Have You Noticed?
Submitted October 28th, 2009
Have you noticed?
I’m surprised there hasn’t been a major news report about this, but perhaps the scientific community is keeping quiet about it for now. Surely you, as I, have noticed that the universe is speeding up and time as we know it is slipping away at an alarming rate. Didn’t you notice that September flew by, and now October is doing the same? At this rate we will be able to prepare one meal to serve both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at the same time.
At the same time, the wine bargains at Grocery Outlet are disappearing quickly. Recently I received a very helpful email from one of our members, Don Julien, who is obviously a patron of our local GO. I knew of these but he wrote them all down and saved me a lot of work, which I appreciate. I believe most of these are still available, plus some new ones we just tried. When something is new to us we like to try it first before recommending it.
Here is Don’s list, with a few of our opinions on it. Many thanks, Don!
Bridgman Chardonnay 2.99 (WSL 6.99).
Apex Chardonnay 4.99 (WSL 14.99) I liked it; Alex didn’t.
Apex II Syrah 2.99 (WSL 11.99) Alex liked it; I didn’t.
Pavin & Riley Merlot 3.99 (WSL 6.99).
Pavin & Riley Chardonnay 3.99 (WSL 6.99).
Washington Hills Merlot 2.99 (WSL 6.99) Alex liked it a lot, for the price.
Avery Lane Merlot 2.99 (WSL 4.99).
Gordon Brothers Rose’ (their website says it’s from Cab Sauv & Merlot) for 2.99, I think (normal retail 13.50). I’m not a big fan of Rose’, but did like this. Nice acid and flavor.
The others we haven’t tried in so long that I don’t want to comment on them. And of course these are just our opinions. You might have noticed, too, that we differed in our opinions of some of the wines.
More recently, in GO, we found Forest Glen Reserve Merlot 2003 at $7.99. It was excellent (after some breathing). I don’t know how much they have left. (Six as of Saturday noon)
Pacific Oasis, another label, has two varieties on the shelves: unoaked Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We both liked the Chard and Alex liked the Pinot. I thought it was “too Pinot-y”, as though special effort had been made to give it a heavy barnyard aroma and flavor–not that I’ve really tasted a barnyard flavor, but you get the idea. Having mucked out a few horse barns and cow stalls in my youth, I am familiar with barnyard aromas.
We also saw a Napa Chard called Joya, but haven’t tried it. If anyone does, I’d appreciate a comment on it.
The WA State Liquor Store on N. Wenatchee Ave. has increased and improved its selection of wines. For instance, Kiona has a Red Mountain Zinfandel for around $15. Maybe this is common knowledge, but not for us. So much has been going on in our area these past few years that we have somewhat lost track of the rest of the state.
How many of you know that you can go to the WA State Liquor Control Board web site and find what wines are on sale for the month? I think the local store will still order in a case of something if they are out of it.
A little news came my way, and although it may be old stuff by now, it’s new to me. Did you read the NW Winepress list of top WA cabs? Wedge Mountain’s 2006 Red Mountain Cab Sauv was on the recommended list, as was Rob Newsom’s 2005 Reserve Cab. And the Wedge Mountain hasn’t even been bottled yet, but is just winding up its 1000 days in new French oak. It will be bottled soon and in the market in a few months. We’re looking forward to it.
One of the more recent wineries to open in our area is Chuck Egner and Frank Deschaine’s 37 Cellars.,up here in Leavenworth. We went up this week to pick up some wine and watched them crush their last load of grapes. We wanted to take some pictures, too, but someone had left the camera at home.
Fortunately, the day was not a loss, for Chuck just happened to have wine and glasses sitting on a barrel near the crush. Although our teeth were chattering, we managed to sip our way through the delicious Chardonnay and the wonderful-though-chilled reds: the 2007three-blend Trio (I think I was just redundant there), the 2007 Merlot and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. It was an unexpected treat, as Chuck and Frank were really working hard–too hard, in fact, for them to pause and play and sing my favorite song, “Aragon Mill.” (Let me brush away a tear or two here; it’s a mournful song and Chuck has a real way with it.) They did play it for us a few days later when we went to view the pictures they had taken with their camera!
Of course these wines are not GO bargains; they are comparable in price to other area wines, and excellent in quality, especially for such young reds. It’s exciting to see what new wines are coming out of our immediate area these days; even better is going to taste them and perhaps lay some down for future consumption.
If you’re a Napeequa fan–and aren’t we all?–don’t forget the October 28 Jubilee .
And November 7, 2009 from 2:30pm – 5:00 pm, Vin du Lac in Chelan is celebrating the opening of its new Chelan Falls Production Facility with an open house and the release of the eagerly anticipated 2006 Barrel Select Malbec.
Our son who was here from Atlanta for a few days commented, as we arranged our schedule so as to get him to Pangborn on time and still get home in time for Alex to put in a few hours at the Ryan Patrick tasting room, “You sure do keep busy out here. Is it like this all the time?”
We were happy to say, “Yes.” I had just read a NY Times piece about a number of retired people who seem to be just sitting around, waiting to die. Who has time for that? There’s new wine out there to be discovered and interesting people to meet. I hope we see you at some of these events. There’s more to come.
Joanne