Day #4 more tasting at the festival

To continue with some more of the wineries that we visited on last Sunday.

While at Silvan Ridge and our pleasant time with Angela we tried a couple of more wines, you know you can't fly very well on one wing. They have a Early Muscat (06) that took Shirley's fancy and I really enjoyed their standard Riesling a smooth 2006 from Hinman made with a little over 50% of Washington grapes. Still given that it is good.

We stopped by Mia Sonatina Cellars and I found out that they will also be at the Portland Wine and Seafood Festival as well as McMinville, Astoria and Newport. They had a back up of tasters so we moved on and let them greet some new friends.

Next stop was one winery that I have been curious about for a long time, Maragas Winery located in central Oregon in Culver which is just a bit north Smith Rock on highway 97. It has always been a bit of a puzzle to me why one would make wine that far away from the vineyards. I found the answer, Doug is just a bit "off" the center line. He makes a good wine and has some "far out" labels that are a throwback to the 60's. When in Bend be sure to visit their tasting room at 643 Colorado Ave. The hours are daily noon to five, or call 541-330-0919.

When looking over the list of wineries we wanted to be sure to stop by Sea Mist Winery and taste their selection of cranberry wines. I get several inquires to the website about berry wines and have tasted Honeywood's selection and need to add these folks to the library. It is a fact that cranberry is good for you and the folks at Sea Mist have made it very tasty. They have one that is almost a sparkling, be sure to have a taste if you see them down the road on the festival circuit or stop by the winery in Bandon.

While chatting with the folks at Barking Frog they showed me something new, their glass stoppers that are from Europe. These are really cool and a great replacement for cork. I have never been a big fan of cork if other options are available and this day and age there are several. These glass stoppers are really recyclable and worth having around. They have some tasty current releases and I recommend the 2006 Sangiovese with a lot of berry flavors, the 2006 Syrah is a beautiful deep purple with hints of coffee and smoke. The one to grab and take home is the 2006 Syrah Dulcis in the ice wine style, though not frozen on the vine is smooth and sensuously sweet. A great wine to celebrate Valentines Day next month.

Well it is getting late, Shirley and I were out and about tonight visiting some of our favorite haunts and caught some great music along the way. I will be back later....