Roussanne, a unique and enjoyable white wine, escapes obscurity
By DAN RADIL — FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Roussanne is a white wine grape that’s probably been around for centuries, and yet, until recently, has remained in relative obscurity in Washington state.
It’s most likely that the grape originated in the Rhone Valley of France, and although it’s primarily used for blending purposes, I’m starting to see it offered by more and more Northwest winemakers as a stand-alone varietal.
Wines sampled at Taste Washington clunker-free
By DAN RADIL — FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Taste Washington, the state’s largest exhibition of wines under one roof, was held in Seattle March 31 and April 1. The Washington Wine Commission estimates that the 225 participating wineries poured more than 200,000 tastes from the 800-plus featured wines during the two-day event.
After schmoozing and then swirling, sipping and savoring my way through this year’s wines it became apparent, yet again, that the state’s winemakers have much to offer.
Tri-Cities festival showcases top-notch Northwest wines
By DAN RADIL — FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
During November I attended two of the larger wine festivals in the state. Today and next week I will recap my experiences and recommend some wines that stood out at each event.
Kennewick was the site of this year’s 33rd annual Tri-Cities Wine Festival on Nov. 5. This was my 27th year at the festival, which featured over 400 wines from the Pacific Northwest.
The sheer volume of wines, along with the number of new wineries, at the festival is always mind-numbing, but it’s indicative of the continued, explosive growth of the industry in Washington.
Best New Washington Wineries are…
The 2011 Debuts and Discoveries showcased the newer Washington wineries. A team of wine writers, wine buyers and sommeliers served as the judging panel. Instead of evaluating individual wines, the judges were asked to rank the wineries as a whole. Three of the Wine Beer Washington writers were included in this years’ judging panel. We could only evaluate the wines being poured at the event so we considered not only the quality of the wines but their quality price ratio (QPR), packaging and service staff in ranking wineries.
Sip Wine on the Way to Alki Beach in West Seattle
Seattle, WA – West Seattle resident’s get their first winery tasting room as Cairdeas Winery prepares to open this Memorial Day weekend. The cozy space is situated en route to Alki Beach, making it the perfect summer wine tasting stop and a great place to kick off Memorial Day Weekend. The grand opening celebration will take place Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29 from 12:00 to 5:00pm.
Successful 1st weekend for West Seattle’s new Cairdeas Winery tasting room
Big smiles from Cairdeas Winery owners Charlie and Lacey Lybecker when we stopped by their new West Seattle tasting room at mid-afternoon: Grand-opening weekend was going well, despite the lack of sunshine to bring a massive flow of traffic past their Harbor Avenue front door (southernmost street-level storefront at ActivSpace, just north of the West Seattle Bridge). The wines they’re pouring/selling now are all West Seattle-made, from their first winery on Delridge; they’ve since moved home base to Bryn Mawr, but their fondness for West Seattle led them to launch their tasting room here.
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