April Reality
Submitted April 1st, 2008
As T.S. Eliot so aptly wrote, “April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.” It stirs my memory, recalling a rainy-day April lunch at Greystone in Napa, sipping a 1992 Leonetti Cab, and having a strong desire to have it never end. Ah, those once in a lifetime moments.
But reality calls, and new wines beckon. Much is being written about Spanish wine these days, and although it has been around longer than we’ve been a country, it is making a bigger noise these days because of its good quality at affordable prices. I have a particular fondness for Garnacha/Grenache, a very food friendly, berry-flavored red with good acidity, and it is now being grown here in Washington. Some local growers such as Horan Estates have planted it, as have Milbrandt, on the Wahluke Slope, Morrison Lane and Three Rivers of Walla Walla, and Tedd Wildman, whose Stone Tree vineyards in the Chelan area also produces it and other grapes for Ray Sandidge. . As of now, the Spanish wines hold the lead in lower prices. Look for Borsao’s Tres Picos, Capcanes Mas Donis, and Las Rocas.
April brings Lake Chelan’s “Chelan Nouveau” for two weekends: April 18-20 and 25-27, when 14 wineries will be releasing new whites and roses. You’ll find excellent wines to suit every taste. Lake Chelan Winery recently released a new wine, Maximum Meritage, a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon and 36% Merlot. It is a big French-styled red, more Washington than California, and is showing very well presently.
Here in Leavenworth, the very popular Ryan Patrick tasting room is moving to a space next door to Visconti’s and is planning to open in early April. Adjoining it, and opening onto Visconti’s, will be Dan Carr’s new shop with its own sausage-making facility due to open mid-May. Is that heaven, or what? Only a few short steps will take you from great wine to wonderful Italian salami and perhaps some crusty bread; it’s a picnic in the making. And just across the street and down the stairs is the Cheesemonger’s delicious array of world-wide cheeses. A few doors down, across the street from Gustav’s, you can find Eagle Creek Winery’s new tasting room, D’Vinery. Their bright, crisp Riesling and sausage?: it takes me right back to Germany, where it’s okay to sit on a bench or a blanket under a shady tree and open a wine to wash down some sausage and cheese, with bread just purchased from a nearby Bakerei.
Bakerei reminds me of Home Fires, a long-time favorite bakery of many locals. Many of you were disappointed when it closed; don’t forget it has reopened under new ownership, next to Prey’s Fruit Barn on Hiway 2. Linda uses all pure, natural ingredients and refuses to bow to distributors’ requests for her to use “mixes” which contain less than wholesome ingredients. The fat oatmeal cookies filled with plump raisins are tempting, as are the other delicious desserts, but the bread is the best. Hearty multi-grain slices, slathered in butter, with a local earthy red wine and a beef and vegetable stew make for a perfect, not-quite-spring dinner. But Linda has a secret treat which I am not ready to divulge without further testing. Right now, with a slightly sweet Martin-Scott Viognier, it is a tasty nibble. But will it work with red? With a dry white? Tune in next month to discover what it is.
Joanne Saliby