WTN: Experience WA Wines

We hosted an informal wine tasting party recently, and the theme was Experience Washington Wines. Guests were advised ahead of time to not expect hyper-expensive cult wines, rather they would be treated to a pretty broad selection of high quality White-Rosé-Red wines that we like to drink. Here's the list:

Washington White Wines
2007 Cave B Estate Riesling: Lovely crisp aroma; nice Meyer lemon flavors; very good acidity and finish. Off dry with 2% residual sugar. 12.6% ABV; $22

2006 Canoe Ridge Horse Heaven Hills Chardonnay: On the lighter side, with nectarine and spicy cream flavors; lovely bit of lemon on the well balanced finish. 14.2% ABV; $19

2007 Syncline Columbia Valley Viognier: Made from grapes grown in the Wahluke Slope and the Horse Heaven Hills. Rich and opulent, this wine delivers peach and honeysuckle aromas; bright fruit flavors, good acidity and a lingering finish. 14.2% ABV; $20

2007 Amavi Columbia Valley Semillon: Another complex, beautifully balanced Semillon from this Walla Walla winery. Intense rich flavors of honeyed, citrus and minerals with crisp acidity. 13.9% ABV; $20

2000 Nefarious Cellars Consequence: A delicious blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Aligote and 10% Viognier. Nice complex aroma; lovely upfront fruit; apple; grapefruit; good acid and finish. 13.3% ABV; $17

Washington Rosé Wines
2007 Syncline Columbia Valley Rosé: This bright dry wine is a saignée of 41% Grenache, 25% Cinsault, 21% Mourvédre and 13% Counoise. It is dry, fruity, complex and very flavorful; an altogether delightful wine for the warm weather. 13.8% ABV; $15

NV Vin Du Lac Lehm Rosé Michaela's Vineyard: Medium-to-dark pink; fresh red fruit aromas; crisp; bright fruit flavors (strawberry and rhubarb); good acid; very refreshing; very slightly off dry (.2% RS). A blend of 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Sangiovese. 12.8% ABV; $15

Washington Red Wines (Bordeaux Grapes)
2003 OS Winery Champoux Vineyard Cabernet Franc: A blend of 75% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot from the Horse Heaven Hills. Herbs and violets add to the dark fruit flavors; nice finish; some oak; a bit heavy for Cab Franc. 14.4% ABV; $28

2005 Powers Champoux Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: This blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc comes from the Horse Heaven Hills. It has lovely flavors of plum, blackberry and black currant, and smoothness that accommodates early consumption; not enough body to be a long-term aging wine. 14.5% ABV; $30

2004 Soos Creek Sundance: This blend of 50% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon reflects the winemaker’s fondness for the aromatic Cabernet Franc. The result is a wonderful dinner wine with good complexity in both aroma and taste. It is soft enough for early drinking, with enough structure to age for several years. 14.1% ABV; $23

2005 Robert Karl Claret: A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot and 10% Malbec from the Horse Heaven Hills. Dark and flavorful with nice fruit and good body; some tannin for a bit of aging. 14.0% ABV; $21

2003 Fielding Hills RiverBend Red: A blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 15% Syrah and 5% Cabernet Franc from the RiverBend Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope. This wine is full-bodied with ripe, plush berries with spicy tannins; big yet impeccably balanced. 14.1% ABV; $32

Washington Red Wines (Rhone Grapes)
2006 Syncline Wahluke Slope Grenache: Grenache, the world's most widely planted red wine grape, brings raspberry and strawberry fruits, with hints of baking spices. This wine delivers huge raspberry and plum aromas and flavors. It comes from vines planted in the southern facing "slope wash" of the Saddle Mountains. 14.4% ABV; $25

2005 Basel Cellars Columbia Valley Syrah: Firm and juicy, with dark berry and spice flavors up front, with plum and pepper on the lingering finish. Made from a combination of Pheasant Run Vineyard grapes (Walla Walla Valley) and Lewis Vineyard grapes (Columbia Valley). 14.6% ABV; $36

2006 Syncline Subduction Red: This is a blend of 62% Syrah, 18% Mourvédre, 17% Grenache and 3% Cinsault, which have been co-fermented. The early union of these four varietals evokes flavors and aromas of ripe raspberry, spice and blackberries, all embraced by an elegant texture; absolutely lovely. 13.8% ABV; $18

-- Clark

Note: Edited to include wine prices.

[Jenise]

Good line-up, Clark. But the Fielding Hills is a winery I've not heard of--do they sell commercially?

Jenise,

We managed to get a private appointment last summer at Fielding Hills, a small operation in East Wenatchee. The owners are long time orchardists, and their winemaking facility is very bare bones, up the hill in their orchard; it is not generally open to the public. These folks had the foresight to purchase property in the Wahluke Slope a number of years ago, and they called it RiverBend Vineyard. Wonderful stuff; you really need to taste their Syrah. In addition to the Syrah and the RiverBend Red blend, they have bottlings of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

They are very nice folks, too. The wife would not let us take our wine with us that day, because it was blazingly hot at the time, and we had a marginal amount of safe-temperature storage for as much wine as we purchased there. [Yes, we got a bit carried away. ] Instead, they held the wine for 5-6 weeks and delivered it to Tacoma, when their daughter's school participated in a soccer tournament.

I'm sure their wine is available at retail outlets, but I do not know how/where they distribute. You could always send them an email or call for details. That is how I initially made contact.

-- Clark

[Jenise]

I love the way you point out "they are very nice folks, too". I've just finished reading everything that transpired in the Parker Feud thread while I was away this weekend (and I'm glad I wasn't here), and I'm proud to say that my buying habits are often not the least bit objective. That is, I know that every time I buy wine I'm supporting someone's dreams, livelihood and ability to send their kids to school--so I prefer to support not just the little guy but the little guys I like best. And though I'm a self-confessed Europhile when it comes to the wines I prefer, I buy Washington wines both because they're good and because it's the right thing to do--I live here. The valuable point that came home to me over this weekend was how well I can drink from our own fountain without compromising my tastes or values. Well, not too much--I constantly inquired about alcohol levels this weekend and was amused after a winemaker told me that his style is "low alcohol", to find the numbers on his bottles all over 14%. And the joke's on me, I just hadn't yet processed that 14% is now considered 'low'.

Very nice notes Clark. Just wished you'd included the prices.

I normally include wine prices. However, I purposely omitted them from the source file used during the tasting party, because I did not want to wave this information in front of our guests. If anyone asked, I supplied the information, but thought it impolite to advertise it.

I just edited the original post and added the wine prices. Thanks for pointing out the omission.

-- Clark

Very nice notes. Reminds me of how very few Washington wines I've had the chance to taste, but how much I've enjoyed those that I have.

Very nice notes. Reminds me of how very few Washington wines I've had the chance to taste, but how much I've enjoyed those that I have.

Most Washington wine producers are pretty small with limited distribution. Try working with a good wine shop in your area to find more of them. When all else fails, contact some of the wineries directly; I believe they can ship to DC.

Good luck -- Clark