Wine Win Wednesday: Tualatin Estate Muscat-Frizzanté

Wine:  Tualatin Estate Semi-Sweet Muscat-Frizzanté

Why it's a win:  This is a great summer sipper, and perfect for celebrations.  The ripe, explosive flavors of apricot and peaches & cream are balanced with a refreshing acidity that makes it soooooo drinkable.  Enjoy with creamy cheeses or fruit salad.

Semi-sparkling wines are only made by a five producers in Oregon; Tualatin-Estate (owned by Willamette Valley Vineyards) is among them.  This Muscat-Frizzante is in keeping with the Italian tradition of making semi-sparkling wines with Muscat grapes - one of my favorites!

Where you can find it:  Fred Meyers

Price: $16

March Wine & Dine: Baby on Board

In celebration of St. Patrick's day, Jeff and Nate's birthdays, and the announcement of a pregnancy, the "Wine" part of this month's Wine & Dine kind of got put on the back burner...  I'm not sure anyone even noticed (myself included) with all of the fantastic decorations, games, and beer to distract us.  

The theme was "Wines with Green Labels" and all three bottles were picked up at Fred Meyer's.  We sampled a very light-bodied 2010 Viridian Pinot Noir, a Willamette Valley wine from Olsen Family Vineyards in Monmouth.  We also tried a 2009 Torres Vina Esmeraldas, a tasty muscat from Spain. And later, a 2011 Starborough Sauvignon Blanc, from New Zealand.  

Our fantastic spread - all foods included an Irish liquor ingredient

Katy and Travis Horak hosted this month and they put on a spectacular show, as always.  (Katy and Travis hosted one of the more famous Wine & Dine parties a while back with the "Price is Right" wine game, complete with homemade Money Wheel and an excel-inspired game show.)

They put their skills to work again this month with another excel-inspired game show.  We played Wheel of Fortune for most of the evening, while sipping on whatever wine or beer happened to be in front of us.

The highlight of the game was when a team was guessing a popular phrase "Baby on Board" and Katy and Travis announced their pregnancy!  The room erupted in cheers and congratulations!

We could watch as the other team spun the wheel 

Home made mini-version of the Wheel of Fortune!

In keeping with the St. Patrick's theme, we also had Irish beers to fill our goblets with.

And a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Dundee Wine Tasting

{The view from Lange Estate Vineyard}

The weekend of March 2nd my mother came in to visit from Texas. Knowing her love for good wine, I thought it would be a fun experience to take her wine tasting. There are so many great places to go in our area, but I landed on Dundee for this trip.

Dundee offered the best of both worlds for us: there were vineyards with sweeping views so my mother could get the real Oregon vineyard experience, but there was also one large street of tasting rooms that made getting around town really simple. To add to its appeal, Dundee is only about 20 miles from our home.

We started at Lange Estate. It was a bit of a trek up the hill to get there but well worth it. The views were incredible.  We stayed on the hill for our next tasting and swung by Torii Mor. Personally, I thought Torii Mor completely outshone Lange with their offerings- especially their house-distilled port. This is definitely a vineyard we need to go back to in the summer with a picnic basket.

For our next stop we came down off the hill and visited Four Graces- which was my favorite tasting of the day. Everyone was very knowledgeable and welcoming. We felt so comfortable spending time in this tasting room.

Next we hit up Argyle which was along the strip of tasting rooms I mentioned above- which made walking around town very easy.  Argyle has a great reputation for their sparking wines and they did not disappoint. My mom loved sampling all the different bubblies.

 {At the Argyle Tasting Room}

Our last stop for the day was Ponzi. While my mom fell in love with their Chardonnay, it should also be noted that they served the most delicious Italian sandwiches. A nice little break in the day and an easy way to snack and sip.

While we really were happy with a majority of the wines we tasted, there were a select few that were our favorites of the day.

• Torii Mor Syrah Port (Rian's favorite of the day)        
• Ponzi 2008 Chardonnay Reserve (Mom's favorite of the day)
• Four Graces Doe Ridge Estate Pinot Noir (This was my second favorite here. My first was a blend that was only sold at the tasting room. It's current on our bar waiting for our one year anniversary!)

 Next time you're in the area, definitely give Dundee a shot. We had a wonderful time and tasted some seriously good vino :)

Wine Win Wednesday: Eola Hills Chardonnay

Wine:  2010 Eola Hills Chardonnay

Why it's a win: It's a Chardonnay that even Chardonnay naysayers will stomach (and perhaps even enjoy!)  Exotic fruits and pear explode from this Chardonnay.  And even though it was aged in oak, it doesn't have that obnoxious buttery flavor that is so characteristic of big chardonnay producers.  Enjoy with grilled fish or poultry

Where you can find it: Winco, Trader Joe's, Costco

Price:  $11-$13

Wine Win Wednesday: Willamette Valley Vineyard Riesling

Wine:  2010 Riesling by Willamette Valley Vineyards

Why it's a win: It's a semi-sweet, "sure thing" Reisling that will be a hit in any setting.  It's sweet enough to keep the sweet white drinkers happy, but not so sweet that the red lovers will wince.  Fruit and floral notes abound in this great Riesling, with a refreshing and balanced finish.  This is a great wine for any occasion.  It's my personal favorite for warm, summer evening on the porch.

Where you can find it: Any major grocery store

Price: $11-$14

A Taste of Home Wine and Dine

February’s Wine and Dine focused on home, our home to be specific. My sister moved in with me a few months ago and we decided to host a Wine and Dine that reflected where we were raised, the Columbia Valley and the nearby Yakima Valley of Washington. We were surrounded by wineries growing up, and each spent our 21^st birthdays wine tasting with our family. Wine tasting is still a common pastime when we visit home. We always seem to find places we haven’t been before. The goal of this Wine and Dine was to showcase a handful of wines from the area that are not as readily available outside the region.

The first wine of the evening was a mulled wine. It was made using Preston Cellars 2007 Gamay Noir. This is an award winning Rose that Preston recommends using with their spice blend for hot mulled wine. Preston is located on the outskirts of Pasco, Washington and is one of the oldest wineries in the region starting up in the early 1970’s.

Recipe for Mulled wine:

One bottle of Gamay Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Red table wine, 3-4 cups of Cranberry juice (or other cran-juice combo) 1 package of mulling spices and an optional cinnamon stick (we omitted the cinnamon in our version).

The second wine of the evening was Gordon Brothers 2009 Chardonnay. The two Gordon brothers started this winery in the 1980’s. The first wine they produced was a Chardonnay, but they were notably one of the first red wine producers in the area. If you are looking for more of their wines, please note that they just changed their name from Gordon Brothers to Gordon Estate.

The third wine was Terra Blanca’s 2009 Viognier. Their Viognier is a bit drier than most and I like it that way. I have a confession; Terra Blanca is my favorite winery in the region. Their wine is always good, sometimes amazing, and the setting is beautiful. Their vineyard along with their tasting room is located on Red Mountain, an area with an exceptional reputation for grape quality. Hands down the most impressive quality of this winery is the tasting room and event facility. It looks like it is straight out of Tuscany. Whenever I have friends visiting the area I ALWAYS bring them here. It’s pretty amazing.

The fourth wine was Chandler Reach’s 36 Red. This is a Cabernet/Merlot blend. It is marketed as an everyday wine that will easily pair with a variety of foods. Chandler Reach is another beautiful Tuscan Villa inspired venue. This winery is located in the Yakima Valley and is a great stop on the way to the many other fantastic wineries in that region.

The fifth wine was Tagaris’ 2009 Boar Doe. It is a red blend made up of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec, 10% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot. This was the hit of the night! Tagaris has some fun names for their wines and very creative labels as well. This winery is located less than a mile from our childhood home. This is one of my favorite places to go with friends in the summer. This winery is actually better known for their restaurant, Taverna Tagaris than for their wines, and once you taste the food and catch some live jazz on the patio you’ll understand why.

Lastly we had Genisis’ 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. Genesis is the Premier label from Hogue Cellars. Hogue is one of the most widely distributed wines from the region. This was the second most well liked wine of the evening.

Now, on to the food:

Appetizers: Smoked salmon and cream cheese provided by Nate and Kimber. Stuffed endives provided by Jennifer.

Main dish: Runzas provided by Molly and Sarah – this was a meal we grew up with. They are bread pockets filled with meat (turkey and a bit of pork in this case), cabbage and onions.

Sides: Asparagus casserole provided by Ben, Cooked Carrots provided by Tamara and Rian, Salad provided by Rachel and Paul.

Dessert: Ginger and white chocolate cookies provided by Elizabeth, Éclairs provided by Katee and Travis.

10 Easy Projects for Leftover Wine Corks

When one of your major hobbies is drinking/experiencing/learning about wine, over time you go through a lot of wine corks.  Rather than tossing them in the trash (or if you're a savvy recycler like we are, in the compost) hold on to the corks and make something decorative or even useful out of them!  If you search "what to do with wine corks" you'll see hundreds of websites with crazy projects.  Here are my top 10 favorites that are actually feasible to create at home with minimal crafting experience required!  

1.  Classic Cork Board - You really can't go wrong making a cork board with wine corks.  Find a frame you like (or build your own), decide on a pattern, grab a glue gun, and secure corks to the backing of the frame.  If you search "cork board" on the internet, you'll get lots of how-to websites.  Below is the one I just finished, hanging proudly by our wine rack.  My friend John asked me how much I had invested in this cork board...  It took a lot of wine, and over 2 years, but it is worth every penny!

2.  Wine cork bath mat - The original inventor blogs on CraftyNest.com.  Click on the link and you can find a how-to tutorial as well as a few updates on how the bath mat stood up.

3.  Monograms from wine corks - These look awesome and would be a great addition to an empty bookshelf, on the edge of a mantel, or as a housewarming gift for someone.  I just recently spent a goodly amount of time cutting up wine corks, so I know how difficult and irksome it can be.  This project looks a little too labor-intensive for me, but I will be a most gracious recipient should anyone like to make me a set!   

4.  Cork-filled Vases - This reuse of wine corks is so easy and a no-brainer.  Grab an empty vase, or a large wine goblet, fill it with corks and use it as an accent piece.  It's how I put some of my wine corks to use while I was working on collecting enough to make something crafty with them.  

5.  Wine cork wreaths - If I get in the crafty spirit this fall, I'm definitely going to try my hands at creating a wine cork wreath.  Save-on-crafts.com has a great tutorial.  Strap a big festive bow on this and I've got myself an inside wreath for my door!  

6. Wine cork framed clock - HELLO, AWESOME!  I really love this cork-framed clock.  It was sold on Etsy a long time ago, but it doesn't look terribly difficult to DIY.  

7.  Wine Cork Trivets - Oh Martha Stewart... you really know the way into my heart.  These super simple wine cork trivets come from Martha Stewarts sister site Whole Living.  Check out item 10 of 25 in the column "25 Eco-Chic Ideas For Your Home" which gives the tutorial for how to create these eco-chic trivets.  

If you need slightly more of a challenge, or you're feeling particularly crafty, visit CraftyNest.com again and follow her instructions for this half-sized hexagonal wine cork trivet lined with ribbon.  

8.  Cork napkin rings - These are great because they don't require you to collect hundreds of wine corks.  If you have a few on hand and happen to be throwing a dinner party (*cough* Wine & Dine party *cough*).  Drill a hole through the width, thread some pretty ribbon through, and tie together.

9.  Cork coasters - I found these on Etsy, but they look so simple to make!  Take 8 similarly sized corks and glue pairs together with a hot glue gun.  Then, glue the left side of a pair to the base of another pair to create a pinwheel pattern.  Finish off by gluing a decorative ribbon around the edges.

10.  Wine glass cork charms - These would be really useful at Wine & Dine parties!  I've been tempted to buy a set, but now I'm going to make my own!  I also found on Etsy, but I think it's a project that would be fun to tackle.  And it's another project that you can do if you only have a couple extra corks on hand.  If you have any experience making jewelry, these should be a snap to put together.  This might even be a fun group project for us girls!