Travel Baja California

Every year I take a road trip north into the United States of America in search of good wine, and to visit with family and friends. Before I depart on my newest adventures I comb the Baja California wine country for some “treasure of bottled delight” to share with friends in the wine industry of several western States. This last July, I selected premium bottles of wine from Vinisterra, Liceaga, Monte Xanic, Tres Valles, Bodegas San Rafael and Roganto to accompany me to the wine country of Washington State. People are always surprised to discover that Mexico makes wine, most thinking we only make tequila and beer. And, almost everyone is stunned by the high quality and uniqueness of the wines from Baja California. Of course, taking bottles of wine from Mexico into other wine regions often opens doors of communication and corks from many wonderful bottles of wine. It’s a fun way to travel and is a great promotion for Mexico ~ as most of the people I’m in contact with are in the wine industry themselves as winemakers, winery owners, wine writers, tasting room mangers, salespersons and wine brokers.

This year the warm Mediterranean-like summer days in Ensenada and Valle de Guadalupe were filled with many food and wine events, festivals, competitions and other wine related events, so I cut my trip short this time and flew directly into Spokane, Washington. In the past, I’ve driven the 3,000 mile round trip through a different wine region between Baja California and Canada in search of wine and adventure, but not this year.

I had heard there was a former doctor from the Navy hospital in San Diego that had chosen Washington as a home for his family and a base of operations to create premium handcrafted wines. Joseph and Rebecca Gunselman have teamed up their skills, talents and enthusiasm to operate a small winemaking and wine tasting facility in downtown Spokane. Joe makes the wine while Rebecca handles all the paperwork, marketing, tasting and promotions. In addition, the entire family contributes to the process during harvest, crushing, pressing, bottling, and with “everything else as needed” to make this a real traditional family business. Rebecca tells me, “we wanted to move to an area that had great potential as a wine region and we wanted to build a business that would be healthy for our family, something special for our children. We selected the name of Robert Karl Cellars for our label because we felt that people needed a simple name to remember.” Once you taste their wine, remembering the name won’t be a problem!

Robert Karl Cellars produces less than 3,000 cases of premium handcrafted wine each year. Their winery is located less than an hour from some of the best vineyard and wine growing areas in Washington State. They do have their own young vineyards at Gunselman Bench near the Columbia River, but they purchase most of their grapes from selected blocks at the renown Horse Heaven Hills, Andrews Horse Heaven Hills, Phinny Hill and Mc Kinley Springs vineyards. Joe’s background as a doctor allows him to use surgical-like precision in creating his phenomenal wines.

Their 2005 Horse Heaven Hills Claret is a remarkable blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec and 10% Petite Verdot. The average yield of grapes is about 2 to 2.5 tons per acre from Andrews Horse Heaven Ranch, Horse Heaven Hills, Mc Kinley Springs, Phinny Hills and Gunselman Bench vineyards. Joe uses temperature controlled fermentation in two ton, open-top stainless steel tanks and follows with barrel aging for about twenty-three months in 70% French oak, 30% American oak, with half of the oak barrels being new. The alcohol is 14% with 1400 cases produced. This delicious, rich and complex wine sells for only $20. per bottle. When you consider the quality of this wine along with the more than reasonable price, it’s a “super value” wine!

Washington State is producing some superior quality Merlot wine and Robert Karl Cellars Merlot is no exception. Their 2006 Columbia Valley Merlot is 100% Merlot from Andrews Horse Heaven Ranch and Horse Heaven Hills vineyards harvested with a yield of 2 to 2.5 tons per acre. Joe ferments this awesome Merlot in temperature controlled, two ton, stainless steel tanks and follows with barrel aging for 14 months using 70% French oak, 30% American oak with 50% being new oak. Alcohol is 14% with a limited production of 150 cases. This is a full-flavored Merlot more along the classic European-style and is really “a steal” at $22. per bottle.

Another excellent wine is their 2004 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon made with a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. Joe ages this wine in 95% new oak barrels: 75% is French oak and 25% is American oak. The alcohol is 14.6% with a production of 725 cases. The retail price of $30 makes it highly desirable and is one of the area’s best wines in that price range.

I’m a huge fan of Washington State Syrah, so I was looking forward to tasting samples of their 2006 Horse Heaven Hills Syrah. I discovered a superb blend of 95% Syrah with 5% Viognier, aged in new French barrels. The alcohol is 14.5% with a limited production of 150 handcrafted barrels of wine for a retail price of $30. This is one Syrah that needs to be explored, it’s amazing! Check out their web site for more details and purchase information.

I drove from Spokane over to Lake Chelan into one of Washington’s newest wine regions. I discovered it several years ago when I was a park ranger at Grand Coulee National Recreational Area and have been “hooked” ever since. Lake Chelan provides lucky visitors with a stunning natural setting along a beautiful lake, surrounded by high mountains, fruit orchards and vineyards. My favorite campground ~ for roughing it ~ sits along the shore of Lake Chelan, within walking distance to a Starbucks, two wineries, a gourmet market and fine dinning. One of these multiple award-winning wineries is Vin de Lac of Chelan. In fact, their 2006 Barrel Select Chardonnay won a gold medal this year at the Pacific Rim International wine competition. Wine Spectator magazine rated it at 90 points and it is an amazing dry white wine with delicious fruit and floral tones. Made with premium grapes from the Columbia Valley ~ with a flavors of lemon, pear, apple and a touch of lime. This limited production wine sells fast at only $20 per bottle.

Vin du Lac makes several incredible wines that inspire me enough to walk uphill from the campground to their charming lake view patio and cafe at the winery. This summer I discovered their 2006 Barrel Select Cabernet Franc with enticing aromas of violets, raspberries and licorice with flavors of fresh strawberries and hints of chocolate mocha. This wine received a gold medal at the Los Angeles International wine competition, gold medal at the Washington State Fair, along with numerous other national wards in 2008.

Another favorite wine from Vin du Lac is their 2005 Barrel Select Syrah made with grapes from the Columbia Valley. It was not a shock to find it had won three silver medals in national wine events this year. This Syrah is marvelous with smoky, blackberry scents, flavors of chocolate and dark plum with balanced tannins and a wonderful finish. The Vin du Lac Syrah enriched the dynamics of a beautiful Lake Chelan sunset and “fueled” me on the downhill run towards my campground. Great artisan wine makes tent camping a real joy, especially when you know the gourmet market next to the campground has hot baked bread, roasted turkey, aged-cheese, freshly picked cherries, apples and pears ~ all eagerly consumed from your picnic table, listening to the the crackling of the campfire, as the sun slowly sets over the mirror-like surface of the lake, reflecting a full moon.

Another “hidden treasure” found near Lake Chelan is Benson Vineyards and Estate Winery. Many winemakers in this region use grapes grown further south in the Columbia Valley, but Benson Winery is one of the few “brave souls” who use grapes grown on their own estate near Chelan. That bold effort has paid major dividends as their wine is fabulous! Currently, they produce four whites, seven reds and one ice wine ~ all estate grown. I tried their 2007 Estate Viognier so I could compare it with the Viognier grown and produced here in Baja California. The Benson Viognier is very fragrant and full-bodied, floral aromas with notes of pineapple, stone fruit with flavors of peach, apricot and nectarine. One of their mottos is, “it’s a great day for Viognier.” They also made three other wonderful white estate wines: 2007 Pinot Gris, 2007 Chardonnay and 2007 Curious ~ a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Viognier.

The red wines from Benson Estate winery are awesome, particularly their 2006 Sangiovese. This wine has notes of bing cherries and clove with rich flavors of raspberries, leading to a long balanced finish with medium tannins. And, of course I had to try their 2005 Syrah ~ which I discovered was rich, full-bodied with flavors of berries, black currants, black pepper and fig, laced with a hint of dark cocoa and coffee. They also have a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Cabernet Franc, 2006 Reserve Syrah and 2005 Merlot. The Benson family creates a delightful 2007 Viognier Ice Wine, with concentrated flavors of peach, apricot, caramel apples, and butterscotch. This magnificent ice wine turned out to be dessert back at the campground. And, the three French-Canadian girls next to my camp joined me for an evening of moon watching and Mexican philosophy 101, blended with local culinary delights, Washington State, Mexican and Canadian wine. The final conclusion of that heavenly evening and international dialog was: “Make Wine, not War” and “Give Pinot a Chance”....

On the road back to Spokane from Chelan, I entered the rural farm town of Wilbur, Washington and to my amazement, I encountered Whitestone Winery. This is a small family-run operation that creates some delightful red whites from vineyards planted along the Columbia River. Here is a prime example of the “explosion of new wineries” taking place “everywhere” in Washington State. The industry there has experienced phenomenal growth, doubling in size during the last five years. Today there are over 550 wineries in the state, over four hundred wine grape growers and over 35,000 acres of vineyards. Their wine industry generates over $3 billion to the economy and offers 14,000 jobs. Washington has rich, deep soil and high quality, abundant water. They grow over twenty wine varietals, with a ratio of 56 percent white and 44 percent red.

If you haven’t yet discovered the awesome wines from Washington State, you might want to shop around and explore the possibilities. I think that when you consider the premium quality of their wine along with the reasonable prices, they’re hard to beat. The winemakers are highly trained, they use state-of-the-art equipment, vineyard managers and nature provides them with premium grapes. One major factor contributing to the quality of their wine is that Washington is one of the only wine growing regions in the world where the vines are grown using their natural roots (not grafted) thus giving exceptional wines that reflect and express the true varietal character and flavors. The Washington wine industry has been a “sleeping giant” ~ but is now awakening with superior wines at “super value” pricing. The Wine Bank in San Diego has a large selection of these wonderful wines. Go, Washington!