Episode 28 | Winemaker Kerry Shiels joins the best of Washington for a cause
Kerry Shiels
Côte Bonneville | DuBrul Vineyard
Kerry gained experience in all areas of winemaking in California, Argentina and Australia before coming home to her family roots at DuBrul Vineyard. Fruit from this prestigious acreage and her gift of finesse delivers a bold elegance to her Côte Bonneville and Train Station labels. Kerry talks to us about her upcoming wines, her love the Mosel region of Germany and the ultimate wine cruise she has planned for YOU!
Visit Côte Bonneville
The Auction of Washington Wines set record-breaking generosity
Auction of Washington Wines celebrated its 32nd annual weekend of charitable wine events August 15 – 17, 2019, raising over $4.5 million and hitting a new milestone for the second year in a row.
Over 200 winemakers, vintners and growers attended the events over the course of three days to celebrate, pour wines and offer wine-focused auction lots to help achieve this goal. “The Washington wine industry and its community are the perfect pair for this annual event, which had a new, palpable energy this year that attracted a vibrant audience, including veteran attendees and newcomers alike,” said Executive Director of AWW, Jamie Peha.
Press Release—Auction of Washington Wines
Photography @Andrea Johnson & courtesy of Côte Bonneville
Private Barrel Auction lightening interviews
The Auction of Washington Wine’s Private Barrel Auction is an exclusive event that showcases the best Washington winemakers to raise money for Seattle Children’s and WSU Viticulture and Enology program. We whisked away Chris Peterson, Kevin White and Erica Orr down to a dimly lit cellar room at Novelty Hill Januik for lightening interviews. One question on the top of our minds— ”What does being a part of the Auction of Washington Wine mean to you?”
Chris Peterson
Avennia | Liminal Wine | Passing Time
Chris was named the 2017 “Winemaker of the Year” by Seattle Magazine and has helped to raise Washington’s national recognition within the industry. His most notable position was working alongside Chris Upchurch at DeLille Cellars for eight years until he co-founded Avennia.
Learn more about the new and exciting, Liminal
Buy directly from Avennia
Kevin White
Kevin White Winery
Kevin was named “Winemaker to Watch” in 2015 and “Best Emerging Winery” in 2018 by Seattle Magazine. You understand why at first taste. He focuses primarily on Rhone varietals like Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedré from the higher elevation vineyards in the Yakima Valley AVA.
Buy directly from Kevin White Winery
Erica Orr
Baer Winery | Orr Wines
Erica earned her Master’s Degree from UC Davis and a biochemistry degree from UC Berkeley and has been working in the wine industry since 1998. Erica has been an independent winemaking consult working with wineries like Baer Winery, Mark Ryan, Guardian Cellars and Sparkman—garnering aclaim for her knowledge and talent.
Buy directly from Baer Winery
Find Orr Wines
Episode 25 | Inspired wines crafted in Lake Chelan
Charlie & Lacey Lybecker
Cairdeas Winery
Cairdeas (pronounced, “Cardis”) was founded in 2009 by Charlie & Lacey Lybecker. Charlie pulls inspiration from the Rhône valley of France to craft traditional wines and blends from Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Counoise, Cinsault and Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, and Picpoul. Lake Chelan was an area that called to them and they’ve grown their business and family on their property overlooking the lake. Listen in as they offer advice for anyone dreaming of a business and their plans for a new 2-story tasting room.
Visit Cairdeas Winery
A different vantage point—e-Bike Wine Tour!
We decided to lug our own e-bikes for the Chelan Electric Bikes wine tour rather than to rent them. Our guide for the day was Caroline and she took us down paths along the river, the main road, through neighborhoods and scenic views on our way to a few wineries that we’ll talk about.
Thank you, Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring our e-bike wine tour with Chelan Electric Bikes!
Judy Phelps, Hard Row to Hoe
Happy 10th Anniversary, Lake Chelan AVA!
When we contacted the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce to plan our trip, they connected us to a woman who is one of the leading authorities on this region, Judy Phelps, owner and winemaker of Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards and Winery. Judy and her Vineyard manager husband, Don, are committed to promoting the use of locally grown fruit. Judy shares what makes the Lake Chelan AVA so unique and what varietals should be known. Plus, she reveals the whimsical, yet suggestive name of their winery and the background on the colorful historical events that inspired it.
Visit Hard Row to Hoe
Lake Chelan Upcoming Events
Crush—Oct 2020
Play Your Stay
Winterfest—Jan 17-26, 2020
Play Your Stay (tickets available November 1, 2019)
Red Wine & Chocolate—Feb 2020 (dates to come)
Play Your Stay
Chelan Cycle De Vine—June 2020
Check it out
Lake Chelan Arts Festival—June 2020
Learn More
Our top Lake Chelan wineries to visit
Lake Chelan has a little over 30 wineries and in three and a half days, we visited and tasted through 19 that were recommended by others or we discovered on our own. 19! (Decanted: Doing the hard work) Here are our picks to visit.
Succession Wines (Wine Press Northwest’s 2018 Washington Winery to Watch)
Cairdeas Winery
Rocky Pond Winery (Wine Press Northwest’s 2019 Washington Winery to Watch)
Fielding Hills Winery
Hard Row to Hoe Winery
Nefarious Cellars
Tildio Winery
Karma Vineyards (Wine, Méthode Champenoise bubbles, whiskey and food)
Tsillan Cellars and Sorrento’s Ristorante (book early for outdoor dining)
Siren Song Wines (outdoor bistro style food and wine tasting)
Tipsy Canyon Winery (new tasting room)
Episode 23 | Taste Washington 2019 Winemakers to Watch
A record-breaking number of food and wine lovers attended the 22nd annual Taste Washington festival. We chose three winemakers we want listeners to know more about and swept them away to the press room for lightening interviews. We gave them one shared question and they delivered three, very different answers: ”What life lesson has winemaking revealed to you?”
Justin Neufeld
JB Neufeld | Gilbert Cellars
Justin has been the winemaker for Gilbert Cellars since 2007 and in 2009, he took over management of the estate vineyards as well. Since the moment he became interested in wine Justin knew he wanted to start his own winery. As he learned more about viticulture and enology the more he became obsessed with the process, rather than the product. When he started his side label, JB Neufeld, his goal was to create a Cabernet Sauvignon that truly showcased the place it was grown. Justin believes it to be one of the best varieties for communicating a sense of place without too many outside interruptions. He sources from some of the best vineyards up and down the Yakima Valley and Red Mountain like Andrew Will’s Two Blondes Vineyard, Red Willow Vineyard, and the acclaimed Ciel Du Cheval.
Buy directly from JB Neufeld
Buy directly from Gilbert Cellars
Mari Womack
Damsel Cellars
Not every Damsel is in distress. In fact, this damsel seems to have things pretty well in hand. Damsel Cellars is a boutique winery owned and operated by winemaker, Mari Womack. She spent several years in the restaurant business and transitioned to working in Washington wineries such as Obelisco, Baer and as the assistant winemaker at Darby Winery. Mary is cleverly blending sophistication with a playfulness and joy that comes from doing what she loves. Now releasing her sith vintage, this Damsel is amassing a loyal following and Damsel Cellars is quickly becoming a winery to watch.
Buy directly from Damsel Cellars
Casey Cobble
Goose Ridge Estate Vineyards and Winery
The spark that brought Casey to wine was speaking with a winemaker across the tasting bar at a small winery in Prosser in 2007. He described his work routine, and to her, it seemed to be the perfect marriage of intellect, creativity, and being physical. Casey took classes at the NW Wine Academy while she worked as a Lead Wine Educator at the Columbia Winery tasting room in Woodinville. After her course work was complete, she was chosen for a harvest internship at Betz Family Winery, learning under Master of Wine Bob Betz and then hired as Cellar Assistant until 2014. After a stint as Winemaker to Robert Ramsay Cellars, in 2018, she moved across the state to work as Winemaker for Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard and Winery. This extremely dynamic and growing family-owned winery has given her the opportunity to learn winemaking on a larger scale and has allowed her to be in the vineyard more often. This means that no two days are the same in her world and she loves the cyclical nature of the wine industry.
Buy directly from Goose Ridge
You got to have Taste
We’ve caught up on our sleep now that the plethora of Washington Wine Month events has come to a close.
Taste WA, held at CenturyLink Field Convention Center, was the big kahuna. This year’s festival featured more than 240 Washington wineries and more than 70 celebrated restaurants. Per tradition, we call attention to newer wineries or ones we were less familiar with and winemakers with side label projects. This is not an exhaustive list so we encourage listeners to attend and adventure for themselves.
The NW Women Stars of Food and Wine was held at “The Sanctuary,” a converted church in downtown Seattle. Maybe it was the ascending escalator ride to the space of wine worship or the cool lighting inside the sanctuary, but we think that was the best “church service” we ever attended!
Check out the list of our favorite wines below the photo gallery and support these boutique winemakers.
Wines to Taste
Book and Bull
Buy 2016 Come Hell or High Water GSM
Côte Bonneville
Buy 2018 Cabernet Franc Rosé
Rocky Point Cellars
Buy 2014 Boushey Vineyard Grenache
Eagle Harbor Wine
Buy 2014 Founders Merlot
Idiot’s Grace
Buy all of Idiot’s Grace wines
Hawkins Cellars
Buy 2017 Underwood Mountain Chardonnay
Pollard Vineyard
Buy 2017 Merlot
Reasons Wine
Buy 2015 Red Excuses
Episode 27 | Where Washington and Spain meet
Javier Alfonso
Idilico | Pomum Cellars
Javier Alfonso grew up in Spain’s Ribera de Duero on a small family vineyard. Find out his journey from one of the best wine regions in the world to a winemaker and grower in Washington State. Hear how he thought he left his childhood vineyard life behind for an aerospace engineering, only to have it call him back. He also shares the long process of getting his Spanish Tempranillo clones into the US and how the demand for clay amphoras has left a world-wide wait list.
Visit Idilico and Pomum Cellars
Albariño blind tasting challenge: Washington vs. Rias Baixas
Albariño is one of the many great white wines you should be drinking this summer. Learn how it’s unique and what foods make it sing. Then we reveal the results of our Albariño blind tasting! We wondered, could Washington State hold up to the the Albariño masters of the world, Rias Baixas in Spain, and how different or similar would we be in comparison?
Learn more about Rias Baixas Albariño or find where to buy
Thank you, Stefanie Schwalb, Senior Content Manager at GREGORY + VINE for providing selections of Albariño from Rias Baixas.
FOOD PAIRING & RECIPE
Sole with Albariño sauce
Ingredients
- 2 whole sole
- ½ onion
- bay leaves
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 glass of Albariño wine
- olive oil
- freshly squeezed lemon juice
- salt
Method
Clean the sole, cut the fillets and set the bones aside. In a pan, mix the fish bones with 1 glass of Albariño wine, ½ an onion, 1 bay leaf and 1 clove of garlic and gently cook on low for 15 minutes before draining through a sieve.
Put the fillets in the oven with a few drops of oil and lemon juice. Let them cook for 5 minutes on medium heat and then pour over the Albariño stock.
When the stock starts to simmer, remove the fish from the oven and serve.
Find more Albariño food pairings here.
Pomum Cellars photography curtesy of Javier Alfonso | Recipe photo curtesy of RiasBaixas.com
Episode 46 | Drew Voit of Harper Voit Wines and Willamette Valley AVA
Drew Voit
Winemaker, Harper Voit Wines
In this episode, we’re pleased to welcome winemaker Drew Voit, whose career in Oregon’s wine scene has made him sought after by both consumers and wineries alike for his skill in producing notable wines from the Willamette and beyond.
Visit the Brick House Vineyard website
Willamette Valley AVA: Selected favorites
In part two of our epic trip to the Willamette Valley, we get deep into the heart of this AVA and learn that Pinot Noir, and stunning white wines from this region, come in many unique forms, including the don’t-miss wineries and wines we discovered there:
Bells Up — 2020 Jupiter Pinot Noir (Chehalem Mountains AVA): Nearly equal parts heritage clone Pommard and Dijon clone 667– Jupiter showcases aromatics of caramel and red flowers, with guava and pomegranate on the palate. Bells Up Winery
Lenné Estate Winery — 2017 South Slope Select Pinot Noir (Yamhill-Carlton AVA): Pommard and Dijon 115 clones go into this excellent Pinot Noir, with a savory expression that includes notes of black cherry and vanilla mocha, wood, and a grounded earthiness. Purchase at Lenne’s website
Roots — 2012 Racine (Yamhill-Carlton): Savory, rich expression of Pinot Noir with bright fruit and mellow tannins. Buy here
Stoller Family Estate — 2017 Reserve Pinot Noir: Ripe bing cherry and cola notes with bright acidity and elegant tannins that can be enjoyed now or added to the cellar. Purchase at Stoller’s website
Domaine Roy & fils — 2019 Iron Filbert Vineyard Chardonnay: Aromatics of lemon verbena and Mellon, with bracing acidity and mineral tang that are incredibly well-balanced on the palate. Available via Domaine Roy’s website
Shea Wine Cellars — 2018 Homer Pinot Noir: A blend of the “best barrels” in their cellar. Beautiful tannins, blue and dark red fruit, floral notes, a velvety finish. Buy at Shea Wine Cellars
Domaine Serene — 2018 ‘Evenstad Reserve’ Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley): (NOTE: The Grace Vineyards Pinot was no longer available on their website, so we’ve substituted this excellent selection in its place) Aromas of dried cherry, dark chocolate, and saddle leather on the nose. On the palate, ripples of composed tannins and savory characters of cherry tobacco, ground cloves, and allspice. Domaine Serene
Bethel Heights— 2017 Justice Vineyard Pinot Noir: Tart cherry and soy sauce on the nose and Black cherry, blackberry, tobacco, with cocoa powder and fine-grained tannins on the palate. Buy at Bethel Heights
Harper Voit — 2016 Antiquum Vineyard Pinot Noir: A smokey char on the nose and Black cherry, cinnamon, cocoa, and a bit of spice on the palate. Purchase from Harper Voit
Discover Willamette Valley AVA wines
Episode 32 | The Cellar Muse: Tanya Morning Star Darling
Tanya Morning Star Darling
Cellar Muse | Official Bourgogne Wines Ambassador
Tanya is an official Bourgogne Wine Ambassador, a faculty member at the Northwest Wine Academy, and educator for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, Wine Scholar Guild and the Certified Specialist of Wine courses. Additionally, through Cellar Muse, she offers focused, 2-hour wine Masterclasses and exclusive study trips to France, Italy and Napa Valley.
If learning about wine, and all of its complexities seems challenging and intimidating, we assure you, you’re not alone. We realized that taking this journey of wine would be more meaningful with tangible knowledge under our belts. We enrolled in the Portland-based Wine & Spirits Archive WSET 2 certification course held at the Northwest Wine Academy. It was here that we first met, Tanya Morning Star Darling and experienced the exceptional way she connects with her students.
Level up your wine knowledge with Cellar Muse
Our guide to notable Pacific NW wine events
Washington State’s wine industry offers its enthusiasts a vast array of events that bring thousands together all the way to intimate, exclusive experiences. February and March specifically keeps us on our toes on a weekly basis. We give your an overview of the more notable 2020 events in our state along with two must-do internationally known ones on Oregon and Vancouver B.C.
So, get out your calendar and follow along!
