Share

Ladies and gentlemen, 2010 rosé has officially landed! A sure sign of springtime, evoking evenings filled with dinner parties on the deck, barbecues in the park, and long evenings cooling off by the lake. More and more, I am slowly convincing people that rosé is fantastic to enjoy all year round, but also can understand and respect the apprehension. Regardless, it is time to rejoice, for rosé is finally here.

The varying bright pink hues have to do with the amount of time the wine comes into contact with the grape skins during fermentation. Some rosés see more skin time than others, and thus become deeper and darker in color. Other rosés just have a kiss of pink, and tend to be on the drier side. Ultimate brightness and freshness are when they are consumed young, within a year or so. …

Share

Wine Tasting Event!

Save the date! Saturday April 16th has been designated for our Spring Tasting in conjunction with the Lakewood-Seward Park Community Club from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. This annual event is always a great way to kick off spring time. Cost is $25 at the door, or you can purchase your admission online at www.lspcc.org/winetasting.html, and receive a FREE raffle ticket for one of the many prizes. Grab your neighbors and friends and join us as we work our way from Prosecco to Zinfandel, and a little bit of everything else in between. Generally there are upwards of 50 wines to sample, with light snacks of cheese, crackers and coffee available as well. Leschi Market also offers a special 13% event discount on wine orders placed that night. We look forward to it, and we hope to see as many …

Share

March is right around the corner, and it’s Washington Wine Month! There are so many great wines being produced, it would be impossible to try them all. In fact, with now over 700 wineries on record in the state, one would be hard pressed to try one wine from each winery in the course of a year, let alone in a month. I thought it would be a great time to highlight can’t-miss Washington wines. Some are old favorites, others may be more boutique or new. There is a solid selection of varying price points for you to choose from, so taste with confidence!

2007 Spring Valley Vineyard Uriah, Walla Walla Valley ($45). You will notice a common thread throughout, beginning here. 2007 vintages from Washington should not be missed. The ideal growing season translated to some truly amazing wines, which …

Share

What makes a particular wine a “top” wine? Taste? Availability? Aging potential? Price? Dare I say advertising dollars? And what makes one source more or less credible than the next? Everybody tastes wine differently, and every palate is unique, right? The best way is to graze over multiple lists and find wines that most interests you. Over time, you may find that your palate is more synonymous with one publication or another. With numerous top lists revealed in December, I thought it would be great to give readers the lowdown on many of the wines featured in Top 100 lists from national publications Wine Spectator (ws) and Wine Enthusiast (we) as well as our local expert, Paul Gregutt (pg). Wines featured in this column can be found at Leschi Market.

Buy Now! – On the pricier side, more limited, but well …

Share

As you search for perfect meaningful gifts for that special someone this month, let me offer a few suggestions.

Theme based wine gifts are equally as fun to assemble as they are to receive. All you need to do is choose your price point and choose your theme. A “Tour de France” package can include a wine from several different regions in France: Alsace, Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Chateauneuf du Pape, Gascon, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, and Rhône are great starting points. These regions are so diverse themselves that you could easily choose a few wines from within each region and make an incredible package. An “Around the World” package could include a bottle from different countries: Riesling from Germany, Barbera from Italy, Tempranillo from Spain, Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa, Malbec from Argentina or a Carmenere from Chile, for example. Domestic sets …