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WINES By Chuck Hill
About Chuck
CHUCK'S CURRENT REVIEWS
BY VARIETAL
Chuck's Wine Reviews
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Wines of the Week Archive
White Rhone Varietals – In our fifth year of formally evaluating white Rhone varietal wines, we continue to be amazed at the improvement of wine quality. Grape growers are growing more balanced fruit, winemakers are more skilled at crafting the wines, and more blends are being utilized to create complex, food-friendly wines. Samples submitted for this year included Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc and other less well-known varieties…plus blends of two or more of these. The aroma profile ranges from intense peach and apricot to dusty mineral with pear, honey, and citrus. The palate impression is sometimes dry, with mineral, citrus and stone fruits and sometimes sweet, with apricot flavor and higher alcohol. Accompanying these wines are spicy Asian dishes. We continue to be impressed with takeout choices from Tasty Thai, an unassuming location on Highway 99 in Edmonds, Washington. I’m sure you have a similar place nearby. From the menu we selected Phad Thai with Chicken, Green Curry with Chicken, Phad Bai Graplau with Pork, and Swimming Rama (chicken, spinach and peanut sauce). All dishes are requested “2 star” spiciness.
Maison Bleue
In just a few short years winemaker Jon Martinez has impressed the world with his uncanny ability to create the finest Rhone varietal wines ever produced in Washington. These are wines that stand toe to toe with the best from California and offer the complexity and balance found in wines from France. This wine is superb, if not somewhat un-Viognier-like – lacking overt honeysuckle, floral and ripe apricot notes; it brings enticing mineral character with notes of stone fruits and citrus. It is refined and elegant and shines as an example for other Washington Rhone whites.
Agate Ridge Vineyard This barrel-fermented Marsanne offers the expected creaminess and sur-lie character along with fruit and mineral flavors and anchored by sturdy acidity. The Kinderman family’s Agate Ridge Vineyard produces some of Oregon’s greatest food wines with superb structure and excellent potential for future aging.
Joe Dobbes worked as a well-respected – and eventually renowned – winemaker for several Oregon wineries before starting his own venture in 2002. Today, he is the sole owner of Dobbes Family Estate and Wines by Joe, two ventures that produce a wide range of excellent Oregon wines for every palate and pocketbook. His 2010 Grenache Blanc hails from Crater View Vineyard in the Rogue Valley and offers aromas and flavors of wild flowers, citrus, stone fruits and light mineral – an excellent food wine.
Novelty Hill Winery This blend of Viognier and Roussanne honors the location of the winery’s Stillwater Creek Vineyard in the Frenchman Hills of Washington’s Royal Slope. This blend of varietals seems to be trending and offers great promise for the wine lovers' enjoyment of Rhone whites made in Washington. Look for aromas of citrus and mineral with notes of honeysuckle, talc and hints of toasty vanilla. The palate offers flavors of tangerine, ripe peach and orange cream.
McCrea Cellars Doug McCrea blended 43% Grenache blanc, 41% Marsanne, 10% Picpoul and 7% Roussanne to create his Sirocco Blanc. It is packed with fruit aroma and flavor, layering tropical citrus and soft fruits, honey, floral perfume and notes of mineral and peach. The palate is soft and unctuous offering complex flavors and heady impressions of ripe fruits and honeyed syrup. Serve as an aperitif or as a sweet closing note to a fine summer meal.
Shameless Hussy Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards commemorates the cultural history of Point Lovely on Lake Chelan with the Shameless Hussy label depicting the brothel that served local miners in the early 20th century. It is not likely that the ladies served anything as flavorful, elegant and food friendly as this tasty blend of Roussanne and Viognier. Look for aromas and flavors of ripe peach, nectarine, mineral and citrus – a lip smacking favorite with spicy Asian fare.
Seven of Hearts
Like any number of Oregon wine ventures throughout the past three decades, this winery began as the dream of inspired Californians seeking the good life and Pinot Noir in the hills of western Oregon. Byron and Dana Dooley found their corner of Yamhill County paradise in 2004 and have since planted a vineyard, started a winery and opened two chocolate shops in the McMinnville and Newberg. Their blend of Viognier and Roussanne offers forward aromas and flavors of tropical fruits, ripe peach and spice with a clean finish – a nice complement to spicy Thai food.
Whidbey Island Winery Winemaker Greg Osenbach co-fermented 12% Viognier with Roussanne to create this food-friendly wine that pairs well with rich Northwest seafoods or Asian dishes featuring pork or chicken. Aromas of earthy mineral and white peach lead to a palate rich with mineral, tropical fruits and notes of herbs.
Kana Winery
This blend of Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne is the flagship white
wine for Kana Winery in Yakima. The Roussanne and Marsanne components
were barrel fermented in French oak and aged sur lie. The Viognier was
fermented and aged in stainless steel. On the nose you’ll find: stone
fruits, spice and floral perfume. The palate offers fruit flavors and
crisp acidity to accompany food. Wines from Other Areas
Tablas Creek Vineyard
Tablas Creek was founded by the Perrin family (proprietors of Chateau de
Beaucastel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape) and Robert Haas, importer and founder
of vineyard
The vines that produced this wine were probably planted before you were born (likely before your parents were born), but that’s the way it is when you are drinking wines from Europe. A blend of 60% Marsanne, 15% Roussanne, 15% Viognier and 10% Grenache blanc, the wine offers a nose of floral and fruity components, complex in style and encompassing earthy notes, stone fruits and orchard blossom. The palate is soft with fruit flavors and a delicate finish.
Tablas Creek Vineyard This traditional Mediterranean varietal is grown in Sardinia, Corsica and Northern Italy as well as in the Rhone Valley (particularly Cotes de Provence). Vermentino was suggested to the owners of Tablas Creek for their rocky, limestone soils and it has thrived in the Paso Robles vineyard. Enticing aromas of tropical citrus, chalk and floral perfume lead to a crisp palate with flavors of Meyer lemon, tropical fruits and crisp mineral.
Tablas Creek Vineyard Bottled as a single varietal, Grenache blanc seems to be less successful then when used as part of a white Rhone blend. Comparatively simple, yet still enjoyable, it offers aromas of spice and mineral with flavors of apple, citrus and lemon. A slight hint of phenolics on the finish is accommodated by pairing with flavorful cuisine.
Tablas Creek Vineyard
This vintage of Petit Manseng is Tablas Creek’s second bottling of this
traditional grape from southwest France. It hails primarily from the
appellation of Juracon (foothills of the Pyrenees) where it has been
used to make sweet wines admired for centuries. The varietal has the
ability to produce fruit with high sugar content without botrytis.
Distinctly sweet, the wine offers aromas and flavors of tropical fruit,
notably papaya and pineapple, with notes of honey and ginger. A unique
wine with a most remarkable history.
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One-year
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brands. Vineyards were planted west of Paso Robles in hillside
areas that are similar to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This blend of 54%
Viognier, 30% Grenache Blanc, 8% Marsanne and 8% Roussanne ranked near
the top of the first tasting showing complex mineral and baking spice
over a base of melon and stone fruits.