November 8, 2018 - Huskies vs. Cougars: Passing Time vs. Doubleback

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We are in the heart of college football season and the WAC Wine Club has a special treat arranged for our next meeting. 

Damon Huard and Drew Bledsoe are icons of college football in our state, who also share a common love for wine. Following their prolific NFL careers, they returned home to start their own wineries. Damon, the former Husky, teamed up with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino and winemaker Chris Peterson (formerly of DeLille and currently Avennia) to create Passing Time. Initially started as a single vineyard Bordeaux blend, it has now expanded to three different appellations. Drew returned to Eastern Washington, where he played for the Cougars, to start Doubleback and the Bledsoe Family Winery, with winemaker Josh McDaniels (formerly at Leonetti) where he has produced highly-acclaimed Bordeaux-blend wines. 

All their wines are highly rated, consistently above 95 points and have extremely limited availability. The 2015 vintages are sold out to the public. We have very limited bottles exclusively for our tasting, and we will be the one of the very first to sample the 2016s at our next meeting. 

Some of the wines will be available for purchase at the tasting, and I would strongly encourage everyone to join their wine club. Not only will you get to the front of the waiting list to receive guaranteed allocations, you will have access to their reserve portfolio. 

At our meeting, we will be tasting the following:

  • 2016 Doubleback, Estate Reserve

  • 2016 Doubleback, Cabernet Sauvignon

  • 2016 Bledsoe Family Winery, Flying B Cabernet Sauvignon

  • 2016 Passing Time Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

  • 2015 Passing Time Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon

  • 2015 Passing Time Columbia Valley Red Wine

Please feel free to wear your school colors and accessories at the meeting (as long as it meets the WAC dress code) and get ready to enjoy some absolutely stellar wines.

September 13, 2018 - Learn to Recognize the Different Grape Varieties by Smell and Taste

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The WAC Wine Club’s first meeting of the 2018-2019 season will be a classic varietal tasting of six classic wines that will help us better learn and understand how they differ from one another. Wine components are sometimes difficult to distinguish, especially when it comes to astringency, levels of alcohol, sweetness (or not) and levels of acidity.  Come taste with a professional and learn about tasting blind --detecting acidity and tannin levels, and much more.  Understand which typical markers are identified with certain wines--pepper, blueberries, tobacco and more—these can help you more easily determine what wine you’re drinking.  We’ll pull some of our WWC cellar wines for this tasting.  Learn the difference between Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay; Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon; Malbec and a Syrah.  Reggie Daigneault, certified wine expert and instructor extraordinaire, will walk you through some tips and tricks in understanding WHAT you’re smelling and tasting.