Category Archives: Reds

Red wine reviews

August 29, 2016On-Site, Reds, Whitesadmin

This past weekend found us camping in the mountains outside of Yakima, Washington. We took the opportunity to chase some grape juice.

Windy Point

Very pretty tasting room, with a beautiful kitchen! Makes you want to cook!

Joyce likes their wines, and the view is great! This place is a keeper.

Masset Winery

Just a short drive down the road we found ourselves at Masset. Keep your eyes peeled for mutants…

A great thing about dropping by wineries on non-weekend days is you get to beat the crowds and you can chat more if you feel like it. All the wines at Masset worked good for me. They are a small producer and you pretty much need to go buy straight from them. In any case, a pleasant visit!

Two Mountain

Next up was Two Mountain.

We’d been here a couple years back. The tasting room is lovely, I quite like it. However, we didn’t enjoy this visit as much. We’d been spoiled by having the other wineries be nearly deserted. Here we encountered a group of giggling college kids who monopolized the staff. I remember that we had enjoyed their wines the last time we were here. Today not so much. It may be that the wines at Windy Point and Masset were quite good and simply overshadowed Two Mountain.

Knight Hill

Knight Hill was my personal fav from this trip. Very friendly personable service from the owner, good wine, great views.

We had a good time chatting with the owner.

Yes, we stopped for some lunch. Yup, it was hot outside.

They had a sign up about a B&B room they have. Nothing on their web site about it though. I guess drop them a line if you’re interested.

Portteus

Our last winery of the day was Portteus.

Big building!

This map must mean something…

We had a good time chatting him up about their experiences going organic vs. traditional vs. biodynamic. We got to chat about our experience in Costa Rica exploring the El Toledo coffee farm and how they converted to biodynamic.

I was stuck washing my own hands. Sad!

The Teutonic Wine Company and The Wild Hunt

May 22, 20162016, good, On-Site, Redssteve

Here’s Barnaby, the winemaker behind The Teutonic Wine Company manning the bar at his tasting room on SE 20th right off Powell Blvd in Portland.
saturday - 1

Actually, he prefers to refer to his place as a “pub” as it’s his goal to have a pleasant hangout spot for all kinds of people. Yes, he’ll sell you a $40 bottle of fine wine, or if you prefer a $3 Rainer Tall Boy with a frosty mug to go with it.

saturday - 2

And for snacko-miendos they’ve teamed up with The Wild Hunt, a nordic food cart with all kinds of tasty things I can’t pronounce. We noshed down on open faced blood sausage sammiches with a very tasty slaw and even better – a delish pickled egg with the surprising saltiness of caviar.

saturday - 3

This photo came out rather dark in our moist PNW spring weather. You’ll find the place quite comfortable with a relaxed and friendly vibe. When we were there Barnaby was spinning the 70’s vinyl and in the next room they were showing the campy action film Norwegian Ninja to complete the theme.

We enjoyed it, perhaps you will too!

Cooper’s Hall Winery and Taproom

January 18, 20152015, On-Site, Redsadmin

Hey kids, Saturday night we dropped into Cooper’s Hall Winery and Taproom to check it out. It’s quite an impressive looking place – big open area, winery stuff in the back, long bar with more silver taps than Carter had little liver pills.

The short report – we’ll have to come back and try it again. At 8pm on a Saturday night they were clearly seeking a night club crowd with loud, dance-y music, lights so low you need a flashlight to look at the menu. Their schtick is their tap system. The idea is the product stays fresher and they aren’t throwing out hundreds of bottles. Ok, I’m willing to buy that. We had a bit of the red wine they make there. Good stuff. We like strong red wines that can hold up to a harsh universe and/or a good chewing.

The appetizer was pretty good, but for $13 I’d prefer my octopus dish to be more than 50% octopus instead of mostly potato.

In summary – has promise. We’ll try it again sometime when it’s not party hours.

– Steve

Garnier Vineyards

September 1, 20142014, good, Reds, Whitesadmin

We finished up our Columbia Gorge trip with Garnier Vineyards. Located right off 84 in Mosier, Oregon they have a very lovely view of the vineyard and the river from their deck. As you can see, life continues to be tough for the Wine Bastards!

http://garniervineyards.com

Sunshine Mill

September 1, 20142014, good, Reds, Whitesadmin

A very impressive place. Right in The Dalles in the Columbia Gorge. They’ve turned a huge cereal mill building into a winery and event space. You can’t miss it as you drive by on I-84 as they’ve painted their name about the size of a football field on the side of the silos. Very pleasant place to hang out inside, especially if you’re me and you’re fond of big old machines.

http://sunshinemill.com

Maryhill Winery

September 1, 20142014, good, Redsadmin

Fantastic views of the Columbia Gorge, as you can see here. Absolutely lovely place to stop and have lunch! As you see, we come prepared. And of course, there’s the nearby Stonehenge and Maryhill Museum.

http://maryhillwinery.com

Syncline

September 1, 20142014, good, Redsadmin

One of Joyce’s favorites. Except they want us to age their wines 5-7 years! Lovely place to visit, with riding toys for the kids and hammocks! Can’t beat that with a stick! Joyce joined their wine club, so now we’re stuck having to go back out there four times a year. Oh, dang.

synclinewine.com
Outside Lyle, WA in the Columbia Gorge