Let's venture into red wine now. So, the the NxNW label is produced by King Estate Winery, which is 15 minutes outside of Eugene, Oregon. NwNW is an abbreviation for North by Northwest. King Estate's primary focus is producing Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir; however, the winery contracts with grape growers in Columbia River Basin and Walla Walla Valley in Southeast Washington and Northwest east Oregon.
This particular Cabernet Sauvignon is made using grapes grown in Walla Walla Valley. This area of Washington is inclined to warmer and dryer weather, making it a prime location to grow grapes for cabernet Sauvignon.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of red wines, but this one is excellent. It doesn't come at a cheap though. I purchased a bottle for $35 while visit King Estate, but it's worth the price.
This Cabernet Sauvignon is subtlety "sweet" and smooth in my opinion. It is not as dry as other Cabernets that I have tasted. This wine leaves a light, short taste of summer blackberries. Just wonderful.
Can't afford $35 ? I highly suggest taking the short drive out to King Estate off Lorane Highway to take a few samples. They are very generous and offer tastes of about 6-7 wines.
Wine Maker's Notes
Aroma: Blackberry, blue fruits, cocoa, caramel/vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oak spice.
Flavor: Blackberry, currant, cassis, and lingering black pepper spices.
Alcohol Content: 13.5%
10 comments:
Sounds like a great wine. I also have a quesion, how do you find all these vineyards and figure out when tastings are?
I've been able to find these vineyards with a simple Google search. http://www.wineriesoflanecounty.com is a great resource!
Tastings are usually held daily. Many tasting rooms at open 12-5pm; however, check out each winery's website to confirm hours.
Thanks for commenting!
Shelly-
Being quite the "wino" myself I have enjoyed your wine blogs. You had mentioned it during class the other day (412) and I decided I had to take a look. Although, I must admit that when you said you didn't love red wine my heart hurt. So I have a suggestion for you to try: Hood River Vineyard's Zinfandels. I don't know if you are already familiar with Zins, but they are typically grown in California, so now that Oregon and Washington are starting to make them I feel I need to support them. Generally the wines vary from being fruity to spicy depending on the age, and I believe you can either get red or white Zinfandels - but I have only really tried the reds. Hope you like it!
Adrienne -
Thanks for checking out my new blog!
Red wine is definitely growing on me. It takes time. I prefer wines that are on the sweeter and crisper side, but red wines and I are getting along better these days. (Especially after multiple wine tastings...)
BTW - I LOVE zinfandels and I will definitely try Hood River Vineyard's Zinfandels. Thanks for the recommendation. :)
See you in class!
I agree with Adrienne. I think it's just finding the red's that you like. Also I think food pairings are extremely important. A good red with a meal can make it an amazing experience.
Great point! I'm going to start venturing into food pairing soon. I'll let you know how that goes.
Any suggestions for food pairing?
Don't know much about food parings but if you have a meal at King's Estate (the food is great) they will pair a different wine for every course.
That's awesome! I'm so visiting King Estate for dinner.
I've been there during the day, but only to taste wine.
So I just made the trip to King Estates and a couple other wineries this weekend and I have to agree with you, it was definitely something that everyone should experience. It is absolutely beautiful and King Estates also offers a tour that is quite educational! I loved this cab though, I highly recommend!
Shelley, thanks for spreading the word about NxNW. Great blog. We have a new website for NxNW which we are now producing in Walla Walla at it's own licensed and bonded winery (not yet open to the public) the web address is http://www.nxnxwwine.com/.
We still offer this wine for tasting and purchase in the King Estate visitor's center. Thanks again and keep up the great work on your blog!
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