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Caterina Winery in downtown Spokane has stepped
it up a notch by releasing two red wines packed with flavor.
Formerly known as Steven Thomas Livingstone Winery,
Caterina is in a former Carnation Dairy at 905 N. Washington St., two
blocks from Spokane's Riverfront Park.
Caterina is one of the few wineries in the state
in a downtown metropolitan area. The proximity to downtown Spokane means
they sell a good percentage of their wines from the tasting room, which
features an array of wine-oriented items, some snacks and a picnic area.
The winery is owned by Lyn Tangen and a family trust
she manages. The winemaker is Michael Scott, an Englishman who says he
learned from the ground up by first pouring wine in another Spokane winery's
tasting room on weekends about 20 years ago.
He started learning winemaking skills and worked
his way up to cellar master and assistant winemaker at Livingstone when
it was sold and became Caterina in 1993.
Today he's the winemaker and says he has a French
assistant learning the ropes from him. "Usually it's the other way around,"
Scott said with a chuckle.
Scott says he's an absolute Washington fruit chauvinist.
Many of the grapes for Caterina wines come from
the Wahluke Slope area and from Willard farms near Prosser in the Yakima
Valley. He's also working on getting some Red Mountain and Walla Walla
Valley grapes.
The grapes are crushed at Washington Hills Sunnyside
Winery and moved by tanker truck to Spokane. "It's sort of ironic because
the Sunnyside winery is an old Carnation dairy and so are we," Scott said.
The two new reserve-style merlot and cabernet sauvignon
wines that show such great promise are from the Willard Vineyard.
1998 merlot Willard Family Vineyard, $28
- Great oak beginning leading to rich berry aromas and flavors. Jammy
and delicious.
1998 cabernet sauvignon Willard Family Vineyard,
$28 - Lush, dark fruit, cherries, supple with a long finish. A big,
flavorful wine.
2000 viognier Willard Family Vineyard, $20
- Aromatic and spicy beginning a bit of rosemary with citrus. Crisp finish.
1999 sauvignon blanc, Washington, $10 - Bright
and zingy with a touch of herbs. Good mouth feel. Serve well chilled.
1999 chardonnay Washington, $12 - Smooth
with nice, buttery oak components. Full bodied and bright fruit.
1999 Cabernet dela Rosa, $10 - A rose made
from cabernet sauvignon. Crisp finish with nice, fruity cranberry flavors,
great with turkey. Serve slightly chilled.
1998 Rosso red table wine, $15 - Made of
55 percent cabernet and 45 percent merlot. A pleasant red with a bit of
sweet feel on the palate. Very fruity, great with pasta.
1998 late-harvest riesling, $15 - Flavors
and smells of apples and ripe pears, residual sugar at 7 percent. A sweet,
satisfying, crisp finish.
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