​Mercer Family Vineyards - October 2019 
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​NIES President Len Westman welcomed the attendees to the October 25, 2019, wine tasting event. He pointed out the various update projects completed by the Lake City Center, since our last event there, to create a refreshed look to our large meeting room.
 
V.P. Scarlet Kelso provided a short bio of the evening’s speaker and invited him to the stage. The presentation by National Sales Director Will Mercer, regarding the Mercer Family Estates wines, was very interesting and educational. It was packed with plenty of facts as to why Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills AVA vineyards produce such outstanding fruit. A well-produced video included beautiful photography of the vineyards, details regarding the 4th generation farming family history in the area, and family philosophy regarding their wine making. Coupled with the acumen of their winemaker and innovative wine harvesting and processing techniques, the Mercer wines have achieved national and international success.  They consistently produce wines in the 90+ points ranking. 
 
Horse Heaven Hills sits on the same latitude as France’s Bordeaux and Southern Rhone growing regions. They benefit from proximity to the Columbia River with the ability to provide drip irrigation of the vines as needed and the unique soils, climatic influences and diurnal (daytime temperatures) to nighttime cooling that yield fruit forward wines with soft, dusty tannins.
 
Will spoke about their new, pioneering venture into offering “canned” wine; the ICAN offers 2.5 glasses of wine that make this option suitable for on-the-go activities. Our initial wine, a Rosé, was poured from the ICAN. They produce several other “canned wine” options.
 
The NIES Co-Food Directors made tasty finger food pairings to enhance our enjoyment of the seven (7) wonderful wines tasted from the Mercer Family Vineyards.