Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2009 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Valley of Washington State.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$20
• Must be widely available

Chateau Ste. Michelle is Washington State’s founding winery with its roots dating back to the repeal of Prohibition. In 1976, Ste. Michelle built a French-style chateau in Woodinville, just northeast of Seattle. While all of their white wines are made in Woodinville, all of their red wines are made at Canoe Ridge Estate in eastern Washington. The fruit for this Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley including Cold Creek, Canoe Ridge Estate, and Indian Wells.

“Our goal with the Columbia Valley Cabernet is to highlight concentrated Washington red fruit in an accessible style. This is our inviting Cab with plenty of complexity and structure with silky tannins. It’s also very versatile with food—try it with beef, pork or pasta.” –Bob Bertheau, Head Winemaker

2009 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley, Washington): 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 3% Syrah, 2% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Dark red in color. Aromatic with red fruit, earth, and smoked meat on both the nose and palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, smooth tannins, and a medium to long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $16; Available elsewhere, $10 to $18

General Tso’s Chicken is one of the Wine Peeps favorite dishes, and we especially enjoy it prepared extra spicy. An added consideration in planning and preparing our challenging wine pairing meal this time is that John has been diagnosed with a gluten allergy, so I prepared the dish gluten free and was pleasantly surprised with the results. We rounded out the meal with spicy Schezwan green beans, white rice, and a mixed fresh fruit cup of pineapple chunks and mandarin orange slices.

After consulting What to Drink with What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, we decided to try a Gewürztraminer and a Pinot Noir. The two wines that we had with the meal were the 2009 Ardiri Due Stati Pinot Noir from California and Oregon and the 2010 Dowsett Family Gewürztraminer from Washington. Both wines were excellent! We vacillated back and forth as to which was the better pairing with the food—at first, the Gewürztraminer seemed to be the favorite, but once the meal was completed, we concluded unanimously that the Pinot Noir paired better. But really, you couldn’t go wrong with either one. If you are in the mood for a white wine, a Gewürztraminer is a good choice; and if you would prefer to have a red wine, a Pinot Noir works wonderfully.

We’d love for you to share in the comments what you would have paired with this meal. And, as always, we welcome your suggestions for challenging wine pairings for us to try in the future.

Bon Appétit!

2009 Ardiri Due Stati Pinot Noir (70% California and 30% Oregon): Medium deep purplish red in color. Nice nose with strawberry, red cherry, and oak aromas. Beautiful red cherry, strawberry, earth, and spice come through on the palate. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity and medium tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish. An excellent food wine.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $38; Available elsewhere, $43

2010 Dowsett Family Gewürztraminer (Celilo Vineyard, Columbia Gorge, Washington): Pale to medium greenish straw yellow. Aromatic with apple, pear, and white peach on the nose. More gorgeous white peach and pear come through on the palate. Slightly off-dry and medium-bodied with crisp acidity. Well-balanced with a very long, refreshing finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Full Pull Wines (Seattle, Washington), $18; Available elsewhere, $17 to $25

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is faults.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Faults in wines vary, of course, according to the taste of the consumer. …. To winemakers, however, wine faults are specific departures from an acceptable norm, the least quantifiable of which may be a lack of typicality.

Faults in a wine’s appearance are generally either hazes, clouds, or precipitates in the bottle. ….

Some wines smell so stale and unpleasant that the taster is unwilling even to taste them. ….

Most faults are already obvious to the nose and need only confirmation on the palate (which is why in a restaurant it is, strictly speaking, necessary only to smell a sample of wine offered by the waiter.)

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Most wine faults can be detected by their off-odors. The most common wine fault is cork taint which is generally characterized by a musty, moldy, wet cardboard aroma.

Oregon ranks third in the number of wineries and fourth in wine production in the United States. In its relatively short 40-year history, the Oregon wine industry has evolved into a world-class wine region. Today, Oregon boasts over 400 wineries and 16 AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas). With those AVA’s found in both warm and cool climates, Oregon winemakers are able to produce wines from over 70 different grape varieties.

Pinot Noir is the variety that propelled Oregon onto the worldwide wine stage and is still what many people think of when it comes to Oregon wine. Over 12,000 acres of vineyards in Oregon are planted to Pinot Noir and production of Pinot Noir is over three times the next leading variety, Pinot Gris. Nevertheless, Oregon wine is far from a one-trick pony.

During my recent media tour to explore Oregon wine country, I had the opportunity to try many different Oregon wines. Beyond Pinot Noir, which they continue to do well, I was particularly impressed with the quality of sparkling wines and Chardonnay that Oregon is producing.

Given that Oregon, and particularly the Willamette Valley, is predominately a cool climate growing area that has proven to grow Pinot Noir well, it is no surprise that Chardonnay is showing signs of greatness there as well. The leading white variety in the world’s leading Pinot Noir growing region of Burgundy, France, is none other than Chardonnay. The two varieties seem to go hand in hand. You may be wondering then why we haven’t seen more Chardonnay out of Oregon in the past, with many wineries instead focusing on Pinot Gris as their leading white variety. Well, according to Rollin Soles, founder/winemaker of Argyle Winery in Dundee, Oregon, the problem was that initially the wrong Chardonnay clone was planted in Oregon. After years of trial and error and experimentation, a number of those vines have been pulled out and a Chardonnay clone better suited for Oregon’s terroir has been planted. As a result, better Chardonnay wines are finally making an impact in the marketplace.

Two Chardonnay wines that I especially enjoyed during my trip were the 2009 Cameron Abbey Ridge Chardonnay [Quality: 4.5, QPR: 4, Price: $55] and the 2008 Ponzi Reserve Chardonnay [Quality: 4, QPR: 4, Price: $30].

Likewise, Oregon’s Willamette Valley has a similar climate and latitude to Champagne, France, and the two grape varieties most often used to produce sparkling wines are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Therefore, it only stands to reason that Oregon has the potential to produce some outstanding sparkling wines as well.

Both Rollin Soles of Argyle and Buzz Kawders of Domaine Meriwether are bullish on sparkling wines. Sparkling wine is very food-friendly so they see it as being particularly appealing to foodies. And, in general, younger generations are more celebratory and don’t need a special occasion to drink sparkling wine. Both of those facts bode well for the future of sparkling wine in Oregon.

“The Prosecco drinker of today will be the Willamette Valley sparkling wine drinker of tomorrow.” –Rollin Soles, founder/winemaker, Argyle Winery

From a viticultural perspective, sparkling wine producers can give an early snapshot of what to expect in any harvest because they pick their grapes earlier than still wine producers. And Soles believes that his experience making sparkling wines has made him a better winemaker and made him more attentive to how he blends still wines.

I had a number of excellent sparkling wines during my trip, but a couple of particular note were the 2001 Argyle Extended Tirage Brut [Quality: 4.5, QPR: 5, Price: $60] and the 2000 Domaine Meriwether Prestige Cuvee Brut Rosé [Quality: 4, QPR: 5, Price: $40].

If you haven’t had the opportunity, I highly encourage you to seek out Oregon sparkling wine and Oregon Chardonnay. As I’ve mentioned previously, May is Oregon wine month so this is a great time to try some new-to-you Oregon wines.

Cheers!

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2009 Rodney Strong Knotty Vines Zinfandel from Northern Sonoma in California.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$20
• Must be widely available

Rodney Strong founded Rodney Strong Vineyards, located in Healdsburg, California, in 1959. It was Sonoma County’s 13th bonded winery. Current owner Tom Klein and the Klein family purchased the winery in 1989. Zinfandel vines have been thriving in Sonoma County for the last three centuries. When Rodney Strong acquired vineyard acreage on the west side of the Russian River, he became the proud owner of 15 acres of old, gnarled Zinfandel vines that had been growing there since 1904. The winery still harvests Zinfandel from those old vines in addition to farming vineyards in the Alexander Valley.

“Fresh, bright berry fruit from our heritage Russian River vineyard combined with the ripe peppery jamminess from our Alexander Valley vineyards make for wonderful diversity of flavor showcasing the best that zinfandel can offer in one wine.” –Winemaker Rick Sayre

2009 Rodney Strong Knotty Vines Zinfandel (Northern Sonoma, California): Deep ruby red in color. Aromatic with strawberry and cinnamon on both the nose and palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium tannins. Well-balanced with a very long, smooth finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $18.50; Available elsewhere, $14 to $22

Washington Syrah compares favorably with the best in the world. Washington Syrah generally falls somewhere in between the jammy Shiraz of Australia and the more austere Syrah of the northern Rhone. It generally has good acidity and tannins. The common denominators of our favorite Syrahs from Washington have been deep, dark purple color and luscious black fruits, with hints of green bell peppers, black pepper, and spice.

Last Friday, we featured Washington Syrah from the 2008 vintage in our wine tasting dinner. All six wines paired perfectly with Mom’s dinner of tomato basil soup, candied walnut gorgonzola salad, grilled beef tenderloin steaks, braised kale, rosemary roasted sweet potatoes, and topped off with a German chocolate dessert with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. Four of the six wines received a Quality rating of 4.5 stars (out of 5), and three wines received a QPR rating of 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5). Even though these wines are not inexpensive, they are well worth the money.

The 2008 Betz Family Winery La Côte Patriarche Syrah came out on top in this stellar lineup. Bob Betz is one of the most well respected winemakers in the State of Washington. He is one of only 297 Masters of Wine in the world. As a winemaker, Bob strives for purity, elegance, and balance in his wines, and he certainly hits the mark with this wine. The fruit for La Côte Patriarche comes from the 1986 Syrah block at Red Willow Vineyard, the oldest Syrah planting in Washington State. The name of this wine, which translates as “the founder’s slope”, is a nod to Red Willow owner/grower, Mike Sauer, and former Columbia Winery winemaker, David Lake, who planted those original Syrah vines.

Really, you can’t go wrong with any of these wines. Washington State produces fabulous Syrah, and the winemakers who made these six wines are among the state’s best.

From 1st to last in the group consensus rankings:

2008 Betz Family Winery La Côte Patriarche Syrah (Red Willow Vineyard, Yakima Valley, Washington): 100% Syrah. Beautiful, inky purple-black. Gorgeous nose with smoked meat, black fruit, licorice, and spice aromas. Luscious black fruit, smoked meat, and black pepper come through on the palate. Full-bodied with lively acidity and high, dry tannins. Well-balanced with great complexity and a long, lingering finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $55; Available elsewhere, $69 to $100

2008 Rasa Vineyards QED (Walla Walla Valley, Washington): 83% Syrah, 10% Grenache, 5% Mourvedre, and 2% Viognier. Deep, dark purplish red. Beautiful bouquet with aromas of blackberry, black cherry, floral notes, and a hint of game and earth. More black fruit as well as black pepper and a touch of cinnamon come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high, silky tannins. Well-balanced with good complexity and a very long, smooth finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $50; Available elsewhere, $40 to $90

2008 DeLille Doyenne Signature Syrah (Yakima Valley, Washington): 98% Syrah and 2% Viognier. Deep, dark purplish red. Aromatic with cinnamon and game on the nose. Black pepper, cinnamon, black cherry, and blackberry come through on the palate. Full-bodied with crisp acidity and high, dry tannins. Well-balanced with a very long finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $39; Available elsewhere, $38 to $47

2008 Grand Rêve Collaboration Series III (Ciel du Cheval Vineyard, Red Mountain, Washington): 100% Syrah. Winemaker Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery. Deep, dark purplish red. Nice nose with red and black fruit and spice aromas. Black cherry, Red Vines, and spice come through on the palate. Full-bodied with lively acidity and high, dry tannins. Well-balanced with a very long finish. The 2008 Collaboration Series III is the last wine to carry the Grand Rêve label; the winery has since been renamed Force Majeure.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $50; Available elsewhere, $50 to $69

2008 Fielding Hills Syrah (Riverbend Vineyard, Wahluke Slope, Washington): 94% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. Deep, dark red. Aromatic with black plum, clove, violets, and dill on the nose. Black plum, blackberry, clove, and a hint of black pepper come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced with a very long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $38; Available elsewhere, $38 to $40

2008 K Vintners Morrison Lane Syrah (Morrison Lane Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley, Washington): 100% Syrah. Deep, dark purplish red. Smoked meat and earth come through on the nose; blackberry, black plum, game, and earth on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium to high tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Full Pull Wines (Seattle, Washington), $41; Available elsewhere, $53 to $80

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is bottling.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Bottling is a vital wine-making operation for all wines other than those packaged in containers other than bottles and those few served straight from a cask or tank as bulk wine.

Bottling techniques vary greatly according to the size, resources, technical ability, and modernity of the winery, although since the 1960s it has been customary almost everywhere to blend all casks or vats of a given lot of wine together before bottling, and to bottle it all at once.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Bottling is the final step in the winemaking process in which wines are transferred from their barrels, casks, or vats to bottles (at least for wines that are to be packaged in bottles). Once bottled, many wines, especially many red wines, are set aside to age in the bottle before they are sold or consumed.

Lance Baer founded Baer Winery in 2000. After he passed away in 2007, his sister Lisa and father Les took over the winery and have continued Lance’s legacy. Today, Lisa Baer is the face of the winery. With the help of consulting winemaker Erica Orr, Lisa strives to make wines that would meet her brother’s standards. Baer Winery sources fruit exclusively from Stillwater Creek Vineyard, located in the Frenchman Hills on the Royal Slope of Washington State’s Columbia Valley. Located in the warehouse district in Woodinville, Washington, Baer Winery produces over 2,000 cases per year.

Recently, we had the opportunity to taste Baer’s three Bordeaux-style red blends from the 2009 vintage in a blind samples tasting. While we thought all three were very good, our favorite was the 2009 Star Red Wine.

If you are in the Woodinville area, you should definitely visit the Baer Winery tasting room in the warehouse district. And even if you aren’t able to visit, be sure to try some of their wines.

2009 Baer Winery Star Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 77% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, dark purplish red. Aromatic with black cherry and vanilla on the nose. Plum, cherry, peanuts, and a touch of spice come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity and medium to high, dry tannins. Well-balanced with a long, smooth finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $27; Available elsewhere, $26

2009 Baer Winery Ursa Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 44% Cabernet Franc, 38% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9% Malbec. Dark purplish red. Nose is a bit tight at first and then black fruit and floral notes come through. More black fruit, floral notes and spice on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high, dry tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $39; Available elsewhere, $36 to $40

2009 Baer Winery Arctos Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Petit Verdot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Merlot. Dark purplish red. Aromatic with plum, blackberry, and vanilla on both the nose and palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity, medium to high tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 1 bang for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $43; Available elsewhere, $38 to $50

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2008 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Amitage Red Blend from the Columbia Valley of Washington State.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$20
• Must be widely available

Columbia Crest, located in Paterson, Washington, has been one of our favorite sources of value wines for many years. Last year, Juan Munoz Oca took over as head winemaker from Ray Einberger. Einberger had been at the helm since 2002 when he took the reins from Doug Gore who had been the winemaker since Columbia Crest was founded in 1983. The Columbia Crest winemaking team has produced more 90+ scoring bottles of wine than any other winery in the world. For those of us who live in Washington State, it is nice to have such a consistent, affordable producer in our own backyard.

“This complex red exhibits layer flavors of blackberries and plums with a subtle spiciness and silky mouthfeel that leads to a long, elegant finish.” –Winemaker Juan Munoz Oca

2008 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Amitage Red Blend (Columbia Valley, Washington): 64% Merlot, 19% Syrah, 7% Cabernet Franc, 4.5% Malbec, and 5.5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, dark red. Aromatic with creosote, black fruit, and smoke on the nose. More black fruit and smoke as well as leather come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, and medium to high, dry tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $12; Available elsewhere, $7 to $13

To kick off Oregon Wine Month, the Oregon Wine Board hosted a large-scale tasting event in Portland called Unwine’d, Celebrate Oregon Wine on Sunday. The concept was similar to Seattle’s annual Taste Washington event. The inaugural event featured 100 wineries pouring their wines and 14 restaurants serving small bites. With approximately 450 wineries now open in the state of Oregon, the event offered attendees the opportunity to try a large number of them in one place at one time.

Oregon ranks third in the number of wineries and fourth in wine production in the United States. In its relatively short 40-year history, the Oregon wine industry has evolved into a world-class wine region. With Oregon’s 16 AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas) found in both warm and cool climates, Oregon winemakers are able to produce wines from over 70 different grape varieties. However, Pinot Noir is the variety that propelled Oregon onto the worldwide wine stage and is still what many people think of when it comes to Oregon wine. While Oregon wine is far from a one-trick pony, Pinot Noir is still the queen. Over 12,000 acres of vineyards in Oregon are planted to Pinot Noir and production of Pinot Noir is over three times the next leading variety, Pinot Gris. As you will see in the lists below, we tasted more Pinot Noir than anything else at the event.

Unwine’d was a huge success, especially for a first-time event. By the time the doors opened to the public at 3pm, the line wrapped around the outside of the Left Bank Annex building. Once inside, attendees were treated to great wines and yummy food. Kudos to the Oregon Wine Board and Jamie Peha of Peha Promotions for a job well done!

Considering the time and gas money attendees saved not having to travel around the state visiting tasting rooms and making appointments, the $50 ticket was money well spent. Hopefully, those who attended discovered some favorite new wines and wineries and will make plans to travel to the wineries to visit and taste again. There is nothing like spending a long weekend in wine country.

Between the three days I spent in Oregon wine country on a media tour in March and attending Unwine’d last weekend, it has been a pleasure to immerse myself in all things Oregon wine and get to know so many key players in the Oregon wine industry.

With 100 wineries pouring three to five wines each, we were not able to taste wine from every winery at Unwine’d. Instead, we tried to taste wines from a good representative sample of the participating wineries. We hope you enjoy the following lists that show some of our favorite wines and wineries of those we did taste at the event.

Overall Favorite Wines (Highest Quality Ratings):
2007 Amity Winemaker’s Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $40, Quality: 4.5, QPR: 5
2009 Archery Summit Looney Vineyard Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge, $85, Quality: 4.5, QPR: 5
2009 Archery Summit Arcus Estate Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, $100, Quality: 4.5, QPR: 5

Best Wines <=$20:
2009 Cooper Mountain Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, $18, Quality: 4, QPR: 5
2010 Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, $18, Quality: 4, QPR: 4
2010 Dobbes Wine by Joe Chardonnay, Oregon, $14, Quality: 3.5, QPR: 5
2010 Montinore Estate Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $20, Quality: 3.5, QPR: 5
2010 Dobbes Wine by Joe Pinot Gris, Oregon, $14, Quality: 3.5, QPR: 4

Best Value Regardless of Price (Quality >=4 and QPR=5):
2007 Amity Winemaker’s Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $40, Quality: 4.5, QPR: 5
2009 Archery Summit Looney Vineyard Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge, $85, Quality: 4.5, QPR: 5
2009 Archery Summit Arcus Estate Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, $100, Quality: 4.5, QPR: 5
2009 Cooper Mountain Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, $18, Quality: 4, QPR: 5
2008 Argyle Brut Sparkling Wine, Willamette Valley, $27, Quality: 4, QPR: 5
2010 Montinore Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $28, Quality: 4, QPR: 5
2010 Lachini Pinot Port, Willamette Valley, $28 [375ml], Quality: 4, QPR: 5
2009 Van Duzer Estate Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $30, Quality: 4, QPR: 5

Top 10 Favorite Wineries (in alphabetical order):
Adelsheim Vineyard
Amity Vineyards
Archery Summit
Argyle Winery
Lachini Vineyards
Phelps Creek Vineyards
Sokol Blosser Winery
Stoller Vineyards
Van Duzer Vineyards
Watermill Winery

If you were at Unwine’d, we’d love to hear what some of your favorites were. And if you missed the event, I encourage you to enjoy some Oregon wines during the month of May and throughout the year.

Cheers!