sean brendan

I recently created this synth for a vacation rental home in Kauai.  It’s an amazing product, and the applications are really exciting.

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This wine, from Barahonda,  was recommended to us during a recent visit to Seattle’s great new Spanish/French capital hill joint, Olivar.

A blend of monastrell and cabernet sauvignon this wine is from the Yecla DO in Eastern Spain, not far from Valencia.

A couple of things I found interesting when researching the grape and place.

1. 1. Monastrell is the spanish name for Mourvedre, which we have discussed before.  You learn something new with wine everyday.
2. 2.  The town of Yecla is only accessible by car – which is unique in Europe.
3. Here are the tasting notes from Barahonda:

   Made from 70% Monastrell grapes and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, with a long maceration at 25ºC, placed in American and French new oak casks for five months, in vats for another two months and it is bottled and kept in our cellars for twelve months before reaching the market.

   Bright red cherry in colour, in nose its shows a pleasant sensation of mature fruit with a light integrated oak, long texture, intense, balanced, with a full-bodied and complex finishing bouquet.

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Guest posting by Elizabeth O’Connor.

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I love the changing of seasons, and all that comes with the transition of one to the next.  This fall I felt that something was missing from days dominated by football and ever shorter and darker and wetter days.

Having just finished a fascinating book, “The Emperor of Wine” by Elin McCoy (more on this in another post), I became intrigued by the garagistes, a group of innovative winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing "Vins de garage", or "Garage wine".

Maybe what was missing this fall was some sort of hand in the harvest season.  Not being able to join in on the picking, I thought I could at least celebrate the best grapes the state of Washington and try my hand at some garage cabernet sauvignon. 

After selling the idea to a couple friends, by over simplifying and perhaps over romanticizing the process, together we set out to try our hands at making a few gallons of our own wine.  I’ll be sure sure document the process and my thoughts over the next few weeks of crushing, fermenting, pressing, fermenting, and whatnot, stay tuned.

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Last week I was fortunate to volunteer with the Washington WIne Ambassadors at the Auction of Washington Wines Picnic with the Winemakers.  This was my first event as a volunteer wine pourer, and I found it interesting, hot, and worth my time (beyond the great cause).

Having attended the picnic before as a guest, it was fun to be on the other side of the table, pouring wines for the guests, chatting about what they liked best and what they thought of each wine.  At my table, the overwhelming favorite was the Milbrandt Pinot Gris, a perfect patio pounder. 

The biggest buzz from the auction was centered around two wineries from Walla Walla - Va Piano Vineyards and Gramercy Cellars. Both Justin Wylie and Greg Harrington are clearly making world class wines and elevating the status of Washington on the worlds wine map.  I’ve enjoyed the Bruno Blend from Va Piano, and look forward to trying the Temranillo and Syrah’s from Gramercy in the near term.

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