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+--- Thread: How come no one's talking? (/thread-14344.html)
- joe_shred - 04-07-2005
N.W. wines and B.C. wines seem to not be note worthy. How come? I have had some fantastic wines from washington state, Northstar, Leonetti, Delille, and Quilceda Creek to name a few. From Oregon I have tried Domaine Drouhin's Lauren and numerous others with much satisfaction. Finally the hometown hero wines from the Okanagan Valley and Vancouver Island which are regionally distinct and are seriously worth a look, although they have had no exposure in the wine dictator. Looking for some feedback on these areas particularly any patriots who've tried the B.C. wines
Cheers
- TheEngineer - 04-07-2005
I think that you will find some BC wines in other parts (as part of their varietals. I personally love the Okanagan Valley and go there every chance I get. You may even find a post of mine about a certain Mission Hill SLC Reserve Chardonnay that beat a good lineup in a recent wine tasting at my house.....
- hotwine - 04-07-2005
The problem in this area is distribution ..... just as we can't get small Texas wineries' products at our local retailers, we can't get good NW juice, either. The big distribs just don't want to carry the stuff, claiming there's an insufficient market. I like Spicewood Sauvignon Blanc, but have to drive 90 miles to the winery to get it. Go figure how many times I'm liable to do that in any given year....
- stevebody - 04-07-2005
Joe,
Part of it, too, is demand. The wines you named are sometimes hard to come by even here in Seattle. Leonetti, for one, has been sold mostly by a subscription list for decades and only lately, as their prices have driven some people away, has there been ample juice in stores here. Frankly - and I'll admit there are a LOT of exceptions - the wines we've been getting from Canada haven't been very good, except for some dessert/ice wine things. The reds, especially, are just nowhere near the WA and CA counterparts for simple quality or as QPR wines. Stores here sell a few but, for the most part, it's Grey Monk and Mission Hill and that's it. Trade restrictions play a part, as does, truthfully, Homerism. It's only in the past five years that WA wines have become anywhere near as uniformly good as people here have insisted they've always been. Those are some reasons. Not all, probably.
- Innkeeper - 04-07-2005
The folks at Mission Hills are doing a yoman's job in the ole distribution game. The rest of Northwest can learn from them. It is easier to find a good selection of Mission Hills around here that Chateau St Michelle. That goes for Canada too. It is hard to find B.C. wines in Montreal or Quebec, but you can find Mission Hills on Grand Manan Island in the middle of the Bay of Fundy.
- wondersofwine - 04-08-2005
I waver between posting Oregon Pinot Noirs under Pinot Noir/Burgundy or Northwest but I do enjoy a number of them. I have also admired some Andrew Will wines (the Sorella for example) and have met the winemaker at a tasting in Raleigh, NC.
- winoweenie - 04-08-2005
All of the above Joe. I've found it hard until the last few years to trust the hype coming from Wash and Ore with a few exceptions as I couldn't find the "Beef" promised by the wineries. Now, I admit, I'm putting more and more wines from the NW in the cellar. Leonetti and Q Creek are very fine bottles but like their counterparts in Calif have put a hefty price on their products. WW
- dananne - 04-08-2005
I'd echo the above comments, especially regarding distribution issues in many parts of the country, Hotlanta being no exception. I jump through hoops every year to buy the latest releases from Abacela, a S. Ore. winery I've taken to.
I'd also add that this forum appears more dead than it perhaps is due to the configuration of the forums on this site. Like Wonders, I find myself wavering between posting here or under the varietal. So, for example, you'll find that many of the Oregon Pinot Noir postings seem to go into the Pinot thread.
- joe_shred - 04-09-2005
Good to know.
Cheers