Vashon Winery Journal (vashonwineryjournal.com)

I was invited to taste some of Vashon Winery’s wines from our cellar. I chose six different Cabernet Sauvignons, plus two Semillons. The Cabs that we tried were the ‘90, ‘92, ‘93 (Reserve), ‘96, ‘98 and ‘02. The Semillons were the ‘05 and the ‘93.

This tasting was suggested by my friend Nina Milligan for her Ladies Only tasting group. They are a group of lovely women that all have been in the industry, and most still are.

We started with the ‘05 Semillon. It was rich with great fruit, almost buttery.

Then we served each wine one at a time but saved enough in our glasses to go back and taste again. The ‘90 Cab was remarkable; the color only barely hinted at its age with just a tinge of orange. It smelled of crushed leaves and wilted rose petals. The ‘92 was beautiful with a great fruit, hinting at raspberry. The ‘93 was our reserve with the special label, The Wine Project. It was still muscular and rich and just starting to open up. Then the ‘96 that I thought had a wonderful direct fruit character and I nice linear character. Then the ‘98 was just beautiful, simpler, but younger. Then finally the ‘02 Cab which drank great with nice rich flavors but without the qualities of the older wines.

All were impressive. I was most impressed by the ‘90, ‘96 and ‘02.

The ‘90 and ‘96 were cooler vintages. And the quality that they had were higher acids…the key to aging the wine.

We finished with the ‘93 Semillon which was interesting. The fruit character that I thought would be richer had dried out, and the wine seemed sharp and a bit acid. It was a good wine and would have gone well with either a white fish dish or maybe pork.

This is a poem I wrote that expresses my discovery of European cider. Malus, by the way, is the genus that apple belongs to. 

On that London Park Bench

 
Alone, on that London Park Bench

She sat down next to me

In her splendid red coat, with green lapels

Streaked with yellow.

She said she saw me from her bakery

And I noticed flour on her apron.

 
I looked into her dark languid eyes.

Mirrors of antiquity.

Her voice soft and familiar,

Echoed from distant lands.

 
Behind us

An ancient apple tree

Stretched up to catch the sky.

A lone apple hung

And dewdrops sparkled in the autumn sun

Like tiny chandeliers.

While at our feet

A carpet of leaves

Rustled in the wind.

 
She inched closer

And whispered her name, Malus,

As she reached up and kissed me.

I tasted her parting lips, crisp

Tart fruit;

a softness in the middle of the tongue.

Saliva warmed a gentle fire,

A taste of pure desire.

 
My eyes closed,

A delicate mist

Of green perfume

Lingered over me.

And Malus stayed with me all my life

Though I don’t know where she went.

 
                                                                        Ronald Irvine

                                                                        February 7, 2008

I have been fining many of my wines this week, adding two or three egg-whites per barrel of red wine. I have been fining the 2003, 2004 and 2005 vintages. Fining using egg-whites is an ancient way of reducing some of the tannins in the wine; the protein in the egg-white combines with the wine’s protein to settle out; what nature would do if you had all the time in the world.

It is amazing how quickly it changes the wine. I would take a little wine out of the barrel with my wine thief (kind of like a glass baster that works on gravity) and then after adding the egg-whites and stirring vigorously I waited just a bit before removing another sample from the same barrel. The difference was immediate and amazing. The fined wine was a bit rounder and the fruit a bit more forward. The tannins were still there but less obvious.

Now I will wait for a week and then I will filter the wine gently doing what is called a polish filtration using less tight filter pads. This will, yes, polish the wine and make it brighter.

My big plan is to come up with a blended wine, a new Tramp Harbor Red (THR), and for those that don’t like that name, or that label, another label, Cuvee Rouge.

At the same time as I am blending a new THR I will be blending the new reserve wines from both the ‘03 and ‘04 vintages. I’ll use parts of them in the THR. I want to sell alot of wine this year. I think the new THR is going to be my best yet; virtually a blend of everything. And for the consumer, it will represent a terrific value. I hope to have it in bottle by mid-March.

At the same time I am getting ready to bottle the 2006 Pinot Noir, grown here on Vashon Island and the 2006 Chasselas Dore, also grown on the island.

These wines are exciting. I think they are great and I can’t wait to sell them. This time of year though is scary; it is rare to get an order for wine even though I know that people like my wine. It is just that there are so many wines out there. And really, why buy mine? And most of us, me included, are looking for $10. to $15. wines; great wines from southern France or Italy.

 I know that I will sell my wine, especially during the season when people are out touring, visiting, or showing their parents the island. When they taste the wine, they almost always buy it.

I was just tasting the Pinot Noir after I racked it into a stainless steel barrel out of an oak barrel. I turned down the music (so I could taste better, really), opened the door to get some natural light so that I could see the true color of the wine, and breathed in the fresh air. Standing in the door frame, the wine smelled beautiful, like fresh raspberry…..but it was the yellow light that lit up the dark green grass that struck me. The apple trees next to the winery are barren of leaves and are dark mossy skeletons. But the light sang out that spring is right around the corner……..if I can just make it til then.

You see it is always like this, this time of year. I am cash poor and the bills keep coming in. It’s not terrible but its not fun, yet there I was looking out at the orchard, at that light, with a taste of promise on my palate and thinking to myself that I love, that I really love what I do.

I don’t try to make the greatest wines. I just try to make really good wines, wines that I like and wines that I know others like. There just aren’t enough of you and there are too many other wines to try and to enjoy.

I’m sorry for the bittersweet message but I don’t know how better to say it.

Look for the new Tramp Harbor Red in March or April and for the new Pinot Noir about that same time.

My summer concert series is taking shape. In early June, Michael Meade will be at the winery exploring the Bacchanalia and Dionysus of wine. He has a national following and I know this will be spectacular. July is open at this time but August is full. On August 2, Danny O’Keefe will be back for an exciting concert with a new CD. Danny is a crooner with a unique driving rythym. In late August, the 23rd, we will hold our first Folk Festival anchored by Larry Murante with help from Wally Bell. Then in September we go back to a poet, Samuel Green, Washington State’s first Poet Laureate.

I’ll be publicizing the concert and but please help by making early reservations.

This is going to be a special year.