A Perfect Wine With Oysters

Time to dust off the ol’ trophy cases.

Two Spokane wineries recently came away big winners at a couple of important competitions:

Arbor Crest nabbed two awards in the oyster wine judging held annually in Seattle. Food and wine writers, along with restaurant bigwigs and wine merchants from the Northwest and San Francisco, gather for a few days each fall to sip and slurp their way through dozens of bivalves and more than 140 wines. Their mission is to find the perfect oyster-wine marriage.

Historically, the correct wine to serve with oysters has been a French Muscadet (sauvignon blanc) or Chablis (chardonnay). This competition was originally conceived to demonstrate the versatility of the Northwest’s dry, crisp whites. (Not to mention, showing off the state’s finest slimy treasures on the half shell.)

Arbor Crest’s ‘94 semillon and ‘94 sauvignon blanc were selected for the top 10 from that huge field. What makes that honor truly impressive is that the entries are not only from around the Pacific Northwest, but from California, too.

Along with a couple of cool-looking trophies (framed, bronzed oyster medallions), this recognition means terrific national exposure for these tasty wines.

“There were restaurants from around the country there and they will all be pouring the wines by the glass for at least a month,” said Joe Algeo, Arbor Crest’s marketing director.

Participating restaurants include the granddaddy of all oyster bars, the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City.

Both wines are available in this area for under $10.

Caterina came up big in the Tri-Cities competition, with its ‘94 late harvest johannisberg riesling selected as best of show.

That means, to the panel of judges, this wine topped the likes of Woodward Canyon chardonnay and the much-talked-about Canoe Ridge merlot, which received a silver and a bronze, respectively.

Just five gold medals were awarded in this prestigious regional contest. In addition to the Caterina wine, the golds went to the ‘92 cabernet from Apex (Washington Hills’ prestige label), a ‘92 port from Thurston Wolfe and two wines from W.B. Bridgman, the ‘93 merlot and the ‘92 cabernet sauvignon.

Good luck trying to find those gold medal winners around here. A limited amount of the Caterina wine is still available, but only at the winery.

Other Spokane wineries to shine in the Tri-Cities were Mountain Dome, which was awarded a silver medal for its nonvintage brut, and Arbor Crest, which won a bronze medal for its sauvignon blanc. What? Just a bronze for the same wine that kicked booty in the oyster competition?

Well, that’s wine contests for you. No two palates are alike. So, I suggest you hold your own tasting and judge for yourself.

Party on, dude

Family Circle magazine - a publication best known for articles like “101 Ways To Cook Chicken” - has come out with its list of affordable wines for holiday entertaining.

Among the jug wines, the magazine’s tasting panel liked the smoky flavor of Rene Junot white, the slight carbonation of the Riunite Bianco (the Grapevine must interject here to say: “Yuk!”), Sebastiani’s fruity white grenache and Concha y Toro’s sauvignon blanc, which was described as well-balanced.

Other Family Circle choices under $10 include the Vendage chardonnay, Fetzer’s Sundial chardonnay, Benzinger’s fume blanc and St. Francis cabernet.

Let’s hope the magazine follows up with a story on 101 chicken dishes to serve with inexpensive wine.

Sky high

The 1995 Beaujolais nouveau has just arrived via Le Concorde.

Big deal.

Back when I first discovered it in the early ‘80s, this nouveau release of the year’s first wine was fun because it was $5 a bottle. But these days, Beaujalois nouveau from France costs $12 and up, largely due to its expensive plane ride.

Instead of spending good money on that overpriced grape juice, I suggest buying a bottle of Beaujolais with a few years under its belt. The 1993 vintage was considered outstanding for this light, fruity red. The most respected producers are Joseph Drouhin and Georges Duboueuf. Or ask your wine merchant for more suggestions.

Beaujolais makes a great companion for roast chicken or pasta with light tomato sauce.

Trivia test

So you think you know where Alto-Adige is or what the term “lees” means?

Well, you can put your wine trivia knowledge to the test in a new board game called Vino! It’s played with two to four players who move miniature barrels around a chateaux while answering questions about wine history, geography and matching witty musings with well-known wine connoisseurs. (I’ll bet that Ernest Hemingway is the answer to more than one of those questions.)

Vino! sells for $39 and is available by calling (800) 846-6386.

If that price seems a bit steep, may I suggest such other fun drinking games as “99 bottles of wine in the cellar” or chug-a-lug with vintage champagne.

Just kidding.

, DataTimes MEMO: Grapevine is a monthly feature of IN Food. Leslie Kelly welcomes questions and comments from readers about all aspects of wine. Write to Grapevine, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call 459-5486; fax 459-5098.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Leslie Kelly The Spokesman-Review