uses for the tart plant than simply in the ubiquitous Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. So we created a chutney.

Last night, we had this chutney with quinoa, a piece of rockfish, and a mixture of roasted garlic, pearl onions, and shallots. We paired the meal with a Barnard Griffin Chardonnay.

WINE
Barnard Griffin Chardonnay 2007 – Washington
Still another winner from Barnard Griffin. Nose is distinctly of apples, with floral notes, violets, mints, herbs. The taste has a nice medley of crisp green apple, lemon, a hint of earthiness, maybe even eucalyptus? Does it make any sense to say it’s light but has a little weight? Just enough acid keeps it from being dense and overly creamy. Yes. $10 on sale, usually $14.

CHUTNEY RECIPE

• Cut rhubarb stalks (the leaves are not edible) into 1/2-inch pieces, making about 2 cups
• Coarsely chop about 1/2 cup onion
• Quarter dried apricots to make about 1 cup
• Put about 1/2 cup vinegar and maybe 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan
• Add all the onion and half the rhubarb (this portion of rhubarb will cook down to almost a paste)
• Add spices of choice – we used a home-made Garam Masala (Indian spice mixture), but ginger, cinnamon, or such would be good
• After about 10 minutes of cooking, add the apricots
• When the apricots soften (maybe another 10 minutes more), add the other cup of rhubarb (you might need to add a bit more vinegar if chutney looks too dry)
• Cook until the second round of rhubarb begins to soften, but stop cooking while the pieces are still whole
• Chill immediately

Chateau St. Michele Syrah 2003 – Washington

This has a nice spicy and blackberry nose. The tastes are creamy, rather soft for a Syrah, with blackberries and blueberries and a hint of lemon. There’s also some prune and leather in there somewhere. It’s kind of thick and jammy, with soft acids and mild tannins. Yes/Maybe. $11 on sale, $15 regularly.

Sorensen Pinot Gris/Sauvignon Blanc 2006 – Washington

Sorensen is a small winery in Port Townsend, Washington. It sources grapes mostly from the Yakima Valley and other Washington appellations (no estate or regional Olympic Peninsula grapes are used). It has a small, friendly tasting room, and charges a nominal tasting fee. (We still have a huge gripe about tasting rooms that charge for tasting, then sell you wine at full retail without applying the tasting fee – however small – toward your purchase.)

This wine is a blend of 64% Pinot Gris and 36% Sauvignon Blanc – a mixture we wouldn’t have thought of combining. The nose is perfumey and slightly medicinal. The tastes are of mushrooms, sourdough starter, and baked apple. This seems like a well-made wine that just didn’t really appeal to our taste preferences. Maybe. $14.50

Kiona Chenin Blanc 2004 – Washington

We’re always on the lookout for Chenin Blanc (as well as other less-popular whites). We picked this up knowing absolutely nothing about the winery or this particular Chenin Blanc. It opens with a nose of orange and lemon. Tastes of lemon, orange, papaya (the label says “tropical fruit”), and new-mown hay – just a hint of some kind of (good) grassiness. It’s smooth, and the slight touch of sweetness is balanced by some nice, tangy acids. Fun and different. House. $7.50 on sale, usually about $10.50.

Barnard Griffin Syrah 2006 – Washington

We keep being impressed with every Barnard Griffin wine we try. This opens with a nose of black cherries and peppery spice. It’s smooth, fruity, with just the right amount of velvety tannins. A very fruity Syrah style, with tastes of black cherry and pepper and maybe a hint of chocolate. Very nice. House. $13-16 on sale, usually about $18-19.


UPDATE: The April 30, 2009 issue of Wine Spectator rated the 2007 bottling of this wine 90 points.

Barnard Griffin 2006 Fume (Sauvignon) Blanc 2006 – Washington

The nose is mildly floral, not a lot of nuances. Tastes are of lemon/lime and floral. Very smooth and nice. It’s interesting that this is called a “Fume” Blanc, a name which was created by Mondavi back in the 1960s. This is a nice intermediate style between New Zealand’s brightness and California’s smoky/creaminess. Eminently drinkable with food or by itself. We were pleasantly surprised by the Barnard Griffin Cabernet/Merlot, and very pleased with this wine. House. $9 on sale, retail usually about $10.50

Barnard Griffin Cabernet-Merlot NV – Washington

What a nice surprise. We’re not big Cab or Merlot fans, but this is a wonderful addition to our House wine list. The nose is smoky and meaty. Tastes of beef, prune, walnuts, and grape skins. This is rich, full, almost chocolaty. The more of Barnard Griffin wines we try, the more we like. 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc. House. $9.50/12

Wines of the Year

We thought we’d jump on the end-of-year bandwagon, and offer our top new wines we enjoyed this year.

Grgich Hills Fume Blanc 2006

Cathedral Ridge Riesling 2007

d.A. (Domaines Astruc) Shiraz/Viogner 2006

Columbia Crest Vineyard 10 Rose 2007

Columbia Crest Vineyard 10 Rose 2007 – Washington

A nice new addition to our Rose list. This wine, “mostly Syrah,” shows what a good American Rose can be. Wonderful fruity nose of strawberries and raspberries. Deep color – almost so dark pink it looks artificial. The tastes are strawberries, raspberries, and watermelon. Dry yet full. House. $6 on sale, usually about $11.

Wines for Comfort in the (Financial) Storm

It’s coming up toward the season for holiday dinners, sharing wines, and watching your portfolio’s meltdown. To help you make it through the financial storm, especially at this time of year, we present our suggestions for the best Financial Comfort Wines. These are wines that are soft and soothing, yet are also affordable (especially affordable). They have some depth to them, much more so than light, fruity, summer sipping wines. All are readily available and under $10 (either regular retail or so frequently on sale that you shouldn’t have any problem finding them for less than $10). Even an inexpensive wine can make you feel rich, or at least happy. (We have previously reviewed many of these wines – see our archives for specific reviews.)

REDS
Columbia Crest Syrah – Washington
Fruity, smoky, goes down easy.

Ravenswood Zinfandel – California
Full, dark, spicy, and fruity.

Red Diamond Syrah – Washington
Plums, black cherries, depth.

Bernard Griffin Cabernet-Merlot – Washington
Filling to go with winter stews and chilis.

WHITES
B&G Vouvray – France
A white with weight, but lots of character.

Columbia Crest Pinot Grigio – Washington
Fresh, yet depth to match with food.

A-Z Pinot Gris – Oregon
Smooth, easy drinking, but firm structure.

SPARKLING
Cristalino Rose Cava – Spain
Not big, not serious, just fun.

Chateau St. Michelle Chardonnay – Washington

To show how even less-expensive wines can change between vintage years, here are our observations of the 2005 and 2006 versions of this wine. We tasted these wines separately (several months apart), and wrote the second review without referring to our notes regarding the previous vintage.

2005: Nose of citrus and baked apple. The taste has a “little” everything – a little citrus, a little butter, a little oak. It’s too “white wine” without any good, distinctive flavor or character. Maybe/No. $10 on sale, usually about $14.

2006: Nose of apples and tangerine. Tastes of apple and a surprising amount of “buttery oak” for an inexpensive Washington Chard. There’s also a bit of spice going on in the flavors. A Yes for Francesca; Maybe for Ken (probably because of the oak). Same price as the 2005.

Snoqualmie Riesling 2006 – Washington

Lots of nice floral nuances on the nose. Tastes of honey, with some definite sweetness and a touch (not enough) of acid. A tangerine and pineapple aftertaste. Ken Maybe, Francesca Yes. $8

Kestrel Lady In Red Non Vintage – Washington

Friends brought this over for dinner, having picked it up at Costco (which has been known to have some nice wines). To us, it’s just another red wine. Better than the “standard” of cheap reds (Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck - aka “2 Buck Junk”), but still just a red wine nonetheless. This has been well-rated by Wine Spectator, but for us, it’s a Maybe at best. (We originally didn’t know what our friends paid, but having found out it’s $21 retail, we’d really not bother.)

This is a good time for a digression about personal tastes. We read the popular wine press, and often agree with many of the writers – especially Matt Kramer in Wine Spectator and John Brecher & Dorothy Gaiter of the Wall St. Journal. All writers have personal favorites, and despite trying to be impartial in their reviews, their own upbringing and taste preferences can (and do) color their recommendations. Remember that applies to us, too. Another Wine Spectator writer, James Suckling, seems to be on a mission to deify all Italian wines, while we seldom find anything beyond ordinary in almost all Italian wines, no matter the price. Our suggestion, of course, is to taste a lot of wines, and read a lot of wine writers and their reviews. Once you can say, as we did above, that you agree with a taster’s tastes, then you can begin to rely more on their recommendations.

Lost River Cedarosa 2005 – Washington

This Cabernet Franc and Merlot blend has a wonderful deep cherry nose. Rich character, earthy, with a “dark” taste. Spiciness and pepper on the finish. Very smooth and integrated. Yes. About $15.