{"id":343,"date":"2009-02-10T10:12:51","date_gmt":"2009-02-10T17:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=343"},"modified":"2009-02-21T22:56:06","modified_gmt":"2009-02-22T05:56:06","slug":"varietals-from-italy-spain-finding-their-way-into-washington-vineyards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=343","title":{"rendered":"Varietals from Italy &#038; Spain Finding Their Way Into Washington Vineyards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Italy and Spain are home to several hundred different types of grapes that are used to make wine. Only a handful of these have been planted in Washington, but their increasing popularity among American wine drinkers virtually assures that more are on the way.<\/p>\n<p>Today I\u2019d like to suggest a Washington-made wine from three of these varietals; tempranillo, sangiovese, and dolcetto. The first two are produced in a fruit-forward Northwest style, while the third more closely resembles something you might find from a European winery.<\/p>\n<p>First up is the <strong>Airfield Estates 2007 Tempranillo<\/strong> (about $28) from Prosser. Tasted blind, I might have guessed this was something other than a tempranillo. It\u2019s slightly darker and richer than some of its Spanish-based counterparts, with huge cherry and berry flavors. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portteus.com\/wine\/portteus_Sangiovese_2007_front_160.jpg\" alt=\"null\" \/>But the wine stops short of being a fruit bomb, because it\u2019s beautifully balanced by sturdy tannins, relatively high alcohol, and a splash of acidity. Try pairing it with tomato-based pasta dishes or medium aged cheeses.<\/p>\n<p>If you prefer your red wines to be fruity, yet a bit on the lighter side, the estate grown, <strong>Portteus Vineyards 2007 Sangiovese<\/strong> (about $24) from Zillah makes an excellent choice. Plum, candied cherry, nice acidity and a hint of vanilla on the finish make this a truly unique Northwest sangiovese. With a lower alcohol content of only 12.2 percent, it\u2019s an easy to drink wine that\u2019s perfect for sipping.<\/p>\n<p>Also from Prosser is the<strong> Pontin del Roza 2006 Angelo Pontin Dolcetto<\/strong> (about $16). This light-bodied red displays characteristics that are more indicative of an Old World-style wine. It leans towards the savory side, with flavors of cherry tomato and strawberry and a slightly oaky finish. Toss in the highly affordable price and you\u2019ve got an absolute gem of a wine.<!--6f370fbb1f1b2cb64a87d46fabdf3e8a--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Italy and Spain are home to several hundred different types of grapes that are used to make wine. Only a handful of these have been planted in Washington, but their increasing popularity among American wine drinkers virtually assures that more are on the way. Today I\u2019d like to suggest a Washington-made wine from three of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-washington-wines","category-from-the-bellingham-herald","category-syrah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343","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=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}