Spokane is home to 16 quality wineries, including one of Washington’s original 20. From Barrister’s 90+ point Cab Franc, Latah Creek’s innovative cold fermentation, Robert Karl’s top picks (by Paul Gregutt), and Arbor Crest’s historic mansion and amazing grounds, Spokane is becoming a destination for wine.

Spokane is also known as an amazingly generous host city. Spokane is home to the largest 3 on 3 basketball tournament (Hoopfest), and one of the largest timed road races with Bloomsday (over 50,000 runners). Spokane recently hosted the 2010 USA Figure Skating Championships and will host round one of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. GO ZAGS!

As 300 wine bloggers converge on Walla Walla, Washington, Spokane offered to bring three wine writers / bloggers to our amazing city. The Spokane Visitors Bureau reached out to me with a great idea of hosting and touring bloggers that are attending WBC10. With Spokane being less than 2 hours from Walla Walla, this is the perfect opportunity to expose the great wine I experience with some of the best wine writers.

In mid-February the invitation went out for wine bloggers to come experience Spokane Wine with a hosted tour, hotel stay, and arranged transportation to Walla Walla. Response was great. Respondent’s names and information were forwarded to the Spokane CVB. After review, they chose three candidates to host.

I look forward to showing these great wine people why Spokane is the next great wine scene in Washington. Congratulations to…

@BricksofWine – Eric Hwang

@AlaWine – Ken W

@RickBakas – Rick Bakas

Welcome to the Lifestyle of the not so rich and way not so famous. Tonight we celebrate the 2009 Academy Awards and the celebration of cinema. As the thespians drink their $3500 per bottle Krug Clos Ambonnay Brut Champagne, DrinkNectar sips through three bottles that are in a more modest price range.

Best Picture the year I was born: The Godfather

Tonight’s nominees are from Spain, Austria, and California. My typical Sparkling wine consumption is reserved for special occasions, and New Years. I love it, but I’m usually consuming big bold Cabernet’s or Zinfandels. One of tonight’s nominees was submitted by Kevin from @atlantawineguy as a part of my Under $10 Wine Challenge. Kevin recommended the Spanish Sigura Viudas Estate Cava.

Best Picture Winners I Haven’t Seen (40 years)

2009 – The Hurt Locker

2007 – No Country for Old Men

1998 – Shakespeare In Love

1987 – The Last Emperor

1978 – The Deer Hunter

1977 – Annie Hall

1971 – The French Connection

As I reviewed these three Sparkling wines, it became apparent that each wine was a star in its own right. The Spanish Cava wins for ‘best value,’ Austria’s Gruner Veltliner wins ‘best foreign wine,’ and California Roederer Estate Brute takes ‘best bubbles.’

My Favorite Move (Which happens to be a best picture winner 1994) Forrest Gump

The NectarView

NV Segura Viudas ARIA Estate Brut – Spain

• The Stuff: 60% Macabeo, 20% Parellada, 20% Xarelo-lo; 3 years on yeast
• The Swirl: golden yellow (Chardonnay color), moderate bubbles
• The Sniff: Tight nose with apple toast and yeast being predominant.
• The Sip: Strong carbonation with hints of apple and smoky bread
• The Score: At $8, this is not a bad tasting bubbly, but lacks a lot of flavor and has too much carbonation and yeast. I score it a 3 (out of 5). So far this bubbly makes the Under $10 Team (mostly for lack of tryouts)

Other reviews: Cellar Tracker 86 points (12 reviews)

NV Roederer Estate – California

• The Stuff: 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir; 2 years on yeast; 80,000 cases
• The Swirl: Color is more pale yellow, great bubbles
• The Sniff: Bright pear with hints of honey and nuttiness
• The Sip: Very nice flavor profile with good apple, honey and cinnamon
• The Score: At $23, I score this a 4 (out of 5)

Other reviews: 91 pts Wine Spectator, 92 pts Wine Advocate, Cellar Tracker 89 points (214 reviews)

NV Szigeti Gruner Veltliner – Austria

• The Stuff: 100% Gruner Veltiner
• The Swirl: Golden yellow tone
• The Sniff: Bright acidity with citrus and tropical fruit tucked into the yeasty toast
• The Sip: Good sweetness with some tartness on the back end. A refreshing bubbly with some good citrus flavor
• The Score: Overall, I was pretty impressed with the quality of this $18 sparkler. I score it a 3+ (out of 5) for flavor and value.

Sparkling Wine Mixers

For the sake of time, some of the video was edited. The observant viewers will notice that my final drink goes from pale yellow to pink. What was responsible for this transformation? I edited out the segment that talks of how to use Sparkling Wine as a mixer. The yeastiness of some inexpensive sparkling wine can leave you a little dry in the mouth. On video I talked through a few solutions using cranberry juice, cassis liqueur, or vodka. Give it a try, you’ll be surprised at how you can transform an average bottle of bubbly.

In celebration of the 2009 Academy Awards, what is your favorite movie? Which Oscar winning film (from all time) is your favorite?

Social Media is changing the way we interact. The idea, an online wine tasting. The subject, Sauvignon Blanc. The marketing medium, Twitter / Facebook / Blog. The result, nearly 600 people simultaneously tasting, tweeting, and talking about Sauvignon Blanc. That is just online. Add in the dozens of wineries who hosted local tweet-ups as a part of the event and the economic impact is staggering. A non-scientific guess puts Sauvignon Blanc consumption at over 3000 bottles in a two hour period.

The cost of promotion: ZERO $$

The economic impact goes beyond the wine consumption and expands into brand awareness, food consumption, and more.

Rick Bakas, Social Media Director of St. Supery Winery, organized the event and promoted through his influence on Twitter and Facebook. Rick’s previous event #CaliCabs focused wine lovers on a single grape from California. He has arranged two future events that focus on #WineBlends (April 1) and #Chardonnay (May 6). Save the date for these future events.

The Next Event: #WAMerlot

In celebration of Washington Wine Month, Washington invites you to turn Sideways upside down and celebrate #WAMerlot. Join dozens of Washington Wineries and hundreds of people on March 25. All you need is Washington Merlot (or a Merlot blend) and the Twitter hashtag, #WAMerlot. If you’re looking for Washington Merlot, check out the great deal from Wine Library (shipping to 36 states) – thanks, Gary!

The NectarView

2007 One Hope Wine Sauvignon Blanc

• The Stuff: 100% California Sauvignon Blanc 50% of profits donated to charities that help save the planet
• The Swirl: Light crisp and slightly darker than water. Very pale
• The Sniff: Floral, melon, lemon peel and acidity
• The Sip: Smooth and tart describes the wine. The wine has a slight Chardonnay buttery coating but then opens up to a crisp tart apple flavor.
• The Score: At $18 (and because of the charitable support), this wine scores a 3+ (out of 5)

2007 Desert Wind Winery Sauvignon Blanc

• The Stuff: 100% Wahluke Slope Sauvignon Blanc, Stainless Steel fermentation; 432 cases made
• The Sniff: Wholly tropical fruit Batman. This wine instantly transported my nose to Hawaii with Guava, Peach, and Pineapple aroma. I instantly fell in love with the nose and wished it could be bottled as a summer body spray for my wife.
• The Sip: Less dynamic on the flavor profile. The guava was mellow on the front and earthy herbs presented themselves on the mid-palate. The finish was lemon/lime tart but washed away nicely after a few seconds.
• The Score: At just $15, I score this a 4 (out of 5). This is a great value and is a wine that will impress at parties and provide a fantastic drinking experience in the summer months.

*The wine was provided as an industry sample with the intention to review

Final stats of the night show that nearly 600 tweeters contributed 2700 tweets (according to www.wthashtag.com/sauvblanc). Tweeters represented from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, United States and more. The top tweeters of the night were @cestbeth (with 131 tweets), @mmwine (with 101 tweets) and @SIPthegoodlife (with 64 tweets).

Cool Facts on SauvBlanc

#SauvBlanc was one of the first wines to be distributed with screw cap

Did you know that there are nearly 200,000 acres of #SauvBlanc planted worldwide

Top #SauvBlanc producers are France (60k acres), New Zeal (22k acres), Chile (22k acres) S Africa (21k acres) California (15k acres)

Wineries on Twitter

www.foliowine.com/pages/winemakers_studio.html 

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/foliowinemakerssudio

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/foliowinemakers

How long have you been using Twitter?

We’ve been using Twitter for about a year or so now.  It hasn’t been until the last 6 months though that we really started getting more involved and engaging though.

What prompted you to dive in?

We first signed up shortly after signing the winery up on Facebook.  Just looking for different ways to interact and build relationships with existing and new customers.

What type of strategy or approach do you use when posting content?

I have to admit; at first we were doing it all wrong.  We were using Facebook and Twitter primarily as a sales driver.  Now we see it as more of a brand and relationship builder. So we try to post things to help people keep in touch with what’s going on in Napa and also when we’re out on the road in their home area.

What have been the benefits of using Twitter/Facebook? (increased traffic, increased brand awareness, customer connection, etc)

For us the traffic and sales are tough to quantify, because you may have someone that comes to the winery but doesn’t necessarily say they saw us on Twitter or Facebook.  I’d say the biggest benefits to using social media is creating and maintaining relationships with new and old customers and spreading the word about what we’re up to.

Is there a single success story that you can point to with using Twitter/Facebook?

There isn’t one particular success story that comes to mind.  The biggest success is being able to stay connected with people who care about us nationally and internationally!

What do you think is the single biggest barrier to why we don’t see more wineries actively using Social Media tools?

I think right now the biggest barriers are 1) some companies not being able to quantify and get results to justify allocating someone’s time to work different social media avenues. 2) I also think that even though social media sites are being used by multiple generations, there are some people across all generations that just don’t have the knowhow.

What advice would you give to wineries joining the stream or getting back into the stream?

For wineries new to social media or those giving it another shot, I would say first to just be natural with your postings.  Don’t use it as a constant sales pitch.  Once you’re able to create relationships with your followers and fans, then you can have sales offers occasionally.  But if this is all they get from you, you will see your followers and fans leaving a lot quicker than they join.  Another thing is to provide meaningful content from all areas of your business (hospitality, cellar, vineyards, etc.).  Lastly, the sales results will come organically by creating long-term, dedicated relationships with people who enjoy your wine and what the winery is doing.

Briefly tell us about your winery, a new release, or something unique about you?

Our winery is Folio Winemakers’ Studio and we are privately owned by the Michael Mondavi Family along with select employees within our company.  We have a beautiful property in the Carneros region of Napa Valley, which we have been at for 3 years now making our wonderful selection of wines from Napa Valley as well as other surrounding areas.  One thing that makes us unique is that we are not the traditional winery that has 4 or 5 wines.  We have a wide variety of wines, 23 in fact, that appeal to wine novices and connoisseurs alike.  The great thing about having these wines is we allow our customers to make their own selection of which wines they want to taste!

What is your favorite rock band and why?

My favorite rock band would have to be Pearl Jam.  The thing I like about them is that they make great music and have been for about 20 years now!  They‘ve never been sell-outs and changed who they are due to their fame and success.  Plus they enjoy great wine!

After a long week – we all need to wind down. Wind down, with a wine down weekend. Watch for this weekly feature on DrinkNectar.com that highlights everything wine around the Spokane region! If you’re not already, become a fan of DrinkNectar on Facebook. 

Spokane Wine Scene is Booming

 FRIDAY 3/5

 Vino! A Wine Shop – Jump start the weekend with a tasting of Cadaretta and Buried Cane Wineries from 3-5pm. Vino is located at 222 S. Washington: Cost varies depending on event $5-$10

 First Friday – A fantastic wine and art walk through Downtown Spokane. Enjoy fabulous wine at Barrister, Whitestone, Grande Ronde, Arbor Crest  @ RiverPark Square, Lone Canary, and Left Bank Wine Bar. Most locations are open 5-8pm; Cost varies between locations for tastings or by the glass

 Taste Spokane – Spokane Wine and Food event to support the Wishing Star foundation. Enjoy tasting and bidding on fantastic auction items. The event is at Northern Quest Casino and Resort from 6-10pm. Tickets are available at the door for $25 – This is the event that I will be at – See you there!

 Rocket Market – Wine Steward, Matt, shares his wines of the month. Enjoy 8 wines, cheese and bread. Check out the surprises Matt has in store. Rocket Market is located on 43^rd and Hatch on the South Hill. The event starts at 7pm and reservations are requested; Cost is $22

 SATURDAY 3/6

 Vino! A Wine Shop – March wine sale, Part 1 – regular business hours

 Wine Stein & Dine – Benefiting Post Falls School District the 14^th annual event benefits the Post Falls Education Foundation. Robert Karl Cellars (among others) will be pouring at the Greyhound Park and Events Center; Tickets can be purchased at the Post Falls School District Office or call Loretta  at 208-661-1880

 Evening of Enchantment – An evening of jazz and classical guitars, appetizers and chocolate benefiting the American Cancer Society will be on March 6 from 5-8:30 pm. Tickets: $25. Northern Quest, 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights, Wash. (475-7458)

Alyse Black @ Left Bank Wine Bar – The Infatuation Tour 2010. LeftBank is at 108 N Washington. Show is from 7-9pm. No cost is mentioned.

SUNDAY 3/7

Gonzaga Bulldogs Basketball – Check with Grande Ronde and Barrister Winery as they typically broadcast the game and have wine specials during game time.

All Weekend

Spokane Tasting Room Tour – Most Spokane tasting rooms are open. Check out this tasting room map for contact information, hours of operation and video reviews.

For Local Wine Event information in Spokane and other cities, check out LocalWineEvents.com

Three ladies jump in the ring and go toe to toe for supremacy. Sorry, no mud! These ladies are queen Pinot Noir’s from three different parts of the world and three different price points.

This battle is a semi-blind tasting. I know which three bottles I taste; I just don’t know which wines are in each glass. Ahead of time, my wife pours the glasses and writes the name of the wine on a card placed upside down in front of the glass.

For my friends new to the wine world, Pinot Noir is a noble, fickle lady. The grape is said to be difficult to grow, produces lower yields and is affected greatly by soil and climate. The thin skin produces a light color and a traditional Pinot Noir is soft and pairs well with all kinds of food.

The Battle:

Through the tasting you can see that I’m quickly impressed by one of the wines, uninspired by the other and curious about the third. The first bottle is quickly identifiable as a well made Pinot. The aroma is sweet and bright and the flavor is eloquent, round and balanced. The middle bottle was thin and boring but not tasteless. The final bottle had a very strong scent of earth, sour candied cherry, and graham crackers. A lot of people will like this wine, but for me, I’m not a fan of earthy wines.

The Results:

You’ll have to watch the video to see how the tasting turned out. We’ll just say 1 out of 3 ain’t bad.

The NectarView:

2007 Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir

• The Stuff: 100% Pinot Noir from Tualitan Valley Vineyards
• The Swirl: A very light rusty brown purple color. Very translucent and clear
• The Sniff: Bright Rhubarb and Strawberry with vanilla and perfume
• The Sip: A nice sweet front end with a tart cranberry on the back end. A beautiful acid wash to clear the palate.
• The Score: At $40, I score this a 3+ – compared to the Signature Cuvee I had from WVV, this doesn’t quite measure up. Much better than some at $20 but others at this price fair better.

See another review by blogger Mary Cressler at Vindulge

2008 Jacob’s Creek Reserve Pinot Noir

• The Stuff: 100% Pinot Noir, nothing else clearly defined on web site
• The Swirl: Muted red purple jewel tones with 70% transparency
• The Sniff:  A strong earthy herb aroma with whiffs of sour cherry and toasted oak
• The Sip: This wine has a big mouth. Definitely herb”ie” (not the Love Bug) and wet dirt along with a candied cherry sweetness.
• The Score: At only $16 this wine will appeal to a lot of people who enjoy Pinot Noir. I’m not a fan of this flavor profile, but it certainly wasn’t boring. I’ll score it a 4 (out of 5) for value and flavor.

No Cellar Tracker or Cork’d reviews of the 2007 Vintage

2008 Smoking Loon Pinot Noir

• The Stuff: Not a lot of detail on their web site; 100% California Pinot Noir
• The Swirl: Muted ruby red tone with about 70% transparency
• The Sniff: Mild aromas of sweet cherry and strawberry. Mild smoky campfire bacon. Picture yourself coming back from a long hike and your about 100 yards from the camp site – your nose gets a faint whiff of bacon and your heart skips a beat. That is what is very mild on this nose.
• The Sip: Quite thin on the front end with a touch of sweet cherry candy. A tart backend with a quick finish. Reminds me of the scrawny kid in class that no one pays attention to. As you look back through the year book you say, “Hey, he went to school here?”
• The Score: There is nothing off balance about the wine, it just leaves me uninterested and flat. At only $8-$10 that doesn’t surprise me and still leaves me looking for a surprise value in this price point. I score it a 2 (out of 5). 

No reviews of the 2008, but the 2007 is reviewed with an average score of 83 from 10 reviews here