What a great week we have had - tasted lots of wines from wineries we have not visited before; joined one more wine club...which means we have to drop one (a promise we made to ourselves 
); managed to read lots of books and just had a relaxing week.
Joined the wine club for Alexandria Nicole Cellars –
http://www.alexandrianicolecellars.com/
Great wine and wonderful folks – met a couple from Blaine, WA (up near the border to Canada) and will meet up with them at the winery’s tasting room in Woodinville which is a lot closer to both than Yakima.
Visited Bunnell Family Cellars -
http://bunnellfamilycellar.com/
– another with great wines and they also have Wine O’Clock wine bar with some wonderful food! One pizza was especially recommended, so of course we had to try it.
Pear, bacon, green onion, olive oil and aged white cheddar on a sourdough crust – it was out of this world good! I had Gewurztraminer and Roy had their Riesling – both were wonderful with the pizza.
Another they offered, but didn’t taste – sweet corn, bacon, green onions, smoked provolone (recommended wine: Viognier). And lastly, pesto sauce, eggplant, mushrooms, pine nuts and fresh mozz. (recommended wine: Viognier, Gewurz, or a Riesling)
Told Sharon, the owner, she’d probably see these toppings in a pizza book soon!
She also told me they make a bigga and combine it with sourdough for their crusts and they use OO flour, which I never have. Got to get home and play. (Told her I was stealing that idea also!) Great crust.
Hope Bill & Jane see this:
At Bunnells, we had a wine flight called Rhone Chorus, consisting of three wines –
’07 lia – 50%Grenache, 20%Syrah, 10% (combo) Mourvedre, Cinsault, Petite Sirah.
’07 a pic – 50% Syrah, equal parts of Mourvedre, Cinsault, Grenache
’07 vif – 60% Syrah, 30% Mouvedre, 10% Petit Verdot
The ‘vif’ was our least favorite – while we like Mouvedre blended in other grapes, we don’t care for the larger % of it. The ‘a pic’ was our favorite, wonderful blend.
Another dish the owner was telling me about was their Baked Goat Cheese Gratin – goat cheese, mozz, and grapes baked and served with toasted bread rounds. Sounded so good.
I’ll stop now, but we sure did have some great tastings. And, forgot, met up with an old friend from grade school thru high school and we went out to dinner. She is also (
) the mgr. of Costco’s wine dept….. We talked til we were almost hoarse. I love old friends – new friends are wonderful, but there is something about friends who know your history and where you came from.
So, now time to go home and get ready for Victoria…..man, it’s h*ll being retired.
); managed to read lots of books and just had a relaxing week.Joined the wine club for Alexandria Nicole Cellars –
http://www.alexandrianicolecellars.com/
Great wine and wonderful folks – met a couple from Blaine, WA (up near the border to Canada) and will meet up with them at the winery’s tasting room in Woodinville which is a lot closer to both than Yakima.
Visited Bunnell Family Cellars -
http://bunnellfamilycellar.com/
– another with great wines and they also have Wine O’Clock wine bar with some wonderful food! One pizza was especially recommended, so of course we had to try it.
Pear, bacon, green onion, olive oil and aged white cheddar on a sourdough crust – it was out of this world good! I had Gewurztraminer and Roy had their Riesling – both were wonderful with the pizza.
Another they offered, but didn’t taste – sweet corn, bacon, green onions, smoked provolone (recommended wine: Viognier). And lastly, pesto sauce, eggplant, mushrooms, pine nuts and fresh mozz. (recommended wine: Viognier, Gewurz, or a Riesling)
Told Sharon, the owner, she’d probably see these toppings in a pizza book soon!
She also told me they make a bigga and combine it with sourdough for their crusts and they use OO flour, which I never have. Got to get home and play. (Told her I was stealing that idea also!) Great crust.Hope Bill & Jane see this:
At Bunnells, we had a wine flight called Rhone Chorus, consisting of three wines –
’07 lia – 50%Grenache, 20%Syrah, 10% (combo) Mourvedre, Cinsault, Petite Sirah.
’07 a pic – 50% Syrah, equal parts of Mourvedre, Cinsault, Grenache
’07 vif – 60% Syrah, 30% Mouvedre, 10% Petit Verdot
The ‘vif’ was our least favorite – while we like Mouvedre blended in other grapes, we don’t care for the larger % of it. The ‘a pic’ was our favorite, wonderful blend.
Another dish the owner was telling me about was their Baked Goat Cheese Gratin – goat cheese, mozz, and grapes baked and served with toasted bread rounds. Sounded so good.
I’ll stop now, but we sure did have some great tastings. And, forgot, met up with an old friend from grade school thru high school and we went out to dinner. She is also (
) the mgr. of Costco’s wine dept….. We talked til we were almost hoarse. I love old friends – new friends are wonderful, but there is something about friends who know your history and where you came from. So, now time to go home and get ready for Victoria…..man, it’s h*ll being retired.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
www.achefsjourney.com
What a wonderful experience.