| Northwest Wine Fan Visits Wine By The River 2006 |
| Wine By The River 2006 - September 29 & 30 Article by Tim Sinniger |
| Wine By The River, now in its second year is put on by Hospice Center of Bend-La Pine and is designed to bring awareness to the growing end-of-life needs of children here in Central Oregon. This event, through its participants and sponsors help to provide for end-of-life services, education and counseling for patients under the age of 25 and their families. Proceeds from the inaugural event in 2005 allowed Hospice Center of Bend-La Pine to bring together 25 physicians, social workers and nurses for their first pediatric care conference in Central Oregon. This conference is a first step towards bringing higher accountability, knowledge and care to our younger Central Oregon population. This year Wine By The River 2006 is dedicated to and in memory of Tyson White, an 11 year old boy who lost his battle to leukemia in 2004. Held at the Les Schwab Amphitheater the event was presented in several tents with over 50 vintners of wine and included chocolatiers, master chefs, food vendors, artists and music (pretty darn good music too!) featuring the Patrick Lamb Band, Ellen Whyte and Scori Hiller. Wineries were represented from as far away as South America as were vintners from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California. Of course our two Central Oregon wineries, Maragas Winery and Volcano Vineyards were there showing their latest releases. There were two judging panels at Wine By The River this year, a professional "Grand Reserve Bend" panel that Andy Perdue and Eric Degerman of Wine Press Northwest participated on and also a "Peoples Choice" wine judging event that took place on Friday afternoon. The "Grand Reserve Bend" award winners were given a prominent setting by being in a circular open tent in the center of the amphitheater to give event goers easy access to sample these award winning wines as well as others that were brought for our tasting pleasure. The "Grand Reserve Bend" 2006 winners were: Best of Show: Zerba Cellars 2004 Columbia Valley Syrah Best Red Blend: Kestrel Vintners 1999 Signature Edition Raptor Red Table Wine Best Red Varietal: Eola Hills 2004 Reserve Zinfandel Best Pinot Noir: Namaste Vineyards 2004 Reserve Cuvee Pinot Noir Best White: Domaine Meriwether 1999 Cuvee Brut Sparkling Wine Best Dessert Wine: Spangler Vineyards 2005 Late Harvest Chardonnay Congratulations to all of the Wine By The River award recipients and a hearty thank you to all of the vintners who participated. If you have never tried these wines and rely just upon Wine Spectator, Enthusiast and the like to help you in your wine buying decisions you are missing a much larger segment of available wines that are truly excellent. I subscribe to both of these magazines and enjoy them as much as the next person, but a lot of wines that are crafted here in the northwest are made in such small quantities that they are not covered by these national publications. There are ways to stay abreast of the northwest wine market. Wine Press Northwest has a regular email newsletter you can sign up for at www.winepressnw.com to learn more about what is happening in northwest wine as well as upcoming events. You can also ask your local wine merchant about the wines highlighted here and other northwest wines worthy of your attention. They will usually know more than most as to what is currently available and what other enthusiasts are enjoying. You can also check our "Links Page" at Northwest Wine Fan for other websites that give topical information. The food vendors did an excellent job keeping us nourished through this marathon wine tasting event. Vino Mercato (Wine Club Headquarters) was there as well as our daughter's favorite chocolate purveyor Goody's. One of last years highlights at the Demonstration Stage was Chef Big John Caudill of Tasting Washington. A great chef and one heck of a crowd pleaser, Big John delighted everyone once again this year with his winning personality and command in the kitchen. What fun! Local vendors that we frequent in Central Oregon were also at the event and included Oregon Vineyard Selections in Sisters who specialize in custom wine cellar design and installation, Wine Styles of Bend who had a wonderful selection of gourmet wine gifts and foods and Bend Wine Cellar who offered the invaluable (and free) service of checking your wine with them as you meandered through the tents sampling wine and foods. It was another successful year for Wine By The River. We thank Hospice Center for this opportunity to enjoy a first class event such as this and best of all to help our most vulnerable youth in a time of need and support. Northwest Wine Fan looks forward to the 2007 event and we hope you do too! And, now with deference to the two judging panels who did such an excellent job, the Northwest Wine Fan unscientific judging panel would like to opine on the wines that we felt worthy of note at this years Wine By The River... |
| Our selections of the best wines as chosen by our crack "UP" team: Our unscientific panel consisted of: Carolyn, Tim, Chip, Randy and Lance These wines were not blind tasted. To visit these wines websites just click on their picture! |
| In our humble opinion... Best of Show: 2001 Terra Blanca Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - Red Mountain I raved about this wine both days to anyone within shouting distance. This Cabernet Sauvignon is picture perfect Red Mountain fruit. The panel agreed! This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon was aged for 30 months in French oak. Lance commented that this is a wine he could put up amongst the high-end California Cabernets at his Bay Area wine shop and be successful selling it. I got dark berries, chocolate and currant with some light cedar. This is a powerhouse wine and should cellar well. $32.00 release price. Best Non-Northwest Wine: 2003 Vina Altair - Red Blend Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile continues to improve and this blend proves just how great it can be. Aged in new oak for 15-18 months this wine is comprised of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Carmenere, 6% Merlot with a touch of Syrah and Cabernet Franc. This is an immense wine with dark brooding fruit and a deep color to it. The wine garnered 94 points from Wine Enthusiast but don't take their word for it, take ours! This is a BIG wine. $65.00 release price. Best Northwest Blend: 2004 Zerba Cellars "Wild Z" Columbia River Red Wine Congratulations to Zerba Cellars for their 2004 Columbia Valley Syrah which was awarded Grand Reserve Best of Show by the Wine By The River judging panel. The Zerba Cellars wine that excited us the most was the "Wild Z". Randy thought this wine was terrific for the price and we agree. A blend of Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc and Grenache this is a lithe fruit forward red wine that excites on the palate and has a wonderful and long finish. $19.00 release price. Best Pinot Noir: 2003 Coleman Estate Reserve Pinot Noir Due to the swings in temperature from afternoon to night in this setting Pinot Noir is difficult to gauge. The Coleman Reserve Pinot Noir showed extremely well Friday evening in cooler temperatures. Admittedly Pinot Noir is a fickle and delicate grape! This Estate bottling is a blend of Pommard Clone and Dijon Clones 114 and 115. It showed red berries, smoke and a slight hint of oak with a nice lingering finish. A delightful wine! $35.00 release price. Best White Wine: 2005 INOX Chardonnay Lance thought that this white wine stood out above the rest at the Friday tasting. INOX is the abbreviation for the French word for stainless steel "inoxidable." Made in the Chablis style this wine is made from Dijon Clones and is a crisp, steely, fruit-forward Chardonnay made in an old-world style. Rated 90 points by Wine and Spirits magazine this is a must try wine and highly recommended by the panel. $18.00 release price. |
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