What I Drank With Dinner (WIDWD)

There's a saying, "life is too short to drink bad wine". Over the last week, life started to seem way too short, as there were several white wines that never made it to our table. Instead, each one ended up getting tossed down the drain. It was strange to have gotten three strikes in one week on these wines, all of which came from Oregon and Washington.

If I open a bottle that is corked, tainted with Brett or has some other fault, then I will seal it back up and return it to the retailer for an exchange or refund. Most wine shops will gladly take back a bad bottle - those that don't should be avoided. And this applies to ordering wine in a restaurant as well. Regardless of the establishment, you should always feel comfortable returning or refusing a bottle of wine that has some fault to it.

One exception to returning wine exists when the bottle is not necessarily at fault, but rather the winemaking style is.

For me, this exception is due to personal taste, for my preferences being unfulfilled in the bottle do not merit a refund or exchange. I see this as the burden one must bear in finding a wine to enjoy at one's table. You win some and you lose some.

Such was the case last week when three white wines ended up in the kitchen sink instead of our glass. Two were bottles I purchased, while the third was given to me. All three shared something in common: the winemaking style came up short relative to my wine preferences.

The first wine that didn't meet the bar was a Di Stefano 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Columbia Valley. I picked this wine up at Esquin Wine Merchants for $13.99, as I am always looking for reasonably priced Washington sauvignon blancs. Our state produces some delicious white wines, with sauv blancs being some of Kari's and my favorites. I bought this wine never once looking at the alcohol percentage, as I assumed it would be within a reasonable range.

Boy, have I learned a lesson about making certain assumptions about some white wines. The Di Stefano sauvignon blanc was 14.7% alcohol. Considering that winemakers have a +/- .5% leeway in designating alcohol levels, this bottle was at best 14.2% and at worst 15.2%. Tasting the wine confirmed my suspicions, as it offered little, if any, taste profile in the way of a sauvignon blanc.

In fact, it tasted more like a mass produced, syrupy chardonnay. It was neither grassy nor tropical, which is usually the spectrum found in sauvignon blancs - just a highly viscous bland white wine with little acidity to show for it. Down the drain it went along with a mental note to always check wine labels before checking out at the register.

The second wine that came up short was Jezebel 2006 Blanc Oregon White Wine, which I purchased at Whole Foods for $11.99. The Jezebel Blanc is a blend of 43% Gewürzt, 25% Pinot Blanc, 11% Pinot Gris, 11% Muscat and 10% Riesling from a variety of vineyards in Oregon. The Jezebel brand is a second label of Daedalus Cellars, based in Dundee, Oregon.

I purchased this wine out of curiosity, for it is fun to discover a blend that has been done effectively. Other than stating on the back label that "this 2006 Blanc combines several varietals", it didn't offer the specific breakdown for fruit, which suggests the labels were made before the wine was. This would confirm the suspicion that the Jezebel Blanc is designed as a catch all wine, one that changes each year depending on what inexpensive fruit can be acquired for the blend.

And that's exactly how it tasted, like a blend gone wrong. A white wine with five different varietals, yet none showcasing their true talents in any meaningful way. It was simply put, a bland wine, offering little flavor. After a couple of tastes, the Jezebel 2006 Blanc (12.9% alcohol) went quickly down the drain.

The third wine that took a detour was a Del Rio Vineyards 2006 Chardonnay Rogue Valley, which was part of the mixed case prize I won last month. With its high alcohol (14.4%), the Del Rio chardonnay was viscous and syrupy and had a funky twist on the finish.

In fact, I discovered in a review posted on the Del Rio web site that this chardonnay was made with "all Dijon clones, with a splash of Viognier lifting up the nose". Boy, did it ever.

This wine might have been enjoyable sans-Viognier, but the finish was a bit revolting. It not only turned up my nose, but Kari's as well. And it's not because we don't like either grape. It was just that this attempt at marrying chardonnay with viognier came up short. Down the drain it went.

So, in summary, three bottles, three strikes, but we were far from out. There were more whites chilling in the fridge. Our dinners on each of these occasions was saved by a delicious Oregon or Washington wine. Wines that for a moment allowed us to experience life in a way that no longer seemed so short.

More on each of these standout wines in the weeks ahead...