Washington Sangiovese v. Chianti Classico

In the immortal words of George Castanza... "I'm back baby!"  I have been on a bit of a hiatus from wine writing the past 6 months.  Now that I have completed my Executive Leadership Program at Seattle University it is time to get back to the wine business.

March is a great time to return too.  It is Washington Wine Month AND one of the most stylish one day races takes place in Tuscany during the first weeks of March.  The Strade Bianche covers nearly 200 kilometers that include 10 sections of white dirt and gravel roads.  The strade bianche cover 54 of the 200 kilometers and make for some interesting racing.

This week's Lucha Vino matchup honors Italian bike racing flare with a classic Yakima Valley Sangiovese from Eight Bells winery taking on an old Chianti Classico from Tuscany.

2010 Eight Bells Sangiovese v. 2009 Villa Cafaggio Chianti Classico

Washington Mystery Syrah Match

Love him, or hate him, one thing is for sure, Jon Rimmerman has created a cult-like online wine buying experience with his Garagiste website and "exclusive" email list.  Once you subscribe to the Garagiste email list you will begin receiving some of the most over the top wine missives you have ever read.  If you are anything like me, you will find these offers hard to resist.  Then, one day you will wake up with a cellar full of French wines that all taste like you are licking minerals from rocks strewn on a pathway running with streamlettes of acid rain.

If that isn't enough to make you question your will power, Rimmerman introduced his Mystery Wine series a few years back.  I repeatedly confirm P.T. Barnum's observation that there is a sucker born every minute by succumbing to far too many Mystery Wine offers that appear in my inbox.  Luckily, I have probably enjoyed about a 90% success rate with my Mystery Wine purchases.  The 10% failures?  They are failure like you could never imagine!  Search for Garagiste Mystery Wine on Google and you will see what I mean about failure, love and most of all hate.

This week's matchup features two Washington Syrahs that were Garagiste Mystery Wines.  Both of these wines fall into my mystery wine addiction success bucket.  They are also excellent Washington Wine representatives for this month's Monthly Wine Writing Challenge.  The Drunken Cyclist won last month's challenge and earned the honor of picking this month's theme - Mystery.

On to the matchup!

Cross State Washington Cabernet Clash

December is cyclocross season for the pro bike racers and some of the best racers are battling it out in Belgium.  The race conditions get brutal at this time of year with all sorts of mud, sand and snow all topped off with thousands of screaming fans lining the courses.

Our weather may not be quite so radical, but this week's battle just might be worthy of the hype.  The final installment in the Lucha Vino Seattle Urban Wineries v. Lake Chelan AVA intra-state rivalry series features a clash of Cabernet Sauvignons - what some people call The King of Grapes.  This one is a doozy, featuring a young gun stepping up to challenge a wily veteran.

2010 OS Winery BSH vs. 2005 Chelan Estates Cabernet Sauvignon

Washington State Syrah Smackdown

The pro road cyclists are on vacation for the next couple of months.  While the pros relax I'm picking up my Seattle Urban Wineries vs. Lake Chelan intra-state rivalry series.

This week's match features Eight Bells 2009 Yakima Valley Syrah representing Seattle and Nefarious 2009 Defiance Estate Syrah defending the honor of Lake Chelan.

Eight Bells 2009 Yakima Valley Syrah v. Nefarious 2009 Defiance Syrah