Milton-Freewater, OR & Walla Walla, WA, and Waitsburg, WA
Tasted Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - Thursday, April 12, 2012 by manonthemoon with 851 views
We started up our last day in wine country with some excellent coffee and expresso at Walla Walla Roastery which has my favorite coffee of all time. No need for breakfast as Cayuse and all of their small offerings were up first. After this we ventured to see Matt and Family at Reynvaan where there was some other small tastes to go with the wines. Then we needed a palate cleanser at the Wormranch. The burritos were excellent and the green salsa was spot on as always.
Our first stop and it seemed a little less crowded than last year, but everything else was just as wonderful. The wines were excellent and the food from Nick's in McMinnville IIRC was excellent, especially the chicken liver pate, which I could not give enough of. Christophe was talkitive as always running around with his ascot on and mingling with the crowd. We spent a couple of minutes talking to him regarding the vintage and what is upcomming from the winery and the sister project. A class act all together.
This place was hoping when we got there which was nice to see as we remember tasting the wines in the family's garage with Gale and Matt a few years ago. We spoke with Mike and Gale when we first arrived for a few minutes and passed along a hello from Baron as he had insisted when we mentioned that was our next stop. We then caught up with Matt as he was in the back in the Barrel room with a new wine and the contender. Matt talked with us about the winery and the plans for future releases of vines that are getting closer to being ready to make wine from and whatnot. We really enjoyed the time Matt took with us even though he was really busy with the crowd. There was also some excellent cheese, vegi spread, and pulled pork being offered. We thoroughly enjoyed the wines and it was nice to see the wines with another years worth of vineage and with the effects of a cooler vintage. There was definately no drop off in quality and I think with more and more vineage the vineyard will really grow into their own. We really hope that we will be able to make some of the List Only events in the future since the winery is heading in that direction.
After the Wormranch we decided to head to Waters as we have always enjoyed visiting there and have loved the huge painting that used to hang over the bar. Unfortunately it had just been sold and its spot as vacant. The staff was great and it was fun to see the new winery dog playing with two giant dogs for a few minutes.
We decided to hit up one more winery as we had dinner reservations for 5:45 and needed something to do before hand. The staff was very courtous and it was nice to try a couple of the reserve merlots as I have enjoyed various vintages in the past.
We have been hearing the wonders of this place for years so we decided to check it out and it definately didn't dissappoint. We started out with a great bottle of champagne and a cheese plate which was fantastic. We then had the Steak Frites with homemade anoli which were a little bit of heaven, the special of the day that was scallops in a Buschmel sauce, morels, and breadcrumbs, this was fantastic, and some spicey red mussels which were awesome. For dessert we tried the Nutela crepes and the other crepes. Both were good, but I preferred the non-nutela kind. All in all this did not disappoint at all, my favorite fine dinning in the area.
After this we stopped at the Vintage cellar for a night cap where I had a Double Rainbow Ale which was nice prior to us heading back to Waitsburg. After we got back we had the bottle of Gramercy Rose that really hit the spot for me after a long day of tasting big reds and watched the Goonies. Pretty interesting way to wind up the wine portion of the trip. Can't wait for 2013.
2009 Cayuse God Only Knows 93 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
(4/7/2012)
Notes from the Open House tasting with Baron.
Nose of red raspberry, green olives, funk, minerals.
Palate of red raspberry, pomegranite, ash, green olive, minerals, pepper.
Finish was above average in length and there was great acidity present.
Retasted this because the first pour was small and was glad I did as the second time around this seemed to really shine on the nose much more than the 1st time.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2010 Cayuse Cabernet Sauvignon The Widowmaker En Chamberlin Vineyard 95 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
(4/7/2012)
Notes from the Open House tasting with Baron.
Nose of blueberry, currant, funk, earth, and minerals.
Palate of blueberry, currant, a little vanilla, earth, spice, minerals.
Finish was long, great acidity, tannin, and mouthfeel present.
One of my favorite wines of the tasting, very focused.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2010 Cayuse Camaspelo 92 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
(4/7/2012)
Notes from the Open House tasting with Baron.
Nose was strong with black cherry, earth, black raspberry, pepper.
Palate of black cherry, leather, spice, earth, and pepper.
Finish was above average in length and a great mouthfeel, good acidity and tannin.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2010 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard 93 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
(4/7/2012)
Notes from the Open House tasting with Baron.
Nose was strong with floral, blackberries, light funk, spice.
Palate of blackberry, funk, floral, spice.
Finish was above average to long in length and a good mouthfeel, good acidity.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2010 Cayuse Syrah En Chamberlin Vineyard 94 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
(4/7/2012)
Notes from the Open House tasting with Baron.
Nose of blackberry, raspberry, more funk, spice.
Palate of blackberry, blueberry skins, black cherry, leather, funk, major spice.
Finish was long in length, good mouthfeel, good structure.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2010 Cayuse Syrah En Cerise Vineyard 93 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
(4/7/2012)
Notes from the Open House tasting with Baron.
Nose of dark raspberry, black olive, pepper.
Palate of black cherry, raspberry, olive, green pepper, minerals.
Finish was above average to long in length and good acidity.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2010 Cayuse Syrah Bionic Frog 96 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
(4/7/2012)
Notes from the Open House tasting with Baron.
Nose was strong with floral, blueberries, slight funk, spice.
Palate of blueberry, blackberry, earth, funk, orange peel, backing spice.
Finish was long in length and major tannin and acidity.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
2009 Cayuse Syrah Armada Vineyard 94 Points
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
(4/7/2012)
Notes from the Open House tasting with Baron.
Nose was strong with blackberry, black cherry, herbs.
Palate of blackberry, black cherry, funky furr, earth.
Finish was long in length and major tannin.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue