Wine & Country Living

A fter shopping at Klicker's for a bag of frozen Bing cherries, I decided to drive a bit further, out along Isaacs and visit Charles Smith Wines, home to the wine-marketing genius of Winemaker, Charles Smith.

Over the summer, I attended a barbecue and shared a bottle of Smith's '08 Eve Chardonnay. Today, I was on a mission to find another bottle for a picnic with Wine Guy. This has become a summer event, to find a quiet spot on Wolf Fork Creek, Patit Valley, Dayton, for a picnic and share a bottle of "water-rapid" chilled wine. We just let nature do its thing; prop the bottle between granite rocks and let the cold mountain waters chill the bottle to the perfect temperature.

For you timed wine drinkers, Smith's Eve will awaken your taste buds and quiet your wallet. At just $12 a pop, a bottle full of familiar flavor profiles exudes, and it is a good way to start your adventure in wine tasting. After all, it's not always the cost of a wine that determines what's inside the bottle. You'll hear this from Wine Guy and Robert Parker. No, you just need to get out and taste wines to know what you like and don't like. You might be surprised to find you are better at distinguishing wines you like than you ever imagined and imagination is what good food and great wine is all about!

The Smith '08 Eve is a non-oak chardonnay, rippling in apple blossom perfume, mouth melding in toasty marshmallow, a refreshing little effervesces throughout the sip, ending in a clean citron snap. It's the apple blossom perfume that's got this writer in a tizzy and earns Smith Wines 98 points for the '08 Eve Chardonnay from Wine and Country Living! Congratulations to all at Smith Wines: 509-526-5230

Until next week, "eat art, drink imagination!"

Caramelized Apple Sweet Onion Sammies Makes 2

2-Washington delicious apples sliced thin

1-Walla Walla Sweet Onion sliced thin

1-teaspoon cinnamon

2-tablespoon white sugar

1-tablespoons butter

¼-cup soft cream cheese

Method: In fry pan melt butter. Add sugar, apples and onions and saute until caramelized; about 10-minutes. Swipe bread slices with soft cream cheese and pile cooled caramelized apples and onions, cover and slice into 4-pieces per sandwich. Pair with strawberry lavender salad and a bottle of water-rapid chilled Smith Eve Chardonnay.

Hear Judith's web cast with recipes, photos, food and wine commentary at www.chefjudithhenderson.com