Ken Wright Cellars
Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 01:28PM Presented by Julianne Nelson
FIRST FLIGHT ~ Chicken & Apple Skewers with Apple & Chicken Stock Sauce
2009 Ken Wright Pinot Blanc
Sourced from two coastal range vineyards in the ripe 2009 vintage, we are pleased with the beautiful marriage of Meredith Mitchell and Freedom Hill fruit. This Pinot Blanc is a luscious, lively and lingering wine.
Bright lemon zest and tropical lime curd wrap around the mouth with clean acidity that makes this wine refreshing and cheerful. A slight herbal note on the finish is reminiscent of a summer picnic in the garden. The tropical notes would match well with passion fruit or coconut shrimp served over raisin studded sticky rice. - Avalon
2009 Ken Wright Chardonnay
A superbly detailed Chardonnay, with round notes of ripe summer apricot and lemon. The fruit is complemented with a touch of sweet vanilla from about 10% new oak that adds to the wines richness. Hints of minerality on the finish would pair well with seared scallops. - Avalon
SECOND FLIGHT ~ House-Made Corned Beef Hash Topped with Poached Egg
2005 Tyrus Evan Del Rio Vineyard Claret
Good deep red. Wild, slightly reduced aromas of plum, leather and meat. Supple and rather elegantly styled, but with a slightly disjointed sweet/sour aspect to its fruit. No shortage of material here, though -Stephen Tanzer
2006 Tyrus Evan Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Claret
This wine is a beautiful ruby red and offers bright fruit on the nose. Flavors of plums and cherry cola on the palate are followed by velvety tannins. We enjoy this wine paired with pesto risotto.
THIRD FLIGHT ~ Polenta Topped with House-Made Crumbled Merguez Lamb Sausage
2009 Ken Wright Pinot Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
This blend is extremely enjoyable, lush and full of pure, Pinot fruit. The aromatic profile of this brand spanking new wine is all about fresh and lively fruit and the wine, just out of barrel, displays those fresh fruit qualities on the palate, too. Amazing with wild salmon.
2008 Tyrus Evan Walla Walla Syrah
The 2008 bears a great resemblance to its previous vintage. The same beautiful scent glides from the bowl of the glass, full of roses, dried herbs, bitter sweet chocolate and fresh turned earth. Like the 2007, the real beauty of the wine is its constantly changing flavors - it’s not a typical, monolithic Washington Syrah, screaming black cherry and not much else. This Syrah keeps changing - in a way that’s intriguing and delicious. There’s black cherry in abundance, and you can add black currant, blackberry and plum to the mix as the wine hits your palate. The fresh turned earth, pepper, smoke and tar that show up later add to its the round, mouth filling quality. Hints of roses, flint, berries, sweet star anise, cardamom and vanilla float in and out of awareness. As the flavors slowly fade, licorice and forest floor finish the wine. - Jean