Alandra Red Wine

The Winery:  Alandra

The Wine:  Red Wine
The Price:  $6.99 at QFC (marked down from $7.99)

Alandra is located in Portugal.  Portugal is well known for Port and Madeira, and less so for it's red wines and Vinho Verde.    I have been unable to find any information regarding the grapes that are used in this wine.  The winery is located in Portual's Alentejo region, which mostly grows Syrah and Alicante Bouschet, so I would presume that one or both of those grapes are in this wine. Beyond that I have no idea. 

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.

The wine actually had a small grape leaf in the bottle.  I've never encountered that before.  It surprised me to see it because it seems like the leaf should have been filtered out at some point during the production or bottling process.

The wine is medium-dark red in color.  It has aromas of berry, black olive and bell pepper.  It has flavors of raspberry and cherry and mild spices.  For the price it's a pretty good wine.  The flavors are not bold or very pronounced, so I think most people will find it drinkable.  It's kind of an everyday wine at an everyday price.    

Brian Carter Cellars 2005 L'Etalon

The Winery:  Brian Carter Cellars
The Wine:  2005 L'Etalon
The Price:  $19.89 at Costco (a screaming deal - it sells for $17/half-bottle on their website!)

L'Etalon is French for The Stallion.  They've mysteriously renamed the wine L'Cousier, French for The Steed (I'm curious about the renaming - was it a prompted by a scandal ala Andersen Consulting becoming Accenture, was it a legal battle, or simply the whims of a winemaker?).  Back to the wine.  It's a Bordeaux style wine, blended from 55% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 7% Malbec. 

The wine was stopped with a natural cork, and decanted an hour before sampling.  The wine is a very deep burgundy in color.  It has aromas of blackberry, cherry and cedar.

The wine has a very velvety-smooth feeling to it.  It has a melt-in-your-mouth lusciousness.  It has flavors of berry, cherry and chocolate.  With Valentine's Day just around the corner, this would be a great choice for snuggling on the couch with that special someone, while enjoying some great dark chocolate.     

Wine Tasting/Tweetup at Northwest Totem Cellars

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending a tasting at Northwest Totem Cellars.  This was a tweetup arranged by Barbara, known on Twitter as @SeattleWineGal.  For those unfamiliar with "tweetups", a tweetup is a gathering of Twitter users.

I've been intending to get to Northwest Totem ever since I first learned of them, about two years ago.  But they're in my own backyard, so I just haven't gotten around to it.  Thanks to Barbara, that has been corrected.  I first learned of Northwest Totem Cellars when I was researching wineries that use glass stoppers (I know of two versions of the glass stoppers - Vino Lok and Vino-Seal).  I've been saving my glass stoppers (trying to find the perfect reuse for them). You can also, I've been told, toss them in your recycle bin. Or brink them back to Northwest Totem Cellars and they will sterilize them and reuse them. Regardless of how you choose to recycle them, rest assured that they are eco-friendly. 

We started the evening with a barrel tasting.  First we sampled a Grenache.  At this stage the wine was very fruity and quite delicious.  After the Grenache, we moved on to Tempranillo.  Both wines were very good and show great potential.  The winemaker, Mike Sharadin (who I briefly renamed John...oops), talked about the winemaking process.  In the photo, below, he was discussing methods that winemakers use to impart more oak flavor to wine.  As it turns out, wine barrels are quite expensive (around $1200) and the oak flavor quickly dissipates.  So extending the usability of the barrels is a very worthwhile endeavor.  Beyond the financial benefit to the winemaker, it is also an environmentally good thing to do.

 

After the barrel tasting, we moved into the kitchen to sample the offerings from the winery.  In addition to the wine, Mike's wife, Kate, put together an amazing spread of vegan food for us to enjoy with the wine.  

I won't do a full review of the wines we sampled.  When I review wine I am pretty regimented in my process (a side effect of my career, which relies heavily upon rigorous processes), so in fairness to all parties, I make every attempt to keep my reviews on an even playing field.  That said, I thoroughly enjoyed every wine he served.  They were all very good, and I would proudly serve them to guests in my home.  Now that I know how good these wines are, I will be stopping in and buying some of them to review (and some for my personal collection).  My personal favorite of the night was the 2006 Low Man Bordeaux blend, closely followed by the 2007 Cab Franc. Both of the dessert wines (2008 Salish and 2007 Late Harvest Viognier) were heavenly. 

Besides the great wine, it was very nice to meet @SeattleWineGal, @Shona425, @winebeerWA, @WriteforWine, @DivaTink, @WABrokers.  And of course, our gracious host Mike (@NWTotemCellars). 

Nashwauk 2006 Tempranillo

The Winery:  Nashwauk
The Wine:  2006 Tempranillo
The Price:  $20 at Jack Cellars

Nashwauk is an Australian winery, located near Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.  Nashwauk was founded by Kaesler wines, who makes a variety of other interesting looking wines.  

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork, and the wine was decanted 45 minutes prior to tasting.

The wine is very deep purple in color.  It has aromas of cherries, blackberries and leather.  It has a big, fruity cherry flavor with a spicy undertone.  There is enough flavor that the wine would stand up well with a spicy meal, yet the spicy flavor is not so pronounced as to overwhelm the fruit flavor. 

This is a really great wine!  I'd say it's easily my favorite of the Australian wines I've sampled.