Take Time to Stop and Sip the Rosé
Rosé is a beautiful wine to enjoy throughout the year, but it is often associated with the warmer months. The Cathedral Ridge Rosé is done in the drier, Alsation-style with lower alcohol. The 2010 Rosé carries pleasant floral notes but offers more body, and a crisp, dry finish. Flavors of pear and grapefruit hit lightly on the palate, making this a perfect wine for late afternoon, and it complements a wide range of dishes from spicy asian fare to seafood. As the days grow longer, make the most of the extended sunlight by uncorking a bottle of rosé and enjoying a French-style picnic with these (easy to prepare) Asparagus-Cheese Tartines.
Order a case of Cathedral Ridge Rosé and enjoy a 15% discount. Stock up: You have have five months of warm weather ahead!
Another Barrel Tasting Party Sneak Peek!
We left off with me going crazy for a 2010 Bangsund Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, but I also tasted the 2010 Hillside Vineyard Cabernet and if you’re a fan of big, juicy, ripe cabs, this is your wine! The nose is full of blueberry, vanilla, and blackberry jam. I also loved the amazing mouth feel, so incredibly smooth and rich that I felt like I was drinking liquid velvet. This was also a wine I was bugging Robb to bottle separately, we’ll see if that comes true…
Moving on, Robb also poured me a sample of the 2010 Rockstar Red, our big, brawny, amazing Reserve wine. With 50% cabernet sauvignon from Hillside Vineyard and 50% syrah from Kortge Vineyard, both from lots that are specifically set aside for our Reserve single-varietal bottling, this is the top tier of wine Cathedral Ridge makes. It doesn’t disappoint. The bouquet is explosive, rushing out at you with gorgeous notes of cherry and spice, blackberry, and a delicious forest-floor aroma. On the palate, the Rockstar is deep and soulful, showing flavors of ripe fruit and baking spice backed by firm tannin. If you want a celebratory bottle that will age, stay tuned for this one!
As Robb and I tasted through the barrel samples, I was struck by the differences in each wine. Beyond the obvious differences between grape varieties, each wine showed a true sense of place. To the French, it’s called terroir, and when you taste through these barrel samples, I think you’ll agree.
Before I ramble too much more, I’ll end this peek into the future of Cathedral Ridge with the 2010 Ziegler Vineyard Tempranillo, full of cherries, sandalwood, and peppery spices. This wine is almost “ready”, and I think it spoke to Robb and me that day, telling us that it’s itching to get bottled and shared with all of you!
The Barrel Tasting Party is coming up, one week from now, so I urge you to buy your tickets now! If you need some more information, feel free to call the winery 1-800-516-8710 and we’ll happily get you all set to go. ^Beau
Barrel Tasting Party Sneak Peek!
A shot of our 2011 Barrel Tasting Party
With the April Barrel Tasting Party almost here, I recently visited the “mother winery” to taste through some different barrels with owner Robb Bell. The goal of our tasting was to get some ideas of what to pour for you all on April 21. Barrel sampling is a unique opportunity to taste a wine before it’s bottled, often times before it’s even “finished”. For wine lovers, when we barrel-taste we get a sense of what that wine tastes like in the present, when it’s young, flashy, and even a little rough around the edges. When the wines are released and we re-taste them, a deeper level of understanding is reached with what the wine was and what it is now.
Robb took me back into the barrel rooms and we began the tasting with some 2009 Scorched Earth Vineyard Syrah, which had a delicious smoked meat and tobacco nose. The mouth feel was intense, with loads of ripe fruit and a savory quality that I marveled at. I also tasted the 2009 Pines Vineyard Zinfandel, a wine which could very well end up as a Reserve bottling given its quality. The nose was full of herb, ripe black fruit, tar, and whiffs of pine. I was enamored with the palate, where the zin showed loads of jammy fruit, baking spice, and a peppery streak.
A few barrels later, I was stopped in my tracks. The 2010 Bangsund Cabernet Sauvignon was my style of wine! The nose is loaded with black fruit, herbs, and a beautiful earthy aroma. On the palate, it’s fairly tannic (as young cabernet tends to be)but that tannin creates a gorgeous structure, enclosing flavors of blueberry, black cherry, dried currant. Suffice it to say that I am bugging Robb to bottle this as a single vineyard wine!
In the next blog, I’ll talk more about the barrel tasting, giving some tasting notes on even more of what I tasted on that awesome day. Stay tuned! ^Beau
Wine Weekends
This month holds two very special events for Cathedral Ridge Winery. The first is the annual Passport Weekend in the Gorge on April 13-15th. Join Cathedral Ridge and 25 other wineries in the scenic wild beauty of the Columbia River Gorge for Passport Weekend. These Oregon & Washington wineries will be offering exclusive specials for Passport Holders as you tour “A world of Wine in 40 miles.” Lodging packages and dining specials will be available to enhance your Passport destination experience. Passports are $15 each and provide special offers for Passport holders (a $5 to $800 value in potential savings). Buy Your Tickets Now!
The following weekend is our ANNUAL BARREL TASTING PARTY on Saturday April 21st, which includes music, food and barrel tastings offered by owner Robb Bell. This year, Cathedral Ridge is offering light appetizers to pair perfectly with specific wines.
Space is limited, so RSVP soon!
$10/person ($15/person at the door) for wine club members and up to 3 of their guests
$25/person non-club members ($30/person at the door).
Call 800-516-8710, or email crw@cathedralridgewinery.com for more info, or
Buy tickets here!
Easter Dinner Ideas
Easter Sunday is one week away, which for many means getting together with family, cooking a big meal, and consuming an unreasonable amount of rabbit-shaped chocolate. I like to break away from the traditional “glazed ham and scalloped potatoes” that seems to be the ubiquitous choice of the day. For those in the Pacific Northwest, the spring Chinook salmon run has been outstanding, and fresh salmon is a great choice for Easter dinner. I will be hosting dinner for nine, and I plan to make Salmon with Cucumber-Radish Relish, and I am going to attempt this Asparagus Gruyere Tart. It looks simple enough (prep time: 15 mins?). If any readers try this, I would love to know! I’ll be pouring 2009 Dampier Pinot Noir Reserve, which will go beautifully with the salmon, but don’t take it from me…Wine and Spirits gave it a 90 point rating, Wine Press NW rates it as “Excellent,” and it took a “Gold” in the Pinot category for the upcoming Astoria Wine & Seafood Festival. Best of all, it will be just as lovely with chocolate bunnies and peanut butter eggs… -AG
Pinot Gris and Bounty from the Sea
Cathedral Ridge Winery has two new releases available, 2010 Rose and 2010 Pinot Gris, both of which pair brilliantly with Shellfish and Potatoes a la Mariniere (via Bon Appetit). The potatoes and freshly steamed mussels tossed in a light sauce of dry white wine (use the same wine you’re drinking–you’ll taste the difference), butter, and parsley is the perfect savory dish to pair with either a drier, Alsation-style Rose or a crisp and balanced Pinot Gris. This recipe is light, easy, and best of all–it will transport you to the relaxing coastal weekends in the not-so-distant future.
Comfort Food with Friends
photo: Anna Williams
I just discovered the most amazing thing to make for a spontaneous dinner party: Lattice-Crusted Minestrone Pot Pies. It requires the simplest of ingredients, and even though it looks intricate, it’s super easy to make. The only catch is that the dough requires some refrigeration time, so prepare this dish earlier in the day. It will keep refrigerated for one day; if you plan ahead, you can have these little treats ready to pop into the oven when you get home from skiing!
Pair with either a robust Cathedral Ridge Rusty Red, or a warm, buttery Cathedral Ridge Chardonnay. Cheers!
Wine & Dine Your Valentine
We’ve always preferred to stay in on Valentine’s Day. I would happily go out on the 13th or 15th, but there’s something odd about being out for a “romantic evening,” when everyone around you is doing the same thing. That said, it’s still fun to go all out while staying in, and I’ve planned the menu: Steak with Drunken Mushrooms and Roasted Blue Cheese Potatoes. It looks amazing and simple, leaving enough time to also make Dark Chocolate Brownies with Raspberry Goat Cheese Swirl. This will pair perfectly with Cathedral Ridge Rusty Red, which is 100% Syrah; it’s an off-dry Syrah with notes of jammy blackberry, chocolate covered-cherry, and smokey star anise. It’s a perfect complement to everything from the steak to the chocolate (and on sale at the moment)!
Also for Valentine’s Day, Cathedral Ridge Winery is offering Twila’s chocolates in both tasting rooms. Pick up some Rusty Red, enjoy some chocolate, and head home to the most romantic spot in town. Cheers!
Image: “Two Hearts” by Hood River-based artist Cathleen Rehfeld
Poppin’ Bottles
Just ran across a post on wine accessories on a favorite blog Cool Hunting. I discovered what appears to be an amazing wine opener that I’d like to try, as well as the best system yet for washing wine glasses in the dishwasher with no breakage (you’re supposed to hand-wash wine glasses, but who DOES that?). Click image for article!
Take the Chill off
I recently discovered farro kale soup at a wonderful restaurant in Portland called Luce. I couldn’t wait to try it at home, which I did this evening. I made a soup base with about 1/3 cup of olive oil (from Ovino for those in the Gorge), a couple of medium onions, a carrot, and a single celery stalk–all finely chopped. I added a few slices of chopped pancetta and let it brown, and then added garbanzo beans, and a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes (and a little bit of pepper and sea salt). After a few minutes of allowing these flavors to blend, I added around seven cups of chicken broth, two small bunches of chopped kale (with ribs removed), and 1 cup of farro. Bring to a boil for five minutes and then let it simmer for about an hour. Grate some fresh parmesan, heat up a loaf of bread, and pour yourself a delicious glass of Cathedral Ridge Dampier Pinot Noir. Add one more dash of good olive oil to each bowl of soup before serving. Dinner by the fireplace optional, but highly recommended. -AG
