The Official NW Section Drinking Thread

[bnbmike]

How is Washington for wine tasting??

This is our first trip, but some of the best wine in our cellar comes from that region.  Cab, Merlot, hot weather grapes.  Lots of boutique wineries with very small production, not distributed, you have to buy from them.  We have been on a waiting list for Leonetti Cellar for 4 years.  Looking forward to the tasting.

[ryandalling]

My father lives in Napa, so we taste there a lot, and of course the Dundee / Yamhill area has great wines, but we keep talking about heading out to Washington. We love a lot of the Washington wines, but I hear it is more than just a 20 minute drive like Yamhill is for me.

[NEIKOS]

Not that I would ever consider imposing my will on y'all but . . .

I won't be going to Henry's again.

My irritation with the waitress for asking if I had a preference of vodkas then putting it upon herself to give (or at least charge) me the expensive shit just irks me.  And it was loud, crowded, hip . . . and EXPENSIVE.  Contrary to popular belief I'm not a trust fund baby, I don't make oodles of money, and so I'm boycotting this place.

Moving on to your regularly scheduled program . . .

[JohnnyDucati]

Chuckman-

Sorry you had a crummy time.  I'm sorry I suggested that place now.  I was just looking to play pool with Ryan "Fats" Dalling

I know what you mean about the prices at that joint.  That's why I just stuck with beers.  Can't imagine how much they charge for well drinks.

Next time, I vote that you call out the meetup.

[NEIKOS]

Dude - no worries.  And you guys can all go there any time you want.

I wouldn't say I had a crummy time.  Just not the time I would want to have when I'm spending $ 

Besides, I don't think my choices have been group favorites either.

Heck - the last one I tried to put together it was Kristine and me for 1.5 hours.  Then she called her friend Sara to join us and after about another 1.5 hours my friend Erica joined us.

Mind you . . . I enjoyed the company but I was a bit disapointed that no one else came out.

And the time before that . . . I don't think anyone made it out . . .

[bnbmike]

My father lives in Napa...

We did Napa in April.  I have a few friends in the business and they set up appointments for us and kept us busy.  Only brought home 2 cases, most of the stuff is available in Oregon.  This trip will be a bit more  $$$$ if we buy.

As far as Thursday's go, the one time I was in PDX, nobody replied to a request to drink.   

Now that the crazy season is over, I may be up more often.  I was overnight in Portland twice in 2008.

[SaltLick]

i worked for winerys for years in Napa. Beringer/glen ellen/BV/MG Vallejo  for 5 years, commuted to Sonona/Napa every day.  Best wine/winery ever is Opus One.  Place is built underground. They do only one wine and they do it right. Cab. use to be about 12 years ago the bottles went for $100 a pop. Now just for a taste its $30??  Looks like they sell now for $250 a bottle. if you like cab though it doesnt get any better than this: 

http://www.opusonewinery.com/

[marvellous]

Walla Walla has some AMAZING reds!!  Neikos and Ryan = Read - Red Wine, not Red Heads...

Pepperbridge, Leonetti, Walla Walla Vintners, L'Ecole 41, etc etc... You'll have a GREAT time!! 

[NEIKOS]

. . .  not Red Heads...

Saw some of those on my long trip through WA this summer 

[ryandalling]

I prefer Altamura and Round Pond to Opus One. However, Screaming Eagle is pretty good as well, but WAY over priced.

[bnbmike]

As far as Cab's go, I like the altitude.  Just about anything grown on Howell Mountain (look for that on wine lists).  We have a Pine Ridge in the cellar.  Hess is also great.  Above the fog line.  As far as Valley floor Cab's, Silver Oak is by far the best (I've had).  Jessup is across the street and is my kind of winery, pole barn and the owner lives on site in a manufactured home.  The money is spent on the wine, not the building.  He makes an awesome port style as well.  Now where the money is spent on the fantastic building and still great wine, we like Chateau Montelena.

That's just Nappa Valley Cab, don't get me started on Zin.  Oh, white zin is wine with training wheels.  Unless you are a lady over 50 and smoke Pal Mal, don't drink it!  Another exception would be going to a house warming party where they take the wheels off the house.

[ryandalling]

I think we will have to come visit you and talk vino all night long.     

[marvellous]

Agreed!  One of the members at Broken Top gave me 2 incredible bottles of Silver Oak this summer to 'compare and contrast'.  He doesn't drink anymore and wanted someone to enjoy them.  Both were 94's, one was Alexander Valley and one Napa.  Both were incredible but liked the Napa better!  This is the same gentleman that brought a Methuselah of Mondavi Cab Reserve ('85) that he had purchased at the winery way back when for $500.  OMG was that fantastic!  Took every decanter I had, almost dropped it once (talk about pucker factor of 10!), and there was 2 decanters left at the end of the night that he told me to share w/ my staff as a thanks.  I poured it up, pulled the kitchen staff to the bar and told them 'thank you' for all of their hard work this summer.  Each glass was probably close to $100+ each... they about choked when I told them that... heh  THAT was a cool thing!!  And yes, I managed to pull the cork in one piece!! 

[bnbmike]

We bring wine when we go out to dinner in the "big city."  Saves us about $300.00 with 2 couples.  Yeah, I'm a foodie.  Anyhoo, when we bring in one of our best and the waiter knows it, we always pour a taste for them.  They love it, and remember it the next time we go in.

We had a bottle of 2002 Insignia one night.  Every who walked by the table picked it up to see.
http://www.jpvwines.com/release_insignia_05.html

[marvellous]

I just sold $3k in Insignia for 2 members at work.  Our cost was $150 a bottle at Post-Off pricing...  Haven't tried it tho..