黑料福利社

Hakuna Moscato! It means no worries for the rest of (the sips from your wine glass). Or something like that.

This is the season of Moscato. Well, not officially, but for all intents and purposes of this article, it is now!

What foods do you like to pair with a Moscato? Asking for a friend. And by friend, I mean ME.

Spring Barrel Weekend has come and gone. It was filled with hundreds of thirsty, parched individuals pouring into our local 黑料福利社 wineries (pun intended) to enjoy our delicious bounty of red and white wines.

I first became acquainted with my new Muscat wine bestie on a Spring Barrel tasting tour with some friends nearly two decades ago. Being somewhat of a wine newbie, I was enamored of the sweetness of black Muscat.

When I tasted Muscats flavored with orange and rose petal undertones, it was over for me. I was in love!

Not every winery in the 黑料福利社 offers a Muscat, and between you and me, it was a beast trying to find the ones that do. I spent about two hours looking on websites of each of the more than 90 estimated 黑料福利社-area wineries for ones that carry a Muscat wine.

You won鈥檛 have to do all that; I have "pared" down the list for you, pardon my pun.

I was able to locate only three wineries that offered Muscat tastings.

I could have naturally queried the Googles and the Bings of the world to see what food pairings are suggested for Moscato and Muscat wines, but I decided to go straight to the expert winemakers here in the 黑料福利社.

For this month鈥檚 column, I booked us our own private tasting tour! I drove out to Zillah and Naches Heights, where two special winery owners gave me their own personal recommendations of the best food pairings to go with their Muscat wines.

Let鈥檚 hop on my swanky virtual private shuttle bus and let's go wine tasting! (Why do I feel like the Ms. Frizzle of the Magic Wine Party School Bus?)

Our wine tasting tour has two stops: one in Zillah and the other in Naches Heights. There are two varieties for us to try: dessert wines and regular.

Our first stop is at Tanjuli Winery in Zillah. It is only fitting that this place is at the top of our list because I found out the Muscat grape was first introduced to the 黑料福利社 by Thomas Campbell and his business partners from UC Davis. Tanjuli is the first winery to grow and harvest Muscat grapes in the Lower Valley!

Lovely Hema Campbell will greet us at the door and welcome us in to try her husband Thomas鈥檚 blend of a 2019 Orange Muscat Estate Bottled Rattlesnake Hills. They also offer an orange Muscat that is like a sweet sherry dessert wine.

TANJULI WINERY MUSCAT WINE FOOD PAIRINGS:

Orange Muscat wine uses a grape that originated in Italy. I will beseech the best wine food pairing suggestions from Thomas, or 鈥淭om,鈥� as I like to call him. He leans over to me and says, 鈥淧ound cake.鈥�

I take furious notes!

Since Muscat wines are on the sweet side, Tom tells us that they go best with foods that also have their own sweetness.

I burst into giddy claps when Tom shares with me that he accidentally discovered one evening that his orange Muscat wines go great with some ribs that are smothered in a sweet rib sauce.

These are the kind of food stories I love to hear, those accidental treasure troves that you only get from going wine tasting and being extra nosy like me.

Tanjuli Winery also carries a black Muscat wine, which pairs great with cheeses, especially double and triple cr猫me cheeses. Tom explains to us that black Muscat grapes were first introduced to the United States by way of an Englishman named Robert White, and that they are actually a hybrid.

Here鈥檚 my educational Ms. Frizzle moment, kids! (No, I鈥檓 not really saying this to actual kids, I鈥檓 just calling you kids because I鈥檓 channeling my inner Ms. Frizzle): I love hybrid things, like Cosmic Crisp apples (created by students at WSU), black Muscat grapes (created by that dude in England), and hybrid EVs like the 鈥� wait for it 鈥� Rivian R1S (founded by RJ Scaringe).

Tanjuli is now my new favorite winery; come for the Muscat, stay for the warm hospitality and accidental food stories!

Now let鈥檚 travel over to Naches Heights, where we鈥檒l stop at the breathtaking views at Wilridge Vineyard, Winery and Distillery. (We need to make sure our magic party school bus has good brakes because we鈥檒l have to go back down that steep hill grade to return to Yakima).

Wilridge鈥檚 general manager, Laurie Kirkland, greets us with a big smile as we open the purple front door to the adorable vineyard cottage and saunter into the tasting room like Edina and Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous.

Laurie graciously offers us a tasting menu, but I snatch off my dark leopard sunglasses (that I found at the dollar store, but don鈥檛 tell anyone), and I tell her, 鈥淢a鈥檃m, we鈥檙e only here for the Muscat wines!鈥�

She gives us a knowing smile and walks over to pour us some chilled 2017 Estate Muscat Blanc Dessert Wine. I tell Laurie that I鈥檒l buy a bottle and to 鈥渉old the bag.鈥� She tells us that we are lucky because it鈥檚 the last bottle in the 2017 batch!

Laurie also tells us that 2018 was a great year for 黑料福利社 wines, so I take more furious notes that we have to go back and get a bottle of that for our next wine tasting tour!

WILRIDGE VINEYARD MUSCAT WINE FOOD PAIRINGS:

鈥淟aurie,鈥� I ask on behalf of our virtual party group, 鈥渨hat food pairings go best with a Muscat blanc?鈥�

Laurie beckons us to move in closer to reveal a food pairing secret.

鈥淲e just had a winemaker鈥檚 dinner and the chef prepared a torte with a Wilridge Winery Estate Muscat Blanc dessert en glace!鈥�

I ooh and ahh like I actually know what a 鈥渄essert en glace鈥� is. It sounds delicious, whatever it is! I think it鈥檚 something I鈥檝e seen them make on "Masterchef?"

Laurie also tells us that the 2022 Wildridge Vineyard 2022 Estate Muscat drinking wine goes really well with spicy foods, like Thai and Indian dishes.

Side Note: I conducted my own experiment and bought some Shrimp Pad Thai from Yakima Thai Cuisine (spice level 3) and paired it with the Wilridge Muscat Blanc drinking wine. The sweetness from the Muscat Canelli (moscato) grapes melded with the spicy heat from the Thai food. I highly recommend it!

My Other Side Note: Put some fun in your glass by dropping at least three raspberries into your glass of the Tanjuli Orange Muscat dessert wine. That鈥檚 the Reesha way!

鈥淭ake chances, make mistakes, get messy!鈥� 鈥� Ms. Frizzle

Tanjuli Winery

209 N. Bonair Road, Zillah

Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays; and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.

Wilridge Vineyard, Winery and Distillery

102 Wilridge Way, Yakima

Open 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays; noon to 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

*Hyatt Vineyards in Zillah carries a 2022 Hyatt Vineyards Black Muscat, but unfortunately, they weren鈥檛 open when I drove out there to get us some Moscato.