SYZYGY
Although the name Syzygy has something to do with astronomy, the space-cadet blue labels and orange capsules look like they were designed by a fortune teller. I liked the wines, though.
2006 Columbia Valley Red Wine, $24
850 cases made. 56% syrah and the rest merlot, CS and malbec. Balanced, interesting, good value. 18 months in mostly French Oak. B.
2006 Walla Walla Syrah, $33
Bright and spicy. B
2006 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $36
Plum and black cherry fruit, graphite, dust. I really liked this. A-
2005 Soros, $45
50% tempranillo with malbec and cabernet sauvignon. You can actually taste the tempranillo here--bright acidity, spice, and gyroleke. I don't know what gyroleke is or why I was writing so badly first thing in the morning, but that's what my notes say so there you are.
ENSEMBLE CELLARS
Sean Thackrey goes to Washington. Kind of. Proprietor/winemaker Craig Nelson had his major wine epiphany over a bottle of Chateau Margaux. Smitten--I'm kind of imagining him like Richard Dreyfus' character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, feverishly and single-mindedly building this thing he sees in his head out of mashed potatoes, and then a giant version in the front yard--Craig went to work at creating his own Margaux and discovered it wasn't possible to capture it in just one vintage. Or even two. So he blends three. Using approximately 70% cabernet with equal portions of merlot and cab franc and a small dollop of petit verdot, he makes 440 cases per year--keeps 20, sells the rest.
Ensemble Cellars Release No. 3, vintages 2004, 2005 and 2006
Vitamin minerality on the nose with soft, elegant and complex berry fruit, sweet violets and yes, there it is: perfume! By jove he did it. It's in no way equivalent to Margaux, but it is VERY Margauxlike. I bought three bottles (I paid $34, but I believe the street price was $48).
Ensemble Cellars Release No. 4, vintages 2005, 2006 and 2007
This won't be released officially until October, but it's not quite a barrel sample either--he moved some into glass five months ago in preparation for this weekend. 14.4% alcohol which absolutely does not show (at least, to a palate temporarily retrained by all-Washington wine, all the time), and a bit prettier/spicier than Release No. 3 at this stage with a distinct juniper berry note. I put myself on the list for the fall allocation.
aMAURICE
That's not a typo. The family last name is Maurice (as is the daughter-winemaker), but there's already a French winery called Maurice so they added the small 'a', which should be pronounced 'aw'.
2006 Chardonnay Columbia Valley, $26
Just when I was wondering at the paucity of chardonnays around here, this. And it's lovely: pears and orange blossoms, seemingly unwooded, clean and precise. I bought a bottle.
They apologized for not having a viognier to show, but Thomas Keller snapped up their entire production for the French Laundry and Per Se. I guess that's how to get your little winery on the map!
2006 Syrah Columbia Valley
Finally someone uses some grenache: there's 15% in here, and it lifts the wine. Complex and earthy, with a little natural cedar--and it's not the oak talking, this wine is aged in neutral and 1 year old French barrels. B++
2006 Malbec Columbia Valley
30% new oak. Peppery with purple fruit, bubble gum, volatile acids, and a short, clipped finish. Yuk. D.
2006 Red Table Wine, "The Tsutakawa"
Good to very good, this is a 40/28/24/4/4 blend of cabernet, merlot, cab franc, malbec and petit verdot. B-.
K VINTNERS
If Sammy Hagar wanted to make wine, he'd want to be Charles Smith. And like Charles Smith he would name his wines Holy Cow, Guido, The Boy, and Kung Fu Girl. I was temporarily on cruise here and after tasting the very good and very dry 08 Viognier and the aforementioned 2006 Guido (80% sangiovese, which I've never had so rough), about which I wrote one word, "rustic", I left the noisy and crowded Classic Rock wine barn to go play with two cats who were lolling about near the house. Which surprisingly led to my meeting Charles himself, or does he go by Chuck, who told me to come back in the fall as that's when he releases all his best stuff. Okay....
WALLA WALLA VINTNERS
I've seen these wines in stores but have never purchased. They're quite good--well-oaked but consistent in style and execution and not badly priced, comparatively speaking, though I wasn't tempted to take any of them home.
2007 Sangiovese, $24. Very nice, tangy and joyful. B.
2007 Walla Walla Merlot, $28, C+. Pleasant, fresh, a bit simple.
2007 Cab Franc, $28, B. Unmistakably CF: black cherry, plums and sweet herbs. Very good.
2006 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon, $30, B. Nice stuff, good varietal character and balance for everyday cabernet.
2006 Columbia Valley Sagemoor Cabernet Sauvignon, $40. B++/A-. Good concentration with black plums and dark chocolate, good structure. Excellent.
2006 Vineyard Select Cabernet Sauvignon, $48, B++. Not sure what the extra money is for, I preferred the Sagemoor.
WOODWARD CANYON
For some reason I took very few notes here. About when we got here the carbs from lunch caught up with me and I was dragging a little. But that doesn't change the fact that I went in a fan, and came out an even bigger fan. Even someone who didn't know Woodward Canyon from Adam would have come out of there realizing that they'd just been to the well of what would be one of this states First Growths were we to have such a system.
Suffice to say then that they were pouring almost everything and I liked everything they poured. Of particular note were the ungodly 2006 and 2002 Old Vines. Both got A+'s--Washington wine really can't get any better than this. I came home with a magnum of the 02 plus a couple of the chardonnays. Then we drove back into town and hit a couple of the tasting rooms downtown. I was particularly interested in a Cayuse storefront I saw, but they're already totally sold out so were closed. But we did go to:
DA MA VINEYARDS
Oh why, oh why do they do it? Upon entering, as if one couldn't already tell from the whorehouse pink and silver color scheme and jewelry for sale, one is told that you are going to be tasting "Wines from the woman's point of view". I braced myself. The winery principals are the guy who was pouring, his wife (the 'Da') and the widow ('Ma') of Spring Valley's founder who was killed in a vehicle accident about four years ago. Though I actually took detailed notes on the six or so wines on offer, there's no point wasting the time to type them up--everything was weird and below average. The chard was overripe and flabby while one of the two cabernets tasted of fruit punch and ham while the other had the distinct nose of baby formula. Avoid! Avoid!
OTIS KENYON
Never heard of this winery until I walked in the door. My impressions were mixed. The oak was minimal, which was good, but the alcohols were all high.
2006 Merlot
14.9% and it's still too sweet. Need I say more?
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
14.6%, but very savory with green olives and leather. If only the alcohol were lower....
A syrah and a malbec were also being poured but I noted nothing other than the alcohol levels (14.7% and 14.3%) so perhaps that speaks for itself.
SAPOLIL CELLARS
Another winery I've never heard of. Worth the stop for the proprietress alone--what a force of nature Abigail is. Fantastic personality. But the wines were such a mixed bag that the one really great one seemed more the result of luck than skill.
2008 Chardonnay (unoaked! Yay!)
Splendid fruit, bright and balanced. A-.
2005 Syrah Patina Vineyard
Saturated, sweet black and blue flavors, plenty of tannins keep it from turning into syrup but it's still too thick for my tastes. C.
2006 Syrah
Softer and rounder. Kind of blah, actually. C.
2007 Papa Loves Mambo
A syrah, sangiovese and cabernet blend. Enamel stripper!! D.
SLEIGHT OF HAND
Trey Busch, formerly winemaker at Basel Cellars, is out on his own now with some good wines. Great label art!
2007 100% Yakima chardonnay
Judging by what I saw on the way into town, Yakima has to be a whole bunch hotter and the tropicality of this chardonnay shows it. C+
2007 Dry Gewurztraminer
Spice and golden raisins, low acid. C+
2008 100% Cab Franc Rose, Frenchtown (Walla Walla) Vineyard
Very pale pink color, great acidity, balance and flavor. Outstanding and a best of breed. A+; I bought three bottles.
He also poured several red wines, but for some reason I didn't take any notes on them.
EL MIRADOR (right next door to Sleight of Hand)
Two wines were poured here, a chardonnay and something red I didn't even write down. I mention them only by way of warning. That is, the wines were just incredibly simple, like homemade wines from concentrate. And though cheap to begin with, both were "on sale" for like half off which would make them about six bucks and even then too expensive. I don't know how they pay their rent.
And that concludes the tour.