Avery Lane Cabernet Sauvignon Washington Columbia Valley 2007

By lisala on 8/8/10 4:25pm
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Avery is another Precept winery. Precept has a good handful of Washington wineries, including Pavin & Riley, Washington Hills, Bloom, Avery Lane, Barrelstone, Big Sky, Grizz, Sweet Pea, Sol Duc, Sockeye, Pine & Post and Shimmer. These are all budget wines, and, honestly, some aren't really even budget wines; they're just bad. Avery Lane as a label adorns wines sourced from Washington state's Columbia Valley appellation. I've previously tried the 2005 Avery Lane Cabernet Sauvignon, and wasn't impressed.

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Hogue Cellars, Prosser Washington

By lisala on 8/4/10 3:38pm
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The Hogue Cellars winery was founded in 1982 by two brothers, Mike and Gary Hogue. Hogue Cellars is run from Prosser, Washington, in the heart of Eastern Washington's wine country, and is the third largest winery in the state. Today, Hogue Cellars is owner by Canadian conglomerate Vincor International. Vincor is a division of the world's largest wine company, Constellation Brands, who also owns Inniskillin, Robert Mondavi, Hardys, Clos du Bois, Blackstone, Estancia, Ravenswood, Jackson-Triggs, Kim Crawford, and Nobilo wineries. Hogue's winemaker is Jordan Ferrier, who has held the position for several years. Hogue is one of the largest wineries in the state producing over 450,000 cases annually.

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Columbia Crest Grand Estates Pinot Grigio 2008

By lisala on 7/5/10 9:46pm
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I honestly don't think you can go wrong with Columbia Crest. It's astonishing that they manage to produce two tiers of inexpensive wine in such large quantities at such high quality. They seem to own the Washington Merlot table wine market with their Grand Estates Merlot, and the fame at having their 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon picked as #1 by Wine Spectator obviously isn't harming their over-all reputation for quality and price point miracles.

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Riesling Ratings

By lisala on 6/30/10 6:16pm
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Mention Riesling to most wine drinkers, and they'll think Germany, or South Africa, and if they're savvy, Washington state. Riesling made its initial reputation in Germany, and moved from there to South Africa and Washington, among other places. But the nomenclature for those of us who are not native German speakers can be more than a little confusing. Add to that the fact that some label conventions, like "Johannesburg Riesling" have been discontinued for reasons of appellation appropriation and legality. The German labeling system is carefully explained here, but in broad terms it groups Rieslings by how much sugar the wines contain; that's all well and good.

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Video of Tasting at Zerba Cellars.

By Anonymous on 6/8/10 5:34pm
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Video of Tasting at Zerba Cellars new tasting room in Woodinville by Parallel Winos.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV2hZhD84w8

Willow Crest Riesling 2007 Washington Yakima Valley

By lisala on 5/11/10 3:18pm
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This wine is another find from the Bargain Grocery Store, and we'll be going back to see if there's more available. The good news, Willow Crest Winery's Riesling is a Washington Riesling that's not overly sweet or so fruity that the qualities of traditional Riesling are lost. This is a fragrant, light faintly pineapple aroma on opening. In the glass, it is a pale straw in color. It's light and fruity, and the pineapple carries over into the taste, with just enough acid. At $4.99 a bottle, this is a steal; we'll be going back for more. I note that the winery lists it as $8.00 a bottle, and even at that, I think this is more than worth it. I'm hoping to find enough to enjoy this summer.

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Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot 2006 Washington

By lisala on 3/29/10 2:49pm
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This Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot is very dark in the glass; I'm slowly beginning to realize that that's maybe a Merlot thing. On the nose, this is mostly dark cherry and blackberry, and a hint of something . . . well. Else. It's a little closed, even a good twenty minutes after opening. The first thing I noticed on tasting this Merlot was a startlingly robust fruit fullness. Just on the safe side of not being so fruit dominant that it drowns out the hint of chocolate. It's a 13.5 % ABV, and yes, this is the basic mid-tier wine for Columbia Crest. The 2006 is this year's release, so I don't know but what it might be very different by, say, June. I plan on trying it again though; this was tantalizingly promising, and, well, I'm a die-hard Columbia Crest fan.

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Mount Baker Mountain White and Mount Baker Mountain Red

By lisala on 3/26/10 9:50am
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These are both blended non-vintage table wines from Mount Baker Vineyards and Winery. I've written about their Mount Baker Syrah 2005. We bought both wines at a local Haggen with a wine manager who picked Mount Baker as their featured winery as part of the Washington Wine Month celebrations at $6.99 for a 1.5 liter bottle. Both wines are part of the Mount Baker Washington State wines tier of table wines.

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Red Diamond Merlot 2007 Washington

By lisala on 3/21/10 5:46pm
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This Red Diamond Merlot is the most fruit-forward of all the Washington Merlot I've tasted. I suspect it may be because it's a blend of Merlot 80%, Syrah 15%, Cabernet Franc 3%, Cabernet Sauvignon 2%. The Merlot is still very present, with a tannic finish. I love, in particular, the aroma. This is also quite attractive in the glass, though not as dark a red as I'd expect from a Merlot. About an hour after my first glass, the aroma has opened up quite a lot, as has the flavor. There's definite plum and blackberry here, and a slightly softer tannic finish than on the first glass.

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Sagelands Vineyards: Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon

By lisala on 3/20/10 10:36pm
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Born in the 1980s as Staton Hills winery, and soon thereafter acquired by California based Chalone Wine group and renamed, today Sageland Vintners in Wapato, Washington is owned by giant international conglomerate Diageo. I confess that this is a little heartbreaking for me, and not just because I've never really recovered from learning Diageo owned Guinness.

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