Sean P. Sullivan - Washington Wine Report

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Below is a summary of posts for November 2010.

Summary of Posts for October 2010

2010 Harvest Report - November 3rd Edition

Initiatives 1100 and 1105 both fail. What now?

Washington Wine Round-up October 22nd to 31st

November Virtual Tasting - 2009 Owen Roe Abbot's Table

Cayuse Vineyards - A flawed wine or a writer’s flawed argument?

In tough times, we continue the search for good, inexpensive wines.

Barnard Griffin is one of Washington State’s value standard bearers. The winery makes a wide variety of wines in the value range. These wines are consistently well made with some reaching considerably higher. The 2009 Rosé of Sangiovese is one of the more pleasing rosés you will find from Washington. The wine is fresh and crisp with mouthwatering acidity. While it may not reach the heights of the great French rosés, the price point is more reminiscent of these wines than most of what is seen in the state.

A round-up of stories on Washington wine from November 15th to 21st. See previous round-ups here.

From around the world…

The Vancouver Sun writes about The Inn at Langely.

From around the country…

Bloomberg writes about Thanksgiving wines with a shout out to Gramercy and Hogue Cellars.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch writes about Thanksgiving wines with a callout to Patit Creek Cellars.

Tis the time of year for Top 100 lists with Wine Spectator’s annual list released earlier this week. While Washington wines were reasonably well represented this year with six wines featured, several readers wrote to me, surprised that there were not more Washington wines represented or that specific wines were not listed.

Although six wines is a reasonably good showing, low production of many of the most highly rated wines made it considerably less likely that these wines would appear in Wine Spectator's annual Top 100 list, despite Washington's overall fair prices and great scores. In fact, low availability is somewhat problematic for the industry more generally, making it difficult to get many of Washington's best wines wines to interested consumers.

Well folks, another year has gone by and time once again to make some Thanksgiving wine recommendations.

Thanksgiving pairings can be somewhat challenging given the variety of different dishes on the table. However, this makes for a good reason to get an assortment of wines (this can help with the relatives also).

A round-up of stories on Washington wine from November 8^th to 14^th. See previous round-ups here.

From around the country…

The Palm Beach Post writes about the 2007 Spring Valley Frederick.

MSNBC writes about distributors wanting to charge wine stores more for small orders.

Wine Spectator writes about Northstar Merlot.

NPR writes about Washington State banning alcoholic energy drinks.

Today’s Fresh Sheet - reviews of recent and current Washington wine releases – includes wines from Helix, Reininger, Seven Hills Winery, Columbia Crest, and Dowsett Family Winery.

November's Virtual Tasting is tonight from 7-8pm Pacific Time. The wine will be the 2009 Owen Roe Abbot's Table. This wine retails for $20 and is widely available.

What you need to do to participate is:

1. Buy this month’s wine from a local retailer or from the winery

2. Post your comments/tweets on the wine between 7 and 8pm. For those on Twitter, follow me @wawinereport. I will be using the hashtag #owenroe during the event.

Hope you will join us!

Reminder: November's Virtual Tasting is the 2009 Owen Roe Abbot's Table Red Wine. The tasting takes place on Wednesday the 17th. Read more about it here.

While there are over one hundred wineries in the Walla Walla Valley, it might surprise you to learn that there is not a single, dedicated retail wine store.

Until now.

On Monday November 1^st good friend and fellow Washington wine blogger Catie McIntyre Walker of Through the Walla Walla Grapevine opened a brick and mortar wine store in downtown Walla Walla.

Reminder: November's Virtual Tasting is the 2009 Owen Roe Abbot's Table Red Wine. The tasting takes place on Wednesday the 17th. Read more about it here.

In October of 2009, I wrote about the opening of a Washington wine-dedicated retailer called Full Pull Wines. The business model was unique. Hand pick high quality, hard to find Washington wines and offer the wines, along with an engaging story, to an e-mail distribution list (read my original post about Full Pull here).

One year later, Full Pull Wines is still going strong (and continually taking a bite out of my wallet). Full Pull's Paul Zitarelli has shown a knack for identifying exceptional wines across a range of styles and price points and conveying stories that bring the bottles to life.

Reminder: November's Virtual Tasting is the 2009 Owen Roe Abbot's Table Red Wine. The tasting takes place on Wednesday the 17th. Read more about it here.

A round-up of stories on Washington wine from November 1st to 7th.

From around the world…

Hong Kong Trader writes about Washington wine in China.

From around the country…

The Orange County Register writes that more Starbucks plan to sell beer and wine.

Wines & Vines writes about the recent initiative battle.

Wine Spectator writes that wholesalers are ready for a fight.

As a rule, I don't use this space to promote specific Washington wine events. Today, however, I am making an exception (Don't ask. I don't plan to make more any time soon).

20Something - The New Vintage - takes place on Saturday November 20th at Fremont Studios. The event features seventy-five wineries, food from local chefs, and KEXP DJ Derek Mazzone. The event will also feature a 'Geek Lounge' where aromas, flavors, and flaws will be discussed in an interactive fashion. The event is aimed, as the name would suggest, at Millennials.

Yesterday fellow wine blogger Kori Voorhees at Wine Peeps wrote about a laboratory analysis of a bottle of Cayuse Vineyards 2004 Cailloux Vineyard Syrah. In the post and subsequent comments, she states emphatically and without equivocation that the wines of Cayuse Vineyards are technically flawed based on a laboratory analysis performed by ETS Laboratories in St. Helena.

This is, of course, a serious allegation - one with the potential to damage the reputation of the winery, the writer, or both. More broadly, it impugns indirectly if not directly the numerous professional and non-professional writers who have written favorably about the Cayuse wines - including every major wine publication. For these reasons, it is critical, in my opinion, that the argument and evidence is well presented and well supported. Unfortunately, in Voorhees’ article, neither is the case.

By popular demand, November's Virtual Tasting will be the 2009 Owen Roe Abbot's Table. This wine retails for $20 and is widely available. The tasting will take place on Wednesday November 17th from 7-8pm Pacific Time.

What you need to do to participate is:

1. Buy this month’s wine from a local retailer or from the winery

2. Post your comments/tweets on the wine tonight between 7 and 8pm. For those on Twitter, follow me @wawinereport. I will be using the hashtag #owenroe during the event.

Hope you will join us!

A round-up of stories on Washington wine from October 22^nd to October 31^st. See previous round-ups here.

From around the country…

Wine Spectator writes about twelve supple Washington Reds (Note: May require subscription).

Business Week writes about the big money spent on Washington’s initiatives.

The Philadelphia Enquirer writes about ways to spend $500 gift of wine will a callout to Washington Syrah.

Initiative 1105 - which would have privatized the sale of spirits in Washington State, required a distributor to sell spirits, altered taxation, and made other changes - was, as expected, resoundingly defeated on election night. It took another twenty four hours to be announced, but Initiative 1100 - which would have also privatized the sales of spirits but made other sweeping changes to the state's liquor laws - was also defeated. With 72% of precincts reporting, 'No' votes led 'Yes' votes 52% to 48% on Initiative 1100. 'No' votes led 'Yes votes' 64% to 36% on 1105. Both margins were considered decisive. So what now?

This will be the last weekly harvest report for the 2010 season. My sincere thanks to all who contributed over the past two months by sharing data, pictures, and thoughts on this year's growing season. We'll do it all again next year. See previous reports here.

11/3 Update: The end of the 2010 harvest is in site with numerous vineyards wrapping up harvest in the last week. In Walla Walla, Pepper Bridge finished harvest on October 28^th; on Red Mountain, Ciel du Cheval finished on the 27^th and Obelisco on the 30^th. While some have breathed a sigh of relief, for others the work continues. Alexandria Nicole Cellars, SYZYGY, Gramercy Cellars, Pacific Rim, and Wahluke Wine Company all noted that harvest would continue into the first week of November. Most expect to be completed by November 10^th.

Below is a summary of posts for October 2010.

Summary of Posts for September 2010

Washington Wine Round-up September 22nd to 30th

Traveling the wine trail with Washington Wine 9

2010 Harvest Report - October 6th Edition

Wine on Tap - Coming soon to a wine bar near you

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Sean P. Sullivan is the editor of Washington Wine Report and a contributing editor at Wine Enthusiast magazine, covering Washington and Idaho. He has been writing about and reviewing Washington wine since 2005.

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Editor - Sean P. Sullivan

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Washington Wine Report is an independent publication focused on bringing Washington wine to you and bringing you to Washington wine. My goal is: to help you select Pacific Northwest wines at a variety of price levels; to keep you up-to-date about the Northwest’s wineries, vineyards, and individuals; to help you plan trips to wine country; and to connect you to the larger wine community.

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