Great NW Wine: Changes ahead with new reality for us

Published: Tue, 04/28/20

Wine of the Week

Clearwater Canyon Cellars 2017 Merlot, Lewis-Clark Valley, $28

These days, it seems Merlot does not receive as much love as it should, particularly in the Northwest where the big red native to Bordeaux remains a workhorse and the backbone for many blends.

It’s no coincidence that one of our region’s most decorated wineries — Clearwater Canyon Cellars in Lewiston, Idaho – has bottled one of the best Merlots in the Pacific Northwest. Coco Umiker creates her Merlot using with three vineyards from the Lewis-Clark Valley – Arnett, Rock n’ J and Umiker, the estate farmed by her husband, Karl.

After 17 months in 30% new American oak, there are deep red cherries, sweet purple plums and juicy blackberries that roll slowly and enticingly in the nose. Those dark fruit notes are joined by bittersweet chocolate, delivering a flavor and finish that are memorable and enjoyable.

This earned a gold medal at the 2019 Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition.

Price: $28

Production: 248 cases

Alcohol: 14.8%

Winery website

Value wine
of the Week

Treveri Cellars NV Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine,
Columbia Valley

Juergen Grieb crafts his flagship sparkling wine methode Champenoise from 100% Chardonnay grapes, and he’s been skilled with it ever since he launched his family brand near Union Gap in 2010.

It leads off with a mouth-filling mousse, citrusy notes and a hint of toast, then delivers lemon-lime flavors, crisp acidity and abundant bubbles from front to back. There’s a tiny bit of sweetness — just 1% residual sugar — but your palate will have a difficult time detecting it. And it’s priced so nicely that you can raise a glass of beautiful bubbles without denting your bank account.

This earned a double gold medal at the Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition.

Price: $15

Production: 10,000 cases

Alcohol: 12%

Winery website

Red Mt. Virtual Happy Hour

Each week, the collegial feel among Red Mountain area wineries is on display during the COVID-19 pandemic with the Exit 96 Virtual Happy Hour Wine Series.

Staged on Facebook at 6 p.m. six days a week, the rotation features one of the following each day — Purple Star Wines, Frichette Winery, Hamilton Cellars, Hedges Family Estate, Hightower Cellars, Purple Star Wines, Red Mountain Trails Winery, Tapteil Vineyard & Winery or Upchurch Vineyard.

Themes range from Tiara Tuesday, Walk Wednesday, Thursday Blending, Foodie Friday and Summer Plans Saturday to Sunday Sipping.

You must “Like” the winery on Facebook in order to join the conversation.

@PurpleStarWines

@HightowerCellars

@HedgesFamilyEstate

@HamiltonCellars

@RMTwine

@UpchurchVineyard

Hashtags included #Exit96, #WAWINE and #CommunityNotCompetition.

Events calendar

Our events calendar shows what is happening in the wine countries of Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Idaho.

Have an event? Please visit this link to add it.

Great NW Wine newsletter returns with changes ahead

All of us are hurting, and there is more pain in store for many of us.

However, while the delicious wines produced in our beautiful corner of the world continue to provide us some respite, they are best enjoyed at the dining table surrounded by loved ones. Sheltering in place and social distancing make that circle a bit tighter than we would like.

For those of us at Great Northwest Wine, our families have suffered a string of health setbacks in the past three years. While we are not as robust as we were when we launched our wine journalism business on Jan. 1, 2013, we are persevering.

The Cascadia International Wine Competition we stage in our hometown of Richland, Wash., has been rescheduled tentatively for June 2-4. Our hope is that producers in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Idaho will continue to make it the largest international wine judging conducted in the Pacific Northwest.

Fortunately, among the changes we’ve experienced has been the deepening of our relationship with wine country photojournalist Richard Duval, who is based in Woodinville, Wash. In addition to images and photo galleries, Richard also has launched the VineLines Dispatch, an occasional column that allows him to share more of his experiences during the course of his assignments across the Northwest.

We also plan to take a more regional approach to the newsletter by sharing links to news and promoting the work of other journalists we respect while also pointing out the contributions we make to our media partners throughout the Northwest.

As this “new normal” continues to unfold, we expect our coverage of the Northwest wine industry to evolve as well. What won’t change though is our commitment to bringing news and insights of this rich community. So keep sharing with news tips, story ideas and questions with us via this link to our Contact page or [email protected]. The Northwest wine region is beyond 2,200 wineries and 105,000 acres of vineyard. While we strive for thoughtful coverage, we need help with input and insight.

Not long after Andy’s series of strokes started in fall 2016, we reached out to Focal Point Marketing in the Tri-Cities for help with our IT needs. Our go-to IT expert, Derek Nelson, found a solution allowing our Events Calendar to automatically pull in event listings from a number of regional wine alliance sites.

At this point, the vast majority of those events are “virtual,” but all of us hope that those will be more intimate in the near future when we can again gather our family and friends around the Northwest wine and food that we love.

Sincerely,
Eric

Clearwater Canyon Cellars wins Pacific NW Winery of Year

In the 20-year history of Wine Press Northwest magazine's premier competition, no woman winemaker has won more Platinum awards than Coco Umiker. Last fall, the judging awarded five Platinums to Clearwater Canyon Cellars wines, bumping the career total won by Umiker and her viticulturist/husband, Karl, to 17.

Their ongoing string of success in the face of long odds prompted Wine Press Northwest to name Clearwater Canyon Cellars the 2020 Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year. Recent winners include Palencia Wine Co., Long Shadows Vintners, Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards, Walla Walla Vintners, Maryhill Winery and Stoller Family Estate.

Celebrate Walla Walla Wine moves Syrah weekend to 2021

Friday brought news of another festival postponement prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic when Celebrate Walla Walla Wine – The World of Syrah was pushed back to the summer of 2021.

Organizers made the decision nearly three months in advance of the July 16-18 weekend that’s become a summer showcase for the Walla Walla Valley.

On April 2, the International Pinot Noir Celebration postponed its 34th annual festival until 2021. The IPNC is staged on the campus of Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.

Bill Stoller rescues McMinnville aviation museum, water park

It might seem as though Bill Stoller wears a big “S” on his chest much of the time, but the Oregon vintner prefers to take more of a Clark Kent role.

But on April 14, Stoller officially took on a Superman persona in Yamhill County and the city of McMinnville when he purchased 285 acres surrounding the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum — home of the iconic Spruce Goose airplane — and the Wings & Waves Waterpark.

Continued praise proves
Idaho wine country is true gem

When Wine Press Northwest began 1998, it included Idaho because the Gem State was part of the Pacific Northwest. And it was easy to include, with about a dozen wineries in Idaho at the time. Now, Idaho’s 60 wineries are a force worth considering by all wine lovers and collectors.

The Spring 2020 issue marks the first time it featured an Idaho winery as the Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year, which says a lot about Clearwater Canyon Cellars and the Umikers’ evolution, and even more about the Idaho wine industry’s maturation.

Harvest for Washington wine fell by 23% in 2019 vintage

Some of the world’s best wines from the 2019 vintage will come from Washington state, however there will be fewer total bottles produced as a result of last year’s reduced harvest.

Last month, the Washington State Wine Commission reported that the 2019 harvest was down 23 percent from the previous year. Decreased orders from winemakers, combined with an early freeze, led to only 201,000 tons crushed by the second-largest wine producing state in the U.S.

New wine reviews posted

We have posted several new reviews, including:

Review archive