June Wine Club 2023

I'm pretty dang excited about the wine this month. It is officially #idahowinemonth. We've got some great juice from a couple of my favorite Idaho wineries. I wasn't sure if I would be able to find all the selections from Idaho so had a plan B of also doing Spanish wines. Southern Idaho has a big Basque community so I thought that was a good combo.

Idaho is definitely part of the new frontier of grape growing areas. Fun fact-the first grapes were planted in 1864 in Lewiston and until prohibition Idaho actually had a nationally renowned wine industry. From the time prohibition ended until 1970 when grapes were planted in the Snake River Valley-radio silence from Idaho wine industry. Can you imagine where we would be if Prohibition didn't derail the early success of Idaho wines? Snake River AVA was the first Idaho AVA approved in April of 2007. In 2008 there were 38 wineries and now Idaho is home to more than 60 wineries. Idaho is a wee babe as far as the wine world goes. After talking with the wine makers for Cinder and Colter's Creek winery (this month's wines) I am so excited to see what happens in Idaho in the next 15 years.

The Colter's Creek wines are June's Indigo selection. This month we are featuring a Chardonnay/Viognier blend for the white wine and the red wine is the Tempranillo (the winemakers' favorite wine).

The sapphire selections are wines from Cinder. The white wine is the Dry Viognier and the red wine is a Malbec. I'm hoping to get my hands on some special order Cinder wines for a feature later this month.

For the Peacock selection I did defer to a wine from Spain. It might be a couple of years before Idaho is producing higher end wines. There are probable some out there-I would love to try them, but with the resources I have I deferred to plan B and chose the 2018 Macán Clásico Rioja from Spain.

We've even got Bubbles this month.

😀🍾🥂

For the Royal participates the quarterly bubbles hail from France, of course. Gremillet Dosage Zero is the selection this quarter.

Keep checking back I will have lots more information on the wine selections for this month. We are gearing up for a great summer. Hope to see you all soon.

May Wine Club-Sapphire/Peacock

I was introduced to Brick House wines way back before Syringa moved to the current location. I'm geeking out because I like having the wine knowledge/memory to compare and see how the wines have evolved over 5+ years. I'm amazed at what I remember, customers orders from years ago, but not their name. I remember tasting the Brick House Chardonnay way back in the infancy of my wine adventures, and knowing its not your momma's California chardonnay and my baby wine brain was starting to relate Oregon Chardonnays to its big brother of Burgandy. Unbeknownst to me when I put this line up together we are sticking in the Ribbon Ridge AVA.

The 2021 Brick House will stand out in my brain again for another few years. Take note for those of you with Peacock subscriptions as the selection is a Pinot Noir from Brick House.

The winery is a small production facility, located in what was once the farm's horse barn. They produce about 3,800 cases, in 1990 they were Certified Organic and since 2005 they have been Demeter Biodynamic.

🐇🕳️

I had to know what makes it Demeter Biodynamic and what I gathered from Brick House website and the very detailed information I found at https://www.demeter-usa.org. Don't worry I got the wine info...a very basic overview.

This chardonnay definitely isn't your momma's chardonnay. 330 cases were made. Roasted pears hit my pallet first, not that I roast pears very often but this is the flavor profile that stands out the most. The finish is dry and lemony in a meringue sort of way. The flavors are rich, but not in a syrup-y sort of way, the crisp finish keeps it refreshing and thinking about the menu items at Bluebird I would pair with this: Fried Chicken with Honey Miso, the Scallops dish of the moment and the King Salmon with risotto. I did hear Chef talking about Copper River Salmon...probably gonna want to check out the Insta and FB for specials when they drop-they tend to go fast.

We are leaving the Ribbon Ridge AVA and headed southern Oregon in the Applegate Valley. Quady North wines showcase particular varietals that thrive in the southern Oregon Rouge valley and they have over the years developed their estate vineyards and many more throughout the AVA. They too are organically farmed and LIVE certified....another 🐇🕳️

https://livecertified.org/certify

The Quady North 2019 Cabernet Franc is stunning example of what southern Oregon has to offer. This wine is rich and meaty but black cherry flavor stand up to the many layer of this wine. The wine is aged in French oak and lends itself to long term cellaring for 5-10 years. This wine isn't as seductive and luscious as last months Washington's Spring Valley 'Frederick' Cabernet Franchbut it's uniquely different and I think it's a great way to celebrate Oregon wine month. It would be a no-brainer to put all pinot noirs in the wine club of Oregon wine month, but from the wines I picked, and there are many more, Oregon is doing some cool stuff that isn't Pinot Noir.

May Wine Club-Peacock

Buuuut, for some reason it does Pinot Noir really really good. We are back in the Ribbon Ridge AVA which is contained in the larger Chehalem Mountain AVA and I picked a Pinot Noir for the peacock wine.

I tasted the 2021 'Les Dijonnais' Pinot Noir along side the Brick House 'Select' Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir. They are from different blocks on the vineyard, not that far from each other but how they can be two completely different wines baffles my tastebuds. The 'Les Dijonnais' is definitely the sophisticated big sister of the 'Select' Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir, both are equally well made wines, its just amazing what a little elevation and a different vineyard does for the wine. The winemaker's have use what nature has given them and used sustainable wine making practices and coaxed the grapes into the best versions of themselves. The fruit that shines through is blackberry. It shines through the bigger finish than you may be used to for a Pinot Noir. The acidity is refreshing and I even got hints of blood orange on the finish. The particular block was planted in 1995 and may be in its prime. This wine could stand a few years in a cool cellar.

May Wine Club-Indigo

After a little research on my own I am more excited for you to to try the Indigo selections this month. Again, one of the reasons I was excited for these wines was the enthusiasm my wine rep has for these wines and the winery. I instantly became enthused when I tried the wines.

Their philosophy at Ribbon Ridge winery is “SIMPLE ALWAYS - GREAT GRAPES FROM A PERFECT ANCIENT SITE, MADE INTO WINE BY THE BEST WINEMAKER, WITH HUMILITY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!” According to LIVE (Low Input Viticulture & Enology) standards, Ridgecrest Vineyards is dry-farmed sustainably. Established in 1980-the vineyards were planted in 1982. There are a total of 120 acres with 41 of them being planted. “A minimalist hands-on approach is very common in the Willamette Valley and this is our philosophy too.” The wines are crushed, aged and bottled a the Carlton Winemaker’s Studio. https://www.winemakersstudio.com/our-wineries

Another quick link to a brief, but eloquent, behind-the-scenes of the magicians behind the wine.

https://www.winemakersstudio.com/wineries/ribbon-ridge-winery/

My wine tastes have developed over the years and I somehow appreciate weird obscure varietals - for October this year I have planned weird/scary varietals.

I’m not saying Grüner Veltliner is a scary varietal.... I could however say ”saying Grüner Veltliner” is scary. grew-ner velt-LEE-near I will refer to it as GV the rest of the article, adding the diaeresis to the U everytime….

Winefolly.com described GV as an exotic alternative to Sauvignon Blanc. The name translates to “Green Wine of Veltlin,“ an area in the lower Alps during the 1600’s, currently Valtellina, Italy.

This wine is so expressive. The first wave to my pallet was the fruit. It is stone fruit heavy, creamy nectarines with hints of juicy overripe peaches. The next wave is the acidity. Imagine its a beautiful summer day and for some reason you squeeze a lemony yellow lemon directly into your mouth, the anticipation of the juice hitting your tongue, and then it washes over your mouth with hints of honey. The lemony acid coats your mouth and the wine continues to linger with a green herby finish.

The last time I ate dinner here I ordered the Shrimp & Grits-it's back with the green curry sauce and a mango salsa-I ate every last bite🫠I wish I would have thought to re-try the wine with this meal.

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Over the weekend Viljo and I went foraging for mushrooms, he always has good ideas and I know its a good one when he starts out "Hey Autumn...."

His great idea is him adding a recipe/demonstration to the newsletter. I do like that, only because I was the recipient/taste tester for the first incarnation of said good idea. I do have photographic proof and I will be posting the content soon.

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On to the red selection, thinking about it this is the second time around with the Gamay varietal this year-Day Winery, Infinite Air Castles Gamay/Dolcetto was the first. I hope it's not to obscure for you all. This one is a little more punchy than the Infinite Air Castles. I thought the vintage notes from the website for the 2020 Ridgecrest Old Vine Estate Gamay Noir will help understand why James Suckling gave this wine 94 points.

This wine is definitely a food wine. It usually takes me a couple of sips to form an opinion on some wines, this wine is so uniquely nuanced and for those of us who don't drink Gamay on a daily, this wine initially attacks your tastebuds. It did for me anyway. My first favorite thing about this wine is the deep rich luxurious purple color. My next favorite thing about this wine is it's not like any "normal" wine. Of course my brain goes right to food and what would this pair with, from the bluebird menu-The Duck🤤 is a no brainer, the Salmon 🤤with mushroom risotto would be🤤good🤤as well. Major cranberry notes for this one and I wish I could tell you to the tannins are soft, nope. The tannins are racy and linger on but, paired with the right meal, with make you want to keep drinking it.