Kiona Wine Collaboration With The Wine Whore
Today’s video review is unlike anything you’ve ever seen in the wine blogging world. Never before has such a unique collaboration occurred. Two reviewers spanning over 3000 miles simultaneously taste the same wines from Kiona Winery (@kionawine on Twitter). You’ll be seduced by the music. You’ll be aroused by the Florida beaches. You’ll be amazed at the wine. The review is wrapped up with a virtual jam session with me on guitar and Randy from @thewinewhore on drums.
I love the line on Kiona’s web site, “You know you’ve got to start a winery when you make more wine than you can drink.”
Kiona more than started a winery, they were part of propelling Washington wine into the mainstream of becoming the second largest producer of wine in the country (second to California). When only a handful of wineries called Washington home, Kiona planted its first grapes in 1975 and produced its first wine in 1980. At that time there were less than 15 wineries in the state (now there are over 650).
Kiona Winery calls the small Red Mountain AVA home. Kiona is home to 1/3 of the planted acres of grapes in the AVA. The 300 acres of Kiona fruit serve as the magic for the 20 wines they produce and grapes for several other Washington wineries. Today’s cross country review is of their Late Harvest Riesling, Dry Riesling and the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon.
The NectarView
2008 Late Harvest Riesling
- The Stuff: 100% Riesling; 10% residual sugar 10% alcohol
- The Swirl: A beautiful peach juice and honey color. Even on the swirl, I get the impression this is going to be like a nice light syrup
- The Sniff: Intoxicating aroma of honey, tropical fruit, and a field of wild flowers
- The Sip: Obviously as a dessert wine this is sweet. It is not overly done and has a nice balance on the back end. Could pair nicely with spicey food. I personally could only experience it in small 2-3 oz pours.
- The Score: I’m a fan, but not a huge fan of this wine (only because I’m not a fan of sweet wines.) If you like dessert wines, you’ll love it. At $10 per 1/2 bottle, I score this a high 3+ (out of 5)
2008 Dry Riesling
- The Stuff: 100% Estate grown 30 year old vines 13% alcohol 100% Stainless Steel
- The Swirl: This dry Riesling has a nice yellow straw and honey color.
- The Sniff: Apples, Pineapples and rose pedals oh my. Very aromatic wine. The sniff gives a hint of carbonation too.
- The Sip: Very nice, slightly sweet but not over the top. Good sipping summer wine or pairing with Asian food, Sushi, or Thai food. The peaches and apples come off the palate. Moderate acidity to make your mouth water. A little aluminum on the back end throws off the balance.
- The Score: At $12-$15 this is a very good Riesling, I score it a 4 (out of 5).
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon
- The Stuff: 85% Cabernet 9% Merlot 6% Cab Franc.
- The Swirl: A dark purple brown color. Good aged looking wine.
- The Sniff: Leather, earth, smoke, and then finally the sour cherry fruit. Nice smelling wine.
- The Sip: This is a good complex wine that offers enough fruit (cherry and plum) with the smokey tobacco flavor. There is some minerality that keeps me from scoring this higher. This is a nicely aged wine that drank very well for 2 days. I found it interresting and offered a variety of flavors. Not huge on tannin but enough acid to eat with smoked beef, and even some hickory smoked salmon with a dark reduction of some sort.
- The Score: At $20 retail, this wine easily gets a 4 from me. If you find it for under $15, buy more than one bottle.
Kiona is a Washington pioneer and a consistent maker of great wine. This is a label that can ALWAYS be trusted in the store and in the restaurant. Visit their tasting room in Benton City, WA just West of Richland, WA.
Drink.Happy!
Josh, this was a real blast!
I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve been able to taste wine with someone and collaborate on a project like this without having to even leave FL. Anytime you wanna do this again, I’m totally down! We’ll have to do a live version when I am in WA later this year.
P.S. You rock the guitar man! Sweet jamming with ya!
Cheers!
Thanks, Randy! Let’s definitely plan a live version of this in June!
I love it Josh. I think that this is the most fun that I’ve had watching a wine review. Sounds like some nice wines, and I really enjoyed getting both yours and Randy’s perspective on the wines. And the jam session, it was truly epic.
Ben – I’m glad you like it. Thanks for helping spread the word and Kiona is the epic one here. They represent all that is awesome with Washington Wine!
Josh
You guys are great! I never knew slow motion wine swirling could be so funny. Glad you enjoyed the wines, and I hope you had a good time.
JJ – you guys are making awesome wine. It’ll be great to see you again in June. Kiona is always on my list of wines I can trust.
That was hilarious! Awesome! The jam session at the end made my Monday! It’s interesting how many wine lovers also play an instrument
I’ve noticed the same thing too. I wonder what the correlation is…musicians are drunks…musicians are frustrated bloggers…I don’t know.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I play a little bass guitar, but I definitely am nowhere close to rocking out like Josh does. I mean, damn!
*blush* aww thanks, man!
Haha after all this, I’ve decided that every wine review from now on needs multiple pop culture references, sensual transition music, and live music. You’ve set the bar pretty high, sirs.
And I didn’t know you guys were actually that into playing music. It seems like almost everyone on Twitter who’s into wine is also into playing music. My kind of people.
Thanks, Josh! This was certainly a fun review. You play an instrument right? Which one?
Looks yummY!
Makes me wanna do some video reviews… nice work, the both of you!
Fun concept, guys. I look forward to seeing where you go from there!
If I may be so bold as to be constructive, I think you could have shaved a few minutes off with the swirls and smells and all that repeating, but I commend the interludes with Baywatch and Macho snappin’ into that slim jim! The discussion was good and crisp.
Did you say 10% RS on that first one? Dang! Didn’t know Washington was making such “German” Rieslings.
Cheers!
Joe – Thanks for the feedback. In hindsight, you’re right about that editing piece. Randy did a fantastic job of piecing together all our ramblings.
Yep on the 10% residual – It’s a sweet wine but not syrup.
I love Kiona wines! My favorite (so far) was the 1999 Reserve Syrah. SO GOOD, and at $20, a GREAT deal too! I’ve never tried any of the whites, but don’t really like whites much anyway. Thanks!
Robert – @rperro on Twitter
I am a big fan of The Wine Whore,, you can learn so much from him. Thanks for the great jam session!
aka Lady of Harley
Cindy – The Wine Whore is a stud! One of the absolute greatest tweeters in the wine world. Most people don’t realize it but he’s a pretty serious wine geek.
Great video guys! I mean, I got a wine review, Mancho Man, Bay Watch, a little old school Barry White, all topped off w/ a jam session! Only in the wonderful world of wine could such exists
I’m looking forward to the remixed version!
Dezel
Dezel – hmmm, a remix…sounds interesting
Fantastic collaboration! And I love finding affordable, yet decent everyday wines! And drinknectar, I like your written reviews, a balanced combination of plain English and “wine speak.” I can almost taste the wines based on your writing style. Thank you!
Being a Florida boy myself, the gratuitous use of the Miami Vice theme will get me every time. I also dig me some Barry White, so can’t lose. Nice work gents on the axe and the skins.
Oh, and can’t forget the great wine from Kiona… nice work
Cheers!
Thanks, Ed. I’m glad you enjoyed the review. If you haven’t tried it already, you’ll want to add Kiona to your menu when youu come to WA in June!
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One word to describe this review: EPIC! I love the creativity and your thinking outside the box. I doubt you’ll ever see Robert Parker reviewing wines while jamming to Baywatch! Great job guys. I would love to do a collaboration with you in the future.
Oh – Shannon, behave! I’m sure you would love to get in on the threesome action wouldn’t you! LOL! Let’s do it, we can plan for a Michigan / Washington wine exchange (you’ll have to ship mine to Idaho).
Great job! I loved the whole video. Great music by Barry White. He’s the music man and you two are the WINE GUY DUO!!!
Love the jam session! great idea for wine tasting! love it.
Thanks, Rob and Pam for stopping by and commenting. You will be entered in to win a bottle of Kiona Wine. Stay tuned. Winner will be drawn on Wednesday 2/3
Josh, I used to be into the whole gamut of guitar, bass, and drums, though now I’m pretty much just a drummer. I did get to play bass for the first time in like 8 years on Friday and it was very rewarding, no matter how bad I am at it now.
I can’t get the Barry White song out of my head now. Thanks, guys!
There are worse songs to have in your head!
Love the video reviews! Awesome job!
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