Awesome wine night
Blog: Winemaker's Journal
March 2, 2010
There really are some great wines coming out of the Leavenworth area. I was lucky enough to be invited to a recent winemaker's gathering at Mike Monaco's house in Leavenworth. He owns Monaco's Corner Store in Leavenworth. The store carries a huge selection of Washington, California and European wines.
Mike set out a few Washington selections from his store for our gathering, but the real prizes were wines brought by vintners Rob Newsom, Chuck Egner and Frank Dechaine. Rob makes wine for his Boudreaux Cellars. Chuck and Frank own '37 Cellars. There were a lot of people at this informal pizza gathering, so we were able to taste a lot of different wines as we made our own pizzas in Mike and Nancy's wood-fired pizza oven.
Rob brought a bottle of his reserve cabernet sauvignon as well as a syrah and sangiovese. I missed out on the cab, which went very fast. No surprise there. It's a great wine that has already earned a national reputation for rich complexity. The syrah and sangiovese were also great examples of Rob's ability to score great grapes from Washington's premier southern growing districts.
Chuck and Frank brought bottles of merlot and cab that were wonderfully fruity, rich and full of new French oak. I brought a bottle of my 2007 Syrah made from Quincy grapes grown by St. Laurent Estate Winery. Everyone seemed to like it.
Mike has also been making his own cabernet the last three years and it is excellent. His 2007 was made from grapes picked at Ryan Patrick's Bishop Vineyard near Quincy and aged nine months in new French oak. Mike has been increasing his production each year and getting grapes from other vineyards. I expect him to get bonded and put some of his luscious wine up for sale in the next few years.
To make the evening complete, Mike brought out a bottle of 2004 Leonetti Cellars cabernet. It's a sought after wine that often sells for more than $100 a bottle in restaurants if you can find it. Rich with cedar, it was like a great after-dinner cigar. A wonderful finish to an awesome night.
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1 year, 11 months ago
Awesome wine night
feil 1 year, 11 months ago
Awesome wine night
Mavulous, Pomegranate juice is a bit like good wine, isn't it? Both are great for sipping and pair nicely with cheeses. I have a friend who drank a glass of pomegranate juice after dinner the whole time she was pregnant. She claimed not to miss the wine at all.
1 year, 11 months ago
Awesome wine night
Hi Rochelle. I like the pucker of a really good standalone pomegranate juice. It is now my favorite wine and I drink and drive while under the influence of antioxidants every chance I get. :-D
steigmeyer 1 year, 11 months ago
Awesome wine night
I may have to organize a pomegranate juice tasting party soon. It sounds great!
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