Category: about

SHUUG Original Zhoug Hot Sauce $10.95

The day I picked this up, I stood at my open pantry and tried it on everything I could – nuts,
tortilla chips, and a variety of crackers. Zaquarie and I tried it on pizza one day too. Matt
marinated some sirlions in it for 24 hours. Wow! Delicious deep and complexed heat. Another
winner on fried chicken and fantastic on scrambled eggs.

Gravel & Loam NZ Sauvignon Bland 2025 $16.95

A gorgeous New Zealand sauv blanc! Lemon verbena and fresh cut grass on the nose with a nice
little snappy tickle on the tongue. Bright, crispy, light and vibey. Flavors of green melon, white
grape and tropical rainshowers took me back to NZ.

June 1st, 2026

For more information or to select any gift on this registry, visit either BELLA location or email us at bellabakercity@gmail.com

Get your tickets now – this promises to be one of the most delicious wine events of the year!

Joy’s reviews for AUGUST 2025

Champagne Tassin $49.95

A Champagne lover’s Champagne, and I absolutely love it! Loads of heady bubbles and an extremely long lasting effervescence. To taste, we have golden apple, cream, and toasted almonds, with just a hint of lemon zest and a faint salinity. You can’t go wrong pairing it with oysters, but I loved it with risotto, or anything with parmesan.

Montgermont Cremant de Borgougne, Blanc de Noirs $22.95

It’s not often I wish I could grab a winemaker and hug them, but this cremant made me want to do just that. This wine is stunning! Think raspberry, black currant and toast, with just a little violet from the Gamay make for a bubbly with loads of complexity. Fine bubbles and a very good structure all come together to make this a must have wine for the summer!

Illahe P. Gris $22.95

One of my favourite Oregon winemakers, Illahe has lived up to their reputation for producing extremely lively wines. On the nose, I got vanilla, chamomile and weirdly, caramel, with just a hint of zest underneath to prepare you for what comes next. To taste, lime zest, green apple, shell, and just a little cantaloupe. That push and pull is what I really love about this wine, and having it with some excellent chicken piccata didn’t hurt either.

Aresca Barolo Costoreca $29.95

Summertime means grilling beef for me, and grilling beef means Barolo. Stellar and at a very good price, this one does not disappoint. On the nose we have tart cherry, licorice, and a little rose. To taste, Pomegranate comes to the fore, with cherry, leather and a hint of earthenware. Very well balanced, with a bright, acidic front and a long, silky tannin finish. I had it with chili lime flank steak, but Tagliata is always a winner as well.

Schiavenza Barbera d’Alba $22.95

A delightfully tasty wine from one of my favourite regions. Think ripe blackberries, black cherry, and pomegranate, with tomato leaf showing off the varietal’s herbier side. Well balanced, beautiful colour and a lovely mouthfeel overall. For pairing, think pizza night, burgers, or pasta, this one is the friend of the quick dinner!

Mise en place: wine, art, and the folks we choose to gather with

A French term for ‘everything in it’s place’, this phrase has resonated in our thoughts as we worked with Steve Brooks, owner of Trust Cellars, to create this wine to commemorate the beginning of our 29^th year and to honor those who helped BELLA along the way.

Sarah Wynn (the local artist responsible for our fabulous windows, the mural on the sidewalk in 2020, and our newest stickers and postcards) is the creator of the 12 paintings chosen for our wine labels. Each case of the BELLA Syrah will include 12 different pieces of art. Our goal was to create a wine that captures the essence of BELLA- of beauty, bounty and gratefulness – and to make every bottle even more memorable with beautiful art. The peaches and blue skies (above) is one of the 12 labels.

The wine: near the rocks and from the hills

Most of the grapes for our Syrah come from Francisca’s Vineyard, just a hop and a skip north of the Oregon border and ‘The Rocks’ District. This tiny (7 acre) Walla Walla vineyard was planted in 2001 at 1000 feet elevation near the base of the Blue Mountains. That elevation meant everything in 2022 as it was above the freeze which decimated a lot of Walla Walla vines. This vineyard is both LIVE certified (low impact viticulture) and Salmon Safe, both indicators of the care and dedication to producing high quality fruit without the mechanical and chemical interventions used in large operations. The soil here is ‘periglacial sediment’ meaning mostly sand and silt with a small amount of clay.

There is also Syrah from ‘The Hills’ (as the Rattlesnake Hills AVA would like to be known) belnded into our wine. Portteus vineyard is one of the oldest in the area near Zillah, Washington- the first vines planted in 1981! ‘The Hills’ are well known for the fact that the ridge (yes, Rattlesnake Ridge) protects the vines from the freezing drafts that waft down from Canada. The elevation is also key to that long, slow development that you’ll taste in the glass – this vineyard is known for its undertones of allspice, black pepper and berries as well as the classic smokehouse and dried roses you’ll often see in Rhone Valley Syrah.

Our tasting notes:

Right out of the bottle, this wine tells the story of it’s ‘place’; the terroir, the weather and gentle winemaking. Our BELLA Syrah captures all of what we’ve come to love about Walla Walla Syrah! Huge floral bouquet, heavy on the violets and sweet, ripe marionberries. Classic notes of anise and a touch of warm vanilla on the finish, deep crimson color – intense and completely opaque. As it develops, berry flavors expand with boysenberry notes and weave themselves together with French herbs including sage. It is gorgeous right now, but as we’ve seen with Steve’s wines, this should continue to improve over the next decade (as will BELLA!)

This wine will have it’s debut on our anniversary, May 14th. Please join us at BELLA Main St. Market in Baker City between 4:30-6:30 to taste our BELLA Syrah and meet Sarah Wynn, the artist.