The Northwest isn't just coffee and Rainforests. There's wine in them thar hills!

Oh my fellow Gulpers another excellent tour through the world of wine and food has been concluded.  This time we took a trip to the American Northwest.  I know, I know this is the land of Microsoft and Starbucks but I am here to tell you Washington and Oregon are in the top 5 wine producing states in the U.S.  Thanks to Coreen and LeBeau we were treated to a tasty introduction to the wines of this wonderfully diverse region.

Of course, before I get to the wine and the food let me tell you who was there!  We were joined by Krystina Parker, Wally Lurtz, Deb Knepp, Daphine Shean-Tredinnick, Barry Imhoff, Bridgette Wies, Roni Gutierrez, Tracy Cottle, Amanda Slaight, Michelle Getty, Didi Martz, Jim Brogan, Kelly Schultz, Mariana Nascimento, Dorothy Segaloff, Pete Glocker, Dana Moritz, Joy Dietz, Pam Shuster, LeBeau Kpadenou, Coreen Gottschalk, Chris Bryan and me, your favorite blogger!   Even though Andy wasn't in attendance he generously made his home available to us again!  Woo Hoo!  Thank you Andy!
A special shout out to Dorothy for acting as the hostess with the mostess in Andy's absence!  You Rock Dorothy!

p.s. what do you think of the new GULP logo?
cool, eh?



Okay, now it is time to turn to the goodness that was Wines of the Northwestern US:

Click here for all the pics from this event

1st Course:
Let me start of by saying when I walked into Andy's house the tables were already set with this delicious first offering.  It was another 10 minutes before all were gathered and the gang was ready to begin Gulp so I was teased by the pretty plate of tapas consisting of Lemony Quinoa with feta and spinach on a fried tortilla.  It was delish! I liked the lemon, I have always enjoyed a little acidity with spinach.  It seems to cut the bitterness in the green.  Then add the salty creaminess of the feta and you have a truly outstanding bite.  It was paired with a Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris from the Willamette Valley of Oregon.  This refreshing and slightly effervescent wine had a green nose with aromas of lemon zest and green grass.  It was very pale yellow in color.  The flavor was like the aroma; bright, clean and herbacious. Some mentioned a minerally taste, "kind of like rocks."  It really made the lemon in the quinoa pop out while the feta and quinoa smoothed out the acidity in the wine.  These two played very well together and made a great pairing.
click here for the all the recipes from this event.

                                                      2nd Course:

This next course is what I like to refer to as gorging food.  Coreen made a Spicy Thai Green Curry with Chicken and rice cooked in coconut milk.  Crazy Creamy Goodness!  It was spicy, creamy, chickeny and oh so yummy.  Add the Daedalus Gruner Veltliner from Willamette Valley and you have a match made in Gulp!  The Gruner is light yellow in color.  The nose is floral with a little green apple.  The flavor is spicy with green apple.  It reminded me of a dry reisling.  

This wine is fermented in 50% stainless and 50% neutral oak which translates in to a clean spicy and acidic mouth feel. LeBeau mentioned this is one of his favorite varietals.  Take a bite of the curry and then taste the wine and the creaminess of the coconut mellows the acidity and brings out a richness to the wine that wasn't present before. I could have had 2nds, 3rds and 23rds of this pairing!  I was polite and left some for the rest of the group.

Next came the blind tasting led by our Taster in Residence, LeBeau:

Appearance =  very pale yellow, almost clear, slightly effervescent, not much legs

Aroma = honey, honeysuckle, green apple, slight mineral

Flavor = honey, green apple, lemon/lime, moderate acidity

Have you figured it out?

Hmmm...?

Give up? 

I picked it!  It was Chateau St. Michelle Reisling from Columbia Valley, WA.  Oh my that is sipping wine!

 3rd Course:

I must warn you in advance there were some adult comments made on this course and the next so....well you have been warned.  For this course Coreen paired a salmon BLT on toast with dill aoili with a Pali Wine Co. Alphabets Pinot Noir.  The salmon was rich, the bacon smoky, the tomato tangy and the toast light and crispy.  

The wine smelled like carmel, and black plums.  It tasted like cherries, earth, slightly spicy.  To explain how good this pairing was let me quote Barry, "This is orgasmic!  Perfectly balances salt and fruit.  It brings you full circle!"  I think this says it all.

4th Course:
Coreen put together a cheese and potato perogi in a marsala sauce with mushrooms, green peppers and onions.  The Sophie's Choice brand  perogies were creamy, soft and cheesey.  The sauce was eathy, savory and slightly sweet thanks to the onions and marsala wine.  My only critique was the green pepper didn't fit with the other flavors.  Then came the wine from Chateau St. Michelle.  This was an Ethos 2007 Syrah and it was, for me, the most delicious wine of the day.  It was deep purple in color with big slow legs. The aroma was full of black cherry, chocolate, campfire smoke and burned sugar.  When paired with the perogi it was a sensual experience. This course too, brought out the sexy in a few of our gulpers. According to Daphine, "It's woodsy and sensual.  It's like a good men's cologne.  I want to dip my husband Gary in it."   I thought it brought out the mushroom in the sauce and deepened earthiness of the overall dish.  Once again, the green peppers didn't work for me.  I pushed those aside and lapped up the rest with lovely sips of syrah in between.

The extra pour:  I love extra pours.  This one was wonderful.  Stella Maris Red Wine is a blend of 35% Cabernet, 29% Merlot and 28%Syrah with a tiny 8% of petit verdot.  It hails from the Columbia Valley WA.  The color was a lovely deep red almost ruby.  It is a medium body wine and very drinkable with berries and lightly perppery. I tried it with the perogies and it paired well.  It also did well with the chicken curry.  Yes, I used this as an excuse to have more curry.

5th and final Course:

I know, all good things must come to an end and this dessert course was good.  This was an unusual course because the sweet was served on belgian endive.  Coreen stuffed the savory leaves with a goat cheese and blueberry creme, sprinkled it with peanuts and a drizzle of honey.  They were creamy, crunchy and this may sound strange, refreshing.  I guess you could say palate cleansing.  It was paired with a much sweeter confection in the guise of a Chateau St. Michelle Late Harvest Chenin Blanc.  The color was pale gold with not much nose but what you could smell was bananas.  Someone said it smelled kind of like overripe fruit.  The taste was honey all the way.  It was like a honey comb was opened up and the grapes just soaked up the nectar.  I loved the endive treat but I have to say the wine was a little overpowering, just too sweet for me.  I know one Gulper, Deb, was loving it!

So there you have it my Gulper friends!  It was a great day with some of my favorite people.  There is something so wonderful about sharing an afternoon with fun like minded people drinking wine and eating good food.  With the world in the strange state it is I take great pleasure and comfort in afternoons like this one and I hope you did too!  Until next time take care and enjoy as much life as you can!
The next Gulp event will be a new adventure as we take this group to the next level.  Join us on Sept 25th at BX Beer Depot for "World Tour of Chardonnay" as we introduce Gulp to the world or at least Palm Beach County!  Check out the event at our Facebook page World Tour of Chardonnay for all the details
click here for all the recipes from this event.