Dr. Joel Fisher, is our chapter's wine columnist, wine mentor and Escoffier Dinner Sommelier.

About LA wine fest - 2008 July 12 & 13 at the historic Raleigh Studios.

Find our more  Joel (A.K.A. The Wine Educator) at his new web site www.joelmfisher.com

Joel Fisher's  Wine Columns:

Dr. Joel Fishers August/September  2007 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers May/June  2007 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers April  2007 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers February-March  2007 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers January  2007 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers December  2006 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers November  2006 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers September/October  2006 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers July / August  2006 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers May / June  2006 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers April 2006 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers Feb./March 2006 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers January 2006 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers December 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers October / November 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers September 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers August 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers June/July 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers May 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers April 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers March 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers February 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers January 2005 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers December 2004 Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers  November 2004  Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers  October 2004  Wine Column is now posted click here.

Dr. Joel Fishers  August  2004 Wine Column is now posted click here.

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Wine Archives:

Click here for  July 2004 Wine Column

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Dr. Joel's November December Column can be viewed in the Culinary Connections Newsletter:

November_December_2003.pdf

2002

A Wine Tasting Tour of the Pacific Northwest Part 1

I recently returned from my annual wine-tasting trip. This fall I chose to go to the Pacific Northwest. My son and I drove up through California and Oregon, Washington, even further north to Vancouver - where, yes, there is a local winemaking industry.

On the drive north, I had the opportunity to fulfill an old wish - to visit Domaine Drouhin, in Dundee, Oregon. This new-world winery, owned by the famous Burgundy family, was built in 1989 and exports its modestly sized production to 37 countries. The winemaker is Veronique Drouhin, who spends about half the year in Oregon. Scott Wright, the general manager and California winemaker who invited me to visit, holds down the fort year-round, along with the winery’s 15 other employees. 


I tasted their 2000 Chardonnay ($25), which is made half in oak and half in stainless steel. (The barrels are bought and made in France, then shipped to Oregon.) The Chardonnay is a fresh wine, sharp and clean and tempered by rounded edges. The acidity is nice, and the bottle opens into a slight oak. Overall, it’s very French! The 1999 Pinot Noir was still closed, and probably needs to sit for another seven years or so. This was another very French wine, not too fruity but still well balanced. We closed with the 1999 Laurene Pinot Noir ($55), of which only 2000 cases were made. This elegant, velvety wine is lovely now, but will peak around 2009. I thought it showed wonderful red fruits, including rich hints of blackberries.
…

The French have a word, garagistes, for winemakers operating out of garages rather than the more conventional chateaus. The Washington wine industry has spawned its own word - “hangarists” - to describe the seven or so wineries bunched together in old buildings at the Walla Walla Airport. We met up with some of these hangarists during their fall harvests. 

Our first visit was to Trey Marie and Dunham, two labels working in one hanger. Eric Dunham, a young, energetic winemaker, has three estates on line this year, making wine from 51 acres of fruit. He produces 1600 cases of cabernet sauvignon, 1600 cases of Trey Marie and 800 of Syrah annually, and distributes to 30 states and Japan. 

We started our tasting with Dunham’s Shirley Mays Semillon, which is a spicy, well-balanced wine with pineapple flavors. The bottle sells for $35, all of which is donated to the Susan B. Koleman Breast Cancer Foundation (Susan Koleman was Eric's grandmother). The 2001 Trey Marie is a blend made in 100% French Oak. Although the wine has good fruit, a nice nose and decent legs, the finish gets a bit flat. We moved on to Dunham’s 2001 Cabernet, which is a dark red wine with strong berries and fruit. The peppery and well-balanced wine is made out of 100% Cabernet grapes and opens nicely into a round finale. Next, the 2001 Syrah opened with a good Rhone-type treatment of spice and earthy tones (both helped by the Burgundian oak barrels in which it was aged). In contrast, the peppery 1999 Trey Marie merlot blend - which was aged for 18 months in a 100% French Oak barrel - had soft tannins and dark fruit, yet seemed a bit tight. Best to drink this one sooner than later. We wrapped up with a gorgeous wine close to being world-class: the 2000 Syrah. The deep garnet wine had a fantastic blend of spice and vanilla on the palate and a long finish. The wine, which received a Wine Spectator ranking of 91, can be drunk now or aged for 5 years.

A few blocks away is another hanger, where we found Chuck Reininger, a former Mt. Rainier climbing guide. He and his wife opened Reininger Vineyards in 1997. They have built up contracts with various local vineyards and bought 40 acres in partnership, and now annually produce 3800 cases of wine.

Their 2000 Merlot is blended with cabernet franc, and aged 22 months in an American and French barrel. Ranked 90 by the Wine Spectator, this is a nice, balanced bottle of wine. The 2000 Cabernet (blended with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot grapes) is a smooth wine, with good fruits and colors, lots of berries and zinfandel-like spices. It should open nicely in two or so years. We ended our visit with a 2000 Syrah that showed great promise: classy, well colored and with notes of pepper and spices. I think it will integrate well.

Literally next door to Reininger’s place, sits Ron Coleman’s Tamarick Cellars. Coleman actually started off with Reininger before splitting off to pursue his own label. Coleman buys fruit from all over the state, including Red Mountain (near Pasco), Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley. The resulting 2000 Firehouse Red ($18) - a blend of cabernet, merlot, syrah, and cabernet franc grapes - is a tannic yet balanced dark-red wine with good fruit. Their Merlot (85% merlot,10% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc) is still tight, but bright. Made from new oak, 65% of which is Hungarian and French and the rest American, this is a big merlot with good acids and heavy spices. It should open nicely into a full, soft wine. 
…

Winemaking tends to be a male-heavy profession, but I had the privilege of meeting with several talented women making quality wines up in Washington.

When the Washington Wine Commission took their road show to California last spring I had the opportunity to meet with Denise Isenhower. I was struck by the initial efforts of this young winemaker and her husband - both pharmacists from Colorado - and was delighted with the opportunity to see them on their home turf. Isenhower’s 1999 Merlot, a blend with 20% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc, had a big nose of berries and other fruit. The wine was tightly wound and not fully opened. It may grow more balanced after a few more years. Their 2000 Table (with the same blend as above) is a fair and certainly reasonably priced table wine ($15) with good fruit and acid. I quite liked the 2000 Red Paintbrush (70% merlot, 15% cabernet and 15% syrah), which was aged in a mixture of American and French oak for 14 months. This wine had a big berry opening and fruit nose, with strong strains of berry, dark cherry and plum flavors. We finished our visit with the full-of-promise 2000 Syrah (85% syrah, 15% cabernet sauvignon). When the tannins smooth out over the next three to five years, this peppery and spicy wine should emerge as one of the Isenhower stars.

Holly Turner is the winemaker for Three Rivers Winery, and also runs her own operation, Bodega Turner. Three Rivers produces 15,000 cases of wine from their estate vineyards in Walla Walla as well as eight acres at the Biscuit Ridge Vineyard and nine acres at Ahler Vineyard. 

Amazingly, most of the wine we tasted this day was a very young. Among the most notable wines were the 2000 Chardonnay, a clean, lean citrus-y white with a nice nose, and the still-opening 2000 Syrah, with its big nose, blueberry and vanilla hints, and a good syrah finish. The nice 2000 Boushey Syrah possessed a pleasant color, low tannins, berry tones and a good concentration. The 2000 Merlot (100% merlot grapes) was drinkable now but should age well. With dark-red colors, the wine had great fruit on the palate and cherry and spice on the nose. The 2000 Merlot Reserve was an even better wine, with dark berry fruit on the palate, cherry and vanilla aromas, and a long finish. The grand finale to our tasting was a 1999 Columbia Valley Cabernet. This toasty wine had wonderful chocolate overtones and good tannins. This was a well-balanced wine, and a good buy for $24.00.  

Finally, I’ll wrap up with Sagelands Vineyard, another winery owned by the California-based Chalone group. French-trained winemaker Frederique Spencer focuses strongly on terroire, that French word that encapsulates how the soil affects the grapes. Sagelands strives to make distinctive, high-quality Cabernets and Merlots, and have recently turned their sites on Syrahs. They’re off to a good start, depending on well-selected sourced grapes. (They do plan to ultimately phase in their own Cabernet grapes.) The 2000 Merlot is a smooth wine with bright, even exotic notes. It displays both reasonable acids and reasonable aging, making this a nice wine to drink now. The 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon turned out to be at the center of a rousing debate between Spencer and myself. This herbaceous wine had dark fruits, nice oak tones, peppery spices, and strong acids on the finish … but I found the middle lacking a bit. I don’t believe this wine will live for more than a few years, but it opens nicely in the glass now. 

I’ll continue recounting my wine-tasting trip in the next column. Until then, be well, drink well and Happy Holidays!

We’re looking forward to raising a glass of wine with you!!

Archive
08/17/02 THE GROWING OF A CULT WINERY I drove up the winding road towoards Amador County an area reasonably close to Sacramento. It was Saturday morning and outside the tasting rooms and winery operation of YOUNGS WINERY stood 150 people waiting to sample the house wines....

05/02/02 A Visit to Joshua Tree Imports LLC, A specialty wine store which import wines from Australia, New Zeland & France In the last issue I wrote that instead of just writing exclusively about tastings I wanted to look at interesting people, their restaurants, their import businesses or wine stores. This led me to Old Towne, Pasadena where I met Michael Opdahl....

More Archives -coming soon.

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