Terra Blanca Tasting
Back again at The Wine Spot! This time for one of our favorites, Terra Blanca Wines!
Last summer we took several trips to Eastern Washington for wine tasting, live music, and warm weather! At the prompting of some friends, one of those trips was to Benton City (Red Mountain AVA in wine terms) for a tasting event. We immediately fell in love with the unique wines the area had to offer. But the highlight of the trip was the Terra Blanca tasting room and estate vineyard. This is a must stop location if you are ever in the area! So, when we heard The Wine Spot was doing a Terra Blanca tasting, well we simply had to be there.
The Wines
Sauvignon Blanc: Neither of us are much of a white wine person, but to our surprise this was not reminiscent of the New Zealand wines and was actually quite good. Not a large grapefruit or grass flavor, it was rather bright, minerally, and mildly citric without a defined citrus flavor.
Chardonnay: Along with not preferring whites, Chardonnay is one of our least favorite varieties. However, this was probably the most okay Chardonnay we’ve had. It still had the definitive fruit wine flavor (which is unappealing to us) but was not overly sweet and generally was a fairly neutral wine.
On to the good stuff, the reds!
2018 Cabernet Sauvignon: This Cab Sauv has that distinct mineral flavor that Red Mountain wines embody so well. A warming robust red with lingering tannins keeping the flavor alive even after you’ve swallowed your sip. This is a phenomenal deep red of complex flavors… We ended up taking three bottles home!
The Triple Threat: This red blend included Cab Sauv, Syrah, and Merlot. It was incredibly smooth, still having that special something a good Red Mountain wine should, but with a little less warming sensation and lingering tannins than the 2018 Cab Sauv. This is probably a more versatile wine and would appeal to many, but it missed that WOW factor that the 2018 Cab Sauv gave us.
Like any good winery, The Wine Spot was not without several winery dogs. And of course, I (Denice), found them!
We were sitting next to another couple there for the tasting and ended up chatting. Turns out they were babysitting their friends 2-year-old Labradoodle, Leo. They joked that their friends had recently become empty nesters themselves, and they thought the four of them would be traveling together. But instead, they adopted a fur baby with four legs. “The last kid!” they joked with us. Of course, I was plenty happy to make friends with Leo who is a sweetheart!
There was also a feisty littly Shi-Poo (Shitzu Poodle mix) named Kapo. We are familiar with little dogs’ attitudes, and while I wanted to go over and pet him and make friends, Kapo kept his distance from us and Leo. He was perfectly happy to be doted on by his personal staff (also known as the owners of The Wine Spot). We love the energy and fun that these animals and their people bring to wine tasting events like this!
It was a wonderful evening, with just a hint of that rare Washington sun to brighten up the sky. We loved sitting out back by the fire and enjoying the wonderful wine and company the evening had to offer.