Central Texas Wine Guild

Exploring Washington Wineries: Two stories
A couple of weeks ago I had to go to Seattle for business. Jimbob and I decided to extend the visit and visit some friends, family, and wineries.

Our flight to SEATAC was delayed nearly 5 hours. Arriving around 11 p.m. we picked up the rental car and drove north nearly an hour to my cousin’s house outside of Monroe. Monroe is close to a wine sampler’s haven: Woodinville.

I hadn’t spent time with my cousin Marty since I was an adolescent. The good news is that we are now both adults. We had a GREAT, GREAT time together. This was the first time I had met her husband, Steve, and it was quickly like we had known each other for years.

We spent the next 2 afternoons exploring about 8 wineries, the countryside, and each other. We collected stories, and made some of our own. Here are 2 of my stories about the visit.

It turns out that Columbia and Chateau St. Michelle are both right across the street from each other and control 85% of the Washington wine market. The remaining 500-600 wineries (depending on how you count them) share the remaining market share. Since there are so many, and most are not very large, the impact of the land, the grapes, the vintage and the wine maker shine through the wines. Perfect.

Story 1: The power of charm and hospitality

The first afternoon we visit a “large” winery called Januik. This is a modern place, with lots of style and attitude. Each couple decided to split a tasting. Our hostess couldn’t have been more charming and gracious. She gave us each a glass and asked if we wanted her to pour the next wine before we had finished the first, to be able to do a “side-by-side” tasting. I love that, and we all agreed.

We chatted about the wines, the vineyards and life,-the-universe-and-everything. She treated us like we were some of her favorites customers, no not “customers”, but fellow-explorers. We did not feel like were “just another” group of people.

After the second wine another woman came from a neighboring room bearing an open bottle of wine. It seems they were having a library sale the next day and they wanted to see if some of the wines were still good.

“Would we like to taste it?”
“Sure,” we said.
She started to pour in our 4 glasses. “Oh no” we quickly replied. “We are sharing the tasting.”
“No problem.” And she poured a bit in all 4 glasses. We discussed the wine and smiled at each other.

We then went back to the “regular program”. Then she came back. And again. Each time giving us just enough wine and information to really understand the character of the wine.

We left with a bottle of Petit Verdot, a rare favorite, from the Red Mountain Valley vineyard, one of the smallest in the US.

We felt grand, truly special. Not just from the wine and our budding friendships, but also from the warmth and hospitality of the Januik staff.

The next day we went back to the winery, just to stop by and see the library sale. Again, “sincere charm” was the name of the game. It turns out that they had 3 other Petit Verdots available. We were able to purchase 2 of them. In the next year or so, we will be able to have a “vertical tasting”, sampling wines from 2003, 2005, and 2006. I can hardly wait. All in all, we purchased 4 bottles of wine. Given our space/weight limits, that was a considerable commitment.

I am comfident that the women we met the day before made the difference. These people epitomized the phrase “gracous hospitality”.

Story 2: Following your passion.
Later that day we went to a place called “Facelli Winery”. Lou Facelli has been making wine at the back of this industrial office park for the past 29 vintages. Lou grew up helping is grandfather make wine, and the love of making wine never left him. His modest tasting room is filled with pictures of him and his grandfather, along side of pictures of his (now grown) children helping him make wine. A family affair. A multi-generational family affair.

Lou’s story starts with him leaving his day job as a meat cutter to make wine 29 years ago. He trusted that his young family would be able to thrive as he experimented, explored and grew with the Washington wine world.

Lou’s philosophy is to buy the best possible grapes and make them shine. He believe in single varietal wines, and that with good grapes there is no need to blend. "Your wines are only as good as the fruit you start with".

In addition to the typical varietal (Syrah and Cab, etc.) Lou also makes Barbera and has his first batch of Nebbiolo from the Red Mountain Valley. He said that “Pinot is hard, but Nebbiolo is like ‘Pinot cubed’.” Much harder.

From Facelli’s we went to JM Cellars. As we drove up into the carefully landscaped yard a feeling of warmth prevaded, even on a cold and rainy day. Inside the tasting room the rustic furnishings were quietly elegant. The next room had a homey fire with lots of “real” candles adding to the mood.

One of the tasting room ladies said that the winemaker was on the premises and would we like a tour of the barrel room and do some barrel tastings. “Of course” could be the only reply.

We entered the barrel room through 2 massive copper doors; doors big enough to drive a truck through them. The wine was fermented in custom made 1,000 gallon primary fermenters. The oak was from the Allier and (another equally famous) forest in France. These and the other barrels were works of art. Down one alley way was a lacy iron grill door that noted the entrance to their library wines. All was very elegant. Immaculate.

Jim winemaking philosophy highlights the power of blending wines. He believes that the final results will be greater than the sum of the parts.

The contrast between these two environments was extreme. However, upon reflection, they weren’t so different. With their different wine philosophies, both make excellent wines; wines that exmplify the vineyards, the weather and the winemaker. Both of these men, whether former meat cutter or software executive were following their passions, risking their futures and committing all their resources to do so.

What can be better than that?

You can find links to these wineries below.
Januik : http://www.januikwinery.com/
Facelli: http://www.facelliwinery.com/
JM Cellars: http://www.jmcellars.com/