Washington Wine and Cheese

A representative from Alexander Valley Winery will be coming in to lead a Cabernet Sauvignon component tasting for us. Alexander Valley is prestigious family-owned winery in northern Sonoma County, California. Most of their production is reds. In addition to their great Cabernet, they produce several Zins (with labels you will love) and a great dry Gewurztraminer (called “New Gewurz”).

The tasting will be broken into two parts. First, we will have a guided tasting of the components of their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Five wines go into the blend–Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec (i.e. all of the Bordeaux varietals). You will have the opportunity to taste each of them, then compare them to the finished Cabernet Sauvignon. We will then have a “palate cleansing” break with the “New Gewurz” (bottles shared between tables) and move on to the 3 Zinfandels. There will be 3 different appellations (California, Alexander Valley, and Dry Creek Valley), so you will have a chance to compare the flavor nuances of the different styles and appellations.

I selected two special cheeses to go with the wines, both of which should pair very well with the red wines. One of them is new to us–Garrotxa from the Catalonian part of Spain. It is an aged goat milk cheese. The other is an old favorite, Gorgonzola Picante from Italy. And Carlos has promised me a very good one!

1. 2005 Estate Cabernet (Alexander Valley) - $25

2. 2006 New Gerwurz - $12

3. 2005 Temptation Zinfandel (California) - $15

4. 2005 Sin Zin (Alexander Valley) -

5. 2005 Zin (Dry Creek Valley) -

Cheeses:

Garrotxa (aged goat from Catalonia)

Gorgonzola Picante (cow’s milk blue cheese from Italy)

bo·da·cious (adj.) : remarkable; outstanding.

October 2nd, bring the the return of Two Blondes, A Brunette and Five Reds presented by Lori Draheim, Carol Rentz and Jill LaPanna. Our theme for this tasting is Big
Bodacious Blends Part II. This is a continuation of Part I which was a big hit…and these wines promise to be even more bodacious! I know; I tasted them all.

The wines to be featured are red blends made up of three or more grape varietals. Needless to say extensive “research” has gone into the selection of these wines. We will start with a serious Rhone Ranger blend from Santa Cruz, then enjoy a Chateauneuf du Pape with outstanding character, next we will taste a haunting, fruit forward
blend from California followed by a bright, focused GSM from Australia, our final wine is a complex blend that will evolve beautifully once set free from the confines of the bottle!

1. 2001 Le Cigare Volant (California) - $39.99
2. 2003 Pierre Usseglio & Fils Chateaneuf do Pape (France) - $29.99
3. 2004 Phantom Bogle (California) - $14.99
4. 2003 Rosemount GSM (Australia) - $33.99
5. 2005 Orin Swift - The Prisoner (Napa, California) - $32.99

Cheeses

1. Ariana Goat Gouda - $14.99
2. Monteboissie Morbiere - $9.99