Review: 2005 Fat Stan's Rockfish Red

Wine: 2005 Fat Stan's Rockfish Red



Review: The label says Ketchikan, Alaska but the wine is actually from Northwest Cellars in Washington. It is a blend of 50% Merlot, 28% Syrah, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Under the Northwest Cellars label it is called Intrigue, which is not nearly as interesting as Fat Stan's Rockfish Red.

This is one of those wines that I wish I had purchased in greater quantity. Its not that the wine is great, it is good, but not spectacular. Instead, the wine holds special meaning because of the memories of Alaska that will forever be tied to the aromas in the bottle. The wine itself is a smooth wine, well-aged, with hints of plum, raspberry and just a tinge of pepperiness. Soft tannins and smooth on the palate, it is a good everyday drinking drinking wine.

Price: $20

Grade: 85

I was reminded that there is one more Alaska wine post I need to make.

While we were in Skaqway, we came across this display for Denali Winery at the Alaska Liquor Store. The juice is sourced from grapes in Washington, but the wines are made in Anchorage..including a pretty cool presenatation of a traditional ice wine.

Unfortunately, you can only get the wines in Alaska.

After the cruise we spent an extra day in Seattle to finish doing touristy stuff and we found this great place called The Tasting Room Wines of Washington. Unnecessarily long name aside, this place is really cool. It was put together by six different wineries as a way to showcase their wines.

Word of warning: It is a little difficult to find. It is in the Pike Place Market but it is pretty well hidden down an alley, it is worth the effort.

The two women manning the tasting room were knowledgeable about the wines but what was really cool was the way they organized their wine flights. If, like us, you don't know anything about these wineries or wines they've set up the flights to allow you to sample the best wines based on mood. For example, they had a flight of "Rainy Day Reds..." that consisted of 4 blended reds (some Bordeaux-style, others with really unique varietals) from the various wineries.

If you are in Seattle, you should check it out.

Our last port of call before returning to Seattle was Victoria. We took a tour of the city that included seeing some flowers and then a stop at Church and State Wines for a wine and chocolate tasting.

The winery was absolutely beautiful, with a dimly-lit, but well laid out barrel room and a really well-designed tasting room. The wines were also really nice. The highlight of the wine tasting was the Quintessential. A traditional Bordeaux-style blend that is a complex wine with hints of plum and smoke. A very good wine!

I saw the Icewine from Denali Winery while we were in Skagway and the presentation is aweseome! It even includes a little jar with gold flecks in it.

It looks like most of the grapes Denali uses are sources from Washington State, but the wines are made on site.

Much more wine stuff to come...I'll be back on Tuesday.

I'm leaving for an Alaskan cruise this Thursday. The cruise leaves from Seattle, so we are going to hang out there for a few days. While we are out there we are going to check out some of the wineries in Seattle.

Which got me thinking: how many wineries are in Alaska? It turns out there are four of them. Unfortunately, none of them are in places where we are going to stop. But, it looks like many of the wines are available at Wines International in Ketchikan, which is part of our trip :).