More About the Cadaretta Southwind Vineyard

In last week's blog, I erroneously reported the name of the Cadaretta Winery's vineyard in the South Walla Walla Valley as "Windsong." How I came up with that, I don't know, but it is Southwind, the new name that was given to the Middleton lumber schooner when it was put into government service during World War II. Another elaboraton supplied to me by Cadaretta's winemaker, Brian Rudin, is that there are fractured basalt soils above the 1250 foot level called "Lickskillet" which is classifed as very stony loam. A Middleton Family Wines Synopsis on the "F Block" describes it as "a 7.8 acre swath of land untouched by the Missoula Floods." To render this block plantable, deep soil ripping was done to break up the rock and incorporate the weathered minerals into the upper soil profile. The resultis a truly unique terroir, and it will be exciting to see what results from it.

A Rosé Wine Tasting

Last Wednesday, May 30, our tasting group got together for a tasting of International Rosé Wines. The top wine was the 2011 Domaine La Bastide Blanche Bandol from Provence. A close runner up was Maison Bleue's 2011 Rosé of Mourvedre, made from the same grape variety as used in Bandol. It was a nearly dead ringer, with a pale copper color, wonderful aromatics and a dry, minerally finish. A full review of Jon Martinez's wine will be in the July issue of the Review of Washington Wines. Honorable Mentions go to Trey Busch's 2011 Sleight of Hand "The Magician's Assistant" Rosé of Cabernet Franc and 2011 Renegade Wine Co. Rosé (reviewed in the June issue). Both offer teriffic value, being priced at $17 and $10, respectively.

Speaking of Rosés, I happened to be in Tertulia Cellars this afternoon and winemaker Ryan Raber poured me his new 2011 Rosé Wine from th Lonesome Spring Vineyard in the Yakima Valley, A blend of 73% Mourvedre, 24% Counoise and 3% Grenache, it shows a brilliant copper color and well extracted, but not overly so, lively, yet dry fruit flavors. The Counoise lifts the aromatics with notes of jasmine, litchee nuts and exotic perfumes. A full review will be in the July issue.

Liquor Privatization: Day One

Today, June 1, Washington State is out of the liquor business. The state stores are now under private ownership. There is still a lot of speculation as to how it will affect prices. A check in Walla Walla of a few supermarkets and the one and only freestanding liquor store (now Walla Walla Liquor Mart). Safeway had Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch for $40.99 (Club Price), only a dollar more than the WSLCB price. Albertson's had Hennesy VS Cognac for the 34.48, 53 cents more than WSLCB. At Super 1, though, I found the most self-serving and hypocritical situation. Instead of showing the consumer price on the shelf, the store showed the before taxes prices, with the taxes to be added at checkout. There was a sign in the liquor department showing the various taxes, wholesaler and retailer and liquor excise taxes. I shall not be buying my liquor at that store. The Liquor Mart purchased the state store's inventory and was selling liquor at the same state prices (with the same price tags). At the supermarkets, I saw no evidence of reduced shelf space for wine, an issue that some opponents of Initiatve 1183 pointed to.

I also checked Esquin's website (now Esquin Wine & Spirits). The front page of the pdf version of the June newsletter featured Northwest Craft Spirits and below were other spirits at what appear to be competitive prices, for example, Johnny Walker Black at $34.99. Who says liquor prices are going up? And as time goes on the liquor business will get more competitive, especially with retailer direct purchasing from distillers. It will be the self-serving hyprocrites, including the greedy middlemen, who will be the losers.