Women Who Wine

3rd Wine- New Label

2012-02-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

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

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

Moonlight Cellars

2012-01-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

Holiday Party

2011-12-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

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!

Dream Dinners

2011-12-07T16:36:00.000-08:00

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.

Frost Me Sweet / Cork Class

2011-11-20T11:45:00.001-08:00

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!

Wine trivia

2011-10-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

Plants expected life in years...40

Years to optimal quality......12

Tons per acre................2

Barrels per ton..............2.54

Gallons per ton..............50

Bottles per ton..............759

Plants per acre..............2,000

Bottles per acre.............1,519

Bottles per plant............0.76

Cases per barrel.............24.9

Bottles per barrel...........299

Berries per cluster.........124

Barrels per acre.............8 to 10

% of cost per bottle

Grapes.....................49%

Packaging................21%

Barrels, labor, facility....30%

Bonair & Two Mountain

2011-10-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

After going to Two Mtn., a few of us went over to Bonair. Afterwards, we stopped at the Old Teapot Gas Station.

2011-10-31T20:34:00.001-07:00

On Oct. 10, we went to Zillah to Two Mountain Vineyards & Winery. We were able to see what a winemaker does all in one day. We went out to the vineyard, tasted the grapes, picked a bunch (with SHOULDERS!), mashed them in a baggie, put the juice on the refractometer to check the brix, and then brought them back to the winery where we learned about yeasts, barrels, storage, etc... Matt, Pat, & Rachel went above & beyond our expectations in sharing the whole experience with us all. Rachel had our lunch all laid out for us and we had wine from the barrel to go along with it. A truly FUN & educational day!

Hard Row To Hoe, Lake Chelan

2011-10-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

9/12/11

2011-09-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

Randy shared his knowledge with us during lunch. One of the things we learned was about what it means to be a bonded winery. His family has been doing this for many years. Sharon and Randy really made this tour special.

Sept. 12, 2011 Chinook

2011-09-20T06:24:00.000-07:00

Kay from Chinook giving us the tour, history, and nice wine tasting.

Labeling Day 8/30/11

2011-08-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

Lunch in the garden at Wine O'Clock. Yummy Pear/Bacon Pizza and Organic Salad

Mary, Gayle, Cyndy, Karen, and Marilyn labeling for John Gabriel behind Coyote Canyon.

Release Party at Tapteil

2011-08-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

Beautiful evening at Tapteil Vineyards. Over 60 people came to enjoy the food, wines, music and ambiance. Anton Sinkov played his classical guitar for us. His # is 551-9882 if you'd like to hire him.

Gayle

Women Who Wine released their new Rojo Hermoso Blend (70% Graciano% 25%Tempranillo with a 5% splash of Syrah ) John Gabriel the wine maker at Coyote Canyon joined the celebration that night. In January he guided us through the blending of some rare to this region, spanish varietals.
These luscious grapes are grown in the beautiful Horse Heaven AVA at Mike Andrews 11oo acre vineyard. Mike who is the owner of the vineyard and Coyote Canyon Winery is making a name for the winery with his great selection of spanish grapes. His Alberino has won 5 double golds since it has been in production. They released their 2009 Michael Andrews Spanish Red this weekend. Check out the link to read John's tasting notes!

Enjoying the wine, the food, and the company set a top Tapteil's lovely vineyards on Red Mountain Friday night, you felt you could have been in the south of France. Thank you Larry and Jane for hosting such a wonderful evening. I am in love with your 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon!!! Cindy

Columbia Crest...Best Wine Tour of the Year!

2011-06-23T00:33:00.000-07:00

I think we should make this an annual event! Our spring tour to Columbia Crest was just simply outstanding. As the largest winery in Washington State we tend to overlook this giant in the land. Big is not always better. Well in this case it most certainly is! Did you know they have 6 tiers of wine? Most of us are familiar with the Two Vine, Grand Estates and H3...but there is so much more to this great winery.

As special guests on an amazing tour of this mammoth facility

This was a diagram of the bottling line...it was huge!

WWW were treated at the end of our tour with a special tasting of a champagne called Luxe which is only sold to the restaurant industry. As we all took our first sip our eyes opened wide as our palettes were opened up to new levels of delight. I bought two bottles. The best champagne I have ever tasted, and even though you may say what do I know about champagne? Well not too much...ha ha, but we did taste 24 different bottles in November and I learned what I did not like. (Check out our adventure on Bubbly Day) We were then treated to several wines from the Grand Estates collection and then the H3 goodies. What came next was a special treat. As we were on the tour we passed by a few private tastings going on.

I was able to catch a quick picture of "Ray Einberger whose 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon became the first Washington wine to be named ‘Wine of the Year’ by Wine Spectator in 2009." while he was conducting a tasting with a dignitary from India.

Waltor Clore Reserve

Our tour guide Michelle Getchell said, why let the opened bottles from the Waltor Clore Reserve collection go to waste? She then ran down to the winery and gathered the open bottles for us from the private tasting and to our great delight shared these bottles with our group. I was actually floored by the hospitality we received on this trip. Just one example of this was a new gal that I had invited to join us who was fairly new to wine tasting and was only into tasting a few light white wines.

Head White Winemaker Laura Surge sharing her vast knowledge and enthusiasm with our gals.

Well that did not even begin to daunt Winemaker Laura Surge for one second. Next thing I knew she was setting my friend up at a special tasting to give her palette a chance to discover the wonders of Columbia Crest white wines. I had to take a peek at what was going on when I myself discovered the delicious white Grand Estates Moscato which I then purchased for our Easter brunch. Really...I was so impressed. Then to top off the whole event we were as a group treated to a very special discount and I am telling you what~ our WWW did not disappoint. We bought their wine by the case load.

Touring Ideas

2011-06-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

Go to : http://www.winepressnw.com/2010/06/07/4827/100-great-northwest-wine-country.html to find some new ideas for your next wine tour.

Coming this October!

2011-06-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

During Crush, we will become Winemakers for a Day. A special winemaker will show us how wine is made, from the vine to the glass. This is a hands-on class. More details to come..........

We won AGAIN!

2011-05-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

I went to Katya's in Richland tonight to join the Brown Bag Monday group. They were blind tasting Tempranillo's and Blended White Wines.

There were more white wine entries. The winners were:

First Place= Willow Crest Pinot Gris (even though it wasn't a blend)

Second Place = Waterbrook Melange'

Third Place + Bookwalter Cuplet

Tempranillos:

First Place= Women Who Wine Rojo Hermoso

Second Place= Creta Roble

The others smelled like barnyards, so they didn't even place.

Next time you go to Katya's, order the spinach/artichoke/red pepper/cheese dip with the grilled flatbread- to DIE for!

The Brown Bag group is a lot of fun (they all take notes on their I-Phones and Twitter). Ran into our favorite farmer Neil, too.

Name that Winery or Event!

2011-04-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

Our latest and greatest event!

I was looking back through some WWW pictures and I thought some re posts would be fun. So... can you name the winery we are at and or which event? Post your answers under comments, extra points for year and month =) Hint, hint one picture is of our very first winery and one of our last.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

Picture 7

Picture 8

Picture 9

Please feel free to add on any group pictures you have of a different event! If you are not sure how to post a picture send the file to Cindy or Gayle.

Gayle's answer:

1. Columbia Crest
2.MaryAnns Red Wine & Chocolate
3. 1st trip for WWW- Basel Cellars in WALLA WALLA
4. Carol's Chardonnay tasting
5. Bottling behind Coyote Canyon- 1st vintage
6. Portrait Cellars in the cellar with Neil Cooper & Eve Shaw
7. Milbrandt
8. Makyla's Red Wine & Chocolate
9. Bubbly Day at Miss Vicky's

April 23, 2011 7:43 AM

Great job!

Columbia Crest Tour

2011-04-20T21:38:00.001-07:00

Best tour of the year by Michelle Getchell (Guest Services) and Laura Surge (Winemaker)

WWW MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

2011-03-08T16:50:00.001-08:00

Our Membership Policy has been and will continue to be by invitation only. We are not open to the general public. New members will be proposed by current members only by emailing their info (name, phone number, and email address) to Gayle.

Our numbers are bursting at the seams. We are in the process of reassessing and updating our current list to active members. If you would like to be removed from our list, please email Gayle.

Information regarding our events and all WWW current news will in the future be addressed through private email.

Please keep in mind our events need an emailed RSVP response so that we may plan appropriately for each event. Some events will be limited in number. If you are not able to make an event you signed up for, please email Gayle as soon as possible so we can adjust our plans accordingly.

We certainly appreciate all of you wonderful WWW ladies and are looking forward to a great new season of Women Who Wine!

We won!

2011-03-08T10:05:00.000-08:00

From Scott Abernathy via Facebook:

There were 10 wines tonight at the blind tasting of "SuperTuscan" wines at Cooper Winery. Two of them were pairs - Pontin Del Roza and an Italian wine. Women Who Wine Bella Vino took first place and both Pontin wines finished in the top 4. The other was an Italian wine that had no Sangiovese in it! Congratulations!

From Neil Cooper:

Almost unanimous!
~coop (iPhone)

Barnard Griffin Day

2011-03-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

We are full!

YOU TUBE

2011-02-14T20:46:00.000-08:00

A BIG thank you to Sherrie Croshaw who photographed and videotaped our blending and bottling day. Now everyone can see us in action! Also, to her talented son JAKE who produced, edited, added music, and posted it for us!!!

Another BIG THANKS to Dusty Kenny, our label designer, and to Pat Meyer our label printer. It takes a village to get it all together, so thank you all who made it possible!

Tip:

2011-02-10T15:06:00.001-08:00

TIP FOR ALL THE NEW GALS:

We all try to use unscented products when going to a wine tasting (hair, skin, body, deodorant-- perfume free). It's not just because of allergies, it's so we can really smell and taste the wine better.

THANK YOU! :>)

More wine tasting tips, click on the link to" Women Who Wine in Washington" on OUR BLOG LIST to the left.

Scroll down to the Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 entry titled"Wine touring tips".

Also, in our "WORTHY LINKS" area, a blog about ETIQUETTE, also.

Red Wine & Chocolate Day

2011-02-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

Thank you Sandi for hosting us today. It was fun, relaxing, and there was so much good food!!!! Loved Sandi's soup! To see our recipes, click on the RECIPE box above.

We had a lot of new gals join us today and they all brought some really good wines to share.

Here are our winners:

#1 H3 (Horse Heaven Le Chevaux '08) YUMMO!

#2 Milbrant '07 Malbec

#3 Three way tie: '07 Arbor Crest ?/ Smasne Red Vine County Line/ Columbia Crest '03 Merlot

February Events

2011-02-07T12:20:00.001-08:00

Red Wine and Chocolate on Thursday, Feb. 10th from 11 to 3pm in Sandi Whistler's home. Please bring your wine glass, too. RSVP to Gayle.

Bottling Day at Kestrel from 1:30 to 2:45 on Saturday, Feb. 12. There may be extra Rojo Hermoso and extra Cab for sale.

Salsa with your Sweetheart at Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Prosser

http://www.alexandrianicolecellars.com/breaking-news/salsa-with-your-sweetie

Blending Day and Bottling Day

2011-01-24T20:35:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, January 15th we went to Kestrel's barrel room to blend our next vintage. John Gabriel had over 20 barrels down from the racks for us to sniff and taste. Thank you all for coming and bringing your yummy appetizers and husbands. The hubbies were so well behaved, we'll invite them back again!

The good news is, I think we will have an OUTSTANDING wine to start drinking in August. We tasted Cabs, Merlots, Cab Franc, Syrah, Malbec, Tempranillo and a new grape- Graciano.

As you know, we hadn't printed our labels yet until we decided what we were making. Well, we did an about-face and chose the Rioja Spanish blend (30% Tempranillo and 70% Graciano) instead of the Bordeaux blend. It was deeper in color, a little on the spicy side, a gorgeous mid-palate and a long, enticing finish. It’s a wine with impeccable balance that will drink well young and age beautifully.

What a fluke that we just had our Spanish wine tasting day and the winner was a Tempranillo!

So, now we get to bottle it! The new bottling date is Saturday, Feb. 12th at 1:30pm behind Kestrel again. Be prepared to work on the production line; moving boxes, bottles, gasing them, filling them, corking them, putting the capsules on, labeling them and then boxing them!

If you have a few more friends that want to join us and buy some of our wine, let Gayle know that you are interested. This may be our last time to do this.........

ps. the new name means "BEAUTIFUL RED"

Lisa Day Mosaic Class

2011-01-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

Time to sign up for Lisa Day's Mosaic Class.

It is Feb 15 & 17 at 6 pm (you can get there at 5 if you want, too) in her home studio in W. Richland.

She has lowered the price just for us- it is now only $50. You can bring your own project to work on (tabletop, picture frame, bowling ball yard art, or?) I do have about 12 bowling balls I will donate to you to use if you don't have any other ideas.

Please RSVP to me by Feb 7th. The class is limited to 12

Spanish Wines and Tapas Day

2011-01-11T16:04:00.000-08:00

What a great day! We had glass painting, great food, blind tasting of 14 or so wines, and the Aroma Class by Carol Sanford. That was very informative and fun! Thank you Carol!!

The winners were:

#1 2008 Tempranillo by Desert Wind $20 from the winery in Prosser

#2 Tie- 2005 Marques De Caceres $14 , Fred Meyer

and 2006 Finca La Estacada $14, Pasco Yokes

#3 2006 Rejadorada Tinto Roble $18, Pasco Yokes

A BIG thanks to Lisa Day for hosting in her beautiful home.

New Winery Open in Richland- Hamilton Cellars

2011-01-05T13:57:00.001-08:00

If you like Malbec's, this is the place to go! They have Malbec flights (which I recommend), Bordeaux blend flights called Bona Vita. The Malbec flight includes a Rose' of Malbec. They also have a very nice floral white wine. My favorites were the '07 Merlot and the '07 Malbec. Prices run around the $26- 30. range. They have a $5. tasting fee and also a wine club. Wine club members have their own special room with a fireplace and bar. This summer there will be an outdoor patio.

If you'd like their hours, click on the heading above.

Charlie Hoppes is their winemaker and I think he did a very fine job sourcing the grapes and blending for them. Be sure and stop by and tell them you are a WWW!

2011 Events

2010-12-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

January 10 from 11 to 3. Bring a Spanish Tapas, a bottle of Spanish Wine (white or red and wrapped in foil) and your own wine glass (or 2) to paint. We'll have a very loose, informal aroma class with our favorite Wine Woman, Carol. Bring a notepad to take notes.

Lisa Days house in W. Richland. 2 spaces left.

January 15. Kestrel Barrel Room ( behind the tasting room), Prosser. Blending party with John Gabriel at 1:30pm. This will be limited to those that have already pre-paid for their cases.

4 cases left.

FEB. 12~ Bottling @ 1:30 in the Kestrel Barrel room.

February 10 ~ Sandi Whistler is hosting this event in her home in W. Richland. Red wine and chocolate theme (or anything pertaining to Valentine's Day)

February 15 & 17 Mosaic Class at Lisa Day's. Must sign up ahead of time. More details to come.

March 8, Barnard Griffin Tasting, 11am, Richland. No charge, but please purchase some wine. They are letting us bring our appetizers and desserts into their winery. Barnard Griffin has been a regular winner in our WWW blind tastings. BRAVO!

"Down Under" tasting with Alice from Shingleback and Red Knot by Precept Wine Brands. TBA

Results from the Bordeaux tasting

2010-12-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

25 WWW showed up at Miss Charlenes house for a day of food, wine, & Apres Vin products. That was YUMMY, fun and educational all at the same time. THANK YOU ERIC AND LORI!!!

After carefully tasting all 15 wines, the winners were:

#1 Mouton Cadet Rothschild

#2 Barnard Griffin Cab/Merlot Blend

#3 Smasne Cellars County Line

2009 Bordeaux Orders

2010-12-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

We are ready to start taking orders for your WWW 2009 Bordeaux wine. We need to buy 25 cases for one barrel of wine. With 76 WWW members, we may run out! 1st come, 1st serve.....

As of January 5th, we have 4 cases left.

John says that the grapes have all come the Horse Heaven Hills. The price is $18 per bottle and $216. per case. Please send me your personal check made out to JOHN J. GABRIEL in the amount of $216. before January 8th to assure your case. We will give John your check, collect the tax balance and the $3. for your labels at the blending party on January 15. If you would like to split a case with a friend, that will be fine, but still send me one check and include both your names for our records. We are only selling cases of 12, not by the bottle.

Email Gayle if you need the address for mailing.

Bordeaux Tasting and Apres Vin

2010-11-29T20:58:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, December 7th is our next event. We will be meeting at Miss Charlene's house in South Richland to taste test some Bordeaux blends for our next vintage. The folks from Apres Vin will be there to give us a taste of their wonderful grapeseed oils, too. As always, bring an appetizer to share. More info to come in your next email.

Click on the title above to see more about Apres Vin.

Blending Day

2010-11-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

We have a definite date to blend our next wine. It's Saturday, January 15. More news to come...

Bubbly Day

2010-11-10T06:26:00.000-08:00

Our bubbly tasting was a HUGE success! Over 24 WWW showed up at Miss Vicky's home armed with great food and a disguised bottle to try. Can you imagine the work it takes to try 24 bottles?!

Thanks to Jan for making our score sheets and tallying the winners. They are:

1st Place~ Cooks Spumante (are you kidding me?!! $3. ??)

2nd Place ~ Barefoot Bubbly Moscato Spumante (Green label)

3rd Place ~ Shingleback Black Bubbles Sparkling Shiraz

4th Place ~ Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante

5th Place ~ Segura Viudas Brut Reserva

6th Place ~ Adriano Adami Prosecco

And a BIG thank you goes to Miss Vicky for hosting in her home~ she did an awesome job!

Some great food

How very surprised we all were to find out what our WWW favorite champagne was :)

TUESDAY, November 9

2010-10-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 11am, at Vicki's. Theme is blind tasting Sparkling Wine, Champagne, or Prosecco. Bring an appetizer to share (plus the recipe) and your own champagne glass or flute. We will be brainstorming our next label. Bring ideas with you. RSVP to Gayle.

October 5th, Walla Walla Adventure

2010-09-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 5th is our next outing. The plan is to go to Walla Walla to an airport winery, Revelry. http://www.revelrywines.com/

No tasting fees and all wines under $20 (except for a Reserve). You will love Jared and his wines. He has a bordeaux blend with a lot of Cab Franc that you will want to try (and maybe we can imitate his blend in our next vintage?). If we have time, we can hit Tamarac or Russell Creek.

Lunch @ noon is potluck at Catie's new store (we get to be the first for a soft opening:>). You can bring your own dish or pick one up next door at http://www.salumierecesario.com/

Bon Appetit'......

Zillah Tour

2010-09-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

Thirteen women showed up at Starbucky's Thursday morning. I'm sure the patrons wondered what was going on in the parking lot- a Chinese Fire Drill? Anyway, we headed to CULTURA where we had the BEST experience tasting of the day. We all loved Sarah and Tad, their darling tasting room, BATHROOM- OMG!, and the big barrel room full of French Oak Barrels (and one token Hungarian). My personal favorite was the Cab Franc.

We loaded up the 3 cars and caravaned up to Silver Lake. We were supposed to have lunch there, but our plans quickly changed. 'Nuf said. We did get some great ideas for winter crafts and for our next label.

Drove back down the road to Maison De Padgett. The ladies there were super sweet and the gardens were to die for! Cindy, you missed a good garden! We quickly unpacked our picnic and went inside to buy a glass of wine to have with lunch. The girls did an amazing job once again with all the awesome goodies. Maison's specialties are Muscats and Ports. I liked the one red- the Sangiovese.

We took a vote whether to go to Hyatt or up to the Bed & Breakfast with the Te-Pee's and they voted for the winery. We'll have to go back to see those again.

I believe that the Women Who Wine now have palate's to distinguish Rattlesnake Hills/ Yakima Valley terroir

( the combination of factors, including soil, climate,and environment, that gives a wine its distinctive character)
[literally: soil]

from other Washington AVA's.

Please put Oct. 5th on your calendars for the next outing. We are going to have a PRIVATE soiree at Catie McIntyre's "Wild Woman of Walla Walla" new wine store! Try to say that fast!

Catch the Crush

2010-09-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of participants and what they are offering. Click on the heading to get the link.

ZILLAH, Sept. 9, 2010

2010-08-30T22:57:00.000-07:00

Or “I’M SO GLAD THAT SCHOOL HAS STARTED GET-AWAY”

8:45AM. Meet at Starbucky’s off Queensgate by Target.
Park out away from the store. If you want coffee, get there earlier so we can all leave at 9am. Be sure to have cash & gas in your car before arriving. If you want to meet up with us later, I can send you the itinerary ahead of time.

Caravan to Zillah & get off at exit 54. Go to the Teapot for a QUICK photo op @ 9:45.
10am Cultura Winery with Tad & Sarah http://www.culturawine.com/
11am Silver Lakes http://www.silverlakewinery.com
PICNIC
1pm Hyatt (Carrie) http://www.hyattvineyards.com/

or Bonair http://www.bonairwine.com/
2pm Piety Flats http://www.pietyflatswinery.com/

or head home
Back to Starbuckys by 3.

If any of you have to leave early, be sure to ride with people that have the same schedule. Designated drivers sip & dump.
As always, bring an appetizer to share, a water bottle, walking shoes, & cooler for your wine. It’s always good to bring ca$h in case you want to go in on a case with others.
For our newbie’s, if you’d like to learn tasting etiquette or touring tips, go to our other blog Women Who Wine WA (click on title)
RSVP so we can organize drivers ahead of time and let wineries know how many to expect. Thank you!

Blue Mtn. Spanish Sound and the Women Who Wine

2010-08-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

2010-08-30T22:50:00.000-07:00

More Tapteil Party photos

2010-08-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Our First Release Party!

2010-08-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

We were all looking in different directions :)

What a wonderful night we had. The view was outstanding, the food amazing, and the wine was spectacular!!! Thank you so much to our host winery Tapteil, and the duo "Blue Mountain Spanish Sound" for a delightful evening.

What a great culmination of events this evening was. For most of us it was our very first taste of our Bella Vino Super Tuscan Blend 2008 . A journey that for some of us started two years ago with maybe a dozen gals. Now we are boasting a loose membership of over 63 women. Who knows what is next for this amazing bunch of ladies who are out to explore the wine and the wine regions surrounding our home town base of Tri Cities, in eastern Washington. This winter we had an offer we couldn't refuse when John Gabriel proposed to help us custom blend and bottle our very own barrel of wine. John the wine maker helped walk us through a fun day, tasting and sipping, and blending from nine barrels of his amazing wine he had stored at Kestrel's. After the process of blending our wine, we met up at a later date to bottle the wine. Thanks to the gracious hospitality of Coyote Canyon who allowed us the use of their facility.

(Click on the blue to follow the links)

Some of the husbands...not to be left out of the party

Now begins the third year of this great adventure. Come join us and see what we will be up to this year!

Tapteil at Zinful

2010-07-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

Location: ZINFUL Panini Grill & Wine Bar, downtown Kennewick
Time: 5:00PM - 8:30pm, Wednesday, August 4th
Check it out on Facebook (Zinful's or Tapteil's)

TAPTEIL EVENT, AUGUST 13, 6:30 pm

2010-07-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

Wine &Hors d'oeuvre's Evening at Tapteil Winery in Benton City on FRIDAY, AUGUST 13 AT 6:30PM. Special entertainment by BLUE MOUNTAIN SPANISH SOUND.

Come celebrate our 1st release of W.W.W.Bella Vino!

Tapteil again has generously donated their site for our adult-only event again this year. It is located at the north end of Sunset Rd. in Benton City. For directions, go to www.tapteil.com

Click on Winery and then MAP.

Please bring an appetizer to share and if you are a sweet wine fan, please BYOB.

Tapteil has a dry Chardonnay, a Syrah, and 2 outstanding Cabernet's to choose from. Willowbrook residents, WOMEN WHO WINE and their guests can purchase their wines at the family discount of 30% off!

WILLOWBROOK COMMUNITY CLUB will provide the soft drinks and water bottles. Please come even if you don't imbibe..... We always have a fun group with WONDERFUL food. Invite your friends to carpool.

If you would like to donate $5 to help pay our musicians, that would be wonderful!

Wear some nice duds and bring a jacket (it gets chilly when the sun goes down). We may be taking pictures for our next vintage label. Women Who Wine~ bring a bottle of your Bella Vino to share, also.

Please RSVP to Gayle at 627-5579 or email gayleepie@charter.net

Cooper Wine Company 6/15/10

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Red Mountain Tour

Our second stop was the new COOPER. Neil and D.B. Cooper greeted us outside and then showed us the new digs - all spiffed up and ready to show off his awesome wines. We can hardly wait until we can buy them.

Neil Cooper

Third stop was at Eve & Ed Shaw's Portrait Cellars. Ed was somewhere buying some new winery toys and missed out on a wonderful lunch and tasting. Eve sneaked us down into the cellar to try the newest Riesling and Cab that will be bottled in the next few weeks. We will want some of THAT, too!

Portrait Cellars

Our last stop was to Linda Andrew's Art & Glass Studio. We were in awe of all the techniques she uses. See for yourself in these photos. A very successful day in Red Mountain.....

Have fun on your vacations and we'll see you on August 13.

Don Carlo Vineyard

2010-05-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Don Carlo Vineyard, established in 2007 and located in Milton-Freewater, is owned and operated by Tim and Lori Kennedy. Prior to owning the vineyard Tim made potato chips.....awesome potato chips. In fact, Tim is the Tim in Tim's Cascade Chips! I was quite excited to learn this because Tim's Chips have been my family's favorites for years. And after tasting the Kennedy's wines, it's obvious they put as much love into their new endeavor as they did the last.

This picture of the vines being planted was very cleverly taken by Karen Sowers - it's actually a picture of a picture! Looks real doesn't it? In the previous picture you can see Lori showing/explaining to Michelle the various stages of the vineyard's progress by using the pictures on the coffee table. It is from one of these that Karen took her picture.

We're on YouTube!

2010-05-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here is Catie's video from our Walla Walla tour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCsRyiBs9Y&feature=autofb

Petit Noirs Chocolates

2010-05-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Va Piano

2010-05-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

Balboa

2010-05-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Balboa, a spur of the moment stop, is where we had lunch....Gayle called a few minutes before we descended to ask permission to have our picnic lunch in their tasting room - the weather was too cold to have it where we had originally planned. Not only were we welcomed, but they moved their bistro patio tables and chairs inside for us....all in about 5 minutes! This was a really fun stop and their wines were voted "fav of the day" by many. Thanks, guys!!

Saviah

2010-05-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Traditionally, lavendar is planted at the ends of the rows of grape vines to attract bees for pollenation and to ward off unwanted insects.

Longshadow

2010-05-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 10th

2010-05-04T16:48:00.001-07:00

We stepped it up and went to FIVE wineries & a chocolate boutique in one day. We definitely needed to pace ourselves.

1. Don Carlo
2. Petits Noirs FABULOUS chocolate
3. Va Piano
4. Balboa ~ picnic here
5. Saviah Cellars
6. LongShadows

Catie McIntyre Walker joined the 11 of us ( she's the Wild Woman of Walla Walla) See her blog link ~ Through The Walla Walla Grapevines.

This Month's Wineries: Upland Estates & Goose Ridge

2010-04-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

The wineries Gayle chose for us to visit this month were incredible! We started with Upland Estates located on Snipes Mtn, Washington's 10th AVA. While we were tasting several of their wines, proprietor Todd Newhouse, shared with us some of the truly remarkable history of this family owned and operated winery. This is a picture of one of the vinifera grapevines planted by William B. Bridgman in 1917 and is the actual vine used on their label today. It kind of looks like the Keeper-of-the-Vineyard to me..... Established in 1934, Upland was the first winery in Washington to commercially produce fortified wine - the wine we drink today. For more history about this award winning winery and the mountain on which it sits, visit http://www.uplandwinery.com/

The view from atop Snipes Mountain. Approximately 800 acres are devoted to wine grapes used in Upland's wines and in 20 other wineries. An additional 500 acres are devoted to cherries, apricots, nectarines, peaches, prunes, pears, apples, juice grapes, and table grapes.

The fruit trees are all in bloom - beautiful!

Our ubiquitous dust devils. They're actually pretty cool to watch. All of a sudden they'd appear...then just as quickly...poof...they're gone!

"Hmmmm, I wonder if I could do something like this...."

It's wild to think that these vines are almost 100 years old and still producing!! I bet they're really spooky looking in the dark...with a full moon....

Goose Ridge was our last stop. Their new facility is beautiful - to the left there's a big fireplace (they had a fire going for us) with big comfy leather furniture in front of it, in the center there's several pub tables with bar stools around them and the tasting room is to the right. Everyone brought an appetizer/salad/desert to share and as usual it was awesome!

Gordon of DAVENLORE entertaining behind the bar

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2010-03-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

2010-03-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

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Cork Art

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Carol's cute apron

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All of us at Davenlore

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Jimee & Bonnie - looks like Tea with the Queen!

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Lunch at Dykstra House

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DYKSTRA HOUSE

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No green beer for Charlene!

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Beautiful bar & Connie Soto Murphy art in the Tasting Room

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Trent & Brad show us the presses

2010-03-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

We have our noses in the barrels AGAIN! (coffee)

2010-03-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Class is in session

2010-03-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

The laboratory

2010-03-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Trent Ball Yakima Valley Community College Agriculture Program, Chair Vineyard and Winery Technology

2010-03-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

March 15 trip to Y.V.C.C.

2010-03-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

Red Wine and Chocolate

2010-02-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

Our February get together had a focus on red wine and chocolate. We did a blind tasting with 12 bottles of wine. Wow!

Serious wine tasting going on here. Legs, no legs, long finish, hint of cherry, let me just taste that one more time :)

Bonnie got drawn in when we all got excited about a certain syrah that she had brought. Her Barnard Griffin 2007 Syrah came in second place! Their 2007 Cabernet came in third. We were all very impressed with our local Richland winery.

There was food tasting

chocolate sipping

and glass tipping

The big surprise was our number one first place winner!

Hard Row to Hoe Cabernet Franc
2006 Riverbend Vineyard Wahluke Slope

A delicious and smooth offering that will penetrate your palate leaving you lusting for more.

This was a chance bottle gifted to Marsha from her neighbors.

Of the four newest Washington appellations authorized within the Columbia Valley AVA, the Wahluke Slope may hold the most untapped potential. An 81,000-acre triangular slice of desolate scrubland, it is nestled above the Columbia River in south-central Washington, and wins high marks for the way its concentrated heat ripens Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Thanks Marsha for taking all the great pictures!

Feb. Red Wine & Chocolate

2010-02-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous day at MaryAnn's house. There were 12 wines and as many appetizers- groan- All SO delicious! We're going to have to start a WWW Cookbook! Who wants to type the recipes? Maybe we could sell them to pay for our wine trip to Hawaii!!!

Just a minute while I unbutton my pants- oh-sorry.

For those of you unable to come today, we had a blind tasting. The # 1 winner was HARD ROW TO HOE, CABERNET FRANC 2006, the majority of the grapes were from the Riverbend Vineyard, Wahluke Slope. Here's what the Columbian said about it:

"This Cabernet Franc is a beautifully complex wine that has cherry, pipe tobacco, green peppercorns, strawberry, and cocoa flavors opening to a broad palate and firm tannins."
We also had fun reading the label- now we have to go to Lake Chelan to get the whole story on the label.
We also had some Barnard Griffin winners. If anyone wrote them down, please let me know the runners up.

Lunch at Milbrandt Winery

2010-01-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

Caroline, Gayle, Cindy & Marsha

Paine and Nancy at the milking machine

2010-01-17T21:36:00.000-08:00

Quality Controls & Production Managers

2010-01-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

WHAT A DAY!

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Julie & John McDonald at their first event

Brett & Karen are hard workers.

Good job Karen!

What a Day!

I was so blessed by all the guys and gals that showed up on Saturday to help with bottling 653 bottles of wine (according to my husbands calculations). I know this was such a blessing to John to be able to meet so many of you and to sell two barrels of his wine. He sent me a truly thankful text last night.

John's surprise gift from Marsha...her famous blue cheese pecan appetizers.

As for us, it was such a unique opportunity to see and experience so much of the process it takes to produce a bottle of wine. Maybe our next big venture should be planting a vineyard...hehehe...apparently you never know what can happen to a seemingly innocent group of women who were just setting out to explore the wine region around their community....

Michelle Bell's amazing signature footwear for the day.

My pictures did not turn out very good with the lighting and my cheap snap and shoot...so I had a little fun with them to document part of the day. Many more pictures I am sure will be forth coming.

A big thanks again to all, and especially Gayle our fearless leader, her helpers (you know who you are) and of course Mr. John Gabriel. Also one big thank you to Mike Andrews of Coyote Canyon for sharing his facilities with us for the day. And bless the gal pouring in the front for putting up with all our hoopla.

Our new baby

2010-01-11T22:56:00.000-08:00

Our first wine was blended today. I think we all did pretty well for first timers. We came up with this formula:

67% Sangiovese in a French Oak (#108) barrel from the Elerding Vineyard in Horse Heaven Hills.

30% Cabernet Sauvignon In an American Oak (#111) From Smasne Vineyard in H.H.H.

3% Syrah (#104) from Kestrel Vineyards, H.H.H.

I love the picture of MaryAnn and all of us with our noses in the Cab barrels. The Cab had a coffee/tobacco smell that we couldn't get enough of.

I think we'll have to have a party next August when we can open our first bottles.

A BIG thank you to Jimee and Cindy who took all our photos to commemorate this event.

Another BIG thanks to Muscat Pat for the excellent job printing our labels.

John was a wonderful host and teacher and we can't wait to work with him again in the future.

Karen & Yvonne, Nancy & Linda

2010-01-11T22:39:00.000-08:00

An Amazing Day!

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It was such a fun day. I loved experiencing this with old friends and new ones. Women Who Wine, has blended their first barrel of wine and are planning on bottling and labeling our wine this Sat. in the back of Coyote Canyons facilities. Today we met at Kestrel's warehouse with such a treat in store for us. John Gabrielle led us in a very informative experience as we tasted and blended our way to a Super Tuscan Blend. John provided some great appetizers to help our palates along. John is a French trained chef as well as a vintner, both special talents led to a unique experience.

Thank you so much John for offering us this wonderful opportunity. And a big thanks to Gayle our amazing K-Syrah who put all her organizing talent to work for us on this special day.

The icing on the cake at the end of the day was to find out that the colors on our label that had been designed for us by Dusty Kenny was a perfect match to our bottle and cap. Thank you so much Dusty! We were all delighted.

It's a DREAM COME TRUE!

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Women Who Wine will be making Washington history in January. Our first vintage will be blended, bottled and labeled by the Women Who Wine. The official govt. label for the back of the bottle will be supplied by John. The Bella Vino label was designed by Dusty Kenny in Calif.

John Gabrielle from Coyote Canyon will be helping us blend from his barrels on Monday, January 11th at 10am. I believe it will be done at Coyote Canyon, but we'll let you know for sure as the date gets closer.

Then bring your husbands on Saturday, January 16th at 1pm to help us bottle, label, & box. I can't think of anything more exciting than this! I can't wait to make our 2010 SUPER TUSCAN!!!!

Email any ideas you may have for names, labels, colors, etc.......

B.F.F. Wine? I wish we had a good photo of us all.

Whoda thunk we'd be winemakers?

Women Who Wine doing a preview tasting of our first Super Tuscan blend! It was so fun ladies, thanks for joining us today !

Talk to Muscat Pat if you would like to purchase one of her wine bottle lights. She showed off her lovely wares today! Gorgeous looking cheese plates too!

2010 Calendar

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Jan. 11, 10am WWW Wine Blending at Coyote Canyon
12:00 Wine O'Clock lunch
Jan. 16 1pm WWW Wine Bottling with John
Feb. @ Mary Ann Burrows
March @ Jeannie McPhersons
April 12? Upland Vineyards
May 10? Cooper and Portrait Cellars in Red Mountain
June ~ Davenlore & Mercer
July ~New Walla Walla wineries
August 13 Willowbrook & WWW with husbands 6:30pm @Tapteil
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.

Dec. 3rd Coyote Canyon

2009-11-22T23:42:00.000-08:00

Women Who Wine will be meeting on December 3rd, 2009 in town at my home for a special tasting of Coyote Canyon's latest award winning wines at 12:00 noon.

You are welcome to invite a friend, and bring an appetizer for some yummy food pairing and wine tasting. A very special friend of mine and Coyote Canyon's wine maker John Gabrielle will be joining us for a great day. Take a break from the holiday rush, and meet some of Willowbrook's friends.

Please email me to RSVP and for direction to my home at roses4cindy@hotmail.com

Cheese Louise

2009-11-02T23:04:00.000-08:00

November gathering at Cheese Louise

I finally figured out how to download a picture from my IPhone ladies...ridiculous I know =}

We did have a wonderful time at this new downtown Richland shop. The cheese & wine parings were a great experience. We had several choices of cheeses, olives, and various breads and crackers. Several new ladies joined us, and a good time was had by all.

Coyote Canyon

2009-10-28T00:06:00.000-07:00

When you get up to the top of the hill at Coyote Canyon Vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills the view is quite expansinve. For miles and miles you drive through dry land wheat till you finally hit this oais of green.

On top of the hill are placed three humugous metal crosses. If you ask owner Mike Andrews about the crosses you get a simple down to earth explanaiton of Jesus Christ's work on the cross for each and everyone of us.

We were encouraged to visit the tasting room at The Winemakers Loft (studio A, in Vintner's Village Prosser) last spring when a good friend of our's John Gabriell started doing some blending for Coyote Canyon's fairly new venture in wine making. You see they have been growing grapes in the region for a very long time. Selling grapes to 27 wineries. Click here for the list!

We stopped by and to our delight fell in love with so many of their wines, and their great prices. As we found ourselves giving many wine tours this summer to family and friends. The one tasting room we always went back to was Coyote Canyon. As Linda began to recognizes us from our consistent visiting, she mentioned the wine club. The light bulb went on. We had been hoping to find a wine club over the summer's wine tasting tours. We signed up and bought some more of their delicious wine at 20% off, and were immediatly encouraged to join them this fall for the first meeting of The Coyote Canyon Wine club.

We were not quite sure what to expect, but as we got to the top of the hill where the club was meeting we were greeted by this. Owner Mike Andrews giving a talk on the winery and the amazing history of his family on this wonderful piece of property that has been handed down through the generations.

The view was so expansive I was having a hard time focusing on the event :)

Pretty soon though I was drawn in by the musical entertainment, and the down home barbeque. Oh...and of course the wine!

There was a good natured wine stomping contest...the winning team receiving a case of wine!

Free tours around the vineyard. Ours was acompanied by a Nashville singer, as he serenaded us per request. We heard one very soulful version of Desperado that moistened a few eyes...as we toured the property.

It seems Coyote Canyon is becoming a family adventure. As my sister (click on sister to check out her post) sits on top of her Montana home site enjoying their wine at the end of a long day.

This past weekend, my son, daughter and son-in-law got a peek behind the scenes workings of the winery. Josh and Tyler got to help punch down the grapes. While we all enjoyed a preview of next year's product as John Gabriell who is now working as their wine maker gave us the tour.

Some of our family favorites: Megan "Life is a Rose" Josh "Cabernet Sauvignon" Tyler "Roussanne" Dan "Mourvedre" I am torn between the "Viognier & Sangiovese" and everybody loves the "Albarino"

John has said yes to a request to come to my home in December to do a wine tasting for our WWW club. Let me know who is interested?

October Wine

2009-10-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely trip out to Makyla's today. She welcomed us into her special wine room. We cozied up to the bar and had an nice visit over some great appetizers and a wonderful assortment of reds. By the way those of us who attended got an inside tip on a great deal at the Gage Albertson's. I stopped by, did anyone else???

I enjoyed getting to visit a little bit more intimately with some of my neighbors and our hostess.

On the way I home I simply had to pull over and snap some pictures of the beautiful Columbia in it's fall decor. What a great drive you have out to your place everyday Makyla.

Thank you so much for the invite.

September 2009 Wine O' Clock

2009-10-01T13:35:00.001-07:00

September Outing!!!

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YIPPPPEEEE! Why is it that we're always SO happy that September is here? Is it because our sweet, wonderful children are finally off to school again? Is it because the grapes are ripening and it will only be a few weeks untill they get picked? We love Fall no matter why......

Well, I keep hoping we can leave tomorrow for our jaunt, but we have to wait until Sept. 14th.

Meet at K. Syrah's house at 9am, bring your cooler or wine bag. We are off to Sunnyside to a SPECIAL location. It's a winery that is not open to the public AND was mentioned in the Wine Spectator this month. See photo of their vineyard.

I will tell you that lunch & tasting will be in Prosser at Wine O'Clock and then to another new winery around there. Are you all in suspense?

So far, the WWW that are going are: Ann, Jodi, Cindy, Pat, Karen and a newbie- TRACI !! Anyone else?

Anyone up for a girls night out at Alexandra Nicole? Thursday night, October 1st in Prosser. Mark your calendars. Makyla will tell us more later......

POOL PARTY

2009-07-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

Women who Wine with their Husbands! Please come to a casual pool party/bbq at K. Syrah's house on Saturday, July 25th@ 5pm. We will throw something on the barbie, you can bring a bottle of vino and a side dish (or one of your wonderful appetizers or desserts). Come for a swim and stay until 10 :>) See ya'all then!
RSVP, please.
Gayle

2009-04-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

Recipe for cinnamon fruit dip

1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine and refrigerate for a couple hours or overnight.

Sleeping Dog

2009-04-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

Dan and I made a little trip out to Sleeping Dog this weekend "Spring Barrel Tasting". Check out the side bar for a new blog I found via Larry, I Drink Your Wine. Scroll down to April 20th, where his winery is featured. We had a good time and a great visit with Larry. I ended up liking his Syrahs. Which as you all know are not mine and Merlot Jo's favorites :) So I am wondering if Jo liked his 2002? Not the tang on the front of the tongue thing and fruit forward. So funny he knew exactly what I was talking about. There must be a real wine term for that??? Dan and I both liked the 2005 it is hard sometimes to find a wine that suits us both :) Dan and I both agreed with Gayle, Tail Wagger was a yummy red blend.

I would love to hear about anybody else Spring Barrel tasting jaunts??? We finally did get into Maison Blue, and had a great tasting at Wine'O clock and some great tapas. Might be a thought for May's luncheon spot?

March Tasting

2009-04-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

We had 11 W.W.W today. It was a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree day. Perfect for our drive around the countryside. All the fruit trees were in bloom and very fragrant.

Our first stop was to Canon De Sol. Victor was a charming host and I have to say that I loved every wine that he made. Did you feel the same way? The girls learned a lot from him.Our second stop was in Benton City at Sleeping Dog Winery. When we finally found it, Larry was there patiently waiting for us. We enjoyed learning about his wine making techniques as well. I finally found a rose' that I liked. The Malbec Rose- tasted like cherries and cranberries. The Tail Wagger Cab blend was YUMMY.....

Lastly, up to Tapteil. We were starving by then, so we broke out our feast and devoured it. We have such great chefs in our group. Our new member, Vicky, brought Chocolate Covered Strawberries. She's welcome back anytime! We had Chinese Chicken Salad, Tortilla Roll ups, Phylo Cups with Gorgonzola and nuts, Fruit Kabobs with a cinnamon roll flavored dip (I want that recipe). There were cheeses, hummus, dolmas, meats, veggies, and crumb cake.

Then we got down to business tasting the wine. Thanks Jane for the fun time and to Argus for the Twinkie gift. We all enjoyed the Argus wine, Cabs, and of course- the best Syrah in the world! (I'm a little biased).

A big thanks to our drivers: Mary Ann, Pat, and Karen. We couldn't have done it without you.

Please post your photos here, too.

May 11 is our next trip. Please help me remember where it is we're going?
June 1 is Tulip Lane in Richland.
July is our BBQ, poolside, with hubby's. Here are some dates to consider: 24, 25 or 31?????????

K. Syrah

Spring Fling

2009-04-13T01:16:00.001-07:00

Spring is here and it's time we get out of the house and have some fun!

The Women Who Wine will be meeting on Monday, April 20th at Gayle's house at 9:30 a.m. Bring your Starbucks and an appetizer to share as we are heading out Cottonwood Canyon for our first tasting at Canon De Sol. Then on over through the cherry orchards to Benton City and Sleeping Dog Winery. Next stop is the top of Red Mountain to our picnic site, Tapteil Winery. There will be Italian Olive oils and Balsamic Vinegars to taste there, too.

We will definitely be back to Gayle's house by 3pm.

Bring a friend and carpool with us! Please have a full tank of gas if you are willing to drive. We pitch in with the cost.

Please RSVP to me by Sunday, April 19 for a head count.

February Luncheon

2009-02-19T23:35:00.000-08:00

It was a wonderful day to take a drive out to Merlot Joe's for our February luncheon. This time, you guessed it I am sure. We were blind tasting Merlot. If my notes serve me correctly the big winner was an out of state wine Twomey 2005, from Napa Valley, CA. I believe miss Michelle lifted this particular bottle from her husbands stash? Correct me if I am wrong =/ It was delicious! We did find ourselves a little confused at times through out this tasting, some of the ladies snuck in some blends and even a cab or two. But in the end this wonderful wine won out.

Merlot Jo was the perfect hostess and the appetizers and desserts were amazing.

Gayle's yummy molten chocolate cake!

A good time was had by all. Some new gals have joined our club and I would like to introduce you to them.

Starting on the left is Nancy B. She is still in search of a WhINE name. Maybe we can help her out here and give her a few suggestions. She lives smack dab in the middle of wine country and runs a B&B.

The second gal on the left is Muscat Pat, who is also a recent transplant to the region and just so happens to be a lover of good wine and a wonderful cook. You should be posting some recipes here Pat?

Next I believe is Mary, at first time attendee!

Another gal who is fairly new and hasn't chosen her name, or maybe I just didn't catch it is Jody. She was getting such a kick out of her switcheroo with a cab during the Merlot tasting. She is the little cutie in the middle, between Merlot Jo, and Rou.

So next month we are again staying in town for some authentic Italian cuisine, and Italian wine tasting at K Syrah's.

Maybe she can fill us in here on the date and time. All I can remember is that I am bringing the salad !


	( the combination of factors, including soil, climate,and environment, that gives a wine its distinctive character)
[literally: soil]