Gorge Tour
As I mentioned in my first post, my affection for wine began in the Columbia River Gorge. I still remember my first wine tasting stop -- a quick run into the Maryhill winery to pick out some wine to go with dinner with the in-laws. I tried several, and didn't appreciate them as much as I probably would now. However, my palate did enjoy their Fort Rock Red, which, while still a bit dry for my tastes back then, still provided enough sweet flavor to keep me interested.But my affinity for wine didn't really begin until my parents took my wife and I (with our 4-year-old tagging along) to the Cathedral Ridge winery in Hood River, OR. They had several varieties, and I'd have to look back at my wife's wine journal (I'm going to get her to sign up on Blogger so she can join me 'round here) to see the entire list that we tasted, but I do know they had the standard Chard, Riesling, Merlot, Cab, etc.. My wife and I fell in love with their Halbtrocken, and that pushed us over the edge into exploring the world of wine snobbery.
I remember feeling out of place, in spite of having had the first experience a few weeks earlier at Maryhill. I was starting to catch on that when you're tasting wines, you start from light to dark. I learned about the "dump bucket" and how it was actually OK for you to dump a wine that you didn't like (and, really, even wines that you DO like -- probably a wise choice when you're navigating down steep, curvy, one-lane roads like the approach to the Wind River Cellars winery). I'm still figuring out when the best time is to rinse out your glass between varieties. Fortunately, the wineries we've been to have been not so into wine snobbery that they expect neophytes like us to know the ropes. The FAQs at sites like Wine Press Northwest help out a lot, too!
After sampling the varieties at Cathedral Ridge (and purchasing two bottles of Halbtrocken, and another white variety that I've since forgotten which), we ventured up the hill to Pheasant Valley. They were sampling all their varieties, and the vitner for Viento was also set up in the corner of the Pheasant Valley tasting room. Whatever resistance I had towards becoming a wine snob completely evaporated when the Pheasant Valley Riesling first touched my tongue. They say people are suckered in by sweeter wines first, and then progress to the drier, bolder, more complex wines. Indeed I've traversed down a similar path.
Nowadays, I actually prefer the dry and complex varieties of Cabernet Savignon. Fortunately the Dry Hollow winery makes an excellent Cab, and it's well worth the $16 per bottle. It's my recommendation for the best bang-for-the-buck wine out there. It tastes as good as some $50-80 Cabs I've had.
It's that good.
posted by PositivePaul @ 1:15 PM
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