Saturday, April 9, 2016

So I can't blog about Redhook Brewery without mentioning the behemoth next door, Chateau St. Michelle.

http://www.ste-michelle.com

I LOVE THIS WINERY.  Grew up going to concerts there.  I have such fond memories of walking around the estate and feeding giant fish in ponds stale pieces of Wonder Bread (my apologies to those fish).  My folks still go.  Every summer us kids can count on a drunk dial from Mom with jazz blaring in the background.

The impressive gift shop is laden with the ultimate (expensive) wine and cheese picnic baskets, and every kind of wine accoutrement imaginable.  As you make your way to the back, they have a beautiful tasting bar, with tastings starting at $5.  I went with one of those as my husband dove into the nearby plate of oyster crackers.  "Honey...those are palate cleansers, not hors d'oeuvres."

THE TOUR IS FREE!  As our wine educator started with the winery backstory, a guy behind us was being very rude, having a full volume conversation with his female companion while the tour guide was talking.   I actually turned around and shushed him.  I was wearing a boob top, so he shut the fuck up.  The power of tits.

Their fermenting and aging rooms are equally impressive, as is their gigantic bottling room.  They make and bottle all of their wine on sight, but most of their vineyards are on the other side of the Cascade mountains in the Columbia Valley.

At the end, they taste you through 3 wines!  Wish I'd known about that last part before paying for a tasting, since I was going to be drinking my husband's three.  Pretty sure one of the commandments on that stone tablet Mel Brooks dropped in History of the World was THOU SHALT NOT WASTE ALCOHOL.  And you know...once a Catholic...

Every time I visit my family, I have to go to a tasting there.  My folks belong to the fancy pants wine club, so we go to a super special monkey lounge to taste all of the reserve wines.  After this blessed communion, they pick up their wine club release, take it home, and hide it from me.

First time I had a Chateau St. Michelle wine was at the very enjoyable restaurant Cutters in Pike Place Market.  I was with a group of actors from the musical I was in.  I was 16, but didn't look it (I'd stopped getting carded at that point and I was NEVER carded in NYC).  I ordered a Johannesburg Riesling.  It paired perfectly with the meal I was having...clams steamed in white wine with shallots and a toasty, buttery baguette.  Mmmmmmmmm...

In all my years of traveling, whether it was NYC, LA or Estonia, in every grocery or liquor store, I was always able to find a bottle of Chateau St. Michelle, see the familiar label, and feel less homesick (a chronic condition for military brats).

 I like ALL of their dry whites and reds, but my feature this week is their merlot.  They have several at different price points depending on which of their different vineyards the grapes came from (this one is around $15).





Fun fact: Sales of merlot dropped significantly after Paul Giamatti's famous line in the movie Sideways.

Certain regions are known to be THE place for different varietals.  For Washington, it's merlot, the most widely planted grape in the state.  Notice what it says at the bottom of the label...100% Vinifera Rootstock.

A little wine geeky grape farmer stuff...

It is believed wine production and consumption began in the Middle East (Persia) 5000 to 6000 years ago.  Vitus Vinifera, the original species of grape that is most often used for wine production, is native to a region just northwest of Iran.

But there are only 3 places in the world where they still exist.

A long time ago, in a vineyard far, far away, before customs and fruit declaration, disaster struck the wine world in the form of a root louse, phylloxera, native to the Eastern United States.  Similar to an aphid, a phylloxera is a small, sap-sucking insect that feeds on roots and leaves.  It was brought to France on a merchant ship carrying grapevines native to North America.  Within 20 years, it had spread throughout the country, destroying nearly all of France's vineyards.  It continued to spread throughout Europe, threatening to wipe out their entire wine industry.

Luckily, someone learned how to graft.

And our rootstocks, being native to the region phylloxera is from, had evolved to be resistant to the pest.  We sold them to Europe and saved the day!

Actually, it's more like we gave the wine world crabs, but only WE had the medicated shampoo, and sold it to them.  I would make a Bush/Cheney/Halliburton/Iraq joke right about here, but I wouldn't want to insult pubic lice.

Where was I?  Oh yes.  Pylloxera don't like sandy soil and icy winters, both found in Eastern Washington in the Columbia Valley (which happens to share the same latitude as Bordeaux).  So their wine is made from original vitus vinifera rootstock (the other 2 places are Chile and Tasmania...I know.  Who the fuck goes to Tasmania?).

It is debated by wine experts and enthusiasts if this makes a difference at all in taste or quality.  I've been drinking Washington wines for years.  Honestly, I can't tell the difference.  I just know I love Washington wine.

On the beer front, my quest for the perfect amber ale continues.  I have yet to find one that knocks Redhook ESB out of the #1 spot.  I accidentally bought 2 red IPAs, thinking they were amber ales.  Would've helped if I'd read the label, but I saw the word red and assumed.  They'd have been fantastic if they were what I was craving.




I tried an organic amber ale from California.  Tasted like weak tea.

But I will not be discouraged.  Got my next contestant all lined up for this week's baseball games.  SO much fun getting back into baseball.

Thanks to Robinson CanĂ³ I've been hearing a lot of my favorite sound.

Now if only Manchester United weren't touring China this summer...

GO MARINERS!!!

4 comments:

  1. Hi Pamela. I've been reading your little blog here since you started it, and it is quite enjoyable. I like the little insights into your past as well as your present. I have one question. What is your thought on sour beers? I'm a big fan myself. Next time you are in Portland, and if you haven't been yet, you should give Cascade a try.

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    1. Sour beers? I have never heard of nor tried them but I will be in Portland very soon. Looking forward to trying Cascade! (and thank you for your lovely compliment...xoxo)
      Best Wishes,
      Constipated Weasel

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    2. I think they will be right up your alley. They have a pallet similar to wine.

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  2. But if ESB is your favorite beer why are you looking for an Amber Ale? Maybe you should be trying more ESB's. A Red is basically a hoppier Amber Ale and an ESB is a British style of beer.

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