Terroirists – probably the best wine blog in the world

Have you heard? Apparently not. As I have been meeting more and more people from Seattle, the percentage of them who have actually heard of Champion Wine Cellars is negligible. This fact is truly heart breaking for this Terroirist. I make it a point to stop here every time I’m in Seattle; that’s right, every single time.

Champion Wine Cellars has a character all its own. It feels rather more like somebody’s damp, dark basement than a high class wine store. However, you brush off some of the dust and cobwebs and you will find what may be the best wine shop in Seattle. There is something here for everybody regardless of tastes and wallet. It was in Champion Wine Cellars that I witnessed for the first time in my short yet eventful life, a bottle of 1998 Chateau d’Yquem for the modest price of 495 dollars. And was this bottle locked away in some glass case that you had to be supervised by the owner to see? The answer is no, it was right out where you could get a good look at it. It’s not all over-the-top extravagance, they have bottles priced anywhere from 10 dollars a bottle on the upwards of 500 and maybe more.

Champion Wine Cellars is located at the intersection of 1st street and Denny Way. Please, if you live in the Seattle area and are into wine and have not checked this place out yet, get off your ass and do so as soon as possible. Oh, and did I mention they offer a complimentary tasting on Saturdays?

Check them out at Champion Wine Cellars.

Peaceful, tranquil and serene: all are things that make me a bit edgy with prolonged exposure, but in small doses it can do a body and mind good. First, I would like to get out of the way just how beautiful Chelan really is, it’s as if the landscape itself was designed by some master painter and then engineered into form, everywhere you go here feels like you’re standing in a postcard. That being said, let’s talk a bit about the wine and the AVA itself.

As you may or may not know Chelan is one of the newest approved AVA’s (American Viticultural Area) in WA, along with Snipes Mountain. After spending some time in Chelan I have a few points and conclusions to make: first, that after talking to some wine makers up there, nobody can give me a straight answer as to different soil profiles in the area aside from glacial till; secondly, none of the winemakers and growers in the area seem to be able to agree on what varieties do well there, however, after hearing different arguments and sampling some wines myself I must say that this Terroirist really enjoyed the Syrah, Cab Franc, and actually, believe it or not, the Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio from this area.

I actually bought a bottle of Benson Estates 2007 Pinot Noir, it’s as if the world has been turned upside down I know, and those of you who know me will endlessly ridicule me for this one. However, I found this to be one of the only bottles of Pinot Noir I have ever tried that had a stronger and more robust mouth feel and flavor rather than the nose. Pinot Grigio from this region has nice acids and an actual aroma, which was a big surprise.

Now let’s talk wineries.

Nefarious Cellars: This is a winery I made it a point to sample at in both of my trips to Chelan in the last two months. I might go as far as to say that Nefarious is making some of the best wines in the Chelan AVA, and they are doing it with a decent amount of estate grown fruit. I also enjoyed the fact that they were the only winery which had the winemaker working in the tasting room. I always like talking to the winemaker anywhere I go because I feel as though it’s more or less alright to nerd out and speak more in-depth about the wines. A trip to Chelan might be worth it just to visit Nefarious Cellars and try their wines and visit their overly friendly winery dog.

Benson Vineyards: This place is 100% estate grown fruit which is planted to rougly 29 acres. I will say they had the most beautifully manicured vines I saw in the entire trip, however they also had a lot of varieties spaced out on what really is a small space. Rather than committing to a few varieties and doing them well, they do everything from Viogner and Gewurztraminer to Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir. On the upside of that, you can really get a taste for the Chelan AVA in one winery. On the downside some of their wines seem to get lost in it all, but as I said before they do make the first Pinot Noir that this Terroirist has ever bought.

Lake Chelan Winery: This place is the work horse of the Chelan AVA. They make wine for quite a few of the wineries up there. The highlight from Lake Chelan Winery would have to be their Cabernet Sauvignon; such rich flavors of Annis and Cherries — yum. They have a small vineyard on site that they source some of their fruit from, but the bulk of their fruit comes from elsewhere. All in all they make some wines ranging from good to great. You really couldn’t go wrong with a stop here.

Vin Du Lac: Now I’m going to be mean in the nicest way possible. This place has great views of the lake as they sit up on bluffs. I was not a big fan of their wines, which doesn’t mean that other people don’t like it. I will say though that they did receive NW winery of the year by a certain publication that I am slowly losing respect for as I believe that there were countless other wineries that were more deserving of the title, but that’s enough of my bad mouthing.

Tsillan Cellars: With a graduate of the WWCC wine program making the wines I was anxious to see what all the fuss was about with this place. This place is a pleasure palace, as some would say. The grounds are very beautiful with estate vineyards on site, and they have also won more awards than any other winery in Chelan thus far. I did have a few beefs with them, however; they have a restaurant on site and when the kitchen is in full swing it can make it quite difficult to smell the wines properly, also I found their wines just kind of hovered around the area of good, nothing really made it to the level of greatness. From what I can tell Tsillan Cellars might be what I would consider the Chateau St. Michelle or Columbia Crest of Chelan, making some good wines and sometimes reaching the level of greatness.

Other notable mentions:
Hard Row to Hoe
Tildio Winery

In conclusion I would just like to say: GO TO CHELAN!

Another installment from my trip to Seattle. Most of you who live in WA have no doubt heard of the behemoth that is Purple. With its cylindrical wine tower, which might just be one of the most impressive things I have ever seen in my life, and its chairs and barstools that have the collective weight of my entire five story apartment complex, purple seems to have it all: great food, an amazing wine list and a great location in downtown Seattle.

Upon entering this monumental establishment you will notice two things: first, the gargantuan pillar of fermented grape goodness with a spiraling staircase to help you ascend into the heavens to find the perfect bottle of wine to accompany what will be an astounding evening, and two, I got so caught up in the awesomeness of the wine tower I completely forgot about two. This place has a seemingly industrial feeling and a huge wide-open floor plan. This might not be your best bet for a cozy romantic evening or if you’re looking for someplace to kick back and relax. The atmosphere can be quite loud as there are really no barriers to muffle the sound of the large number of patrons that came for the same reason that you did, which is to bask in the awesome glow of the shimmering obelisk that towers over the landscape.

Now let’s talk about the wine. There are very few places in Seattle that I know of with a more extensive collection of vino. The only one that actually comes to mind is Wild Ginger which i’ll discuss at a later date. I have never spent so much time paging through a wine list without being able to make a choice, which should tell you that, not only is the wine list extensive, it is also pretty impressive and diverse. I ended up drinking the Domaine Aux Moines Savennieres from 2005. My co-pilot on this Purple adventure happened to be my dad, and he was enjoying the Chateau Les Tuileries Sauternes from 2006.

To sum this whole thing up I would just like to say that if I had to rate this bar like a wine I would be happy to give it a 94. It’s great for having a drink with friends after work or going out to dinner — just don’t expect it to be quiet and cozy; also you can expect to have a tear come to your eye on the first glimpse of the towering tower of wine.