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).