November Newsletter
New Releases for November!
Shipping in the November wine club allocation.
2020 Estate Cabernet Franc. This gorgeous Cab Franc has a long, vibrant finish loaded with dark cherry and plum flavors, complex aromas reminiscent of leather, violets and baking spices tag along to tantalize the palate. Well-balanced, rich and smooth. Grapes come from our venerable Glacial Gravels vineyard, farmed organically and sustainably. Hand picked and fermented with native yeasts from the vineyard. This wine improves with air, if you have a decanter use it, or open the bottle and let it breathe for a few hours before enjoying it. Drink now through 2030.
2021 Estate Pinot Noir. We think Lake Chelan is the best terroir in the State for growing Pinot Noir. Our Gary’s Vineyard fruit ripens rather late in the season but does not lose any vibrancy by hanging into late-September. We fermented using only native yeasts in our open-top oak cask ( “The Gamba”). Aged for a total of 11 months in a combination of neutral and new French oak barrels. Intensely perfumed and offering flavors of juicy berry and cherry, with some earth and spice on the finish. Pair with a holiday feast. Ready to drink now, or up to 5 years.
2022 Estate Chardonnay. Aged in sandstone with our new Vin et Terre jarre (amphora) this estate Chardonnay is the culmination of what we have been striving for in our vineyards. A Chardonnay with elegance, tension, incredible fruit. The sandstone brings out the slate-like minerality in this wine. Only 100 cases produced, reorder quickly.
Vineyard Report - Embracing the rollercoaster.
In the world of winemaking, each year brings a unique blend of challenges and triumphs. Last fall, we found ourselves at the mercy of Mother Nature as temperatures plummeted from a balmy 65 degrees to a bone-chilling 15 almost overnight. Our precious grape buds, poised to bear the fruit of this year's harvest, were left devastated in the wake. Syrah, Viognier, Orange Muscat, and Malbec faced total losses, while the rest managed to salvage a mere 20-50 percent of their usual yield. There was, however, one shining exception - the Gamay noir from Farmer Jon's vineyard bore a full crop, a beacon of hope in a challenging season.
But, there's a silver lining to this story. We had processed our largest grape crop ever last year, ensuring an abundance of wine for the upcoming year. Thankfully, the vines seem to have weathered the storm without any lasting damage, promising a return to a bountiful harvest in the near future.
Over at Poverty Hill Vineyard, our new plantings endured the winter unscathed and thrived during an exceptional growing season that extended well into the last week of October. Pruning the new Syrah vines turned into a wild adventure as they shot up an astonishing 20-30 feet in a single season, creating a veritable jungle.
The Alicante Bouschet vines at Poverty Hill also withstood the winter's test, and we anticipate their first grape yield next year. This year's random clusters offered a tantalizing preview of what's to come, boasting deep magenta grape flesh that promises a rich, dark wine with delicate flavors. We eagerly await the 2024 harvest when we can finally taste the fruits of these vines.
But the year wasn't all about looking back. We planted the final block of new vines at Poverty Hill, the rare Caladoc, a cross between Grenache and Malbec. These unique vines are grown in the Gobelet fashion, each with its own steel post for support and no trellis system. Caladoc grapes are said to combine the flavors of Grenache with the color of Malbec, and we can't wait to savor the exceptional wine they promise to produce in 2-3 years. To the best of our knowledge, this marks the first planting of Caladoc in Washington, adding a touch of pioneering spirit to our vineyard.
Farming, they say, is a relentless cycle of optimism and calculated risk-taking. As eternal optimists and gamblers, we'll keep rolling the dice, knowing that with each challenging year, there's always the promise of a brighter and more abundant future. Here's to the unbreakable spirit of the farmer!"
How to throw a great blind wine tasting party ( hint: no scented candles!).
Hosting a blind wine tasting party is a fantastic way to combine the love of wine with a fun and interactive social gathering. Here are some ideas of how to do it in your own home.
Start by deciding on a guest list and date for your blind wine tasting party. Aim for a diverse group with varying levels of wine knowledge to make the event engaging for everyone. Next, choose the wines for the tasting. Go for a specific theme like Chardonnays from different regions ( France, Lake Chelan, Oregon and California) or a choose a sparkling theme and ask folks to bring their favorite bubbly. Conceal the wine labels by placing the bottles in wine bottle bags or wrapping them in aluminum foil or in simple brown paper bags. Ask guest to bring the wine at the temperature to be served at ( white wine or bubblies should be already chilled).
Make sure you have enough wine glasses for each participant. Provide one glass for each wine they'll be tasting. Any wine glass that is at least 10 ounces will work, you want to have room to sniff and swirl. Create tasting note cards for each guest, which should include sections for appearance, aroma, taste, and overall rating. These cards will help your guests record their impressions and guesses about the wines.
When the tasting begins, pour a small sample of each wine into their glasses, ensuring they remain unaware of the wine's identity. Encourage your guests to follow a structured tasting process, starting with an assessment of the wine's appearance, moving on to the aroma, and finally, the taste. Have each participant score and take notes on their tasting cards without discussing their thoughts with others.
Once the tasting is complete, reveal the wines one by one. Share details about each wine, including the grape variety, region, and any interesting facts. Encourage open and lively discussions among your guests as they compare their notes and impressions. The blind wine tasting party can culminate with a vote for the favorite wine of the evening. It's a wonderful way to foster a deeper appreciation for wine while creating lasting memories with friends and fellow wine enthusiasts.
Recipes
Looking for a departure from making sweet Christmas cookies? Look no further than famed baker Dorie Greenspan who developed these recipes for savory , adult-only “cookies”. These would be great to make for your Wine Tasting party since they go perfect with wine.
Rosemary Parm Cocktail cookies
Rosemary – Parm Cocktail Cookies
We love these paired with a Va Va Voom Vermouth Spritz aperitif but equally good with the Estate Pinot Noir. Pack these in a festive bag or box and offer to your grown-up friends or as a hostess gift. Hopefully your fresh rosemary is still thriving in the garden. You will love Dorie’s technique of rubbing the Rosemary leaves in sugar to release the flavors, brilliant!
Ingredients
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup toasted pecans or almonds
1/3 cup lightly packed grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spread nuts in a pie plate and toast for about 10 minutes until golden. Let nuts cool.
Working in a small bowl, rub the sugar and chopped rosemary together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and aromatic and maybe even tinged with green.
Put the flour, pecans, Parmesan, salt and rosemary-sugar in a food processor and pulse to blend. Drop in the pieces of butter and pulse until the mixture turns crumbly. Add the beaten yolk a little at a time, pulsing as each bit goes in, then continue to pulse until you have a moist dough that forms clumps and curds.
Turn the dough out and divide it in half. Pat each half into a disk.
Working with one disk at a time, place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Slide the dough, still between the paper, onto a baking sheet — you can stack the slabs — and freeze for at least 1 hour.
When you’re ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Have a 1 1/2-inch-diameter cookie cutter at hand.
Working with one piece of dough at a time, peel away the top and bottom papers and return the dough to one sheet. Cut out as many cookies as you can and put them on the lined sheet, leaving about an inch between them. (Gather the scraps, then combine them with the scraps you get from the second sheet, roll, freeze, cut and bake.)
Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the halfway point, or until they’re golden and set. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Repeat with the remaining dough, always making certain that you start with a cool baking sheet.
Cocoa Cayenne Cookies
Cocoa Cayenne Cookies
These are just awesome with red wine, like our Estate Cabernet Franc. They are barely sweet and have a kick. It is mind-blowing to bite into these chocolate cookies and get spice instead of sweetness you are expecting.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
Maldon salt, for sprinkling
Directions
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, cayenne and sea salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with both sugars at low speed until creamy. Add the egg yolk and beat until smooth, then add the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead gently until it comes together. Divide the dough in half and press each half into a disk. Roll out each disk between 2 sheets of wax paper to about 1/4 inch thick. Slide the wax paper–covered disks onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour, until very firm.
Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one piece of dough at a time, peel off the top sheet of wax paper. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out the cookies as close together as possible. Arrange the cookies about 1 inch apart on the parchment paper–lined baking sheets and sprinkle with some Maldon salt.
Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, until they are just firm; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.