Avalon Wine Newsletter

Avalon Wine this week:
North Willamette Wine Touring Guide
Northstar Gordfy Hill returns
Woodward/L'Ecole History

Avalon Wine > Articles > Newsletters > June 2 Newsletter
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Avalon NW Wine News

“Woodward Canyon
and L’Ecole Wineries
Side-by-Side in
Location, History”
By Christina Kelly
Avalon Editor/Writer

"Twenty Years
of Schooling Keeps
L'Ecole Wines at
the Head of the Class"
by Christina Kelly
Avalon Editor/Writer

“Northstar Brings Back Gordon Hill
to Produce Merlot”

By Christina Kelly
Avalon Editor/Writer
May 25, 03

The Avalon Hot Ten
Best Selling Wines this week

1. Bergstrom
"Cumberland" Pinot Noir 01 $29.99
Wine Spectator 92 points!

2. Cuneo Bordeaux Blend 99
Super value, rich red, deep flavors

3. Bergstrom Pinot Noir Rsv 2000
$29.99/26.99
Wine Spectator 90 points

5. McKinlay Pinot Noir
Special Select 00 $29.99
WIne Spectator rating 93 points!

6. Penner Ash Pinot Noir 01 $45
New vintage, masterfully crafted

7. Argyle Pinot Noir 01 $16.99
Wine Spectator rating 91 points- Best Buy

8. Big Reds Club Membership
$66 a month plus shipping when purchased as a yearly subscription

9. Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir "Homer" 2001
$64.99/$58.50
Wine Spectator 92 points

10. Abacela Tempranillo Reserve $45.99/41.39
Huge, dark, brooding, complex, cellar for 15 years

*first week
on the list

Host a
Wine Tasting
This Summer!
Here's Avalon's guide
to hosting
a wine tasting
at your house

Come and see us this Summer!

The summer weather here is wonderful, it's calm and rural and slow moving except in Portland and Seattle, the wine country is still farmland instead of Disneyland, you often get to taste wine with owners or winemakers, there's lots of outdoor activities, etc etc. In brief- this is a great summer to visit Oregon or Washington!

Email us if you are interested in coming out and let us know where you want to go, and we'll try to help with a little personal assistance- wher the locals go, places that don't show up in the guidebooks, etc.

Wine Spectator's
Annual Oregon Wine List

New Guide:
North Willamette Wine Touring

Big Red
Few Bucks!

Cuneo Cellars
Bordeaux Blend 99

$16.99

A wonderful value!

Penner Ash
Pinot Noir 2001
Now Available!

Lynn and Ron Penner Ash's new release- A June Wine Club Selection!

Jean's Kitchen Sink

What's on the sink? Bottles and bottles and bottles.

Ah, it's the time of year when I am so happy to be a part of the NW wine industry- so many luscious new wines to try- time to collect the tasting notes that we'll use to decide what to write about and offer to you, our valued customers and friends.

So what's on the sink? Lots and lots of big wine glasses, the classic bulb shape that Riedel calls " Bordeaux". I like a big deep glass to taste- there's a lot more "nose" when the aroma is captured in the bell of the glass. I swirl and swirl and swirl the wine in the glass, sticking my nose in periodically to take a big sniff- looks sort of wierd but that's the only way I know to get at the flavor- so much of the taste of a wine is tied in to its scent...

So what else is on the sink? My trusty Wine Aroma Wheel- Professor Noble's easy to use guide to flavors and scents of wines-- always useful as a reference. And there's my wine stained tasting journal, full of hopefully decipherable scribbles....

There's a very basic 20 point scale that comes in handy when tasting- 20 points is a perfect wine, divided into 0-4 points for appearance, 0-6 points for aroma, 0-6 points for flavor, and 0-4 points for "overall impression", a pretty subjective term, but I've always figured it was the "hedge" part for balancing the wine's score against other wines of its type....

Of course, interpretation of what qualities define the best wine remains a subjective art/science... is it what you like? Is it what you think the wine reviewers like? Is it what the customers will like? Is it what the people you are tasting with like?

As a consumer, I encourage you to go with your own tastes, to take courage in disagreeing with reviewers, wine sales people, and friends, and believe in your own taste buds- believe in your own senses. Use aids like the Aroma Wheel to find the words to describe the scents, flavors, and textures.

Try closing your eyes to focus in on the wine- I don't like to taste at big wine events with lots of noises, scents, lights and people. There's so much going on, I can't focus in on the wine- all the other sensations get in the way of perceiving the subtleties, the nuances, the complexities, the aspects of wine that I find endlessly fascinating.

But in the end, it's just wine- delicious, intriguing, each one different with a different vintage, winemaker, vineyard, wine making technique.... as with any art/science, the more you look, the more there is to see (taste?), and the whole point is to enjoy it, to enjoy the experience, to enjoy life. Grab the gusto- and don't worry what other people think! --JY

Get Andy's
New Book
With A Case
Wine Order! *

*We'll be sending a free copy
of Andy's new book with
an order of a full case of wine
priced at $200 or more,
starting June 1.
One book per person, please.