August 2009

Barnard Griffin 2007 Fume Blanc Columbia Valley

Barnard Griffin 2007 Fume Blanc Columbia Valley

The text under the name on the label describes as

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"dry sauvignon blanc." That's quite accurate. The first thing I noticed about the wine was the incredibly fragrant and complex aroma. It is slightly floral, with a hint of citrus. The taste is delicate without being watery or weak. I noticed the citrus again, but also, something else that's elusive and lovely—that's a bit like the mineral quality of artesian well water—I suppose this may be the "mineral" quality that people who know what they're doing write about.

Barnard Griffin Winery

The Barnard Griffin Winery is one that a friend who works

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in the U. C. Davis botany department told me to be sure to look out for, when I first came to Washington. He said enthusiastic things about the wine, and about the winemaker, Rob Griffin, whom he described as being "innovative within the tradition." The Barnard Griffin Winery was founded in 1983 by Rob Griffin and Deborah Barnard. Griffin, who has a degree from U. C. Davis, has been working in the Washington wine industry since the mid seventies, first at Preston, and then at Hogue Cellars. His own winery is right smack in the heart of Washington wine country in the south-central region of the state, where the Yakima, Columbia and Snake rivers meet. Barnard and Griffin started producing their own wines in 1983, with their first efforts focusing on Chardonnay, Fumé Blanc, and Riesling.

Sauvignon Blanc

I will confess that until very recently, the only things I knew about Sauvignon Blanc were that it

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was one of the parent grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon, that it was a green-skinned white wine grape, and that it was a frequent ingredient of several of the Washington white blends I've tried and enjoyed. The name Sauvignon or "savage" refers to the grape's ancestry as "wild" stock; it's a native, so to speak, of western France's Loire valley and Bordeaux areas. It is, as far as we can tell, an indigenous grape that spontaneously appeared in southwestern France before the middle ages. Sauvignon blanc has since been carefully cultivated just about everywhere wine grapes are grown.

Washington Wine and the Recession

The news about California is pretty bad; layoffs, winery foreclosures and vineyard sales in the midst of a grape glut. But even though Washington wineries are noticing the same buying

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patterns—restaurants selling from their cellar, customers buying at the $25.00 and under price tier instead of the higher ranges—right now, it doesn't seem quite so drastic in Washington. That doesn't mean Washington wineries are ignoring the recession, by any means. Wineries and grape-growers are both very much cash-dependent businesses. Wineries have to sell last year's wines to make space for this year's, and they have to pay for packaging and shipping, as well as inventory, production and staffing costs. Washington vineyards have the same problems as their California sisters, including the effects of unpredictable weather on the grape harvest.

Haggen Washington Wine Case Sale

Even though the Washington State Liquor Stores have delayed Washington Wine Month until September, other participating businesses have not. Haggen Food, a very community-minded Washington grocery chain, is featuring some pretty amazing deals on cases of Washington wine. These are cases of mixed wine from a single winery, you choose, and include a sale price with a 20% case discount, and a mail in rebate. Here are some specific numbers for you:

Columbia Crest Two Vines and V10 Case
Regularly at 95.88; on sale for $76.70, with an $18.00 mail-in rebate, for a final price of $58.70 (plus taxes, natch)

Columbia Crest Grand Estates
Regularly $95.58; on sale for $76.70, with an $18.00 mail-in rebate, for a final price of $77.90 (plus taxes)

Washington Wine Month Postponed

Every August, the Washington State Liquor stores celebrate Washington wine by

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having a spectacular month-long sale on Washington wine. This year, because of "computer problems," the State Liquor Commission is postponing the sale a month, until September, 2009.

This will be my first "Washington Wine Month," so I'm eagerly looking forward to it. It's my understanding that the wine on sale is discounted by as much as 50%, in addition to the already often lower prices (the Liquor Commission doesn't tax itself on sales) that there's an additional 10% discount on case sales, even on mixed cases.