Here we are . . . Labor Day 2012 . . . while generally recognized as the end of summer, around here, summer is still burning bright as temperatures are registering around 100 degrees.  One of the things that Labor Day means to us, and for that matter any holiday, is a chance to enjoy good friends, good company, good food . . . oh, and good wine.

After a night of great music and a relaxed morning, Partick and Liz helped us enjoy the latest entry in the Brian and Jean 365 wine odyssey.  Now we must say that the early part of this journey is made possible by the 75th Anniversary of Twin Liquors.  Their three day sale at the end of August opened us up to some great values in wine at tough to pass on prices.  Today’s wine is our first of many from the Twins, so we want to give a shout out to those folks and wish them the best for the next 75 years!

Okay, back to the wine – as you can see from our label photo, today’s wine is a 2009 Sinister Hand from Washington’s Columbia Valley and the Owen Roe Vineyard. With a name like Sinister Hand, we figured there had to be a story behind it, and we weren’t disappointed.  “The Sinister Hand bears the family crest depiction of a severed left hand, which tells the story of a rowing competition among the O’Neills & the O’Reillys (Owen Roe was an O’Neill). Whom ever touched land first after rowing across the lake was rewarded with the land he touched. Lagging behind, one of the O’Neill kinsfolk grabbed his sword to cleave his hand and pitched it ashore to touch the land first. He won the land and eventually ruled over it as king. From this touching (sic) story comes a wine definitely worth the sacrifice!  See what we mean!”

This wine was meant to be enjoyed on the deck with friends or at the dinner table with a variety of different foods.  The nose was definitely cherry to Brian, Partick and Jean . . . in fact, the consensus was that it was a maraschino cherry aroma along with hints of kerosene and slate.  The taste didn’t disappoint either with a cherry flavor that had a terrific long finish.  To intensify the flavor, Brian put a fresh raspberry in the glass with his wine and Liz put a blackberry in with hers.  The fruit intensified the flavor.  Sampling a bit of prosciutto ham only made us enjoy the wine even more.  Clearly, this $20-$22 bottle of wine can be enjoyed by itself or with a variety of foods.  While tasting notes from the winery differ from our tastings, we definitely encourage anyone reading this to buy a bottle and try it for yourself.  Washington wines are fast becoming high in quality, taste, complexity and value for wine lovers.  Sinister Hand fit the bill in all areas for us.  Although we’ve never visited wineries in the WA area, we now have family there and look forward to a trip west.

As our Labor Day has wound down, we hope that you enjoyed some wine with your friends or family and look forward to sharing more in the days ahead.  Have a great week and we’ll be back tomorrow for another wine and another review!

Remember to enjoy responsibly and recycle when possible.