What's on Jean's Kitchen SInk this week?
The wines, the foods,
the people and places in NW wine country.
Kitchen Counter Archive
Avalon
Article Archive
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9-25-03
Continued
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"Columbia Cascades" the next hot vineyard region?
Something about the area just makes great grapes
The Columbia Cascade region is a new viticultural area developing in North Central Washington. Although there were wineries in this region before prohibition, it was not until 1980 that grapes began to reappear in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains and along the region's lakes and rivers. Currently there are over 800 acres of vinifera grapes and fifteen wineries, with more vineyards and wineries in development.
Winemakers across Washington and the Northwest are purchasing grapes from the new vineyards of this exciting new region. There's somthing about the "terroir" here that allows winemakers to produce impressive wines. As Walla Walla's available vineyard land gets snapped up, Mattawa and the Columbia Cascade Region offer enticing opportunities.
Fielding Hills- A Promising Start
Mike Wade makes wine in the new Columbia Cascades region of Washington State. His family business owns a vineyard in Mattawa, Washington, north and east of the city of Yakima, on the Columbia River. Amidst spectacular scenery, the vineyard is proving, as are many new vineyards in the region, to produce unusually good wine grapes.
The owners of Fielding Hills are experienced farmers, owning Columbia Fruit Packers Inc, a medium sized family owned apple and cherry packing wasrehouse which owns several orchards. The winery is located in the middle of one of their apple orchards. Mike's interest in agriculture merged with his interest in wine after he and his wife Karen toured Yakima and Walla Walla wineries and caught "the wine bug".
Mike planted his "Riverbend Vineyard" in 1998 and made his first wine in 2000. His Fielding Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 received 91 points from Wine Spectator, awards from Wine Press NW, and has become a cult wine -- highly coveted by our customers. The Mattawa region's vineyards have proven unexpectedly successful at producing high quality wine grapes, and wineries from around the state are purchasing the area's grapes for their wines.
Hogue Cellars still purchases the bulk of the grapes grown at Fielding's Riverbend Vineyard. Fielding's production is limited to under 500 cases of wine a year, at least for now.
Ryan Patrick Vineyard is one of the larger wineries in the area now called the Columbia Cascade Region. The winery is located in Rock Island, Washington adjacent to Highway 28, just 7 miles east of Wenatchee. The Estate owned vineyards are located in Trinidad, Washington.
The winery recently received top honors for its Vin d Ete, a blend of Sauvignon blanc and Semillon. Production of red and white wines totals over 1500 cases, and as the vineyards come online, the winery will harvest Cabernet Franc, Barbera and Nebbiolo as well as Caberneti Sauvignon and Merlot.
Wine Enthusiast gave the Ryan Patrick Red 92 points, saying : "This bold, vivid wine is 54% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvingnon and 7% Cabernet Franc. The fruit is amazing - layers of red, blue and blackberries, seamless and compact, lead into accents of mineral and anise. The tannins are proportional and the oak is just a light seasoning."
This is a region that I hope to revisit this fall, and will keep an eye on, as there is great promise of outstanding wines to come from the area.
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