Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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For a number of reasons, the best dry rosé wines have gotten more expensive, especially those Oregon rosés made exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes. Pinot Noir is costly to grow and turning it into rosé doesn't make that part of the process any cheaper. Additionally, the fires of 2020 meant a number of wineries lost some or most of their crop, so 2021 is a recovery vintage. This estate-grown, pale copper, generously flavorful wine mixes strawberries, blood oranges, watermelon, and jicama ac...
Tranche and its Blue Mountain Vineyard occupy a spectacular setting on the eastern edge of Walla Walla. The focus is on Rhône-style varietals and blends that may be enjoyed picnic-style on the expansive grounds. Regular weekend concerts are held outdoors throughout spring and summer (full disclosure – my band plays there once or twice a year). It's fair to say you cannot get anything less than a wonderful wine at Tranche, but this week's feature is a particularly good value. An estate-grown bl...
Force Majeure is one of the most important producers in Washington yet remains under the radar for most wine drinkers. Now relocated to just outside the western boundary of the Rocks District, it's guided by winemaker Todd Alexander. His superb touch with exceptional Red Mountain and Walla Walla vineyard sources inspires a growing lineup of Bordeaux and Rhône-inspired blends and single varietal wines. These are not cheap, but this week's feature is from the lower-priced Parabellum tier and is...
The Ciel du Cheval vineyard was among the first planted on Red Mountain. Today it's in the hands of second generation winegrower Richard Holmes, who has begun experimenting with these two non-traditional white varieties. Arneis is a northern Italian grape rarely seen in the U.S. Holmes thinks this is a first for Washington. It's tart, tight, sharp and strikingly good. There's a clear focus on citrus and apple fruit and rind, balanced throughout with generous acidity and a peppery finish....
Apart from the intriguing name, there is much to admire here. This is a sister brand to Walla Walla's Corliss and Tranche wines. It features estate-grown fruit from Columbia Valley vineyards and is made by the same winemaking team as its pricier siblings. One sip and you can taste the kinship. The 2017 Cab is just now being released after spending 22 months in French oak and further aging in bottle, which has done wonders for the overall melding of the components. The packaging is clever and...
The first NV (Non-Vintage) Brick House Red was introduced last year in response to the 2020 smoke taint issues that affected some Oregon vineyards. In this second release, the winery has blended fruit from both 2020 and 2021 to make a better wine than 2020 alone. All the grapes were sourced from the estate's biodynamic vineyard up on Ribbon Ridge. It's a stunning value, with a refined herbal streak, tight and brambly red fruits, a touch of peppery spice and the evanescent aromatics that come...
L’Ecole No. 41 2021 Old Vines Chenin Blanc Celebrate Walla Walla Wine Month with a bottle of this splendid old vine Chenin Blanc. I know of no one making new plantings of the grape other than a couple of tiny patches in the Willamette Valley. In the early days of the Washington wine industry, Chenin was widely grown because it could ripen as much as 12 tons to the acre, and then be made into an off-dry, springtime wine – cheap to make and easy to sell. But this is a grape than can achieve gre...
Quady North 2021 GSM Rosé This is one of a trio of superb dry rosés from Quady North, a winery in Southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley. The blend is principally Grenache and Syrah with a splash of Mourvèdre, and its balance of fruit and acid strikes a perfect chord. The harmonious flavors mix juicy citrus, red apples, pie cherries and orange slices. Quady North is the project of Herb Quady, whose family is also known for dessert wines at the original Quady winery in California. Along with thes...
Peter William 2018 Robin's Red This Rogue Valley blend is roughly half Tempranillo and half Syrah, much the same as the winery's 'Extravagance' reserve at a lower price. It's focused and sharp, with punchy raspberry and black cherry fruit. The tannins are ripe and full, and there's good balance throughout. This wine is sealed with a screwcap, so no worries about a bad cork. As with all screwcap wines, it will show best with a little extra breathing time, or you may simply decant it into a clean...
Basalt Cellars 2019 Rim Rock Red This delicious red blend from a Clarkston winery is more than half Merlot with the rest divided among five other grapes, principally Bordeaux varieties. It's smooth and polished, the flavors nicely integrated despite the wine's youth. It's rare to find such a "kitchen sink" blend so harmonious, with a rich mix of purple and black fruits, silky tannins and a lightly dusty mouthfeel. The lingering finish brings notes of smoke, coffee and dark chocolate. 377 cases;...
Most dog owners grow accustomed over the years to the painful fact that these wonderful creatures are not blessed with long lives. Depending upon the breed, they average as little as eight, and rarely more than 15 years will mark the course of a full life. For someone like me, who has had only one dog, anticipating the inevitable loss of her cannot be tied to any past experience. The easy way to deal with Cookie’s mortality is simply to ignore it. Until you no longer can. Time marches on, and o...
It has become exceptionally clear over the years that as much as we give of ourselves to Cookie in terms of time, love, and care, she will always out-give us. It's the nature of her dog-ness, the core of her being. When a dog feels secure and locked into a regular, dependable, and quite pleasant routine, there is more opportunity to expand and grow past the basic animal concerns for food, shelter, and safety. A dog who spends her days without fear is a dog that will instinctively want more...
Not long after Cookie had settled in, and I’d become infatuated with the idea of dog ownership, Mrs. G presented me with a slim volume entitled “101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog” by Kyra Sundance and Chalcy. “Wow,” I thought, “this is just what we need!” If the title hadn’t already hooked me, the cover photo of a lovely chocolate brown Weimaraner with a newspaper in his mouth and a look that said, “Here’s your paper – anything else I can b...
It’s a wet and windy afternoon in early November. I’m sprawled out on the sofa, and between my legs is a small blonde dog, flat on her back, legs up, ball in mouth, sound asleep. It occurs to me that this sort of blissed-out relaxation is one of the many things that dogs do differently than cats. Cats like to stretch, yawn, spread out, and chill, but at all times, they look poised, elegant, even regal. Dogs, on the other hand, look like they’ve just come home from an especially good kegge...
As every dog owner knows, we can learn as much or more from our fur brothers and sisters as they learn from us. It’s often noted how some of us actually come to physically resemble our dogs. But there are other ways in which dog and owner can mirror each other. As Cookie reached a birthday milestone this summer – turning 10 in human years, which brought her right up against retirement age in dog years – it became clear to us that she is entering the same stage of life that we are in. She’s...
Over many decades I’ve been the proud parent of many cats but just one dog. And though cats are big-time nappers (who do you think invented the cat nap?) I don’t ever recall wondering if they ever dreamed, or what they might dream about. Sleeping with the dog has brought those questions front and center. Front and center is where Cookie likes to be after sliding, gliding, squirming, and sneaking her way into the prime spot in bed, pressed up on both sides against the Big Dogs (me and Mrs. G)....
One of my favorite comics features a genial mutt named Satchel. A recurring theme involves his housemate and nemesis, an arrogant siamese cat named Bucky, who encourages Satchel to eat (or at least swallow) anything conveniently at hand, from roadkill to small electronic appliances. The joke is that Satchel, and by extension all dogs, will give it a try, whatever the consequences. As is often the case with Cookie, her dietary choices are much more sophisticated than that. There are only a few...
There is one thing that gets Cookie-otherwise, the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time)-repeatedly into big trouble. We call it the Walkabout. The word has fallen into general usage but initially referred to a ritual journey by Aboriginal Australians. During these solo pilgrimages, the individual would head off into the Outback, often as a rite of passage into adulthood. The Walkabout was a break from the modern world and a spiritual practice as well, forging connections to traditional lands and...
As chronicled in Chapter 16, August 27th was Cookie's tenth birthday-the Big One - O. Which translates, more or less, to age 64 in human terms. So if 60 is the new 40, that's not all that bad. It seemed important enough to require some sort of special celebration, and despite the limitations of gatherings in the time of Covid, we were able to gather a few close friends and their humans together on a sunny summer afternoon in our garden. These pictures tell the story....
In about a week, on August 27th, Cookie will turn ten years old. I remember when I celebrated my tenth birthday, my main gift request – the thing I wanted most in the world—was a baseball glove. I got my wish, but that didn’t seem quite right for Cookie, who doesn’t need a glove to catch a ball. She’s a natural-born center fielder. A birthday doesn’t really mean much to a dog, but that is true of many humans as well, which has never stopped me from attaching special importance to birthdays,...
Working from home has become so common, so ingrained in such a short time that it has already earned its own acronym – WFH. The Urban Dictionary defines WFH as “a concept where the employee can do their job outside of the office.” It goes on to enthuse that “WFH offers the flexibility to achieve company goals while supporting a healthy work/life balance, cutting down on commuting time and costs, as well as fostering a comfortable work environment.” As a long time WFH’er myself, I can attest...
Next Stop – Hollywood Mrs. G and I have long believed that Cookie has that something extra that sets all celebrities apart from the rest of us. The “It Factor”—personality, pizzazz, and the natural ability to light up a room simply by entering it. It’s talent and good looks, a warm and welcoming demeanor, and knowing intuitively that when the spotlight hits you, it’s showtime! Cookie passes all these tests with flying colors. And yet... stardom has evaded her. Every day you see dogs in tv comme...
Although Mr. B will always be Number One among all of Cookie’s (surprisingly numerous) possessions, there is another favorite pastime, not involving the ball, which is tug-of-war. Our discovery of this was a late-breaking development. For many years Cookie showed zero interest in playing with anything other than Mr. B. Other types of balls were tried, to no avail. Small soft frisbees were tried – size appropriate – and Cookie, who can run, leap, twist and catch the ball on the fly, refus...
Take me out to the ballgame In Chronicles #2 and #3 I introduced you to Mr. B, Cookie's lifelong companion, ward and wing man. And I may have mentioned that Mr. B generally hits the sack earlier than the rest of us, the 'sack' being an empty slot in the kitchen spice drawer. Cookie is quite fond of this routine, and though we sometimes forget to put Mr. B to bed right after dinner, she will leave him on the kitchen floor, just below the drawer, as a gentle reminder. And that is where she will...
Nostradamus was a 16th-century mystic whose predictions of the then-distant future are still quoted in some quarters. His detractors, on the other hand, say that his predictions are so vague they can be interpreted in any way you choose. Cookie’s fortune-telling skills are quite the opposite. They are timely, specific, and generally spot-on. Which is why I like to think of her as Nostradamus. Her nose, when applied in this fashion, is irrefutable. Her methodology is best observed when she is i...
