washingtonwine – Deep Red Cellar

Jumping into Rosé Season

It’s pretty easy to jump into rosé season. With the release of rosé comes warmer weather, chirping birds and people clawing out of their winter holes.

For me, it also means a delivery from Lauren Ashton Cellars (LAC). I love the opportunity to write about Lauren Ashton rosé because every year it is perfection in a bottle and every year LAC kick’s off this wine with their Release The Rosé party in conjunction with a charitable cause. It’s their opportunity to give back locally and to get the community involved.

This year LAC owner/winemaker Kit, wife Riinu and the team have chosen Bellevue Lifespring as their charitable recipient. A portion of the proceeds from the release weekend sales will go to Bellevue Lifespring, a local, non-profit organization that helps children through programs that provide food, clothing, education and emergency assistance. That means food when children are hungry, clothes when children go back to school, and scholarships to help students stay on track….just to name a few.

So what’s this wine all about….

To me this wine screams Provence (style). It’s fresh, crisp, dry and highly pleasant. A well thought out blend of grenache, mourvedre, counoise and cinsault with a nose of bubblegum, strawberry and delicate floral. The palate is a combination of juicy watermelon, raspberry and strawberry. Pink grapefruit and a hint of minerality hit on the back while bright acid along with composed tannins bring the wine into balance. A vibrant expression of summer in a bottle.

If jumping into rosé season is your thing (and it should be), you can do so at Lauren Ashton’s Release the Rosé party. Bring your friends, enjoy some wine and help a great cause April 13, noon – 8pm & April 14, noon – 5pm. If you’re not in Washington, don’t fret. You may miss the party but the wine is still releasing to you too!

Release the Rosé Party, Lauren Ashton Tasting Room: 14545 148th Avenue NE, Suite 211 Woodinville, WA 98072, Phone: 425-445-7171

website: http://www.laurentashtoncellars.com

Rosé All The Way

I love this time of year. Rosé is being released and I get to be on the receiving end of it, thanks to Lauren Ashton Cellars! The release of Lauren Ashton Cellars (LAC) rosé comes with a bit more anticipation though. You see, every year owners Kit and Riinu along with the Lauren Ashton team get together and select a beneficiary to receive a portion of the proceeds from the rosé sales during their release event. This year, “Release the Rosé” is taking place on April 21-22 in the LAC tasting studio (love the usage of “studio” – so much more chic than “room”) and proceeds are going to Northshore Schools Foundation. Northshore Schools Foundation is a non-profit charity that enriches the educational experience for students, supports teachers and makes a meaningful contribution to public education and the community by raising funds, building partnerships and filling educational gaps in line with District priorities. I think we can all agree that any organization with a desire to contribute to the positive growth of children is a great thing.

Reflecting winemaker Kit’s approach of making French style wine, the 2017 rosé is a blend of 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, and 20% Counnoise. On the nose, this rosé is a delightful fusion of strawberry, watermelon and pink grapefruit mingling with zesty orange and white flowers. The palate brings out more of the same and is enhanced by pleasing, bright licorice flavors.

LAC rosé sold out of the previous vintage quickly so much anticipation has surrounded this new release. In the past, the release weekend has sold over 400 bottles of LAC rosé and hopes are to surpass that this year. If you would like to purchase a bottle…or case of this beautiful rosé all while helping a great cause, click here .

Lauren Ashton New Releases!

I discovered Lauren Ashton Cellars while living in Washington state. My husband, Joe, attended the Northwest Wine Academy and was in a class with Riinu Rammal who co-owns Lauren Ashton Cellars with her husband, Kit Singh. A few weeks later, Joe and I topped off a date day with a visit to Lauren Ashton‘s tasting room in the Hollywood District of Woodinville where we became hooked on these fantastic wines. Lauren Ashton focuses on traditional French style wines that reflect Washington terroir. They have just released two pretty fabulous wines that I am delighted to share with you:

Cuvée Méline

A Bordeaux style white wine made up of 55% Semillon and 45% Sauvignon Blanc fermented like a white wine should, low and slow, in stainless steel tanks and neutral barrels. Cuvée Méline shows a purposeful balance between high acidity and lushness with green apple, grapefruit, peach and green melon followed by an intriguing suggestion of fresh bread. I paired this wine with sweet potato gnocchi and it was a cohesive, delicious duo.

Cuvée Arlette

Also Bordeaux inspired, from the Right Bank with a Merlot predominance, is Cuvée Arlette . A blend of 59% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and a token of Malbec and Petit Verdot. Cuvée Arlette is a dignified wine with aromas of dark fruits, spices and earthy minerals. On the palate, flavors of black raspberry, black currant and black cherry with a sway to perfectly roasted coffee beans, warm baking spices and clay pot. The finish lingers on the palate providing an elegant, pleasing culmination.

Bonus Review ~ Chenin Blanc

For the first time ever, Lauren Ashton has released a Chenin Blanc. The wine is whole cluster pressed resulting in a high quality, refreshing wine with crisp acidity. The aroma is fruity with a hint of mango and flavors of ripe Bartlett pear, yellow apple, and pineapple with undertones of honey and chalk. I tasted this little lovely in the morning before eating, which I admit, is something I do often while my palate is most attentive. It would pair well with Asian food or simple chicken and fish dishes.

Whether you are looking to stock a cellar, enjoy a bottle or two in the next few months, or polish off immediately, these are excellent wines worth considering. Lauren Ashton distributes to many states as well as ships to any state without restrictions. To order Lauren Ashton wines, click here.

As wineries occasionally do, Lauren Ashton sent the above wines to me.  I only promote wines I thoroughly enjoy since my name is essentially on them at the point of promotion.  As I state in my bio, "I am here to inspire you to treat yourself to great wine experiences as often as you possibly can!"  I recommend wines that, in my opinion, can create great wine experiences.

Charles Smith Wines Jet City

I cannot believe it’s been almost a year since my husband and I visited Charles Smith Wines Jet City. The winery and tasting room, formerly a Dr. Pepper bottling plant, is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle with views of Boeing Field’s main runways and Mount Rainier.

Pulling up to the massive, black building with windows nearly two stories high was quite impressive. Even more impressive was the monstrosity of a front door that mirrored the colossal height of the windows. This state-of-the-art facility is the largest urban winery on the West Coast and a very cool place to do some wine tasting.

A little background…Charles Smith opened his first winery in 1999 in Walla Walla. With his convivial, avant-garde style, Charles continues to be a positive force in the wine industry. In Washington, Charles Smith is the largest independent producer, the largest winemaker-owned winery and third largest winery overall. Charles Smith has won numerous accolades, including “Best New Wineries of the Last Ten Years,” “Winery of the Year,” and “Winemaker of the Year” three times, most recently in 2014 by Wine Enthusiast.

Now back to Jet City…I tasted wines from the K Vintners and Sixto labels. K Vintners is the name of Charles Smith’s first winery, which had its inaugural release in 2001 with K Syrah. All of the wines under this label are picked by hand, foot-stomped, fermented using naturally occurring yeasts and basket pressed. The Sixto label is a chardonnay only label from Charles Smith and Brennon Leighton rejuvenating interest in Washington’s old chardonnay vines. It is the sixth label that Charles has created. I took home two bottles from my tasting, the Motor City Kitty Syrah (100% Syrah, Yakima Valley) and the Stoneridge Cabernet Sauvignon (100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley).

If you find yourself in Seattle, you should really check this place out. The tasting room is open Wednesday thru Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm and is located at 1136 S. Albro Place, Seattle WA 98109.by

Well Hello Kiona Lemberger!

It was a great day when the subdivision welcome committee came to our home a few weeks after we moved to the Pacific Northwest for three reasons: (1) the “committee” was a lovely couple who quickly became our friends; (2) they showed up with Camano Island Coffee (seriously good coffee); and (3) they told us about Kiona Vineyards Lemberger (seriously good wine).

Kiona Vineyards and Winery was established in 1975 in the Red Mountain AVA (American Viticultural Area) of Washington and has over 200 acres of vineyards. Kiona (pronounced Kigh-Oh-Na, meaning brown hills) produces approximately 30,000 cases of wine annually utilizing “environmental stewardship” in both the vineyards and cellar.

Lemberger (not to be confused with Limburger, the stinky cheese) is an obscure varietal hailing from Austria where it is known as “blaufränkisch.” Kiona Vineyards led the way in determining this varietal to be well suited to Washington’s climate and produced the first Lemberger wine in the United States in 1980. The Lemberger grape produces a delightful, medium bodied wine exhibiting red fruit, especially red cherry, with a good balance of earthiness and spice. Kiona refers to their Lemberger as “Pinot Noir on steroids” which is a great description because it has more guts than Pinot Noir, can be enjoyed by itself and has the ability of a Barbera or a blend to pair with a ton of different foods.

Kiona Vineyards has received numerous accolades for its wine and in particular, Lemberger. Wine Enthusiast gave Kiona’s 2012 Lemberger 90 points stating it’s flavor is “built upon chocolate and cherries with dusty tannins.” I have yet to try a Kiona wine I don’t like. In fact, I’ve been known to buy their wine by the case and their Lemberger is a staple in my home. I’m not a spokesperson for them, I just want you to drink good wine! Look for Kiona in your local wine shop or order online, you will not be disappointed.by