A Sandwich Mission and a Summer Picnic with L'Ecole's 2020 Walla Walla Valley Luminesce #Sponsored

    This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of L'Ecole. 

Complimentary wine was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. 

However, all opinions expressed here are my own. 

If you're been following my blog, you'll know that I'm doing a series of monthly posts in collaboration with L'Ecole Winery.* A group of us participate in a virtual tasting with their marketing manager, the winemaker, and the general manager and discuss timely topics. This month, we are picnicking with a beautiful white blend: 2020 Luminesce, a white Bordeaux blend from the Estate Seven Hills Vineyard. Find the wine on their website come August. That's not too far away! 

This was an opportunity to explore the freshness of the only L'Ecole white under the Walla Walla Valley appellation and think about what to bring on a summer picnic. I enjoyed seeing what was in my colleagues' picnic baskets. Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm made Shrimp Macaroni Salad; Linda of My Full Wine Glass suggested fried chicken and deviled eggs; Liz of What's in that Bottle? paired it with leftover mustard herb crust chicken breast; David of Cooking Chat asked about prosciutto-wrapped melon; and Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles did salmon hand rolls with salmon roe and a mix of cream and goat cheese. I was inspired by all of those yet ended up with sandwiches in my picnic basket. Keep reading to hear about that adventure.

L'Ecole's 2020 Walla Walla Valley Luminesce

During our virtual tasting, Constance and Marta said that they were going on third week of triple digit temperature and discussed how they are mitigating the effect on the the vines. "There isn't really a difference in how the vines react at 110 degrees versus 119 degrees." Yikes! 

Since 95% of wines from Walla Walla Valley are red, this white wine is a bright light in the valley and, as Constance shared, it is nice to have a pretty white Bordeaux blend from a Bordeaux specialty vineyard. This wine is comprised of 62% Semillon and 38% Sauvignon Blanc and they embrace a Semillon-dominant blend because that is one of their flagship grapes. 

The wine - please forgive the jam jar, but I don't like taking delicate wine glasses on picnics or to the beach - pours a pale greenish gold. On the nose I initially got layers of citrus including orange blossoms and lime rinds. But the wine evolved as it warmed from completely chilled. The floral aromas grew more prominent as we ate, lounged on the sand, and built sand-castles. I noted honeysuckle and jasmine.

On the palate I found this wine positively succulent with savory white pepper notes and a beautiful creamy texture. There was so much body in the mouthfeel; I hear 'viscosity' isn't preferred in wine circles, but I don't mind it. The wine was a treat from first sip to its long finish.

A Sandwich Mission

I mentioned that I paired sandwiches with the wine. Constance said she'd pair the wine with a charcuterie platter or a baguette with ham. So, I'm not too far off this this pairing. But my mission began with an accusation...

D: Mom, you have totally deprived us of sandwiches.
C: What are you talking about?
R: Yes, we have been culinarily denied American culture.
C: OMG. Whatever. We can go get sandwiches tomorrow.
R: Not bahn mi.
D: Not Cubanos. Regular American sandwiches.
C: I don't even know what that means.
D: See! 

Regular American sandwiches. I had a tinge of Mommy-guilt then put it out to local friends for favorite sandwich shops and order recommendations. My circle was a font of good information. Over breakfast the following day, we came up with a plan for our lunchtime sandwich shop crawl. All were locally-owned mom-and-pop shops. Nothing franchised or corporate.

We ordered The Bomber at Mal's Market & Deli. Roast beef, ham, turkey, bacon, swiss cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic spread, onions, pickles, tomato, lettuce, and jalapeño spread.

Oddly, there was something that tasted like fireworks smell. We don't know if it was the jalapeño spread or one of the meats. In any case, The Bomber was off-putting. Good thing we had lots of other food to eat!

The daily special at La Sala's Bi-Rite market - on Fridays - is a calamari sandwich. We ordered the breaded calamari and the calamari parmesan. This is the calamari parmesan and it wasn't very photogenic. However, the boys declared it the best bread of the day.

And JAWS from Randy's Sandwich Shop was everything they wanted and expected in a deli sandwich: roast beef, ham, turkey, pastrami, salami, American and Swiss cheese, pickles, pepper, lettuce, and mayonnaise.

While this cemented my conclusion that I am not really a sandwich lover, I was tickled by hearing my boys' strong opinions about the sandwiches and I thoroughly enjoyed the Luminesce which is the perfect summer sipper!

Find L'Ecole No.41 on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter

*Disclosure: I received compensation in the form of wine samples for recipe development and generating social media traction. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the sponsor.