This Saturday in honor of Columbus Day (and Thanksgiving for our neighbours to the North), we’ll be tracking the voyage of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.  We start in Italy, hit Spain to stock up on a great value and then sail directly to the Pacific Northwest (where of course you know the ships first landed.)  Come explore with us as we seek the West Indies.
 
2015 Casale del Giglio, Lazio Satrico  $13
40% Chardonnay, 40% Sauvignon, 20% Trebbiano Giallo
Satrico takes its name from the ancient pre-Roman city of Satricum. Traces of the earliest huts, which formed a village around a central temple dedicated to the goddess Mater Matuta date from the IX century B.C. Remains of her temple can still be seen today close to Casale del Giglio’s vineyards in the hamlet of Le Ferriere, near the town of Latina. The wine has a fruity, lightly aromatic yet mineral nose, confirmed on the palate by a pleasing crispness and a lengthy finish.
 
2012 Merriman, Old Vine Chenin Blanc, Columbia Valley $18
Mike Merriman runs a small winery making Pinot in the Willamette Valley, but branches out to make this Chenin. He spotted an old vineyard by the side of the road late one evening while driving in the wine country of eastern Washington State. It was Chenin Blanc planted in the 1970’s, he decided to clean up two acres of it and make this wine.  This Chenin has aromas of bees wax, honeysuckle, gold raspberries guava and box elder. A caramel flan richness of texture shocked with vibrant acids and flavors of peach, myrrh and toasted pecans.
 
2010 Torre Oria, Gran Reserva $10
70% Tempranillo, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon
When you start on a voyage you need to stock up on supplies.  The Torre Oria is a good wine to stock up on.  It is aged in American and French oak for twenty four months and has notes of blackberries at first that expand into plums and red fruit leading to a long finish of toasty oak. 
 
2015 Savage Grace, Cabernet Franc $27
Michael Savage makes this Cab Franc with fruit from Copeland Vineyard in the Rattlesnake Hills.  The wine has a marked Old World influence, is unfiltered and unfined, with very little oak influence.  It is full of bright raspberry liqueur, rhubarb, with backbone of minerality and earth.
 
2013 Owen Roe, Yakima Valley Red  $30
45% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Franc, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon
A big bold red from a warm vintage, The Yakima Valley Red has aromatics of spicy notes of cinnamon, anise and pink peppercorn. A blast of black raspberry, black cherry, and a beautiful bottom note of sweet black currant, it sings through the finish with cedar, spice, and floral accents.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.