94's Blog

For those of you that frequent the counter at 94, Chef Celinda always has stories to share and great new wines she's talking about. We've convinced her to start telling everyone here, on the Blog site. As time allows, look for her great adventures...

Sunday was the perfect day for a drive to Woodinville. I had contacted a dozen of the new boutique wineries I've wanted to check out. Four of them were able to meet with me Sunday. For any of you that know me well, I am "geographically challenged" so any trip alone is going to be an adventure! Ok, so I probably put an extra 50 miles on Andy's Jeep, but, hey, I made it all my appointments!

First, I met with Brennan the wine maker at brand new Efeste winery. He was previously with Chateau Ste Michelle in their red wine program. Chris Upchurch is also the consulting wine maker for this brand new, very attractive label. For those of you that are familiar with Woodinville, their half built facility is in the location where Mike Januik originally was. It's not open to the public yet, but should be a nice place when it's done. Brennan opened the Cab's and Syrah they will be releasing in March. Yum! Tried the Syrah first. It's named for someone they met in their wine travels, Geidleigh. This is a beautiful, well balanced red. Should be excellent with food; not overextracted, but well balanced with elegant acid levels. I also was interested in their "Final-Final" Cab-Syrah blend; another fabulous food wine. Then the "Big Papa". Wow, what a beautiful big red wine; yet, once again, not over-extracted. Brennan completed my sampling with a sneak peak at all his in-barrel 2007's. He has a cab humming along that is going to be one of the best I've tried from Washington in a long time and I try a lot of wines!

On to my next stop, Edmonds Winery, located in the little industrial area where it seems a lot of tasting rooms are opening. They feature a "seated tasting" in their barrel storage area on the weekends. They weren't open this weekend due to wine blending projects for the next vintage, but made time for me to stop and sample. They are making some very nice, moderately priced reds. I picked up a lovely 2004 Claret you will be seeing on glass pour. It sports some expressive berry notes, interesting spice and a caramel base. I was amazed at the price and bought four cases to share with you.

Third stop, Tim Blue of Adams Bench Winery. The facility is located adjacent to their beautiful home in the hills above the Hollywood area. It was my good fortune to be invited in to sit with he and his wife in their dining room. They are brand new to the area and wine making. The wines I tried were huge, California style cabs. They won't be released for some time yet so sorry, couldn't bring any home for you. Tim was unsure how they plan to proceed with their marketing plan. Right now, he intends to primarily sell from the winery this year, but I think I may have an "in" to get a hold of a case or two down the road.

Last stop, Woodhouse Winery and assistant winemaker, Linn. A fun little place on Woodinville-Redmond Rd. They had some nice bargains on interesting varietals from Washington. Check them out, if you get a chance.

Gotta go. Have an Italian delivery coming in the door. Oh, some beautiful new Brunellos... a 2001 and a 1997! I'll have to tell you about those later.
Celinda