Welcome to our first conversation with Chuck!  As many of you know, Chuck Reininger is Reininger Winery’s Winemaker.  He’s not easy to coax in front of the camera, but once you get him rolling, he’s full of fun information.  In this video, Chuck answers the question many people discovering Reininger Winery ask.  What is Reininger Winery best known for?  Watch the video to find out.

If you have a question you would like Chuck to answer, leave us a comment below.

Although Malbec was traditionally grown in France (more on that later, don’t worry), today most people associate the varietal with Argentina. Conversely, Malbec has become Argentina’s wine identity. When you are thinking of what to eat with the 2007 Reininger Malbec, use the Argentinian association as a reminder of what pairs well. As a quick rule of thumb, pair the 2007 Reininger Malbec with traditional Argentinian foods, like a hearty steak. We’ll give you more pairing details and recipes later, for now, let’s return to Argentina.

History of Malbec in Argentina

In the mid 19th century, Domingo Faustino Sarmieto, the Argentinian provincial governor, decreed some French Malbec cuttings should be brought to Argentina. Maybe Sarmieto’s was yearning for his favorite flavors of his former life, maybe he thought the vines would be well suited to the unique terroir.  Either way, it was a match made in heaven.  Malbec thrived until the 20th century when Argentina’s economy went through a rough patch and quality viticulture was passed over in favor of mass export-ready production.  Many of the Malbec vines were torn up.  Fortunately enough vines remained to allow a rediscovery and renewed appreciation for the fantastic flavors of Argentinian Malbecs.  As previously mentioned, today Malbec has become so popular in Argentina that it has become synonymous with the county’s wine identity.  The most prominent Malbec growing region in Argntina is the Mendoza region.

French vs. Argentinian Malbec

Both the berries and finished flavors differ between French and Argentinian Malbecs.  Argentinian Malbec berries grow in tight clusters of small berries while French Malbec berries are bigger and in looser clusters.  Some vintners think the Malbec cuttings originally brought over are probably a unique clone that has become extinct in France (probably due to the phylloxera epidemic, the same one responsible for the dramatic history of Carmenere). The flavors of Argentinian Malbec are typically full of intense, plush fruity flavors with deep velvety textures.  French Malbecs have more tannins and structure.  As you know from the Reininger 2007 Malbec tasting note, our Walla Walla Malbec has a perfect blend of lush purple fruit flavors and finely edged tannins.  Order a bottle and taste the 2007 Reininger Malbec for yourself.

Sangiovese is the type of wine that transports drinker into sun drenched Italian county sides, surrounded by rolling hills olive trees, and wildly gesticulating Italians.  Many wine drinkers only know Sangiovese, if they’ve tasted it at all, as part of Chianti blends.  Whether you’ve never had pure Sangiovese or you’ve been sipping it for years, the 2006 Helix Sangiovese should become a regular in your wine repertoire. One of the aspects that make Sangioveses very appealing is that they are excellent food wines.  Could you really expect anything less from a wine that comes from the heart of Italy? Read a few more details, then pick up some bottles of the 2006 Sangiovese and enjoy.

2006 Helix Sangiovese Technical Information

The 2006 Helix Sangiovese is made from 100% Sangiovese grapes from Stillwater Creek Vineyard.  What makes the 2006 Helix Sangiovese truly unique, is that the grapes are made from the only Sangiovese clone 19 and 23 planted in Washington.  Why are those two clones so important and exciting to a wine geek?  Sangiovese clones 19 and 23 are clones of the old Brunello Sangiovese vine from Italy.  These clones were generated from legendary vines and are destined to make amazing wine.  When you start with genetically gifted grapes and add a skilled and passionate wine maker, how could you go wrong? In fact, we’re not the only ones who love our 2006 Helix Sangiovese, Wine Enthusiast gave it a 92.

Tasting Notes?

Enough of the technical details, here is how our expert wine pourer Courtney Morgan describes the wine, “With every sip of our 2006 Helix Sangiovese, you will feel the warm Italian sunshine on your face and toes, as you are arrested by the divine smells of freshly baked, ruby-red cherry pie, raspberry preserves, black licorice and bay leaf. Let the wine warm you belly with a taste of tart cherries, juicy marionberries, white chocolate, a nudge of violet and a hint of vanilla extract.”

Don’t take our word for how fantastic an addition this wine is.  Order the 2006 Helix Sangiovese today.  As always, we welcome your comments, questions, and feedback!

Reininger Barrels

Oak is one of those many wine terms that can be a bit confusing to fully comprehend.  Sometimes oak is praised as making a wine truly fantastic, while other times oak can be blamed for ruining a wine.  Some varietals thrive from proper contact with oak, while others don’t benefit from it.  Today we want to give you a quick lesson in Oak 101 to give you more knowledge on what you’re buying and drinking.

The Role of Oak in Wine making
You could literally write books about this topic, but as a favor to you, we’re keeping this explanation short and sweet.  Back in the day (aka very beginnings of wine), wine was stored in clay amphorae (large clay pots).  During the Roman empire, they started putting wine into oak barrels because oak wood was easy to shape, and easy to transport.  Eventually, those smart Romans realized that the exposure to oak actually changed, and in many cases improved the quality of the wines.  The use of oak in wine making can vastly change the wines flavor, tannin level, texture, and even color.  Wine is exposed to oak during the fermentation and/or aging processes.  Traditionally, oak exposure came from storage in barrels, but today it can also be done by adding oak chips or wooden staves (sticks) to wine aging in stainless steel tank.  As you might know there are two main types of oak, and we’ll introduce you to both.

French Oak in Wine
If you’ve read wine labels, chances are you’ve seen some wines waxing on about how they have not used any old oak, but they’ve used new French Oak.  What is so special about French oak?  Why not any other type of oak? French oak creates silky and delicate tannins, translating to slight sweetness and fruity flavors that linger in the mouth.  French oak is also seen as more special because of its rarity and expense.  Due to the grain and nature of the processing, French oak yields much less usable wood per tree than American oak. You can think of French oak as the refined older sister of oaks, more expensive, more elusive and harder to get to know.

American Oak in Wine
If French oak is the refined older sister, American oak is the eager junior high sister.  American oak is much more plentiful due to its looser grain and less wasteful processing method.  It is much more intensely flavored with prominent sweet and vanilla overtones.  American oak releases its aromas much more quickly than French oak, which is ideal for wines that have shorter maturation periods. Over the past ten years or so, the American oak industry has come a long way. They’ve refined their aging methods and drying periods and maturing nicely. American oak barrels are getting better every year.

Oak Tones in Tasting Notes
So now that you’re an expert on oak, how does this translate into the flavors of the wines you drink? Most wine drinkers are most aware of oak in the context of Chardonnay (link to previous blog about this).  Just the right amount of oak can lend a creaminess to Chardonnay, often associated with vanilla, toasty flavors.  In contrast, the 2010 Helix Chardonnay had very little exposure to oak and has more of a fresh, green flavor that has won over plenty “Anything But Chardonnay” believers.  But we digress, we’ve already told you all about the Helix 2010 Chardonnay, just scroll back in our blog for plenty more information.

Red wines exposed to oak often present flavors of: mocha, toffee, smoke, spice, cigar box. White wines exposed to oak often present flavors of: caramel, vanilla, cream, smoke, spice, coconut, cinnamon and cloves…..What’s that you say? What about butter? The buttery aromas and flavors you’ve come to expect from chardonnay is not from oak, rather from malolactic  fermentation!  (If you’re wondering what in the world malolactic fermentation is, catch up in our quick explanation of Malolactic Fermentation)

While our fantastic graphic designer (aka chief mischief maker), Courtney, was in the Bahamas, she met up with some friends.  Long story short, her friends are from Walla Walla and four months into an awesome sailing adventure.  They are planning to circumnavigate the world over the next few years by sailboat.

Although experienced sailors will tell you how surprisingly much you can fit onto a well packed sailboat, if you’re packing for a two year plus trip, you need to be very strategic.  So what do you think these wonderful people decided they couldn’t live without on their epic sojourn?  Some 1997 Reininger Cabernet Sauvignon, of course!  Our Reininger Cabernet Sauvignon’s just get better with age, we wish we were there to share a wonderfully aged wine with a beautiful view!

Where Have You Taken Reininger? 

Cheers to and safe travels to our die-hard “Reiningang”!  Where have you taken a bottle of Reininger?  Send us a picture and we’ll feature you on our blog.

Reininger Red Wine Club

We’re guessing since these Walla Wallans couldn’t live without their Reininger wine during their travels, they are most likely members of our fantastic Reininger Red Wine Club.  Sign up for the waiting list, and soon soon enough you’ll have access to members only specials, news, recipes, and library and limited release wines.

The 2007 Reininger Malbec is made of 100% Malbec grapes sourced from Walla Walla’s Pepper Bridge Vineyard.  It was coopered in new French oak barrels. With that bit of information, we’re sure you’re dying to know what you can expect from this amazing wine.  So enough chit chat, here’s the tasting note for Walla Walla’s best Malbec:

2007 Reininger Malbec Tasting Note

Chuck Reininger describes the wine as “a mountain man’s Malbec. He’ll buck a bit at first from start to finish upon a bed of mineral rock and fine-edgy tannins so, just open the gate and let’em breath the fresh mountain air a spell and he’ll settle down to reward you with wild huckleberry, wild blackberry, orchard plum and cassis on a very thin layer of pepper spice upon a sun bleached, dusty split-rail cedar fence. After a while you’ll even catch a whiff of the distantly brewing cowboy coffee. The perfect wine for a Gourmet-Denim feast- perfect with grilled tender beef.”

Order the 2007 Reininger Malbec

If our 2007 Reininger Malbec isn’t in your favorite local wine shop, come visit the winery or order it online.  And always keep in mind that when you join the Reininger Wine Club, you get early and exclusive access to special winery events, new releases, and more.  Join the Reininger Wine Club waiting list today (perfect last minute Christmas gift, just make a certificate!).

]]> http://reiningerwinery.com/2011/12/2007-reininger-malbec-tasting-note/feed/ 0 http://reiningerwinery.com/2011/12/2007-reininger-syrah-tasting-note/ http://reiningerwinery.com/2011/12/2007-reininger-syrah-tasting-note/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:27:32 +0000 Katie http://reiningerwinery.com/?p=2500

Have you been missing our musings and teachings on Merlot, Carmenere and Chardonnay?  You’re in luck, we are starting a new series introducing three more of our award winning wines.  Get ready to become experts about Malbec, Syrah and Sangiovese.  Keep reading over the next few weeks to learn about the history, facts, lore, style, food pairings and tasting notes of these three wines.  We are pulling out all the stops and will leave no stone unturned as we teach you about more fantastic wine.

About the 2007 Reininger Syrah

We wanted to start off by introducing a wine that would be absolutely perfect for a Christmas or festive holiday meal.  The 2007 Reininger Syrah would effortlessly complement  your next holiday dinner party, so be sure to add this to your shopping list (you will be sure to delight your guests).  The grapes for the 2007 Reininger Syrah were sourced from Pepper Bridge, Seven Hills Vineyard and Ash Hollow, all within the Walla Walla AVA.  The 2007 Reininger Syrah is made entirely of Syrah grapes, with no other varietals blended in.  The wine was coopered in French Oak and bottled in August of 2009.  We aren’t the only ones who love this wine, the Wine Spectator gave it a 92.

2007 Reininger Syrah Tasting Note

“This delectable wine is characterized by sumptuous buckets of sun-ripened blueberries, lavender and a we-bit of orange zest on the nose.  Once you sip, its flavors unfold, revealing blueberry, subtle smoke, and juicy red pomegranate.  The palate is round, smooth and ready, like a succulent filet mignon.  Drink this baby now, or delight in its glory after a rest in your cellar.” Justin Vajgert

We’ll pick out the perfect recipe to pair this wine with soon, but as a general guide, the 2007 Reininger Syrah is a fantastic wine to pair with meaty dishes such as lamb, pork, sausage, or for vegetarians, something hearty like lentils or portabella mushrooms.  Don’t be too worried, Syrah’s are great food wines or can easily be enjoyed by themselves.

Get on the waiting list for the Reininger Wine Club to get special access and news about our newest releases and winery events!

Belly Up to the Bar- a Full Tasting Room

We love Fall Release weekend at Reininger.  We debuted some amazing new wines, poured some classic favorites, and dug a few exclusive library wines out.  Our tasting room was full of excited wine lovers the whole weekend.

Working in the Production Room

A Working Walla Walla Winery

What makes us different from a lot of tasting rooms around the region is that we are a working winery.  So while the party was going on in the tasting room, the rest of the crew was working hard in the production room pressing wines.

Chuck Reininger Showing Wine Club Members Wine-in-Progress

A lot of visitors love to see this work in progress, and we are always happy to show you what’s going on in back, just ask!  You might even get to taste some fermenting grape juice!

2010 Reininger Fall Release Wines

If you’ve been reading the blog, you might recall the 2007 Reininger Merlot, the 2007 Reininger Carmenere, and the 2010 Helix Chardonnay.  We’ve been talking about those wines so much, we had to pour them!  Here’s a full list of what we poured in the general tasting room:

2010 Reininger Semillion, 2008 Reininger Mr. Owl’s Red, 2007 Reininger Merlot, 2008 Reininger Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 Reininger Malbec, 2007 Reininger Syrah, 2007 Reininger Carmenere.  2010 Helix Chardonnay, 2006 Helix Sangiovese, 2008 Helix Stillwater Creek Merlot, 2007 Helix Syrah.

Reininger Wine Club Exclusive Wines

Exclusive Reininger Wine Club Member Tasting Room

We love all our customers, but we absolutely spoil our Reininger Wine Club Members.  Chuck dug up some library wines and some fantastic new releases exclusively for our Wine Club members. We also set out specially paired cheeses from around the world to go with the exclusive pours.  For the wine club members, we poured:

2010 Reininger Voignier, 2010 Reininger Chardonnay, 2008 Helix SoRho, 2005 Reininger Cima, 2003 Reininger Disiderata, 2004 Reininger Anomaly.

Reininger Tasting Room Hours

The fun doesn’t end with Fall Release! Come over to our tasting room any day of the week from 10am-6pm.  We are always excited to see you and share our wines!  Our next big event will be the Holiday Barrel Tasting December 2nd -4th.  We’ll send out more details soon, but mark your calendars!

Dear ABC’s, please don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.  What do we mean by ABC’s? We’re talking about all you “Anything but Chardonnay” folks.  There’s a solid group of wine drinkers today who are instantly dismissive of Chardonnay and think it is trite and overdone.  You couldn’t catch them dead drinking anything as passé as Chardonnay.  To all of those ABC’s, we say you’re seriously missing out!

Why is Chardonnay so Popular?

The reason Chardonnay became so popular in the first place was because it was so consistently delicious and easy to drink.  It is a highly versatile

wine due to its mild mannered fruitiness.  The wide range of styles leave room for many different wine drinkers to find their preferred flavors.  Because it is such a widely grown and produced varietal, while there are some mediocre Chardonnays, e

ven more are delicious and complex.

2010 Helix Chardonnay

While traditionally Chardonnay was grown in Burgundy, it has found new favorite growing location in the Walla Walla Valley (Walla Walla Wineries).  Our 2010 Helix Chardonnay is one of the best values in Washington State Chardonnays, and one of the top Helix wines.  We described the 2010 Helix Chardonnay tasting notes in detail earlier, but you’ll recall how our Chardonnay is perfectly crisp and acidic.  We didn’t over-oak our Chardonnay to hide flaws, instead we let the delicious natural flavors take center stage.

For all Carmenere’s distinguished past it displays a perfectly rustic set of flavors.  We’ve told you all about the 2007 Reininger Carmenere tasting notes. Carmenere is smoky, earthy and spicy. The rustic flavors of the 2007 Reininger Carmenere make it a perfect pairing with heartier foods such as beef and fall vegetables.  We are sharing our favorite example with you below.  You’ll love this meal on a cold fall day!  As always, meals are made better when shared with friends, so invite your favorite people over and pop open some bottles of the 2007 Reininger Carmenere.

Beef Brisket  Recipe

Adapted from Bon Appétit

Notes: This recipe serves 12, so feel free to halve it for a smaller meal.  Prepare fall vegetables such as mushrooms and cabbage for the perfect side.

For dry rub

• 1/2 cup paprika
• 3 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 7 1/2- to 8-pound untrimmed whole beef brisket

For mop

• 12 ounces beer
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons minced jalapeño chilies

• 5 pounds (about) 100% natural lump charcoal
• 4 cups (about) oak or hickory wood smoke chips, soaked in cold water at least 30 minutes

• 1 cup purchased barbecue sauce (such as Bull’s-Eye)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder

Preparation

Make dry rub: Mix first 5 ingredients in small bowl to blend.

Transfer 1 tablespoon dry rub to another small bowl and reserve for mop. Spread remaining dry rub all over brisket. Cover with plastic; chill overnight.

Make mop: Mix first 6 ingredients plus reserved dry rub in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat 5 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup mop into bowl; cover and chill for use in sauce. Cover and chill remaining mop.

Following manufacturer’s instructions and using natural lump charcoal, start fire in smoker. When charcoal is ash gray, drain 1/2 cup wood chips and scatter over charcoal. Bring smoker to 200°F. to 225°F., regulating temperature by opening vents wider to increase temperature and closing slightly to reduce temperature.

Place brisket, fat side up, on rack in smoker. Cover; cook until tender when pierced with fork and meat thermometer inserted into center registers 185°F., about 10 hours (turn brisket over for last 30 minutes). Every 1 1/2 to 2 hours, add enough charcoal to maintain single layer and to maintain 200°F. to 225°F. temperature; add 1/2 cup drained wood chips. Brush brisket with chilled mop in pan each time smoker is opened. Transfer brisket to platter; let stand 15 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool 1 hour. Wrap in foil; chill. Before continuing, rewarm brisket, still wrapped, in 350°F. oven about 45 minutes.) Combine barbecue sauce and chili powder in heavy small saucepan. Add any accumulated juices from brisket and bring to boil, thinning sauce with some of reserved 1/2 cup mop, if desired.

Thinly slice brisket across grain. Serve, passing sauce separately.

Order the 2007 Reininger Carmenere

You can order the 2007 Reininger Carmenere from our website.  Make sure to snag a few bottles, they won’t last long!