Sip Northwest, Summer 2014
1 DISCOVERIES DIVERSIONS I believe it was country lyrical authority Kenny Chesney who once said Its a sip of wine its summertime While we echo his sentiments we also think that its a cold pilsner a spiced aquavit and a dry cider its summertime Its the beverages and company that keep you cool on a boat refreshed in the backyard and up late by the campfi re Whatever your interpretation raise a glass of one of these picks this season BY ERIN JAMES CIDER LEFT FIELD CIDER CO LITTLE DRY This is the tale of two sisters Third generation British Columbia ranchers Kate Garthwaite and Theresa Pedersen with parents Gord and Deb brought Left Field Cider Co to the commercial cider frontlines in 2011 after years of Garthwaite making cider out of a bucket in her kitchen Both sisters attended a weeklong cider making course at the University of Washington taught by English cider maker and scholar Peter Mitchell Then Garthwaite spent 2010 in the U K learning how to make traditional English style ciders and the rest is history Not to be confused with the bigger drier version called Big Dry the Little Dry from Left Field is a small batch staple for the Logan Lake BC cidery and isnt quite as advertised in a good way Bright juicy and complex in its apple fruit with hints of pear and quince at 65 percent ABV the Little Dry is hardly little Flavors of tart apple skin with fi ne tannin earth and fresh picked apple balance out the palate of this luscious and lightly dry cider 7 500ml leftfi eldcider com WINE SPLIT RAIL WINERY 2013 TEMPRANILLO ROSÉ A lot of people make rosé Some begrudgingly do so with poorer vintages when their fruit doesnt fully ripen others do so with single varietal tunnel vision Split Rail Winery in Idahos Snake River Valley made their 2013 Tempranillo Rosé with pure thrill seeking in mind According to winemaker and owner Jed Glavin he chose to barrel age his rosé for a number of months to see what the hell might happen The result was a completely unconventional rosé meant for out of the box thinkers drinkers which is kind of Split Rails mantra says Glavin Innovative and distinct this earthy savory wine has aromatic notes of strawberry rhubarb and sweet herbs while the palate shares fl avors of strawberry shortcake and mineral fi nishing fresh and round 14 splitrailwines com EDITORS CHOICE SIPNORTHWEST COM
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