January Recipe – Mushroom Shawarma

After the rich foods from the holidays, we like to give our tummies (and our hips!) a little break by finding fresh and light dishes to sneak into our menu rotations. This Middle Eastern inspired meal is full of aromatic spices, which will make your kitchen smell heavenly while you’re roasting the mushrooms and onions. There is a long list of ingredients, and feel free to substitute for anything you don’t have on hand. Serve a fresh and crunchy salad alongside and you’re nailing your New Year resolutions. Enjoy this light meal with a light wine! We think either the Dry Riesling or the Lilly White would be amazing. If you’re a red wine fan, go for the Sangiovese or Henry’s Red.   Cheers!

Click here for recipe PDF

It’s on the tip of my tongue…

We talk a lot about taste and flavor in the wine industry. How a wine tastes is one of the reasons why we enjoy what we do! That being said, understanding the mechanics of how humans process and perceive flavor can actually help us enjoy our favorite pastime even more!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOUR TASTE BUDS AND THE TONGUE

There are about 10,000 taste buds which are on the papillae. The tongue has four different types of papillae that make the tongue feel rough.
Each taste bud has tiny hairs that pick up signals from the foods we eat. When food mixes with saliva on your tongue, it bathes the taste buds and the receptor hairs pick up the taste signal and send it to your brain to interpret.
The areas of the tongue with the most taste buds are the tip of the tongue and the sides of the tongue though there are some taste buds scattered all over the tongue.
The “taste signal” is sent up a nerve fiber to the brain that tells us if we like what we tasted.
There are at least 5 basic taste types; sweet, salty, sour (like lemons and limes which make your cheeks pucker), bitter (like unsweetened chocolate), and umami (like beef or soy sauce).
Every taste bud has the sensory receptors for each of our 5 tastes.
Taste Buds are located in only 3 of the 4 types of Papillae:
Fungiform papillae are found all over the top and sides of the tongue. They are mushroom-shaped.
Foliate papillae look like grooves to sides of the tongue in back.
Circumvallate papillae are lined up in the back of the tongue. There are up to 14 found there.

Click here for larger graphic.

Doce Does Us Proud!

A tasting by Wine Press Northwest of fortified wines from Washington, Oregon and Idaho was held in Summer of 2020. There were 48 Northwest producers that participated in their first large-scale judging of fortifieds since 2015, and they combined for 67 entries. Our delicious Doce rated well with their “outstanding” designation. We’ve attached their tasting notes and linked here to their full article.

Syrah remains a go-to grape for some of the Northwest’s top producers of fortified wines, and the multi-personality red Rhône grape thrives in Idaho, particularly in the hands of Greg Koenig, who crafted the Williamson family’s wines for nearly two decades. The nose of toffee, Saigon cinnamon, dried cherry and plum moves into darker flavors of cola and pomegranate syrup. There’s a pleasing bit of burn from the alcohol that’s smoothed out by the finish of Choward’s Violet candy and milk chocolate. The family of foodies at Williamson enjoy this with Black Forest Cake, blue cheese or walnuts.

Williamson Vineyards Syrah – Making It’s Mark

Anyone who knows us knows how much we love our Syrah. It was one of the first of three grape varieties planted in the Williamson vineyard back in 1999. We sent our currently available Syrahs to a Syrah competition and at the beginning of 2020 where they received top awards. Wine Press Northwest recently completed their 2020 Platinum Invitational. Wines had to receive gold or higher awards during the 2020 year to be invited. With hundreds of northwest wines submitted, our 2018 Syrah received a Double Gold, and our 2016 Reserve Syrah was awarded a Gold. This wine is still available in our tasting room and from our webstore. Cheers!

Sip & Save Showcase – Harvest Moon Red

Don’t miss out on our amazing offer! We’re changing it up every two weeks, until October 6, it’s our amazing 2018 Harvest Moon Red.
Available while supplies last.

To tantalize the taste buds, our tasting notes:
Aromas of earthy plum, blueberry pie, hint of violets and cassia, will tease your senses. An enticing garnet color with plum undertones invites the first sip of this medium bodied wine. Bright flavors of plum, marionberry & choke cherry are the first notes you notice, and as the wine fills the mouth, the mid-palate becomes complex, with black tea, nutmeg, and toffee. A long, lingering finish is enhanced by bright acidity, inviting a range of food pairings.

Pick up a bottle (or two) of this featured wine from September 23 to October 6 at an amazing price!

Original price is $20.00 per bottle.
Discounts will apply at checkout, go to the webstore here.

Buy a Virtual Happy Hour 6-Pack and join us October 8th for a private virtual tasting!

When you purchase this special collection of bottles you automatically get a link to a private virtual tasting held at 5pm on October 8th. Each 6-pack includes 2 bottles of each wine, so you can taste along with us and save the remaining bottles for later.

 

Included in this curated selection:
2 bottles 2018 Windmill Red ~ Blend of Sangiovese and Syrah
 A rich garnet color, this wine promises depth and complexity. The aromas evolve from bright sweet berries to a charming bramble and minerality. Flavors of dark cherry and marionberry evolve into earthy tones on the mid-palate. Finishes with firm but supple tannins.

2 bottles 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon ~ Newly released
This wine is a clear and bright brick red in the glass. Aromas of intense dark red fruit, violet, cherry amaretto, sweet hay and earthy minerality greet the nose. The bright cherries in the beginning segue into a preserved cherry and earthy mid-palate with hint of oak on the finish. Tannins and acid are bright but balanced.

2 bottles 2018 Henry’s Red ~ Blend of Malbec, Petite Sirah & Syrah
This wine hasn’t even been released yet and it’s already won a bronze medal at the 2020 Idaho Wine Competition! So we know you are going to love this complex blend has a rich, deep color with surprisingly light tannins and body. White pepper and berry bramble tickle the nose as sweet threads of huckleberry greet your tongue and transition into bright flavors of pomegranate.
For a total of $140

But wait! Take advantage of our awesome incentive pricing!
We’re throwing in local delivery and some great prices to sweeten the deal.
General Public Pricing = 15% off of $140 + complimentary local delivery
Wine Club Pricing = 20% off of $140 + complimentary local delivery
**Incentive pricing available thru October 8th.**

Order your wines before 5pm on Tuesday, September 29th for our local delivery option.