Confession: I love wine, but I’m woefully inept when it comes to tasting, selecting, serving, or pairing them with food.
When I heard that Roosevelt’s Eight Bells Winery was having a tasting event on Saturday, I didn’t want to be ill-prepared. I grabbed Patricia and John Eddy from the Cook Local blog to help me navigate the winemaker’s offerings.
Eight Bells isn’t easy to find. Their front door is well-hidden down a narrow alley next to Satisfaction Records on Roosevelt Way, just a block north of N.E. 62nd Street. The three owners, Tim Bates, Andy Shepherd and Frank Michiels, produce less than 2000 barrels of wine per year out of the small
Yesterday’s event featured four new wines: a 2010 Pinot Gris, a 2009 Red Willow Vineyard Syrah, a 2009 Yakima Valley Syrah, and a Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah blend called “Shellback”. They also offered pours of their other two wines: a 2009 Chardonnay and a 2009 red wine called “Roosevelt Red.”
Although I typically lean toward reds, the 2010 Pinot Gris emerged as a favorite. Made with grapes from the Methven Family Vineyard in Dayton, OR, it’s very smooth and dry. I schlepped back two bottles with me on the one-block walk back to my house.
More details and photos from the event are below and you can learn more about Eight Bells’ wines on their website. Currently, the wines are only available locally from McCarthy and Schiering Wine Merchants in Ravenna and Queen Anne.
If you missed this weekend’s event (they’re pouring today until 5 p.m.) you can attend their next event on June 4 and 5 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The entrance to Eight Bells is down a narrow alley about a block north of NE 62nd Street on Roosevelt Way.
Eight Bells featured six different wines at their May 28 wine tasting.
A view of the white wines with the steel tanks in the background.
Roosevelt residents and editors of the Cook Local blog, Patricia and John Eddy, showed me how release the aroma before tasting. Cover the glass with your hand for 10 seconds while swirling the wine in the glass. Get your nose right up next to the glass, lift your hand, and inhale deeply.
Casks of red wine.
Another view of the inside of Eight Bells Winery.
The stairs leading up to the mezzanine, with artwork by Randi Starup.
Patricia Eddy of the Cook Local blog samples the 2010 Shellback.
The neighborhood favorite: Roosevelt Red.
About Patty