Walla Walla Treats

[T47]

We went to Walla Walla for a little three-day get away while my youngest was off at School camp.
My wife’s cousins husband works for Long Shadows winery in Walla Walla. He used to be the Brew master for Pyramid in Seattle, then did a brief stint with Gallo in CA.

We got a very nice tour of the Long Shadows winery, which I found very interesting. Someday I will get to Kentucky! The Barrels they use can cost up to $1000 each, and the Wine Maker will specify which Barrels he wants, specifying certain regions and coopers depending on the flavor profile he hopes to attain. Some of the Barrels are from specific forests. I had ton's of questions, most related to things I have learned here.

We went back to their house for dinner and I was treated first to some Brandy, which I have never had before (He was making Sidecars for the wives). I found it very smooth and light. Then he brought out a couple varieties of Brazilian Cachaca (a Sugarcane based spirit) one white and one aged in Oak. Both were sweet and smooth with an unusual flavor. Neither tasted like rum to me, which he says it is most frequently compared too. But I have never had "good" rum, and never neat...so it might be more similar than I know. We finished off the evening sampling a couple Long Shadow Wines. Poets Leap is a Resiling. It was very good, fruity and crisp and clean. Pirouette is a Red wine blend. I have never liked Red Wine before...maybe my enjoyment of Bourbon has opened up my tastes? I did enjoy it, and found the flavors rich and satisfying, very rich flavor.

If you ever visit Walla Walla, stop in at Waitsburg and eat at the Whoopemup Hollow Cafe for a great Southern style meal. This is one of those great hidden jewels, an excellent meal.

Bourbon seems to have opened my drinking palate...or it's just something that in my case has come with age?

[smokinjoe]

Todd:

Sounds like a great time. We are beginning to assemble quite a large Brazilian community in my area, and I have begun to see some of this Cachaca pop up at some package stores. I've been tempted to try it out. Which, of the white and aged in oak, did you prefer? Was there a substantial difference between the two? I would like to try one of them out soon.

Cheers!

JOE

[ILLfarmboy]

I have always preferred reds to whites. A bold full flavored Cabernet. Not long ago we had a Byington (sp?) 2003 (I think). I'm finally getting my wife to drink reds. For a long time she objected to the tannins. She has progressed from Merlot to Cabernet and Shiraz. Because both bourbons and ryes pick up tannins from the barrel I have always associated or likened them to red wines at least in that one aspect. Maybe someday she will develop a taste for bourbon. Though I wouldn't hold my breath.

[cowdery]

Because cachaca is made directly from sugar cane and using the whole cane, not just the byproduct (molasses), it has more of a grassy taste, which makes it taste like a young rye or maybe a pomace brandy.

[T47]

I enjoyed the aged more, it had a nice Oak flavor, a little smoother. Maybe better neat than the unaged.
I have never noticed it in the liquor stores, looking on line I see there are 8 different bottles available here in WA.
I probably won't rush out and buy any, it was just part of an interesting culinary weekend.

[OscarV]

There is a great drink using Cachaca, it's called a Caipirinha.

2 oz Cachaca
1 lime
1 tsp sugar

Cut lime into 8 wedges and put in an Old Fashion glass, muddle the line and sugar, use a wide popcicle stick, and really mash 'em up. Fill glass with ice and then add the Cachaca. Keep popcicle stick in the glass so that you can continue to mash the limes and disolve the sugar. This is the way they served it in a Brazilian resturant we were at in Cleveland, (of all places).

It is a great drink on a hot/humid summer afternoon, but beware they are dangerous.

[Barrel_Proof]

I am a big fan of Amavi Cabernet from Walla Walla, especially the 2002, which I've enjoyed with sb.com members at various times. Another fine Walla Walla red is Whitman Narcissa; again, especially the 2002.

[Virus_Of_Life]

I recently read there are some good Syrahs, my favorite red, from the Walla Walla area, something along the lines of Buty rings a bell. Looking to get a bottle while I am in Washington state.

[Gillman]

I tasted cachaca for the first time, one of a number of spirits I'd never had before.

This was a "puro", and white in color; apart from that I don't know who made it, whether it was artisanal or large-company production, or anything else about it.

It's on the menus of many restaurants in New York and other cities, an "in" drink I think, so I thought I'd try it.

This one tasted like a cross between a blanco tequila and a white rum but more like the former. It had notably peppery notes. Apparently it is made from sugar cane although I believe other materials are used sometimes to distill cachaca. It does not remind me much of rum (at least this sample), even white unrefined rums of the Islands. I wonder how that peppery character is obtained.

I also had one with sugar and lime in the cocktail mentioned below, the Caipirinha. I prefer it in that form to straight but haven't had, probably, the best forms of it, I understand some are barrel aged for a time and my neat example seemed to be unaged.

I'd like to learn more about this drink, Wikipedia provided some good basic information.

Gary

[cigarnv]

I have enjoyed the 51 brand in caparhinias and it is pretty easy to find. Other brands to consider are-

Leblon - decent over ice... one of the better ones
Velho Barreiro - very good neat
Providencia - decent... better mixed