On a recent trip to Washington I enjoyed two restaurants with selections of wine by the glass that really stood out:
The Harvest Vine, 2701 East Madison, Seattle, Washington, 206.320.9771, harvestvine.com
This is a Spanish tapas place featuring the foods and wines of the Basque region. It is a small cozy place and the best seats to grab are the ones at the bar where you can watch the chefs prepare your (and the other patrons’) food. It is a very entertaining way to spend an evening. The food was excellent with very fresh ingredients and creative and fun presentation. Alas, some of the dishes crossed the line for being oversalted (which seems to happen when food is served in small portions), but overall I loved the food. Very decent-sized portions for tapas, and, after splitting three tapas with my dining companion, I was satisfied. We also shared the Torta de Músicos, which is a seasonal/Christmas specialty which was phenomenal—sort of a fruit-based version of pecan pie. The wine by the glass selection was excellent as I made my way through a number of white varieties local to the Basque region while my dining companion focused on reds from Ribera del Duero and Rioja. They had quite an extensive selection of sherries by the glass as well—I would focus more attention there on a return visit—the one dry Amontillado sherry and the sweeter PX sherry I had were excellent. I think a good number of the drier sherries would pair superbly with the cuisine. This was a top-pick restaurant for me: great food, friendly on-the-mark, if slightly informal serviced, fun atmosphere, and great great wines.
The Purple Café and Wine Bar, 14459 Woodinville-Redmond Road NE, Woodinville, Washington, 425.483.7129, www.thepurplecafe.com
We visited Woodinville during the week which meant very few wineries were open for visits and the ones we did visit were not to our liking. We had much more luck after getting a recommendation to visit The Purple Café for their extensive selection of wine flights. Although located in a strip mall, the interior of the restaurant is fantastic—lots of brick, steel, an overhang with tables above, candles drilled into the brick walls and white strings of light lining the windows—a great atmosphere in winter. We didn’t have too much of the food, but the appetizers that we had on two different visits were excellent: a mezze platter filled with different spreads and scallops wrapped in bacon and a wonderful goat cheese roasted with fall fruits—lovely. The food was good, but I was really impressed with the inventiveness in the wine selection. There are a lot of wine flights to choose from and there are lots of more eclectic, yet very well priced selections. This was a great place to learn about lots of new wines without the need to buy a whole bottle’s worth. And, they give you a slip of paper to take notes on the wines if you wish, so here were my impressions on the wines:
Crisp and light flight
2005 Château de la Cantrie Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine [Melon de Bourgogne] (Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine, Pays Nantais, Loire Valley, France) – smell strong peanut butter and brittle, some saltwater taffy, mouthfeel light good texture, taste stone dry yet juicy, good grip, lime and pineapple, not the sensations I usually get with muscadet
2006 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny [Sauvignon Blanc] (Cheverny, Upper Loire Valley, France) – strong rubber/plastic reduction at first, then morphs into sweeter nose, quite frankly I would have guessed chenin blanc instead of sauvignon based on the nose, mouthfeel excellent presence, tastes very gray/wet storm, slatey and smokey, very enjoyable very dry, great body but very tender, I rather liked this wine, though to be honest, I never really figured it out
2006 Saint Clair Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Vicar's Choice (Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand) – bit quiet on nose, spiky on entry, smooth and soft, bit of banana comes in, fuller more rounded, moves back and forth between full rounded fruit and pointed, dry, and challenging elements, and wow, superb matched with food, lovely stuff
2006 Martín Códax Rías Baixas Albariño Burgáns (Rías Baixas, Galicia, Spain) – smell herbs, grass, dried grasses and the like, taste steely, sharp edged, narrow flavors not as much fruit as others, sharp wine, quite enjoyable
Washington – Home Sweet Home flight
2004 Basel Cellars Columbia Valley Claret [blend of 46 percent Merlot, 27 percent Syrah, 25 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and two percent Cabernet Franc] (Columbia Valley, Washington, USA) – smell sweet smoked syrup, cigar, taste cool initial, warms up into deep fruit, def some promise here, but would need a bit more for a better evaluation
2005 Milbrandt Washington Merlot Traditions (Washington, USA) – bit generic sweet red wine on the nose, bit sweet but inviting nonetheless, taste sweet red fruit, pleasant, herbs, bit hot but still nice, lots of tar, nice stuff lurking, certainly not boring
2004 DeLille Cellars Doyenne Columbia Valley Aix [74 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 26 percent Syrah] (Columbia Valley, Washington, USA) – nice raspberry and rhubarb fruit jam aroma, slight hint of sweeter, tate cery soft nice entry, solid good spice, excellent balance with simple flavors but still offering some depth, I particularly liked the drinkability of this one as it refreshed rather than wore down my tongue, I would gladly return to this one
2005 Owen Roe Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Sharecropper's (Columbia Valley, Washington, USA) – smell subtle and interesting, even bit of greenness seeming to lurk, but taste made my distrust my sense of smell, licorice, hot jam, more like port than anything, good balance nonetheless, just didn’t seem to be my thing
Untraditional yet Exotic flight
2006 Broadbent Vinho Verde [blend of approximately 50 percent Loureiro, 40 percent Trajadura and 10 percent Pedernã] (Vinho Verde, Minho, Portugal) – smell blueberry, super fresh, some rounded jelly-type smells, lively nose, taste very tender background fizz, great presence, lime and pears, quite juicy, green, easy to drink quaffer, fun
2007 La Yunta Famatina Valley Torrontés (Famatina Valley, La Rioja, Argentina) – smell sugary syrup, pear, watermelon and sweet melon, expressive nose, taste is not as sweet as nose would suggest, green and stringy on entry, drier seeds and apple cores, refreshing, bit tart at times a bit dry, harsh and fun, I would love to return to this, lovely stuff
2006 Domaine La Bastide Vin de Pays d'Hauterive Viognier (Vin de Pays d'Hauterive, Languedoc, France) – something wrong with this one, I was barely able to get anything beyond dried berries and apricots on the nose and found the wine to be blah and unexpressive, the color was quite dark so I thought at first it might be oxidized, but my dining companion found it to be lively and expressive, perhaps it was mildly affected by TCA?
2006 Kir-Yianni Amyndeon Xinomavro Rosé Akakies (Amyndeon, Macedonia, Greece) – smell strawberry and strong roots and dirt, nice light perfume, taste basic strawberry, non-sweet cinnamon, dark and integrated flavors, very pleasant and very much in the rough, likable stuff
Teethstainer flight
2004 Gravity Hills Paso Robles Syrah Base Camp (Paso Robles, Central Coast, California, USA) – smell dark earth, lingering aromas, full and heavy, nice nose, taste easy barely perceptible entry, smooth and easy, basic nice greenery, lurking bell pepper, nice enough but not much personality, and I would have never guessed it was a syrah, needed more backbone or something
2005 Stephen Vincent California Merlot (California, USA) – interesting nose on entry, bit perfumed, bit of gasoline, taste bit zippy, lively, intense lovely, lots of concentration of flavors, bit too much, heaviness on throat, nice by the glass, but I wonder if this would not wear me down in greater quantities, but certainly has interesting things to say
2006 Bulletin Place Southeastern Australia Shiraz (Southeastern Australia) – not much on the nose, bit of hay, some savory elements, taste soft full intense, ripe, interesting finish, lots of dirt, a very dirty wine, fun stuff I would not mind encountering again
2005 Darioush Cabernet Sauvignon Caravan (Napa Valley, Northern California, USA) – interesting nose of pecan pie and airplane model glue, taste dark concentrated licorice, heavy on mouth, too heavy, too sullen for me, even a glass wears me out
No Room for Dessert? flight
2006 Boeri Moscato d'Asti Ribota (Moscato d'Asti, Piedmont, northwestern Italy)
2004 Torbreck Barossa Valley Muscat The Bothie (Barossa Valley, South Australia)
N.V. Henriques & Henriques Madiera 5 Year Medium Rich (Madiera, Portugal)
1986 Smith Woodhouse Porto Tawny Colheita (Porto, Duoro, Portugal)
I have to say that this was the only flight that disappointed. The Moscato d’Asti was nothing more than sugar water. The Australian Muscat offered a bit more, but still was a very simple wine. The Madiera was unremarkable and the Tawny Port was the only one I found even moderately interesting. With sweet wine being such a promising category, I found the selection uninspired, alas.