Wit Cellars

Posted on April 20, 2017 by melsmosaic

When visiting WA wine country, I was pointed to a new winery by an established one. This new venture is Wit Cellars, which is just about a year old. They are not a huge winery, producing about 3,500 cases of wine a year and are located in the Prosser Wine Community of Yakima Valley. Their name comes from ‘We’re in It Together.’

The tasting room is in a sort of hidden place. Not in the middle of beautiful vineyards, but more of a ‘strip mall’ of tasting rooms.

(photo source: wineyakimavalley.org)

When we arrived (early in the day — strong wine drinkers!), there was only one other group in the tasting room. So one of the employees came over to help. With a tasting you get to sample eight wines, oh yes, half a dozen plus two (though one was out of stock). He was a bit concerned because he had been called in that morning to work, and was the husband of one of the owners and didn’t know all the info to a tee on the wine. Fast forward…he was quite good.

So as previously mentioned, the guy pouring us our wine ‘didn’t know a ton about them,’ so he was looking through some notes to tell us what they were supposed to taste like, etc. We ended up having a great conversation about each one and talking about them sometimes before and after he told us what the notes said. One of the best tastings you could have as the three of us were bouncing comments off each other as he had to enjoy some of the wine, too. What was great is that he gave us his history — former college football player, then in the Marine Corps, now in some IT/security/networking (he lost me after that) gig and part time in the wine industry because his wife is an owner.

So, what we enjoyed (info is directly from website, my notes in bold italic)

2015 Rose
The beautiful coral color will put you in a festive mood. On the nose you will be greeted with notes of strawberry, rhubarb and pink grapefruit. The lively acidity plays on the palate, while hints of spice and dried herbs round out this lively and refreshing summer sipper.
Price: $14.00

Light and crisp.

2015 Pinot Gris
Light bodied fresh and lively summer sipper possess hints of mandarin orange, honeydew melon, bosc pear, and green apple. Ancient Lakes is a cool site which lends itself to aromatic whites. You can literally taste the tortuous past of these prehistoric soils. A gravely minerality mixes with citrus notes and dazzling acidity, to create a unique gem true to its sense of place.
Price $18.00

Minerality! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. Left with a bottle.

2015 Chardonnay
The feast of reason and the flow of soul brought us to the Ancient Lakes Appellation to source aromatic whites of exceptional quality. The vines struggle in high elevation silt loam vineyards on fractured caliche and basalt. This extraordinary example of Chardonnay possesses hints of green apple and pear. The saline minerality and focused fruit void of white noise; set this wine apart from any other. This wine is not for the faint of heart, but for the quick of Wit.
Price $22.00

Unoaked, cheddar on the nose. Neutral oak barrels. I would give it ‘crisp oak’, Very unique.

2014 Riesling
Again the Ancient Lakes Appellation shines with Riesling. We were able to create a Riesling of exceptional quality. Bright acidity mixes with clove, peach, apricot, spice, honey-suckle and clover blossoms. Of course, the underlining feature of this wine is the gravely minerality brought by the tortured prehistoric soils of this majestic appellation. This racy gem is not for the faint of heart, but for the quick of wit.
Price $18.00

Not syrupy like a Riesling could be, but it was still a Riesling.

2013 Red Blend
The colors of this wine are the deepest shades of inky purple and red.

The enchanted flavors of raspberry liquor, vibrant pepper, baking spice, blackberry, graphite and gravel will tantalize your taste buds. This is an extraordinary elegant wine with silky smooth texture and lingering finish. I found that this wine leaves me fully satisfied, but longing for one more taste.
Price $45.00

Nice nose. Melt in your mouth. Just so much good stuff happening. Left with a bottle.

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon
We were drawn to Elephant Mountain Cabernet because it showcases the vibrancy of the site. Only at the extreme margins of this black beast can you detect a deep garnet color. An abundance of black currant, wild cherry, raspberry and cedar greet your nose and caress your pallet. The lingering finish will provide hints of anise, vanilla, toasted hazelnuts and roasted coffee which are balanced by gravelly earthy notes. This is a particularly well balanced and beautiful wine. Your first sip will leave you wanting more.
Price $50.00

Jammy, but not overkill, and not too chewy.

2013 L’armonia Red Blend
This is a big wine with an abundance of dark beautiful fruits that blend harmoniously with it’s ample body and structure.
The integrated tannins dance across your palate while flavors of huckleberry cobbler, vanilla and brown sugar tempt your taste buds. By combining classical Bordeaux varietals we believe that each individual piece of this red blend has come together to sing.
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Petit Verdot, 14% Malbec, 3% Merlot
Price $60.00

I got tastes of coffee, kahlua and fruit. Unique.

As you can see, I left with two bottles. One was enjoyed that night when we returned to a friend’s house in Seattle, and the other the following night at the same house. Of course these guys/this winery can’t be kind and sell in stores on the east coast, let alone in stores in their area. It’s all direct from them. They do have have three wine clubs, though. The requirements aren’t super demanding, on them either. So I might have to join down the road. Overall, spent well over an hour there. I can easily see these guys getting into some of the big wine magazines in the coming years as an up and coming winery. Cheers!

Golden Century, Sydney, AUS

Posted on June 13, 2016 by melsmosaic

Decided to check out Chinatown while in Sydney, AUS. Walked around the whole area and then of course had to have some dinner. Finally decided on Golden Century.

It was quite the large restaurant and we were in the minority. That had to mean great food! The menu could easily put your back out if you weren’t careful. Huge and heavily bound. We got there a bit early and not too many tables were full. Within 15 minutes the place was packed.

Our waiter didn’t speak too much English and wasn’t too responsive, but eventually we were able to order some wine — decided to go with Hentley Farm Brass Monkey Vineyards Pinot Gris. Some nice pear tastes on there; wise choice.

After looking through the novel of a menu, we finally decided on steamed prawn dumplings, steamed chicken with ginger and shallots, and poached Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.

The dumplings took awhile to arrive but once they did, ummm, very good. Then then other food arrived quickly. The chicken was awesome! Overall, very nice dinner. Couple things — fairly pricey and why is this place open until 4am — what do you do until 4am????

The Morrison, Sydney, AUS

Posted on June 10, 2016 by melsmosaic

First night in Sydney, wanted to have something easy and close to the hotel. The concierge recommended The Morrison, which was about a block away. That worked.

They had a interesting spread on the menu. We opted to actually try one of those funky guacamoles that was on the special — pea guac. Not bad, though I like it ‘straight.’

For the main course we went with a whole baked fish, believe it was flounder. Absolutely delicious! They just use chilli, olive oil and parsley.

We paired all this with a nice white, Under & Over Pinot Gris. Nice and refreshing and a perfect match for the meal. The service at the restaurant was not tremendous but the food made up for it.

Canned Wine

Posted on June 20, 2015 by melsmosaic

I have seen and heard about wine changes, packaging-wise. Was in a rut the other day and saw one in a can. Had read good reviews about it — Underwood’s Pinot Gris, so decided to give it a try. Wow, pretty impressive. Very crisp, fruity, light, some little bubbles to best describe, since it’s in a can. You can get 2+ healthy glasses out of this. Was glad I grabbed it because it’s definitely on my list to keep around. I also love their tagline ‘Pinkies Down.’

Fly Away With More MD Wines

Posted on August 4, 2013 by melsmosaic

And the fun continued with more Maryland wines. This time I was fortunate to have them be only a block away with a tasting at Vino Volo (that’s where part of the title came from). The mostly airport-known wine chain is expanding and Bethesda, MD (suburb of Washington, DC) was the first town to be fortunate enough to not require a boarding pass, standing in endless lines (unless they are super packed), taking your shoes off, putting your bags in plastic bins, having everything scanned and walking through the security gates. So much better — you just get to enjoy wine right away! You don’t drink away the pain. You enjoy it just to enjoy it.

Every week they have a tasting, from well known vintners (tears were rolling down my cheeks in a good way when Silver Oak was there…) to medium size ones to local ones that are working to make a name for themselves. After visiting MD wineries last weekend, I was able to taste wines from another one that is less than an hour north of here — Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard. They sampled four varietals and all of them blew me away, white and red.

The first one sampled was the Pinot Grigio. Had some nice fruity notes — pineapple, grapefruit.

Next was a Viognier — crisp, sharp. I can’t put a finger on the flavor, I just liked overall how powerful, yet subtle, it was for a white. Another sip, please.

Now, on to the big business, reds! That is my favorite color. I didn’t know there was good reason for this when I was under 21. The first was a blend…AMAZING. Yes, bring me my wine! This was the best wine of the night…Comus. Five varietals packed a huge punch to give amazing flavors and tastes that surround your nose and mouth with endless wine happiness.

At this point as I write this, the great Tim McGraw song “Fly Away” comes into my mind because of how good wine is, those non-country lovers, just fly away with Vino Volo, and all of us, just love our wine! Go pour yourself a glass if you don’t have one, or at least picture yourself with one. Ok, back to grapes…

Last but not least was one of my least favorite varietals that I will say, is totally growing on me. Good things come with age, right? Both wine and intelligence, perhaps? Anyway, it was a Cab(ernet Sauvignon). Very deep and complex. The couple next to me was torn between this and the prior as to which was their favorite, but opted for the Cab. Many people were split. But as mentioned, when I find a Cab I enjoy, I love it and I could have had much more of this, so I was thrilled, Cab and MD? Dang!!!

So to wrap up, Maryland, you are setting a name for yourself! Two weekends in a row, I am beyond impressed. I am not a national reviewer or commentator but I haven’t normally been a fan of this area. This is not a political comment in any way, shape of form, but I might start leaning a bit right…geographically, when I drink my wine.