[Cornell Wine] Cornell Wine This Week

[Michael Beard]

CORNELL WINE COMPANY
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Please note changed schedule
October 19 – South Africa
October 26 – Pinot Noir under $20
November 02 – Australia
November 09 – Piemonte
November 16 – Wines for Thanksgiving
November 23 - Bordeaux

Special Events
Tuesday, October 39 – Annual Port Tasting ($10)
Tuesday, November 13 – An Italian Evening with Don Oman
of Casa Bruno (reservations required, $TBD)

FRIDAY, October 12th October
4:30 - 7:00pm

Wines from Walla Walla Wineries

CHEESE PLATES
This week we look to Washington to supply us with cheese to go with  
our Washington wines.
Beecher’s Flagship                       Cow’s  
Milk                           Seattle, Washington
This Pike’s Market cheese maker started business in 2003 and has  
already become a legend.  Aged for one year, this cheese is a  
complex, robust, nutty cheese.
Trailhead Tomme                         Cow’s  
Milk                           Port Townsend, Washington
 From Port Townsend’s Mount Townsend Creamery comes this mild cheese  
which the producer describes as similar to Cantal from the French Alps.
Sally Jackson                                 Sheep’s  
Milk                	Oroville, Washington
The Sally Jackson farm is at about 4200ft elevation on the Okanogan  
highlands of eastern Washington.  Flocks of Suffolk, Fresian and  
Romanov sheep provide the milk for this cheese which is wrapped in  
chestnut leaves.
CHEESE SAMPLER PLATE $4.00

Many of the wineries in Walla Walla have big egos when it comes to  
pricing, and it is difficult to find many red wines under $20.  To  
me, the blends seem the best values, and this week’s flight mixes  
such wines with single-varietal wines.  Unfortunately, the cost of  
these wines necessitates increasing our price to $12 for the flight.

1. CANOE RIDGE is a well-established winery in WALLA WALLA making  
wines that carry either a COLUMBIA VALLEY or WALLA WALLA  
designation.  The 2004 RED WINE is designated COLUMBIA VALLEY and is  
a blend of CABERNET SAUVIGNON, MERLOT and PETIT VERDOT.  Although  
easy drinking with lots of lush fruit, the wine has a good structure  
and balance lifting it from the arena of a “fruit bombs” - $15.00

2. In 2004, the year of the Walla Walla freeze, WHITMAN CELLARS  
decided to declassify much of their wine and bottled a wine called  
KILLER CAB.  I’m not one for “cutesy” labels, but this wine offered  
great value for your buck.  The wine, meant as a one-year production,  
was so successful that the winery is making it again.  The 2005  
KILLER CAB WALLA WALLA RED WINE is a much more serious effort than  
the 2004.  The winery’s web site does not give the composition, but I  
was told this is a blend of 81% CABERNET SAUVIGNON with the balance  
being CABERNET FRANC and SYRAH.  This wines has lots of fruit, a  
great structure and length.  It still needs a little time to reach  
its peak - $16.75

3. SEVEN HILLS WINERY used to be on the OREGON side of the border in  
MILTON FREEWATER but now is established in WALLA WALLA itself.  This  
week I had the opportunity to taste most of their wines.  The blend  
from CIEL du CHEVAL vineyard was lovely, but I did not want another  
blend in the tasting.  Their 2004 WALLA WALLA CABERNET SAUVIGNON  
includes small amounts of MALBEC, PETIT VERDOT and CARMENÈRE.  The  
wine shows both black and red currant fruit, well-integrated oak, and  
great length.  The winery did a remarkable job with what was a frost- 
plagued vintage - $27.50

4. Most COUGAR CREST wines are in the WALLA WALLA style – lots of  
extraction and lots of oak.  However the 2003 ESTATE SYRAH (which  
includes 2% VIOGNIER), while showing lots of oak, is a little better  
balanced than some other offerings.  It shows lots of blueberry and  
plum fruit, some earthy notes and lovely spice on the finish - $26.75

TRY THESE FOUR WINES FOR $12.00

For our PREMIUM POUR we look to one of the pioneers of the region,  
Rick Small.

Rick’s WOODWARD CANYON has been crafting superb wines since the early  
1980s.  Being the Bordeaux freak that I am, my favorite wine of  
Rick’s is his WALLA WALLA ESTATE RED WINE, despite the use of 100%  
new oak.  This week we offer the 2003 which is a blend of 44%  
CABERNET FRANC, 41% MERLOT, 14% CABERNET SAUVIGNON and 1% PETIT  
VERDOT.  Rick tries to keep the alcohol on this wine down to 14% or  
lower, but in the hot 2003 vintage the alcohol finished at 14.5%.   
This wine is still a “baby” and probably needs until 2010 to evolve.   
The wine sees 100% new French oak, and the toasty nose reveals this.   
Other aromas are cassis and blackberry with a touch of Bordeaux-like  
spice box.  The wine is big, but balanced, and the finish long and  
pure.  Recently rated as “outstanding” in Robert Parker’s The Wine  
Advocate, where he called the wine a “Saint-Émilion look-alike” - $57.50

TRY THIS WINE FOR $6.00/Taste or $12.00/4 ounces

NB: All prices are subject to change without notice.  The above  
information is based on verbal information from distributors, and  
actual wine prices will depend on the price invoiced at delivery to  
Cornell Wine Company.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13th
Noon – 5:00PM
Free

We will have the October Selections for the Cornell Wine Club open  
for all to taste (see earlier email for full details):

GC WINE COMPANY 2006 Z WHITE, COLUMBIA VALLEY, WASHINGTON - $13.50
CONTI SERTOLI SALIS 2006 TORRE della SIRENA, VALTELLINA, ITALY - $20.00
LOUIS LATOUR 2005 MARSANNAY, BURGUNDY, FRANCE - $17.75
CONTI SERTOLI SALIS CORTE della MERIDIANA 2001 RISERVA, VALTELLINA,  
ITALY - $28.00

Cheers,

Pauline & Mick
Cornell Wine Company
14740 NW Cornell Road, #90
Portland, OR 97229-5400
(503) 531-3981
mick at cornellwine.com
www.cornellwine.com
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