Red Wine & Chocolate

Yes, BT is travelling again. But this time it's just a whisper of a ride over the mountain pass to the lovely Yakima Valley appellation here in Washington. Every year over President's Day weekend, they host an open wine-tasting called Red Wine & Chocolate....as these are two of my favorite things, how could I resist?? Since the wineries don't have to pay a distributer, the wines are often bargain prices for really good quality wines.

I've been to this event a number of times over the last decade, and it's one of the few areas where I can really see a difference in how I'm treated from being MO and being relatively normal. People talk to me. I don't have to 'speak up' to be heard. I'm very soft-spoken, so this is a plus. It's easier to chat it up with strangers and found myself lingering longer enjoying the conversation.

As I came into town last night, I only had time to stop at one vineyard before they closed for the night - my winery of choice was Horizon's Edge. It's one of my favorites. In fact, about 8 years ago, when my father was driving over from Montana for a visit, we asked him to stop in during their Monster Chardonnay event & pick us up some wine.

Of course, anyone else might find driving 200 miles out of their way to go shopping to be annoying, but this is MY father we're talking about. Once when I asked him when he was flying in, he replied "it's only 2000 miles - I'll drive". He arrived right at 10 am when they opened and was the only one there. (People tend to arrive after noon for these things). As a wine connoisseur and former wine consultant for the German vineyard who made Prince William's christening wine (a nice blue bottle Spatlese), my dad had a thoroughly enjoyable time tasting wines, engaged in animated conversation with the winemaker.

After tasting a number of items, the owner pulled out an unlabeled bottle, and said "if you can tell me what kind of grape this is, I'll give you a bottle." I can tell you that was one of the most delicious Black Muscat dessert wines I've ever had. *laugh*

As I walked in the door, the lady asked if I needed a glass. But of course! It was to be $5 for the glass and $2 for the tasting fee. I didn't discover until later that she gave me $18 in change from a $20 bill. With only half an hour before closing of the first day, I went for the wines I knew I would like.....the Chocolate Port, the Cab Sauv Port and the Butterfly Ice Wine. All were delicious, but only the latter two came home with me. I did try a few others, but none that stood out.

I then got to my hotel where the lovely young lady at the front desk said they did indeed have rooms - they are normally $139/night, but she could offer me rates much lower than that. How much would I like to pay?

Uhmm..........

It was kind of like Priceline, without a computer. I made an offer, which she accepted, and I ended up getting TWO nights for the price of one. Cool! They have a heated pool which I think I'll use later tonight.

So today, I headed over to Benton City - east in the Red Mountain area, and stopped in at a few places there. Two were ones I'd been to before (and the reason I drove over there) and the third was a new one. Most of these are boutique wineries - people who work at the bigger, more well-known wineries for a day job, and go home & make their own wines as a hobby. Many of them never make more than 500 cases of wine a year, so they are ONLY available at the vineyard.

First stop was Seth Ryan. I've had several of their reds which I really enjoyed in the past. These people are characters, and I love talking to them. They are in the process of changing out their formulas, so clearing out the old stock. All of their reds were on sale for $10 a bottle.....including their 2000 reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, normally $50/bottle. I bought three. VERY spicy and long, full-bodied the way a Cab should be.

Next stop was Kiona, and it was here that I really started noticing a difference in how people treated me. Groups of people hovered around me chatting, men made sure I had a chocolate truffle, bite of cheese, or that the water jar got refilled when I needed to rinse my glass.

My *favorite* here was the late harvest Red Zinfindel, which was smooth as silk.....and unfortunately, sold out!!! Wah! I *knew* I should have tripped that lady on my way in who was carrying the last three bottles out the door! I did manage to snag two gewurtzaminers and their zippy little Lemberger so all was not lost.

I stopped in a new winery - Buckmaster - which is still ramping up. His own vines are still too young, so he's buying grapes from the neighboring vineyards. Will be interesting to see what he can do when he has his own toys to play with. The Syrah was decent, but I still passed.

As I headed back to Prosser, I turned down Wine Country Road, and checked out two more new places I'd never been before. One opened the year I left - the other has only been open for 2-3 years. It was here that I found the best wines so far this weekend, and the best wine tasting experience. These are more like store fronts, with the actual vineyard being elsewhere.

The first shop was Cowan Vineyards. Unlike the sweet dessert wine style Gewurtzaminer that I bought at Kiona, theirs was drier and a little tart. Quite tasty. I also bought their Cabernet Franc and their Tartan blend - Cab Franc, Cab Sauv and Merlot, along with some pepper jelly! Yum!

They had a whole little *BUFFET* of chocolate available, including a chocolate fountain with marshmallows, truffles, little crisps, brownies, bon-bons, and more - and pairing it with their Cabernet Sauvignon made it all the more fun.

The last place is one I will definitely go again - Alexandria Nicole. They, too, had a wine tasting fee, but as I got to talking to the lady at the front about the wines they had available & what they use in their blends, she ushered me in without charging me. In the front, they have some basic wines available, but the back room is where they keep the really good stuff!

Thier Block 17 Syrah, Tempranillo, and reserve Viognier were very good, but the two best were Destiny and an as-yet-unlabelled Grenache which is not yet available. They've had a number of wines that got over 90 points!Destiny is an exquisite blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cab Franc.

These were the most expensive of the wines I purchased this weekend, and worth every penny! Read a great review on them here. I picked up two bottles of Destiny ($45/bottle) and got put on the list for the Grenache when it's ready.

I have three more wineries I'm definitely going to hit tomorrow before I leave town, then I'll being having lunch with a friend in the area. I won't get a chance to see Darcy and the babe - by the time we got the right numbers for each other, it was too late to hook up. C'est la vie!

Twas a shame that I couldn't talk anyone into coming with me - I've had an absolute blast. Maybe next time!

--BT