Tag Archives: Spokane

Stats and Facts

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Glasses of red and white wineEvery year around this time, we love to share stats and facts about the wonderful wine industry in Washington state. Therefore, we hope you enjoy this 2020 version, courtesy of Washington Wine.

Firstly, the number of wineries grew to more than 1,000, compared to 19 in 1981. Secondly, more than 70 varieties of grapes are grown now. That compares to 30 just six short years ago. Thirdly, the ratio is 59% red and 41% white, a flip from 55% white and 45% red six years ago. Further, the average amount of summer sunshine in Washington state, compared to California, might surprise you! Read on for fun stats and facts about Washington wine. Continue reading →

Don’t Miss Taste WA 2020 – Tickets on Sale Friday

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Taste Washington 2020A record-breaking 8,479 local, national and international visitors attended Taste Washington last year. Make sure you’re one of them this year, March 19-22 in Seattle.

Tickets go on sale Jan. 17, and there is a lot to experience at what we like to call The Super Bowl of Wine Events in Washington state. It’s the country’s largest single-region wine and food extravaganza.

You don’t want to miss out on what Forbes calls “an epic party that lasts for days.” We go every year and always look forward to the explosion of tastes, fun and education during the four-day event.

Here are the details for Taste Washington 2020. We hope to see you there!

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Barrister Beautiful-Part 2

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This is the second post in a two-part series about our recent trip to Barrister Winery in Spokane. The first post tells the story of Barrister’s unique “train-settling style” of winemaking, the signature style of soft mouthfeel and gentle tannins, and other information. Now here are some details about the beautiful wines that we tasted at Barrister.

 

2016 Sauvignon Blanc, Klipsun Vineyard ($19)
This single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and refreshing, with notes of citrus and the minerality that you might expect from wine fermented for two months in 100% stainless steel. We’ve always said that we never met a grape from Red Mountain that we didn’t like, and this is no exception. This Sauv Blanc captures the power of Red Mountain fruit, which comes from old vines planted in 1982. A true summer sipper!
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Barrister Beautiful-Part 1

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Barrister Winery has a large portfolio of beautiful wines, all of which have the signature style of a soft mouthfeel and gentle tannins. Contributing to this style is one of the most fascinating wine stories we have heard this year – the wines are “train settled.”

What does that mean? Barrister winemaker and owner Greg Lipsker explains: “Barrister’s barrel room, where the wines age anywhere from 1.5 to four years, is located under the train trestle for the BNSF Railroad. Every time a train passes overhead, the barrels are gently vibrated, helping the solids settle out very efficiently.

“Most wineries rack their wines three times while aging in the barrel. Because of this gentle train vibration, Barrister wines are only racked once. More than 25,000 trains a year pass overhead. By the time a Barrister Cabernet Sauvignon is ready to be bottled, the wine has been ‘gently shaken, not stirred’ more than 70,000 times. We are the only winery in Washington state to have train-settled wine.”

In other words, Barrister wines rock!

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