Walla Walla Wine Cellar

The other night a friend brought over a bottle of 2002 K Vintners Morrison Lane Syrah to have with dinner. We were making dinner at home, and I had simply asked that they bring some beverage. What a treat; the ‘02 is drinking beautifully right now. Couldn’t have asked for more to go with the savory crepes we ate: spinach, blue cheese, anjou pear and walnuts; arugula, pine nuts, asiago; tomato, mozzarella, shallots… the combinations continued. (Vegetarian menu.)

But le vin, oh, le vin. Depth of color and flavor. It could nearly have been a meal in itself.
Dark berries, pepper, a bit of game. Blueberry, tobacco (not necessarily blueberry tobacco), leather, and a slight grittiness that kept me paying attention. Not for the faint of heart, this wine aims to impress.

Thankfully, in a proper throwback to days of wandering the streets of Paris, we ended the evening with banana and Nutella crepes and washed it all down with another round of drinks.

The ‘02 Morrison Lane is tough to find these days, but subsequent vintages are faring well. And from our shelves, I highly recommend the ‘05 Cougar Hills with it’s unique, enticing palate and rich mouthfeel. For those of you score mongers, Wine Enthusiast gave it a 93.

But for those of you more interested in Morrison Lane Vineyard and its production, there’s an article on Morrison Lane from Paul Gregutt dating back to 2006. He’s profiling the winery, but his discussion of the vineyard sheds some light on what makes the K Vintners Morrison Lane worth trying.

Robert Parker has a few thoughts to share on K Vintners too. Check out the article from Business Week, “K Vintners: Washington State Superstar” published last August. He hands out a 92 to the Cougar Hills.

“The 2005 Syrah Cougar Hills is restrained aromatically with an elegant personality. Concentrated, ripe, and round, the flavors are already exhibiting complexity, and the finish is very long. Allow for another three to four years in the cellar and drink it through 2020.”

Still wondering if you should try it? Come on. Just a little swirl and sip.

Well, since I’ve been involved in more of the ‘hands on stuff’ with Wine Cellar, I’ve heard a lot about decanting. The first thing I found out was that it was originally used to help settle the sediment in older wines. Older wines that have been bottled for 10 years or more weren’t put through the vigorous filtration process as they are today. Therefore before serving the wine it was decanted to offer a more presentable and drinkable product.

The second thing I learned was that most of the wine on the shelves today doesn’t need to be decanted. The main reason for decanting today is to aerate the wine. This helps the oxygen tame and alter the wine for easy drinkability. This is used for less expensive wine or wines that are still considered young and haven’t reached their full potential. Decanting will also help investors know what the wine will taste like years to come.

There is also a lot of information on how to properly decant, which I will leave for another day. Yes, apparently there is the ‘proper way’ and my way. I did a test for myself using my large pancake batter bowl. Although there are hundreds of different types of wine decanters to choose from, this worked for me. I had a bottle of Charles Smith Holy Cow Merlot that I poured half into my decanter and left the other half in the bottle with the cork on. After about an hour I tasted the bottled wine, it was pretty good. I then tasted the wine in my decanter and was amazed by the difference. The merlot seemed so much smoother. The Holy Cow merlot is a good wine to start with, but with a little decanting, it was amazing.

So in conclusion if you have a young wine or a cheaper wine that you want to drink right away I would definitely recommend decanting. And now that I know I will be decanting all of my wines I think I will invest in an attractive decanter and leave the batter bowl to the pancakes.

Happy decanting!

Our Holiday Sale is almost over. You have two days left to catch these deals.

Remember we have gift certificates as well. Let that special someone pick out their own special bottle or two. Contact us with details of what you’d like.

Top recommendations:
Helix 2005 SoRho. Loving it.
K Vintners 2005 Phil Lane. Gorgeous as ever and at a great discount.
Dusted Valley 2006 Stained Tooth Syrah. New on the site and a staff fave. Syrahs are rockin’ the house.
Isenhower 2005 Wild Thyme. Go on, let your hair down and enjoy this tasty blend.
Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling. That’s right.

So you’ve got until 11:59 p.m. on December 24th to qualify for our holiday coupons. If you don’t know what they are, drop us a line, leave us a comment, or give us a call and we’ll get you the scoop on how you can save over 20% this season.

Now, back to shoveling snow for me. Then I think I’ll wrap some presents.
What are you doing two days before Christmas?