WineLawNorthwest: September 2013

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Vancouver - Vacation Skills Act II, Scene I

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And now I'm in Vancouver BC, where I cannot practice law. Whew. I set out this morning to find out what's happening in the BC wine scene and I learned plenty. While plodding around some of the downtown neighborhoods of Vancouver, I turned in to Liberty Wines and found a BC rosé tasting going on. Stunning is all I have to say about that. If it was a blind tasting I would have guessed Provence. I don't claim to be an expert wine taster, a sommelier, or a vinologist, but I have been told by several different people that I have a more sensitive palate than most. I'm not sure how that translates to knowing a lot about wine, but I do know that there are a wide range of flavors among all varietals, I know what I like, and that's what I tap into. These BC rosés mostly looked pale salmon-colored, tasted dry and complex, and it was apparent someone was paying attention to detail. The Okanagan has in many ways a climate similar to eastern Washington for growing grapes, with the cool nights especially being a great benefit. It shows.

Progressing further down my urban wine trail, I next turned into a nice little bistro called Whet where I had the pleasure of experiencing more delicious BC wine from the Okanagan Valley. I started with some lovely Kusshi oysters from the BC coast and paired them with a glass of Poplar Grove Chardonnay from Penticton, a sub-area of the Okanagan VQA. It had a nice, not-too-oaky silkiness and a dry finish. Then I progressed to a succulent piece of wild salmon on a bed of wild greens with strawberries and goat cheese and combined it with the Black Hills Sauvignon Blanc from the Oliver area, another subarea of Okanagan just south of Penticton. This one had the characteristic mineral and steel of this varietal, but drier overall than the chardonnay. Both were stunning and a tribute to the styles.

Kusshi Oysters in Vancouver ©Jill J. Smith 2013

I also had the pleasure of discovering Kettle Valley wines, and the 2009 Pinot Noir was surprisingly delicious. It is definitely a BC style, which to me differs from the Oregon style. It was produced from grapes grown in the Lazy Dog vineyard in Penticton, the Elgert vineyard in Okanagan Falls, the Hayman and Trovao vineyards in Naramata and the Thibault vineyard in Summerland, according to their web site. This is a light, elegant style with almost no tannins. It seems to have a lighter structure than Willamette pinot noirs. I am a giant fan of Oregon pinots, but they definitely have some competition in BC. Good luck coming over to my living room and expecting to try a glass of the Kettle Valley pinot. I can't guarantee there will be any left. This is the type of wine I might stash under my desk when churning out a late night brief. Woe to my opponents if that happens.

Aaaand...Scene.

Kettle Valley Pinot Noir and Sauvingnon Blanc ©Jill J. Smith 2013

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Warming Up My Vacation Skills

This doesn't happen very often - I am taking the week off. This is my summer vacation. My last summer vacation was in October 2009. Yeah, I've taken a few days off here and there, a long weekend now and then, or a quick getaway to BC, but not a real vacation. The current summer vacation started yesterday and it was very confusing. Since I am a workaholic, I wasn't sure where to start. It is a real syndrome that is only exacerbated by the mandatory technology like the "crackberry," the iPad, and gmail. Not to mention tweeting, which has got to stop.

But one thing I was not confused about was that I would have a beverage, and by beverage I mean wine, duh. Since one of my missions while on vacation is to be able to be unplanned and spontaneous as much as possible, I tooled around Ballard and found Skillet Diner for a late lunch. I learned that they prefer to serve Washington wines, which I was pleased to hear. I had a Washington sauvignon blanc with a very tasty Cobb salad, which I highly recommend (if you haven't noticed already, I am a proud day-drinker). It was a nice place to drop into in the middle of the afternoon, as they have an open-air dining room, at least during the warm weather, a mandatory long diner counter that doubles as a bar, and a partial view of the kitchen. Late afternoon was a good time to banter with the staff as it wasn't super busy and they were happy to shoot the breeze with me. This is a good thing. I don't know if most of my bartenders know this, but I view them as my therapists most of the time. Say what you want.

In the next day or two, I am going to Woodinville for my next episode of slithering around the wine bars and tasting rooms. Since it has been dark and stormy lately, I am anticipating less slithering and more planting my drinking elbow in only a couple of lounges. I am tardy in picking up my wine club shipment from William Church Winery, another of my favorites and a winery with a very pleasant tasting room. They focus mostly on reds, but they do a beautiful Viognier. This shipment includes the 2010 2 Spires, a Syrah/Cabernet blend, and the 2010 Sur La Mer, their flagship, Merlot-dominant Bordeaux blend, perfect for fall sipping or pairing. I'm already warming up my culinary thought process so I can determine which tasty slab of protein I want to prepare to go with these beauties. Now I have enough time to do that.