{"id":2284,"date":"2015-08-31T07:23:10","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T14:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=2284"},"modified":"2015-11-10T06:22:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T13:22:38","slug":"newer-bellingham-micro-boutique-winery-already-earning-accolades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=2284","title":{"rendered":"Newer Bellingham Micro-Boutique Winery Already Earning Accolades"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This post originally printed in Whatcom Magazine&#8217;s August 24, 2015 issue.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Quality, patience, and attention-to-detail winemaking are the hallmarks of <strong>La Chanterelle Winery<\/strong>, where the phrase, \u201csmall lots of handcrafted wines\u201d has been taken to a new level.<\/p>\n<p>Located in the basement of Donatas Pocus and Lotte Freeman\u2019s home in Bellingham\u2019s Lettered Streets neighborhood, the recently formed winery specializes in limited production, lovingly produced wines that already have wine enthusiasts swooning.<\/p>\n<p>Lotte was born and raised in Deming, where she learned the winemaking trade from friends. Donatas originally hails from Lithuania, moved to Bellingham in 1998, and \u201ccaught the wine bug\u201d from Lotte soon after they became spouses 10 years ago. The decision to take their winemaking skills to the next level and establish a commercial winery in 2012 seemed a natural progression.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/lachanterellewine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/price_SY_label-150x150.png\" alt=\"null\" \/>After much thought, the name \u201cLa Chanterelle\u201d was selected in reference to the chanterelle sites near Deming. The winery logo, a cross between a goblet and the namesake mushroom, was designed by Donatas\u2019 daughter, Greta.<\/p>\n<p>Grapes are sourced from Eastern Washington vineyards, transported cross-state, and dropped into a bin through the basement window. There they are crushed, barrel-fermented, bottled, labeled, and packaged for distribution or enjoyed on the premises at private tastings.<\/p>\n<p>Finished wines can be purchased online, in select local restaurants, and at Seifert &amp; Jones Wine Merchants in Bellingham. Plans are being considered for minimum-order deliveries within bicycling range of the house.<\/p>\n<p>Annual production is limited to about 120 cases; a true micro-boutique winery, by industry standards.<\/p>\n<p>But being small has its advantages. When it\u2019s time to check on a wine\u2019s progress, Donatas says, \u201cwe both sit down and have a little \u2018board meeting\u2019 (and) invite some friends to taste.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Initial releases included a 2012 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (sold out) and a 2012 Wahluke Slope Syrah (still currently available). The syrah, termed \u201cnaughty\u201d in the winery\u2019s tasting notes, is also gorgeous, with ultra-dark blueberry flavors, hints of juniper and sweet cedar, and slightly chewy tannins.<\/p>\n<p>Future releases, most likely in late 2015, include a 2013 Cabernet and a 2013 Syrah. Allowing extra time in the bottle for the wine to develop character is a priority. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to sacrifice quality for commerce,\u201d Donatas notes.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s that kind of philosophy that will make their wines worth the wait.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post originally printed in Whatcom Magazine&#8217;s August 24, 2015 issue. Quality, patience, and attention-to-detail winemaking are the hallmarks of La Chanterelle Winery, where the phrase, \u201csmall lots of handcrafted wines\u201d has been taken to a new level. Located in the basement of Donatas Pocus and Lotte Freeman\u2019s home in Bellingham\u2019s Lettered Streets neighborhood, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heard-through-the-grapevine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2284"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2440,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284\/revisions\/2440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}