Pacific Northwest Tasting Trip, Day 3
Portland, Or, Walla Walla, WA, Waitsburg, WA
Tasted April 4, 2012 - April 12, 2012 by manonthemoon with 660 views
Introduction
Left Portland early after stoping by Stumproasters coffee for a little bit of caffine for the road, really good expresso. Then of course I had to get another Portland cream from Voodoo as it would be a long drive. Lunch was at Andrea's Kitchen mobile truck that was convienently located at SOH. The Burger was amazing as always with the sweet onions and fried green tomatoes on top, the pountine was pretty solid as well.
Flight 1 - Sleight of Hand Winery (Walla Walla) (7 notes)
Trey was on hand pouring and chatting it up. He gave some good insights in into the different vintages and even treated us and a few others to quite a few barrel samples of 11's mostly with a couple of 10's IIRC. He mentioned he was experimenting more with wholecluster fermentation and the early results seemed promising IMO. He also did a nice job spinning some good vinyl while we were there, even put on a little Evil Urges by MMJ which was always nice.
Nose was of citrus fruits, lemon, grapefruit, minerals, and chalk.
Palate of more lemon, cream, chalky minerals, and a little spice.
Finish was average in length and there was good acidity.
Solid white wine to start off our day of tasting.
Nose was of watermelon, herb, and minerals.
Palate of strawberry, green pepper, , lots of minerals.
Finish was average in length and there was great, acidity, and a good mouthfeel for a rose.
Really enjoyed this effort, nothing beats a good rose.
Nose was of dark raspberries, plums, herb.
Palate of black raspberry, plums, herbs.
Finish was average in length and there was good acidity.
Solid table wine.
Nose was of mixed raspberries, earth, florals.
Palate of black raspberry, floral, little vanilla, earth.
Finish was above average to long in length, denser mouthfeel, maybe a touch hot?
Nose was of blackberry, floral, spice.
Palate of blackberry, florals, and spice.
Finish was long in length, good mouthfeel, and focus.
Great acidity too.
Nose was really nice with blackberry, floral, spice.
Palate of blackberry, florals, spice, a little chalkiness as well.
Finish was long in length, medium mouthfeel, and great acidity.
Definately the most accessible of the upper tier lineup IMO.
Nose was of dark blackberry, earthy funk, and ground pepper.
Palate of blackberry, with blueberry skins, lots of funk and a good amount of pepper.
Finish was long in length, great acidity, and nice structure and great mouthfeel.
My favorite of the lineup, really good stuff. 93-94
Flight 2 - Gramercy Cellars Winery (Walla Walla) (6 notes)
Brandon and Steve were on hand to talk about and pour the wines. Brandon was friendly and knowledgeable as always and it was nice to meet Steve for the first time since he came on board. The lower new oak usage and whole cluster fermentation give the wines a nice set of secondary notes that show through with high amounts of acids. Got some good info on some of the potential upcomming club releases that they got planned which I am super excited about and was lucky enough to get a little preview bottle of rose to try out. More than any other winery from the area this one seems to best fit my palate these days and so I guess its a good thing since they just eclipsed Cameron as the biggest producer in my collection.
Nose of black berry, florals, briar, spice.
Palate of blackberry, violets, tobacco, and spices.
Finish was average to above average in length, good tannin and acidity noticed.
Nose of mixed raspberries, little spice.
Palate of raspberry, currant, fig, and rosemary.
Finish was average in length and a good mouthfeel.
Nose of black fruit, blackberry, smoke, olive, and pepper.
Palate was more black fruits with blackberry, black raspberry, smoked game, pepper.
Finish was long in length, good amount of acidity present, the most of the 09's we tasted through on the trip.
Glad to have a few of these laying around the cellar.
Nose of red raspberries, red fruit, herbs, minerals.
Palate of strawberry, mixed raspberries, granite, mushrooms, lots of herbs, spice.
The finish was above average in length, good mouthfeel.
Nose of red fruit, cherry, currant, florals, herbs, and mushroom.
Palate of red cherry, currant, underbrush, herbs, baker's chocolate.
Finish was above average in length and there was good acidity present.
Glad to have a few of these to sit on, my type of WA cab, good acidity.
Nose of black cherry, dark currants, earth.
Palate of black cherry, blueberry, currant, herbs, and pepper.
Finish was long in length and there was great tannin present and very good acidity.
Glad to have a few of these to sit on while I wait for the nose to catch up with the palate.
Flight 3 - Woodward Canyon Winery (Lowden, WA) (6 notes)
Had been wanting to try this winery once again since my palate was worn out last time and the oak seemed to stick out last time. Unfortunately it seemed that my palate wasn't as fatigued as I thought it was last time around as once again the oak was very dominant in the wines. With this said I would like to have one with a decade or so of cellar age on it to see how it integrates, especially an Old Vines CS which I thought was excellent even with the high oak treatment.
Nose was of tropical fruit, minerals, and a little heat.
Palate of lemon lime, a little musty mineral.
Finish was average with decent acidity.
Nose was of red cherry, with dry earth.
Palate of cherry, herb, little dust.
Finish below average.
Wasn't really my cup of tea.
Nose was of cherry, green pepper, earth, basil.
Palate of cherry, smoke, earth, light pepper.
Finish above average and good focus.
Nose was of red fruit, raspberry, mint, alcohol.
Palate of red cherry, tobacco, and spice.
Finish was average.
Nose was of mixed cherries, mint, light earth, and spice.
Palate of rainer cherry, mint, and spice.
Finish was average.
Nose was of darker fruit, with black cherry, florals, a little vanilla, and some spice.
Palate of more black fruit, with cherry, and currants leading the way to vanilla and herbs, a touch of cinammon.
Finish was long in length and there was good mouthfeel and structure.
This was by far our favorite wine of the lineup, only issue was it had a little more oak than we normal like on our wines.
Would recommend long term aging for the wine so the tannins will soften.
Flight 4 - Jimgermanbar (Waitsburg, WA) (0 notes)
Always a pleasure to get a little break from big reds by having a plethora of mixed drinks at this place. A true gem of a mixologist and the food prepared by his wife is excellent with some highly reccommended shnitzel. We also had a cheese and charcuterie plate to share between the three of us and the wife had a dish that had homemade worshoreshire sauce which was excellent. The drinks though are the reason we keep comming back, each excellent, and unique in its own right. I could really see myself getting into a bunch of bitters based on these drinks.
Closing
The first day in Walla Walla was excellent and it was nice to be able to walk/stumble home from JGB to our rental house in Waitsburg.