Washington Wine

March is Washington wine month, and it's always something to be a little excited about WA Winebecause Washington wine is worth celebrating. There are special prices and displays at Washington State Liquor stores, and at a variety of chain stores, and at special Washington wine events all over the state. So this weekend, we went Washington wine shopping. We haven't made it to the state liquor store yet (more on that later), but we made two back-to-back visits, yesterday and today, to two Washington grocery stores from the same chain. It's very much a Pacific Northwest chain with a buy-local emphasis. Read more

I'm surprised over and over by friends who love wine, and are far more knowledgeable about wine than I am, who don't seem to realize that we have lots of fabulous wineries in Washington. Granted, most of them are in California, but people in Washington are quite knowledgeable about California wines, so I'm a little mystified. We have fabulous wine in Washington, wines for every price range and palate. I've been delighted by the interest spurred by the Wine Spectator naming the 2005 Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon as the #1 wine of 2009 in Wine Spectator's annual Top 100 Wines list, there's been a sudden surge of interest in Washington Cabernet Sauvignons. Read more

If you and your beloved like Washington wine and chocolate, I suggest you go right now and check out the amazing Yakima Valley events for Valentine's, featuring wine and chocolate. Seriously, it's a fabulous list. You can "Celebrate Valentine's Day at Chandler Reach Winery" on Friday the twelfth. It's an incredible menu paired with wines. You need to make reservations, but I'm told there are still some openings. There are some nifty "Red Wine & Chocolate Hotel Packages," running right through the 15th, and an entire "Red Wine & Chocolate" celebration centered in Yakima Valley. For a lot of people Monday is a holiday, so the celebration extends over the three-day weekend. Read more

This is a more subtle Sauvignon Blanc than others I've tried. It's a little sweeter than California Sauvignon Blanc, and quite different from the Barnard Griffin Fumé Blanc. The grapes were sourced from the Yakima Valley and Horse Heaven Hills in Washington. As is typical for Columbia Crest, the grapes were pressed, cold-settled, and filtered before fermenting in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The final blend was made two weeks before bottling. This is a 13.5 ABV "drink it now" wine, that is fairly easy to find in the under $6.00 range. Read more

I've not been, in general, a fan of Merlot. Again, most of the Merlot I've tried has been from California, and I'm discovering the provenance of a wine makes an enormous difference. I've decided to go ahead and try Merlot; after all, I was pleasantly surprised by Chardonnay. I've not as yet been disappointed in any of Columbia Crest's Two Vines wines, and trying their Washington Merlot struck me as a reasonable introduction. And of course, the fact that Two Vines, Grand Estate wines, and Horse Heaven Hills, the three tiers of Columbia Crest wines, are all currently on sale at Fred Meyers doesn't hurt. Read more

Mount Baker Winery is a local Western Washington winery in Everson, one that's been slowly increasing the number of cases it produces, year by year. The Mount Baker Winery began in 1978 when a career military man, Al Stratton, began making fruit wines, and German style white wines. He secured a contract to produce and ship plum wine to Japan, and used the proceeds to improve his winery. In 1989, Stratton sold his winery and small vineyard to Randy Finley, a local businessman, who, after a year in France, was inspired to become a winemaker. Finley continued making fruit wines, but began to concentrate on varietals suited to the Northwest. He also improved the winery itself, significantly increasing the warehouse space and improving growing methods. Read more

At first sip, this very pale citrine-colored Sauvignon Blanc actually reminded me of Chardonnay. I know, I know, but it's important to be truthful, yes? And I admit, freely, I don't know what I'm talking about. But once the wine warmed a little—I do think, honestly it was really several degrees colder than it should have been—it opened up, and was much more complex and yes, much more like Sauvignon Blanc. It shifted from acidic to slightly sweet peach and mango flavors, with the faint herbal-grassy hint I like so much with Sauvignon Blanc. The aroma too was decidedly fruity; peach and ripe pear. Read more

Apex Cellars in Yakima, Washington, is another of the Precept brands; you can find the marketing materials at Precept's site. Apex was created in 1988 by Harry Alhadeff, a much respected Northwest wine authority and disctibutor, and Brian Carter, a much respected winemaker. Apex produces three basic tiers of wine; Apex, Apex II, and Bridgman. Carter was joined as winemaker by Victor Palenci in 2007. Read more

This is so far my favorite Washington Rosé. Mind, I have only tried two other Washington Rosés, Colombia Crest's Two Vines Rosé, and Gordon Brothers Rosé. Both were quite enjoyable, but this Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Vallen 2007 Dry Rosé does stand out. Syrah grapes were pressed and processed in Eastern Washington, at the winery Chateau Ste. Michelle uses for most red wine production. The juice was then cold fermented at the white wine production facility in Woodinville, Washington. There's a small amount (2%) of Grenache added as well. Most of the juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks, with the remainder aged in neutral oak barrels. Wine Spectator gave the wine 87 points in June of 2009. Read more

I will confess to trying the Covey Run Riesling from their "Quail" tier a year ago. It was fine, really, just not enough to make me try another bottle, or, frankly, interest me in trying any of their other wines, though they're readily available all over the Pacific Northwest, and very much budget or consumer table wines. At the time, their Riesling struck me as watery and much too sweet. We picked this bottle of Covey Run Dry Riesling up on a whim at a local grocery store, in part because I remembered seeing that Wine Spectator listed Covey Run's 2007 "Quail" series Dry Riesling as one of their 20 "best values" award wines (most of their awards have been for their Reserve tier wines). Read more