Women Who Wine

Monday, February 13, 2012

Red Wine & Chocolate

A lovely luncheon at Jan Wisness' home today. Great food, decadent desserts and 18 red wines. The winners were:

First place tie went to Kiona Cab/Merlot 2004 and 14 Hands 2002 Merlot.

Second place tie went to Columbia Crest Distant Bay Merlot and Hamilton Cellars 07 Cab.

Third place went to Cooper Cab. Sauv. 2007.

2012 Blending Party

Here are the ingredients to our 2010 Vin Rouge du Rhone......

Monday, February 6, 2012

3rd Wine- New Label

Here is a peek at our new label. I will enlarge it later.....

It means "Red Rhone Wine" and " Together with Friends".

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Moonlight Cellars

On, January 1oth, we had the opportunity to tour Moonlight Cellars in Kennewick to see how Allan Pangborn makes sparkling wines. THANK YOU ALLAN!!!

www.MoonlightCellar.com

His background with Korbel and St. Michelle, inspired him to start his own company. He makes sparklers for Cave B, Hard Row to Hoe in Lake Chelan, TRU in Walla Walla and Masquerade in Bellingham (not in Red. Mtn. anymore) as well as his own, CAFE' METROPOLE ~ BLANC DE BLANC. And now, he will be making bubbly for Women Who Wine...... TBA.

We learned that you need a wine with high acid and low sugar. Allan adds a sugar syrup and yeast to the pre-made wine. The yeast carbonates the wine, the bottles are then stuck upside down in ice to freeze the yeast plugs in their necks. Then the metal caps are removed, the plugs blow out, then the bottle is topped off, corked, then wire caged. This is the simplified version.
Here is the corking machine he uses:
http://www.moonlightcellar.com/news/article.src?ID=1

See another tutorial about riddling:
http://www.riddlingracks.com/pages/history.htm

Tips:

Drink within 1 year.
Store your sparkler upright in a cool, dark place. Chill no more than 2 days before serving. Serve in a fluted glass. Don't use a saucer type glass unless you like your bubbles to go flat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_stemware

To open bottle, remove wire cage, remove foil, hold cork and turn the bottle slowly (not turning the cork) while holding the bottle away from you.

If you'd like to learn more about WA sparklers, get the Winter 2011-2012 issue of Washington Tasting Room magazine (free at any local winery) and turn to page 34.

I think we ought to try following the Europeans example and serve a bubbly as a welcoming wine with appetizers (or even with popcorn or hamburgers!).

We will start this tradition at our next luncheon, Red Wine & Chocolate, Feb. 13. Cheers!

PS. It was great having Miss Vicky back from AZ with us today, too! We miss you girlfriend!

Moonlight Cellars

Monday, December 19, 2011

Holiday Party

A wonderful afternoon of holiday merriment at Debra's. We had a blind Cab tasting, awesome food, and party poppers. Click here for how to make one!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Dream Dinners

We had a really fun day at our Taste & Sip at Dream Dinners- thank you Pat & Terri!! We had some scrumptious meals & appetizers while we sipped on Crystal Light Mango Peach Tea. Here are some photos from the afternoon. Thank you to all the gals that attended and Dream Dinners thanks you for all the new orders. You are gonna love it!

Here's what they served us:

Pecan Crusted Pork Chops with Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Chicken Mirabella, Coconut Shrimp with Sweet & Sour Sauce and Jasmine Rice, Herb Crusted Flank Steak and Sesame Teriyaki Glazed Meatballs with Jasmine Rice

Update: A note from Margaret:

I went Thursday to Dream Dinners and prepared my meals, ordered for January and prelim for February. THANKS. So far, Gene has liked everything I've prepared.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Frost Me Sweet / Cork Class

Great day at Frost Me Sweet on the Parkway. Lots of delicious food (and the BEST cupcakes in the Tri-Cities!), wine, and an informative cork class by Morgan Ganzer- she was AWESOME!