2007 Chateau St. Michelle Nellie's Garden Dry Rose

This one we also opened while at Beth's house for dinner. I bought it at Albertson's, mostly because it was Chateau St. Michelle, and because it was a kind of their wine I had yet to tast. It says on the bottle its good with any meal. I assumed it was similar to a white zinfindel based on its description and color. It was pink, but darker than your average white zinfindel or blush. It was very sweet, and fruity.

I am always intrigued by how flavors develop in wine, so I did my research on this bottle. Here's what I found:

• This Dry Rose is actually 98% Syrah, and 2% Grenache. This actually amazes me. I usually consider Syrah to be more dry, and less sweet. It just goes to show how versitile a grape can be.

• 2007 was a good year for the grapes in eastern washington. It was warm early, and carried average temperatures throughout the summer. In May, 2 weeks before bloom, there was a whole week of 100+ temperatures. "This heat spike lead to smaller canopy which allowed for more light penetration and contributed to overall good fl avor development in the fruit. The hot
  temperatures also contributed to smaller berries with concentrated flavors."

• The Syrah grapes for the Rose were harvested slightly earlier than the grapes were for the reds, to allow for a more pure, fruit flavor. The fruit was left on the skins for only a matter of hours to allow for just the right amount of coloring to create the coloring for the wine.

• 82% of the wine was fermented in steel barrells (like a sweet wine would), and the remaining 18% of the wine was aged in neutral oak barrels for 2 months to add the "rich mouthfeel."

Perhaps all that information is a bore to you. But it is exciting and new to me. I love to near about each vintage, each winery, each vineyard, and each bottle of wine. It is amazing to me how there are so many types of grapes, and then beyond that...how they can create such different flavors. I mean, this is the perfect example. Syrah grapes can be pressed and aged in smokey oak barrels and create a spicy, full bodied Red wine...or they can be harvested early, fermented in mostly steel barrels, and turn out light and fruity. That gets a WOW from me. :)

2008 Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc

Noah and I opened this bottle we got from the winery tour to enjoy with dinner. It was a "nothing special" kind of night for dinner, and I felt silly pairing wine with chicken nuggets....but I could really use a glass of wine to relax sometimes!

This wine was superb! It was acidic and crisp, but not too sweet to enjoy with dinner. You could definitely taste the melon and pear in the wine. It had NO aftertaste, just a clean cut finish. I really liked it, and had it again a few nights later! Yum!

2008 Vintage Chateau Ste Michelle Dry Riesling

This was a bottle we bought at the winery after we did our first tasting. I LOVED it, and just HAD to bring home a bottle. I was happy to share it with my family. My sisters like wine, but they prefer your sweet and white wines. I thought this was a good choice to draw them into the drier wines, without jumping into something too bold.
The winery describes this as a dry style Riesling with refreshing aromas of citrus, melon and peach coupled with crisp green apple notes. It smells great! I love Riesling, but it is much too sweet to drink with dinner. This is perfect, as it is dry enough to pair with just about any dinner. I had it with a steak and shrimp and it was amazing! It has a very clean, dry finish. I think I enjoyed it this time around even more than at the winery. I'm guessing because I had it with a meal.

2006 Vintage Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon

On Friday we opened a bottle of wine we bought at Chateau Ste. Michelle. The grapes are grown locally in the Columbia Valley.

The bottles description: "Magical combination of sun, soil & water - the "terrior" of Washington State's world class growing region produces long-lived Cabernet Sauvignon with intese aromas and flavors. Dominated by rich black fruit, this wine shows a suppleness achieved by extended aging in small oak barrels."

We were told at the winery to eat this with red meat, so we paired this wine with pot roast and vegetables. It definitely had an oaky flavor, and had a very deep fruity taste. Standing alone, I found it a bit bold and drying. However, after taking a bite of pot roast, I enjoyed it much more. I thought it paired really well!

Noah felt the opposite. He liked it at first, but thought it the finishing taste lasted too long, and it had too much black fruit flavor.

We finished this bottle the next night with crackers, medium cheddar cheese, and apple slices. It liked it with the triscuits, and it was okay with the cheese, but it tasted awful with the apples! I guess that's why your supposed to drink lighter, more acidic and citrusy wines with fruit! I can't

For more information on this wine, Click here and review the fact sheet. It covers the weather that season, the aging process for this bottle of wine, and food pairing suggestions.

Also, we we mentioned earlier, no wine is 100% what it says...

This bottle was:

76% cabernet sauvignon

20% syrah

2% merlot

1% cabernet franc

1% malbec