Impromptu Time of Our Life with Friends and Stottle Sangiovese

This wine was a surprise. It was delivered to us on Friday night after a last minute invitation to great friends who happened to be in the area. Like any good friends coming from a wine tasting at Stottle Winery, they brought wine. In this case it's from a local tasting room (I used Mobile Wine Tour to discover the tasting room is less than a mile away). The label says the wine was produced in Walla Walla - so it must be good right? Anyway, it was a nice surprise. I've not always been a Sangiovese fan, not that I can really say why I haven't but - this wine (and some other Sangioveses I've tried recently) is making me a fan. It's lower alcohol and higher acidity are just crying out for a BBQ. I had a bit of the leftovers with barbecued chicken tonight and it was fantastic.

It's always great to find a treasure close to home - looks like I'll make that mile drive to stock up on some "local" Sangiovese.

Julie's take - "I like it".

2010 Dusted Valley Stained Tooth Syrah

The winemaker's notes begin with "Purple is our favorite color..." Everything this wine touches turns to purple - and it's great.

The wine is 91% Syrah, 5% Petite Sirah, 2% Mourvedre, and 2% Grenache and weighs in at 14.6%. The wine was aged 12 months in 20% New American and French Oak and 80% Neutral. The grapes hail from some of the top vineyards in Washington State's Columbia Valley.

Dark fruit and silky tannins provide a great finish. Now where did I lay down that whitening toothpaste?

Julie's take - "A great big syrah - tasty".

Maison Bleue 2010 Jaja Red

According to the label "Jaja is a southern French expression for great, everyday wine".

I have to agree.

This blend of 37% Grenache, 37% Syrah, and 26% Mourvedre adds up to a great wine. While this year's model seems a bit lighter and crisper than previous vintages it is still top notch - especially at the price point. The wine is a ruby red color and will pair nicely with summer grilling - bright fruit and crisp finish.

The Maison Bleue wines are not widely available - especially outside of WA - so I recommend getting your hands on whatever you can.

Julie's take: "Yum".

J. Bookwalter - Bookmark N.V.

If you are looking at one of the best QPR (Quality Price Ratio) this is it. This wine can often be found for less than $10 a bottle - but it's no wine in a box. The wine comes from J. Bookwalter which is one of Washington State's pioneering wineries - established in 1983. Bookmark is a blend but it doesn't just stop with blending varietals, it includes lots from multiple vintages - a processed referred to as vertical blending.

Bookmark is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and hails from vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley. The wine relies on the winemaker's taste and vision and blends young and mature fruit with fantastic results, especially at this price.

The wine is well balanced with dark fruit, cherry and chocolate.

Julie's Take : "This is very good"

Cooper L'inizio 2009

The word L'inizio means "the beginning" and it's appropriate that it's the first wine I ever tried from Cooper. I've since tried several of their wines and am consistently impressed with the quality and style of these wines. Located as you are turning into the Red Mountain AVA - Cooper is a stones throw from the famed Ciel du Cheval vineyard. Many of the grapes that make the best wines in Washington State come from this region.

This wine is a classic Bordeaux blend with grapes coming from nine area vineyards and includes four varietals. Charlie Hoppes is the winemaker - he also makes wine for one of our favorites - Fidelitas

The wine has a spicy note and probably should've been laid down for a bit longer to help ease the tannins.

Overall, it is a great drinking wine.

Julie's take : "It's good"

A Trip to France?

I make no claims of knowing anything about French wine. I've become friends with a couple of French winemakers who are making great wine in Walla Walla. This, does not make me any sort of expert. I do know that I like Bordeaux blends from WA, but I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the Old World wines. I can imagine that anything with a label from France with the words Bordeaux on it may immediately enjoy a higher price point. I stumbled upon this wine while going up and down Costco aisles. I'm not sure if this is the Keystone Light of French wines or not - but for $19 I thought I'd give it a whirl.

My first impressions were it was lighter than the bigger "Bordeaux" blends we produce here in WA. It even seemed light for the 13.5% stated on the bottle.

Overall, it's just a pretty good wine - nothing spectacular, but good enough. I would not go all the to France for it though.

Julie's take - "It's OK"

Abeja - 2010 Beekeeper's Blend

Abeja winery is located east of the Walla Walla at foot of the Blue Mountains. The winery is not open to the public, and you can visit on select weekends or if you are on the allocation list and are in town to pick up wine (that's me). There is a Inn on the property and I highly recommend checking out their website at Abeja.net so you can see the property.

Taken from the Spanish word for "bee" it makes sense that one of their Columbia Valley blends is called "Beekeepers". They are known for fantastic Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon - I've never had a wine from Abeja I didn't enjoy. (A note that this will be consistent on this blog as I will likely only post wines, which in my opinion, are worth acquiring). 

The Beekeeper's Blend is tonight's subject and is produced from fruit in their "younger" vineyards in the Columbia Valley. Each vintage varies as to composition, but it is predominately Cabernet Sauvignon blended with some combination of the following varietals: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Syrah and Petit Verdot.

This is my first year having the Beekeeper's Red and I can say I ordered more after trying the first couple bottles a few weeks back. It is a great table wine and goes well with our nightly dinner and conversation.

Julie's Take - "I like this a lot!"