Three Rivers Winery Blog

The Great Wineries of Washington

A new book by Fred and Mardi Nystrom features Three Rivers Winery, along with 30 other exceptional wineries.  Fred and Mardi visited hundreds (but not all) of the 540 wineries in Washington, but they had three main requirements to pass their personal test to be included in the book.  First, the winery must have a welcoming facility for customers to enjoy while sampling their wines.  Second, they must have a trained staff that provides you with both an educational experience and a warm sense of hospitality.  Third, they must produce a great product.  If the winery did not have all three traits, they did not include them in this book. 

This is a great book for someone who wants to plan a driving tour of Washington's best wineries.  The book is laid out so that the tour starts in Seattle, heads over to Chelan and Wenatchee, and then South through Yakima, Tri-Cities and then east to Walla Walla.  The final stop in the journey is Spokane.  The book features beautiful color pictures, background information on each winery, and some personable insight from winemakers.  Also included is an easy to follow guide listing out wineries by the varietals they produce.  This is great at narrowing down the list for anyone interested in visiting a winery based on what it produces.

Other Walla Walla wineries included in the book are: L'Ecole No.41, Reininger, Cougar Crest, Dunham Cellars, Five Star Cellars, Walla Walla Vintners, Whitman Cellars, Pepper Bridge, Northstar, Va Piano, Saviah and Basel Cellars.  We are excited to be in such good company!

Bud Break

Bud Break has started on the Cabernet Franc vines at the Three Rivers Estate vineyard.  The Cabernet Sauvignon from the same vineyard has not yet reached bud break, but we expect it to happen anyday.  Below is a picture of our Cabernet Franc vines taken this morning.  The temperatures have been on the cool side this Spring and it is just beginning to warm up to average/normal temperatures for this time of year.  The cooler temperatures and snow in April pushed back bud break, which usually occurs earlier, so we expect everything else, including harvest, to be a little later this year.

New Arrival Coming Soon!

A new arrival is on its way!  The 2006 Svelte, Yes I said Svelte (1. Adjective; Slender, esp. gracefully slender in figure; lithe. 2. Suave)  The name says it all. This will be a high-end blend consisting of 57% Petit Verdot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Tempranillo and 7% Malbec.  Aged in 100% new French oak barrels.  This wine will be bottled in February 2009 and a release date has not yet been finalized. Svelte will only be available for purchase at the winery and will not be put into distribution.  Case production will be very limited (around 170 cases).  If you like big, inky, concentrated and very stylish wines this is it. Besides bringing you this new wine, the Svelte will also feature a new label design. We can't wait to see what you think!

Andy Slusarenko, Assistant Winemaker

Spring Release is right around the corner!

Spring is finally upon us here in the Walla Walla Valley.   The estate vineyard out in front of the winery is about one or two weeks away from bud break. We have been busy with spring cleaning and getting wines ready for bottling in May. For all those I saw at TASTE WA in Seattle on April 6th, thank you for your support and I hope to see you at Three Rivers Winery for the upcoming Spring Release Weekend (1st weekend in May). We will be releasing some great wines that are sure to be crowd pleasers.  Look for our 2006 Weinbau Vineyard Cabernet Franc, 2006 Minnick Hills Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Tempranillo and 2006 Malbec to name a few.  Most of which are only available for purchase at the winery, so don't miss out!

Andy Slusarenko, Assistant Winemaker

Breathable Wineglasses?

I had never heard of breathable wine glasses until a nice lady came into the tasting room as a representative for a company named Eisch.  Eisch is a company from Germany that spent six years of research and testing to create the first ever breathable wine glass.  I was skeptical until I looked at the glasses, read critic reviews and tried them for myself.  The glasses are all lead-free crystal that undergo an oxygenating treatment which gives the Breathable Glass its unique properties by changing the molecular structure in the glass.  A wine poured into this glass for just 2-4 minutes shows signs of aeration equivalent to the same wine that has been decanted and aerated for 1-2 hours.  The affects of the glass can really be seen in a comparative tasting between this glass and any other wineglass of the same shape, size and volume. 

I poured a small amount of Three Rivers 2006 Malbec (just bottled in February 2008) into the breathable glass and into a second 'high end' glass.  I was told the affects can be seen best in a younger wine which would normally require some decanting to open up.  The fruitiness of the wine in the breathable glass was apparent right away and the tannins were also softened, versus the other glass where I could still smell the alcohol more than the fruit, and the tannins were still a little heavy. Overall I was very pleased with the Eisch breathable wine glass, thought it increased the enjoyment of the wine, and have decided to sell them in our tasting room.  Besides my personal impression of these glasses, they are also endorsed by Robert Parker, Ronn R. Wiegand and Dan Berger.  I would love to hear from anyone else who has tried the Eisch Breathable wineglass and hear about your experience!

Amy Locati, Wine Club Manager

Recipe Pairing for 2007 Riesling

Here is another wonderful recipe we had at a recent Winemaker Dinner that pairs magically with our April Wine of the Month, the 2007 Riesling.  Jamison Brandt and his Sous Chef Courtney created this wonderful recipe for dessert.  Enjoy!

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING CAKE WITH MACADAMIA NUTS

Ingredients for Cake

1 cup pitted & chopped dates

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup boiling water

2 Tbs. butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1½ cup self raising flour (sifted)

Crushed macadamia nuts

Ingredients for Toffee Sauce

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbs. butter

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven 375°.  Mix dates and baking soda in heat proof bowl.  Pour boiling water on top and leave to stand.  Cream butter and sugar until pale, then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Fold on flour and stir in date mixture (including water).  Pour into a buttered and floured 7” cake pan (bread pans work well also).  Bake at 375° until a toothpick comes out clean. 

For the sauce, combine sugar, cream, vanilla and butter in saucepan and bring to a boil.  Stir often and simmer 5 minutes.

Cut cake, pour hot sauce over the top generously, sprinkle crushed macadamia nuts over the top and enjoy!

* Great with vanilla ice cream

Cellar Update

The last few weeks Holly and I have been tasting through the 2007 wines currently in barrel.  Along the way blends are being created and we are very pleased with the outcome of the 2007 harvest.  It seems as if we just completed one bottling and we are already preparing for another one in May.  Wine work has not slowed down by any means, we are into the second set of rackings on the red wines, and still stiring the lees every week on the barrel fermented white wines. 

Spring is finally in the air and I am chomping at the bit to get out in the vineyard and see what we have to work with this year!

Andy Slusarenko, Assistant Winemaker

Spring Arriving in the Gift Shop

The gift shop is beginning to receive spring merchandise each week including linens and cheese knives from France, dishes, wine cookbooks and custom chocolate sauces.  Don't forget we have Cougar Gold cheese, crackers, tapenades and olives!  We invite you to stop by, create a picnic lunch from our food selection, and have a glass of wine on our deck.  The view of the Blue Mountains is spectacular right now, and the 3-hole golf course is open and ready to use. 

Introducing Guest Chef Erol Kanmaz!

We have booked our guest chef for the Spring Release Winemaker Dinners to be held May 2 and 3, 2008.  Erol Kanmaz was born in Turkey where he was raised on his family's farm.  Erol has a rich knowledge and strong connection to the agrarian traditions of his family.  He possesses a strong appreciation for growing and preparing fresh meats and produce.  After receiving an education in Tourism and Hospitality, Erol emigrated to the Unites States in 2002.  He and his wife settled in Oregon and he began pursuing his passion for cooking under the direction of culinary Olympian Chef Leif Eric Benson at the national historic landmark, Timberline Lodge.  Erol is a member of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), World Association of Chef Society, Board of Directors ACF Chef de Cuisine Society of Oregon and is a Certified Sous Chef by the ACF.  We look forward to having him here.  To view the menu for the dinners or to view costs, please see 'Spring Winemaker Dinners' under the events page listed on our website.

February Bottling

We started bottling Monday with the 'sticky wines', the 2007 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer, 2007 Riesling and 2007 Rose.  As of today we have finished up the 2006 Weinbau Vineyard Cabernet Franc, 2006 Minnick Hills Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and have started on the 2006 Merlot.  We use a mobile bottling company, Signature Bottling, as do most Walla Walla wineries.  Below are a few pictures from the bottling line.

Derek is at the start of the line dumping empty glass onto the conveyor belt.

The empty bottles are filled, labeled and corked by machine.  Then our volunteers put capsules on the bottles.

The bottles are checked to make sure everything is where it should be and placed into case boxes manually. The box runs through a machine to tape them closed. It then comes down the ramp where winemaker Holly Turner and a volunteer are putting labels on the outside of the boxes. Assistant winemaker, Andy Slusarenko, stacks the finished product on a pallet nearby.