Miscelaney

Going wine tasting on a sunny, crisp fall day is near perfection, at least in my book. Thanks to the timing of crush, there is always a flurry of activity which provides joe-average-wine-drinker opportunity for an inside peek at the behind-the-scenes world of wine making. With the continuing boom of garagiste-type wine making, many of the resulting (and ever growing) warehouse wineries are doing their thing right before our very eyes.

Tasting room decor is often reflective of a fluid design of wine vats and barrels mixed in with the regular decor in order to keep the wine a little warmer during this critical fermentation period. It’s also not unusal to come across a mobile bottling truck in the parking lot, cellar masters manuevering fork lifts like their hair is on fire, and winemakers toggling appearances in the tasting rooms and working in the back with other winery staff scrubbing tanks, punching down grapes, and tending to other duties during their 7-day, fall work weeks.

The tell-tale uniform of crush participants seems to be wine-stained clothes and purple hands (and some facial hair for the men). If you spy this uniform, you most likely know you are dealing with the winemaker, winemaker assistant or the cellar master. Keep in mind they are super busy, super tired, but also super pumped. They are usually excited about the vintages they are working on along with upcoming releases. It’s a great time to engage them in an all things to do with wine making conversation, if you are lucky enough to catch them when they can afford a break.

We did a short purple hand tour out in Woodinville’s warehouse district this past weekend and here are a few highlights:

1) Darby Winery: This charming tasting room is only open when they have wine to sell. The wines are all outstanding, the staff is superb and winemaker Darby English is busy behind the counter selling wine and carrying it to your car, purple hands and all.

2) Guardian Cellars: Trippy-patterned tasting room embellished with a cloak of protective darkness. Winemaker by day and policeman by night….don’t miss Gun Metal Red (or the cheese).

3) Sparkman Cellars: We just peeked our heads into the spacious tasting room (I’ve had Chris’s wine many times before and it is yum). The space offers bistro style tables and an artful glass, cellar door which allows for opportunity to gaze into the barrel room.

4) Anton Ville Winery: Chocolate pairing with every wine poured. Delish. Discovered Melissa’s Chocolates–divine. They make a Cab Franc (always a fave) and the Merlot was a delight. Our pour-er was the purple-handed co-owner, Janeice Haug.

5) Des Voignes: Reliably fun place to taste good wine. Colorful and lively staff. The Duke is always on our to-buy list.

6) Smasne Cellars: The barn-inspired tasting room offers quite a selection of wines to taste. If you want bang for your $5 (tasting fee) buck, go here. The friendly staff makes for a warm and inviting experience. The dry Riesling was exceptional.

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