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Did we mention July was hot? Thankfully the heat is ebbing and we can now venture outdoors without baking in the glare of the sun. Now the welcome cooler weather offers a fine opportunity to drink a perfectly chilled glass of Viognier in the more manageable warmth.
The Rhone Rangers Seattle event took place on July 25th at the Waterfront Restaurant. Forty member wineries showed up, their bottles full and ready to draw. The next day we participated in the FareStart Guest Chef on the Waterfront event, and the food and wine were terriffic!
Be on the lookout for the survey The Rhone Rangers emailed out to all wineries that attended the Seattle Tasting Event! Your input helps keep these events getting bigger and better.
| Varietal Focus: Where Art Thou, Viognier? |
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Information provided by Terre Rouge
The popularity of Viognier has grown rapidly in the last few years. In the Rhône Valley alone there has been a 500% increase in planted acreage allotted to Viognier in the last 20 years. The grape was originally grown with the intent to blend it with other wines adding extra character to well known varieties and softening the edges of the Syrahs of the Côte Rotie.
However, with the continued rise of the Rhône varietals we have seen Viognier begin to stand alone, not only in specialty shops and fine restaurants, but at supermarkets as well.
Viognier is an especially difficult grape to grow. It is prone to powdery mildew in damp or humid climates, and is notorious for small yields. The grape must be picked at the peak of its maturity to demonstrate the full majesty of its flavor. Miscalculating its peak results in grapes high in sugar, with little acid, and wines with little flavor and too much alcohol. The best vines are at least 20 years old ideally, some in the Northern Rhone are 70 years old.
The scarcity of old growth vines, difficulty of cultivation, and necessity of the finest winemaking skills, combine to make Viognier a rare and sometimes expensive wine.
The attraction of the wine is the powerful and rich apricot and orange blossom aromas with a hint of honey. Despite this sweet sounding profile it can be made in a traditional dry style that appeals to the Chardonnay drinker among us. The distinctive elements of the grape remain powerful even after blending.
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| Thank You Volunteer Sidekicks! Wanna Drumstick? |
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The wine was flowing, the food was plentiful, and a good time was had by all at the Rhone Rangers Volunteer BBQ. Cline Cellars hosted the “thank you” event held in appreciation for all the hard work provided by the volunteers at the 2006 Annual Tasting.
Over 100 of those volunteers were treated to a spread of chicken, tri-tip, and other tasty items. Members of the Rhone Rangers Board of Directors were on hand to pour wines from many of our member wineries. And all of this took place under tents in the beautiful setting of Cline Cellars.
As a special bonus, Jim Conyers from Cline led the group on a tour that included not only the winemaking facilities, but also some of the artifacts tracing the history of Cline Cellars and the land upon which it is built.
All-in-all, the BBQ was a great opportunity to renew friendships, meet your fellow volunteers, and share the memories of another successful Annual Tasting. If you’d like to join us for the fun at the 2007 Volunteer BBQ, make plans now to be a volunteer at the 2007 Annual Tasting.
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| The Rhone Recipe |
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SPICY YELLOW PEANUT SHRIMP CURRY AND VIOGNIER
This is a delightful curry dish courtesy of Cline Cellars. And here's a twist on the recipe for you bolder folks out there...substitute two teaspoons of freshly minced cilantro for the two tablespoons of ginger. Enjoy!
If you've got a favorite recipe that simply cries out for a Rhone varietal wine to accompany it, please consider letting us publish it in the SilverBULLETin. Even if we don't use it here, we'd love to make all recipes submitted available on the Rhone Rangers website.
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| Random Notes |
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Regional Tastings
The Board is still working on developing a second regional trade tasting, this one in Los Angeles. More info will be available this fall.
If you're a winery member and have suggestions or opinions on which regional markets we should be looking at for future tastings or events, please let us know in the Rhone Rangers office, 707-462-5943, or rhonerangers@pacific.net.
General Membership Meeting in 2007
If you're headed for the Unified Symposium in Sacramento in January, 2007, be sure to plan and join us for the annual Rhone Rangers general membership meeting. We're currently researching venues (restaurants) where we can all get together for good wine and food.
Home Winemakers in Sacramento
From time to time the office receives messages from clubs and organizations that would like the Rangers to put on a tasting for them. We received one months ago from a homewinemaking club in Sacramento that has extended an invite to winery members who would be interested in addressing the club on Rhone varietals and wines.
They meet the third Thursday of the month for a couple of hours and would be pleased to offer dinner to any participants
Contact Gin Staehlin via email, ginyangstaehlin@yahoo.com, or 916-386-1753. Get out there and educate!
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Feature: Rhones in the Northwest |
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For the third year in a row the Rangers rode into Seattle in July for our annual tasting.
Forty member wineries participated in a trade-only tasting at the Waterfront Restaurant on Tuesday the 25th. The Waterfront is on Pier 70, and has a 180 degree view of Puget Sound from its floor to ceiling windows.
The Evergreen State is well-known for damp weather (it rained on our first Northwest tasting two years ago), but when we were in Seattle the sun was out an temperatures were in the mid-80s.
On Wednesday the 26th we joined with our old partners at FareStart (www.farestart.org) in their Guest Chef on the Waterfront event. It was so successful that this event will probably replace our stand-alone consumer tasting in Seattle.
FareStart had over 1000 visitors who tasted through gourmet foods from over 30 Seattle restaurants and food producers, and played arcade-style games on the pier (including a Rhone Rangers-sponsored roping contest...thanks Bill and Vicki Crawford for demonstrating the right technique!).
With its expanding acreage of Rhone varietals, Washington is an important market for us, and as distribution laws change, awareness of Rhone wines in the Northwest will only grow.
For more information on FareStart, click the link above. To view pictures of the event, visit Team Photogenic at Team Photogenic.com |
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