Pacific Northwest Tasting Trip, Day 4
Milton-Freewater, OR & Walla Walla, WA, and Waitsburg, WA
Tasted April 4, 2012 - April 12, 2012 by manonthemoon with 849 views
Introduction
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.
Flight 1 - Cayuse Vineyards (Milton-Freewater, OR) (8 notes)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nose was strong with blackberry, black cherry, herbs.
Palate of blackberry, black cherry, funky furr, earth.
Finish was long in length and major tannin.
Flight 2 - Reynvaan Family Vineyards (Walla Walla, WA) (6 notes)
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.
Nose of blackberry, floral, funk, spice, and minerals.
Palate of blackberry, floral, little vanilla, funk, spice.
Finish was above average to long in length, good mouthfeel, and decent structure.
Nose of black cherry, blueberry, funk, earth, pepper, and spice.
Palate of black cherry, blueberry skin, funk, pepper, green pepper, spice.
Finish was long in length, great mouthfeel (one of the best of the trip), and acidity.
Nose of black cherry, blackberry, floral, citrus.
Palate of blackberry, black cherry, meat, funk, pepper.
Finish was average to above average and good acidity.
Now blended with grenache blanc.
Nose of black raspberry, pepper, funk, citrus.
Palate of blackberry, floral, pepper, spice.
Finish was long, good mouthfeel, and acidity
Nose of black raspberry, green olive, and pepper.
Palate of blackberry, green olive brine, earth, and pepper.
Finish was above average in length, good tannin and acid.
3rd leaf wines according to Matt and 5% Viognier.
Nose of strawberry, red raspberry, funk, and spice.
Palate of strawberry, red raspberry, funk, and spice.
Finish was above average to long in length, great mouthfeel.
Flight 3 - Waters Winery (Walla Walla, WA) (6 notes)
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.
Nose was lighter with strawberry and minerals.
Palate of strawberrys, little floral, herb, spice.
Finish was average and there was good acidity.
Nose of black raspberry, light earth, mint.
Palate of mixed raspberry, baking spices, plums, and pepper.
Finish was average.
Nose of blueberry, black cherry, spice.
Palate of black cherry, boysenberry, white pepper.
Finish was average.
Nose of smoked bacon, blackberry, spice.
Palate of black fruit, raspberry, olives, smoked bacon fat, minerality.
Finish was long, good mouthfeel.
Nose of black cherry, tobacco, spice.
Palate of sweet black cherry, currant, leather, spice.
Finish was average, decent mouthfeel.
Nose of mixed raspberry, black plum, floral, graphite.
Palate of black raspberry, plum, graphite, earth.
Finish was long, great tannin, and acidity as well.
Fantastic wine.
Flight 4 - Dunham Cellars (Walla Walla, WA) (9 notes)
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.
Nose was of honey, lemon cream, spice.
Palate of pinapple skin, lemon cream, spice.
Finish was average in length, decent moutfeel and more oak than I tend to go for.
Nose was of plum, red cherry, mineral.
Palate of red raspberry, plum, light earth, and minerals.
Finish was below average in length, okay mouthfeel.
Nose was of blackberry, licorice, spice.
Palate of blackberry, raspberry, earth, minerals, and spice.
Finish was average in length, good structure.
Nose was of floral, plum, black cherry, mineral.
Palate of red cherry, plum, earth, and spice.
Finish was average to above average, solid acidity.
Nose was of floral, blackberry, minerals, spice.
Palate of blackberry, earth, mineral, pepper.
Finish was above average in length, good tannin noted.
Nose was of dark raspberry, plum, mint, spice.
Palate of dark raspberry, plum, mint, charcoal, spice.
Finish was long in length, good minerals, tannin was solid.
Really a stunning wine, too bad it is just a wine club release at this point.
Nose was of heavy cassis, earth, coffee, vanilla.
Palate of dark cassis like chambord, earth, coffee.
Finish was long but to me the wine was overblown and a brusier without much elegance and the acidity I loved in the 08.
A total opposite wine than the 08 which was light on its feet and extremely well structured.
Nose was of floral, honey, pear.
Palate of pineapple, citrus, florals, spice.
Finish was above average in length, decent acidity.
Nose was of honey, botrytis, spice.
Palate of honey, peaches lots of peaches, spice.
Finish was long finish, only okay acidity.
Flight 5 - Brasserie Four (Walla Walla, WA) (2 notes)
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.
Nice tropical hints on the nose with lots of crushed chalk and minerals showing.
Palate had an initial push of pineapple and ripe apple with a little cream then huge amounts of minerals rush in and keep it from being sweet at all.
Great cut and acidity, was very impressed and this went very well with our amazing dinner.
Peach to light pink in color.
Nose of watermelon, herbs, light earth, and minerals.
Palate of watermelon, rind, herbs, minerals.
Finish was average in length, really great acidity.
Overall a fantastic wine to end our evening with after a day of tasting mostly larger reds.
Big thanks to Brandon for the gift.
Closing
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.