Dallas Wine Chick

Desert Wind Winery – A Five Star Experience

After #WBC10, my husband, John, and I were invited to stay at Desert Wind Winery in Prosser, WA, with Margot, her husband, Dave, Barbara and her boyfriend, Jason.  Margot told me what a beautiful place the winery was and that we were in for a treat.  We usually take family vacations to an amazing resort in Punta Mita, Mexico, so I just expected a pleasant winery stay.  Let’s just say that sans beach this was a comparable five-star experience. 

Courtesy of Desert Wind Winery

Desert Wind Owners Greg and Amber Fries served as exemplary hosts from the moment we arrived and greeted us with a refreshing glass of Sauvignon Blanc on the spacious patio.  We had some time to relax in a fabulous, fully-stocked suite that had everything one could need from bottles of wine to munchies to luxurious bath products (and I love luxurious bath products). 

Just when I didn’t think it could get any better, we started our food/wine experience. We began with a tour of the winery and had the opportunity to barrel taste the 08 Petite Verdot, 08 Barbera and 08 Tempranillo. I was impressed that Greg was so willing to go off the beaten path of the varietals to  see what wines would blossom with his talent.

Chef Frank Magana and Darren Dewalt from Picazo 7 Seventeen treated us to a multi-course dinner paired with Desert Wind and Duck Pond wines (Greg is also the wine maker).  The food parade started with Dungeness Crab Cakes with Chipotle Aioli Firecracker Prawns, Patatas Bravas, various wonderful cheeses, Marcona Almonds and Olives, paired with Desert Wind’s 2008 Sauvignon Blanc and  2009 Viognier.  My foodie and chef hobbyist husband was absolutely in heaven.  I innocently asked Chef Magana exactly how many course were coming and realized some restraint from the appetizers would be necessary in order to stay the course.

The good news is that you too can enjoy Mojave by Picazo at Desert Wind, which is open noon – 3 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.  But back to this meal, this glorious meal….

Our first course was Prosciutto-wrapped Mixed Field Greens with Ancho Chile Vinaigrette, paired with 2009 Dry Rose’ and 2008 Semillon. If you read this column regularly, you know I’m not the biggest fan of Rose and I’m allergic to pork, so I choose the Semillon and had a special menu adaptation.

We moved on to the Basil-Stuffed Salmon with Tempranillo Pan Sauce, Blue Prawns & Trumpet Mushrooms with Cream paired with a 2008 Tempranillo and 2006 Duck Pond Cellars ‘St. Jory’ Pinot Noir, one of the many library wines we tried. Loved, loved, loved this course.

And then came the beef – the filet of Beef Tenderloin Ruah Sauce, Black Truffle Risotto followed by Grilled Lamb Chops with Ruah-Garlic Marinade was delightful. The meats and sauce paired perfectly with a vertical of Desert Wind Ruah wines from 04, 05, 06 and 08.  Sublime.

I was glad to have run that morning (even though I got lost like an idiot) because the dessert plate … well, it rocked.  It was a trio of Espresso Crème Brulee, a Chocolate Crème Brulee and then a Gorgonzola Truffle.  It’s been a few weeks now and I still fantasize about that darn truffle matched with a 04 Duck Pond Port.

When I returned from my run the next morning, there was a food basket waiting for us with yogurt, fresh fruit, baked goods, coffee and other assorted goodies that we enjoyed on our balcony.

If you are looking for a great winery and gourmet food married with a five-star resort experience that is centrally located near several great wineries in Prosser, I highly recommend checking out the hospitality of Amber and Greg.  It will certainly be an experience that you will always remember and I’m certainly looking forward to my return.

Say My Name, Say My Name: Unforgettable Thrills at St Supery

I never thought I would experience Six Flags like thrills on a winery tour  until I was invited by Rick Bakas from St Supery to visit Dollarhide Ranch.  Rick promised spectacular views and that he’d break out the VGS (very good shit).  He was right on both counts.

After our Goosecross excursion, we met a larger group at Dean & Deluca where we stocked up on provisions for our Dollarhide Ranch picnic.  Wine.  Check.  Glasses.  Check.  Food.  Check.  Rick piled in our disco tour bus appropriately named for the cheesy lights that were around the interior and off we went.

So picture two caravans with a total of 12 women going up a really, really, really steep hill. Or at least trying to. I mentioned a few posts ago how much food we ate over the weekend and the bus was having some issues due to the recent rain.  We got halfway up.  Then went down again.   And again.  Just when we resigned ourselves to hiking it up the hill, our driver gunned it and up we went.  The view was gorgeous and made even more so by a glass of the 08 Dollarhide Ranch Reserve Sauvignon Blanc ($37), my hands down favorite Sauvignon Blanc of the trip.

Then it was time for the picnic portion of our trip.  We gunned it down the mountain taking out several wine glasses and from the sound of it, a tailpipe.  My two friends in the back experienced zero gravity as they bore the brunt of the vehicle landing.  The weather did not participate due to the boggy ground so we weren’t able to have lunch by the picnic tables near the 150 year old oak tree. So we went old school — eating our lunches on the ground with another glass of the Sauvignon Blanc in hand.

We were supposed to venture back to the winery to barrel taste and tour, but we had such a great time at Dollarhide Ranch, we had to power through our tasting.  I wrote about the wines that I tasted during the last St Supery Tweetup including the St Supery Sauvignon Blanc, St Supery Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, St Supery Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, Virtu and Elu, so I’ll spend time on the ones that I had not tried before.

We tried many wines, but for the purpose of this blog and to not disclose how many we tried, I’m going to highlight a few.  We started with the 08 Semillon, which had a big peach taste with a nuttiness that I liked.  At $25, it was a very refreshing wine.  I am a big fan of “off the beaten path” varietals and I enjoyed the 06 Petit Verdot ($50).  It was a big wine with lots of berries, spice and earthiness.  The estate 05 Dollarhide Cabernet ($85) was another big boy that needed some age.  I tasted big flavors of black cherry, currant, vanilla tobacco, chocolate and mocha.

We were also indoctrinated to “Rickisms,” unforgettable colloquial sayings.  Because this is a family column (ignore first Rickism above), my favorite printable one is “drop my name and drop it like it’s hot.”  So for a great afternoon of wine tasting and an amazing view, ask for Rick, make sure you have unbreakable stemware and your vehicle has traction.