Lumos 2005 Pinot Noir - 5 Blocks

The Winery: Lumos Wine
The Wine: 2005 Pinot Noir - 5 Blocks
The Price: $24.99 at Fine Wine and Cigars

From what I see on the bottle and on the website, Lumos seems like a cool, family run winery. There's not much information about the history of the winery. This is the type of winery that piques my interest, so I'd like to have seen more information about them on their website - how they got started, how long they've been interested in winemaking, what they like about their business. The human interest side of the business.

The wine is a deep burgandy color, typical for a Pinot Noir.

The wine has a rich, well developed scent. It has scents of berries and plums.

The wine has an unexpectedly light and bright flavor, in a good way. It's not thin or underdeveloped, but is lighter tasting than many other Pinot Noirs that I've sampled. The wine has flavors of cherries and blackberries, with a very slight and mild pepper finish.

This is a very good wine, and is quite drinkable now.

Sokol Blosser Cellar Club Member Happy Hour

Tonight Sokol Blosser had a Happy Hour for Cellar Club members in the Seattle area. The event was held at Palisade Restaurant, which has a great view of Puget Sound.

I know that I tend to gush about Sokol Blosser, but they never cease to amaze me. First, that they would spend the time and money to throw this event for their Cellar Club members shows how much they care for their members. It wasn't something that I expected them to do. It's a little extra that they threw in for their Seattle members. I think it was very gracious of them to go out of their way for us.

The event itself was fantastic. They had four of their people at the event. I met three of them. They were all the same great, helpful and friendly people that I've become accustomed to encountering at Sokol Blosser. They have a winning team and a great formula for success.

They were pouring Evolution and Meditrina at the event. Both are fine wines, so I won't go into detail about them again.

The Sokol Blosser staff did a good job of mixing with the crowd and making everybody feel welcome. Jeff, in particular, was very visible and did a fantastic job of being the host of the party. I also met Kitri, with whom I have exchanged several emails over the last year. It's great to be able to put a face with a name.

In addition to the wine, they also had a fantastic looking spread of food. Being mindful of my waistline, I chose to bypass the food and stick with the wine. But from those that I spoke with who did sample the food, the reports were all very good. They had vegetarian options, which is pretty crucial in Seattle. They also had some very tasty looking meat options.

What could they have done better? Not much. My only suggestions for the future would be that they introduce all of the Sokol Blosser folks to the crowd. Also, Jeff was the only person with a name tag. I'd like to see all of the SB folks wearing name tags so the patrons will know who to thank. Finally, I'd have liked to see them bring a some wine to sell on the spot. I knew that I could order wine for them to bring up for me, but my last couple of weeks have been rather crazy, and I never managed to phone in an order. Barring that, perhaps they could set up an online order system for those of us who have crazy days, but can manage to put in an order at night online.

In addition to the great people from Sokol Blosser, I met a several other very cool other people at the event.

All in all this was a very great evening. Many thanks to the fine folks at Sokol Blosser for throwing this little party. I hope it's the first of many such events.

My thanks to all of the people at Sokol Blosser who made this event possible. It was a very enjoyable and memorable event.

Columbia Crest 2007 Two Vines Vineyard 10 Rosé

The Winery: Columbia Crest
The Wine: 2007 Two Vines Vineyard 10 Rosé
The Price: $7.99 at QFC

I've said it before, and I'll repeat myself here tonight. Today's Rosé is not the same possum drool that was made (un)popular by Ernest and Julio Gallo. It's really not. Be adventurous and give it a try, but try one of the higher quality Rosés that is made from quality grapes.

The Columbia Crest Rosé is made from Syrah grapes. The wine has a deeper red color than many Rosés. This wine has scents of strawberries and cherries. It has a very light, crisp flavor, with tastes of cherries, strawberries and honeydew melon.

This isn't a bad Rosé, certainly far better than old-school Rosés. But if you're looking for a premium Rosé this isn't it. It's decent, and certainly drinkable. But the flavor isn't highly developed and leaves me wanting more.

Estancia 2006 Pinot Noir

The Winery: Estancia
The Wine: 2006 Pinot Noir
The Price: On sale for $10.99 at QFC. The regular price is $14.99.

Estancia Winery is located in Monterey County, California. The winery was built on a former Paul Mason property.

The 2006 Pinot Noir is a deep red color, typical of Pinot Noir. This wine has scents of plums and currants. The wine is okay. It's not great. It's not bad. Mostly it is bland and unimpressive. The flavor is poorly developed and lacks character. The wine has flavors of plum and cherry, with a very mild pepper finish. This wine reminds me of why I try to avoid finding bargain Pinot Noirs. It is so rare to find a very good sub-$20 Pinot Noir.

Chateau Ste Michelle 2005 Semillon

The Winery: Chateau Ste Michelle
The Wine: 2005 Semillon
The Price: On sale for $6.99 at QFC, regular price is $9.99

I don't often drink Semillon. In fact, I don't ever recall buying a bottle. So I really have no preconceived notion about what this wine should taste like.

The actual wine bottle has more of a green cast than is shown in the photo.

The wine is a very pale straw color. The wine does not have very substantial legs, not nearly as pronounced as in a Riesling. The wine has a fruity, cantaloupe smell to it, with maybe a hint of apple.

The wine is fairly dry. It has a dry, cantaloupe flavor with a peppery finish.

This is a very good wine. It is a wine that would be great on a clear autumn evening, maybe enjoyed while sitting around a bonfire. There's something about the dryness of this wine that makes me think it's more of an autumn wine than a summer wine. At $9.99 it's a good buy, and at $6.99 it's a steal!

Seattle Metropolitan Sept 2008 Top 100 Northwest Wines

Okay, I've read the full article, and digested it for a few days. Clearly this is an article for the Medina crowd. I still think that they missed some great wines that belong on the list. But the long and short of it is that Seattle Metropolitan was not creating a wine list for the average Seattle resident.

In response, I am creating my own list of top Northwest Wines. I'll probably stick with 10-15 wines, some of which I've reviewed here, and some of which are wines that I like, but have not gotten around to reviewing. Thanks to Kitri at Sokol Blosser for the suggestion.

If anybody would like to suggest a wine that should be on the list, drop me a line. Also, if you have any suggestions for parameters for the wine, I'd like to hear your ideas. At this point I'm thinking that for a wine to be on my list, it must be available for purchase either in stores, online or at the winery (ruling out the ultra snobby wineries that limit their sales to the exclusive few who are on their list). I am also considering a $50/bottle maximum price, but will probably focus mostly on wines in the sub $30 range.

Marchesi Alfieri 2005 La Tota

The Winery: Marchesi Alfieri
The Wine: 2005 La Tota
The Price: $20 at McCarthy and Schiering

Tonight's wine is from Italy. This wine is made from the Barbera grapes, which are the dominant grapes in the region in which this wine is produced. The name La Tota means Young Lady. The wine is thus named because the wine is not aged as long as this winery's other wines and is made to be drinkable early on. The vintner suggests that this wine will age for as long as 5 years.

The wine is fairly dark, and appears much like a Pinot Noir. The wine is not overly fragrant, but does have scents of plums and vanilla, with a slight floral undertone.

This is not a particularly flavorful wine. It is fairly dry and unremarkable. If forced to discern any flavors, I suppose there is a slight plum flavor, but it is overrun by the alcohol taste. It reminds me of a house Chianti like you would get at Buca di Beppo. For $20, I would expect a lot more of a bottle of wine. They call it the Young Lady, but it tastes like it was wrung from the socks of an old man. My recommendation is to pass on this one, and spend your $20 on a wine that is worth the money.