Summer's Last Stand

This week marked the last week of summer here in Washington. Though the past few weeks of sun and above-70 degree temperatures seemed out of the ordinary, it's hard to welcome the 50-60 degree misting and grey skies that mark the onslaught of Washington's fallwinterspring season. The bright side is pumpkin flavored treats, a rekindled interest in drinking tea, and the chunky sweaters that can be brought out of storage and worn again.

Inspired by foodgawker.com's end-of-summer everything-peaches recipes and our local gourmet grocery store's Peach-O-Rama month, I planned on making a peach and brie quesadilla with peach salsa and drinking a Pinot Grigio/Gris as a pairing. Unfortunately, I decided to have a lemon drop (or two) between dicing up peaches and ended up forgetting about the Pinot Gris I'd bought entirely. Tipsy and covered in melted brie, I ended up saving the wine for a time when my palate wasn't completely destroyed by Absolut Citron and sugared martini glass rims. The peach quesadillas were delicious though, and I'd recommend giving them a try if you still have great peach prices in the store (they're still 99 cents a pound in Safeway).

Peachy rambling aside, I ended up rediscovering my 2009 Chateau Ste. Michelle Pinot Gris ($8.99) this week and thoroughly enjoyed it regardless of my criminally terrible pairing (a brown rice make-shift Yumm bowl). This Pinot Gris embodied everything I love about a good Pinot Gris: a beautiful oaky-yellow color, a fruity and floral bouquet without being sweet, and a dry finish that made the wine seem almost sparkling. Though Ben swore that he couldn't smell the notes of the bouquet (he'd been cooking onions), it distinctly smelled of pears. The finish was oaky and well-rounded with lingering notes of pear. Though we paired it horribly, I'd suggest seafood with this wine. The Wine Enthusiast awarded this Pinot Gris 88 points and it's well worth every single one. If you're a fan of dryer Pinot Gris (this wine is definitely dryer than the Columbia Crest Two Vines Pinot Gris I tried the other day), this is the perfect, well-priced wine for you.

I know that I'm constantly trying Washington wines, often from Chateau Ste. Michelle, but this winery never seems to disappoint and I often find that their wines are not only the best value but embody the best characteristics of the varietals. If you're in-need of a good wine and don't have time to hunt around the wine aisle, head to Washington wines and pick up a Chateau Ste. Michelle wine.

As a deviation from my normal wine writing, I feel compelled to share with you the above-mentioned lemon drop recipe as it turned my summer lemon-centric and turned some dull parties into great ones:

Absolut Lemon Drops
3 shots Absolut Citron
1 shot Triple Sec
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sugar

In a large shaker combine ice, 3 shots of Absolut Citron, 1 shot of Triple Sec (increase or decrease depending on your desired sweetness level), the juice of half a lemon (again, modify depending on your tastes). Sugar the rims of two martini glasses, shake, and pour. And then beware, these lemon drops are extremely strong.

Too Hot for Red Wine

It has actually been hot enough in Oregon for the past few days to make red wine sound unappetizing. A terrifying prospect, I know, but I am glad that the weather led me here. With a shoulder peeling from a sunburn (it is something to relish after four years spent in Washington state), I found myself stuck between white wine and a hard place. The thing is that I don’t love white wine. I am not a fan of Chardonnay, have never fully acquainted myself with Sauvignon Blanc and I don’t feel like drinking Riesling unless there is no candy around the house… which basically leaves me with Pinot Grigio. Luckily, the first wine I ever loved was a Pinot Grigio. I seem to remember that it was sparkling, luminescent in the glass and entirely lovely to gaze at.

I didn’t see my favorite Pinot Grigios on the shelf (Zenato and Kris, both Italian wines), so I turned to the trusty Columbia Crest’s Horse Heaven Hills winemakers. Rated 89 points by the Wine Spectator, this Vintage 2009 Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Gris* was only $10.99 and turned out to be a great value! In the glass this Pinot Gris was equally lovely to behold. A family friend recently sent me some historical booklets on wine and other spirits from around the 1930s and in one of them titled Simple Facts about Wines, Spirits, Ales, and Stouts the tasting guide suggests that wine should be a pleasure to the eyes as well as the palate. The author suggested that one should “look first for brilliancy —a characteristic known to tasters as ‘candlebright.’” This Pinot Gris definitely fit that rather medieval term. It was so light and clear that it looked as if it had been aged only in stainless steel barrels (white wines have a straw color if they have been aged in oak). According to the Columbia Crest website, this guess wasn’t far off as 92% of this wine was aged in stainless for two years while 8% of the wine was aged in American oak barrels, giving the wine a beautiful light yellow color and a hint of oaky smell and taste. This Pinot Gris was very fruit forward. Though I had a difficult time isolating the specific fruit notes in the wine, it reminded me of green apples and citrus fruit. After the initial fruity flavors, there was a hint of oak that lingered on the tongue and the wine finished with juicy, bright flavors. Hardly a dry white, this Pinot Gris was reminiscent of some Rieslings I’ve tried due to the sweetness and the juicy finish. The summer of 2009 in Eastern Washington, where this wine was grown, was particularly hot and was followed by a cool fall season, allowing the Pinot Gris grapes to hang on the vine longer, thereby maturing into fuller flavored grapes, lending Pinot Gris from this region a more fruit forward flavor.

*The difference between the terms Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris is a regional one, Pinot Grigio being the term used for this white wine grape in Italy. Pinot Gris/Grigio grapes are actually a “variant-clone” of Pinot Noir. The grape is light grey/blue to pinkish brown and is traditionally a very sweet grape. More West Coast wine makers are moving toward making Pinot Gris and in 2000, Pinot Gris production in Oregon actually surpassed that of Chardonnay, something that comes as great news for me!

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