With Andy Cronshaw
I’LL be hoping to bring more details of what city centre wine outlets with on-site drinks such as Blossom Street Social and Salut will be doing as the pandemic restrictions are lifted in the coming weeks.
For now I have some more ideas about drinking at home.
I’ve had little opportunity to taste wines from the US’s Washington State.
Such is their quality and renown, like those from Oregon, they tend to be drunk in the States before reaching these shores.
However it appears winemakers are now keen to find new markets and I joined a recent Zoom meeting with Doug Marshall from the Washington Wine Commission who explained some of the climatic and geological details of what makes Washington wine so special.
Although many people associate Washington with
Seattle where it’s humid and rainy, the eastern part of the state, across the Cascades, is a huge desert with valleys formed by rivers and volcanic activity.
Most of what are called the American Viticultural Areas
(AVAs), analogous to appellations in
Europe, are gathered around the Columbia River which provides much needed irrigation and protection from severe frosts in winter.
Within some of the AVAs such as Yakima Valley there are separate sub-appellations with appropriately named western frontier style names such as Rattlesnake Hills and Red Mountain.
It’s this variety of different climatic conditions that make the area so fascinating.
Much of the topsoil is nutrient-poor loess, which is almost like powdered sugar and encourages vines to plough further down.
A Merlot I tasted from Walla Walla AVA was sweetish, bright and elegant, whereas a Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Powers was all violets and mint with fresh acidity.
From Four Flags in the Red Mountain sub-AVA I tasted a Cabernet Sauvignon that had a classic Bordeaux-style savoury nose and depthless fruit with layers of fig and plum.
CHATEAU STE MICHELLE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2016 COLUMBIA VALLEY (Pictured below, £10.99 Majestic)
This elegant Cabernet Sauvignon from the oldest and biggest producer in Washington won’t break the bank and is an excellent introduction to the wines of Washington State. Judicious oak gives the nose a discreet scent of cedar and vanilla while there’s plenty of rich blackcurrant and plum across the palate.
I noticed that the Cabernet Sauvignons from Washington have an affinity with blue cheese and I matched this really well with some sourdough bread topped with mushrooms and Gorgonzola.
Deal of the week
BARBADILLO SOLEAR MANZANILLA (Pictured below left)
down to £9.19 from £11.19 Waitrose) I couldn’t resist bagging a couple of these on a trip to Cheadle Hulme recently where I was actually looking for beer.
If you’ve never sat in the garden on a warm day with a selection of olives and some manchego, possibly some fried padron peppers, and a well-chilled bottle of this to hand, you’ve missed out.
Aged for six years, this straddles the gap between the very fresh styles of Manzanilla Fina and more mature Pasada and gives a little taste of each with aromas of chamomile and fresh lime.
The palate is all fresh apple welded to an umami salinity. Exquisite.