Taste Washington - Room A
Back to Room B for a second. Desert Wind makes wines with interesting names and reasonable prices. Their 2004 Bare Naked Chardonnay was good and so was the 1999 Ruah, a Merlot dominated blend. If you want to get the true spiritual meaning of wine, you have to drink the Ruah which roughly means cosmic spirit or soul in Hebrew. Probably not a bad wine for Passover (not Kosher) or Easter.
Room A was really crowded, so I missed Cedargreen which I've been meaning to check out and Cascade Cliffs which makes good values, especially their Syrah. Only had a chance to wave at Ben Smith from Cadence and missed talking to Don Corson at Camaraderie Cellars. You've already read about Brian Carter Cellars and Buty, but I did get to stop and taste Boudreaux 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. Boudreaux makes an excellent white Burgundy styled chardonnay and their 2003 Cabernet is just as good. Blending Cab mostly from old vines from five outstanding Washington vineyards - Baccus, Champoux, Wallulu, Pepper Bridge, Seven Hills Vineyard, Rob Newsom has managed to make remarkably soft delicious Cabernet with the addition of only 1% Merlot and a touch of Syrah.
Basel and Apex almost always make good wines. Barnard Griffin makes good values. Ash Hollow made some good wines, especially the 2003 Nine Mile which will be released in May or June at $22. The 2003 Animale Syrah at $24 was good and and Alexander Nicole made a good Viognier. Amavi Syrah and Cabernet are both excellent, too. Last, but not least , was 2003 Andrew Will Sorella with Chris Carmada striving to express the "terroir" of Washington. I still prefer his vineyard specific wines from vineyards such as Ciel du Cheval and Klipsun.
So many wines, so little time. What a feast? So many wonderful wines from Washington. Look for them and ask for them wherever you live. Rovani and Parker have complained about the quality of Washington wines other than cult wines such as Quilceda and Leonetti, but, in fact, there are dozens of wineries producing extrordinarily delicious wines in a style somewhere between the more structured style of traditional European wine and the fruit forward style of many California wines.
Room A was really crowded, so I missed Cedargreen which I've been meaning to check out and Cascade Cliffs which makes good values, especially their Syrah. Only had a chance to wave at Ben Smith from Cadence and missed talking to Don Corson at Camaraderie Cellars. You've already read about Brian Carter Cellars and Buty, but I did get to stop and taste Boudreaux 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. Boudreaux makes an excellent white Burgundy styled chardonnay and their 2003 Cabernet is just as good. Blending Cab mostly from old vines from five outstanding Washington vineyards - Baccus, Champoux, Wallulu, Pepper Bridge, Seven Hills Vineyard, Rob Newsom has managed to make remarkably soft delicious Cabernet with the addition of only 1% Merlot and a touch of Syrah.
Basel and Apex almost always make good wines. Barnard Griffin makes good values. Ash Hollow made some good wines, especially the 2003 Nine Mile which will be released in May or June at $22. The 2003 Animale Syrah at $24 was good and and Alexander Nicole made a good Viognier. Amavi Syrah and Cabernet are both excellent, too. Last, but not least , was 2003 Andrew Will Sorella with Chris Carmada striving to express the "terroir" of Washington. I still prefer his vineyard specific wines from vineyards such as Ciel du Cheval and Klipsun.
So many wines, so little time. What a feast? So many wonderful wines from Washington. Look for them and ask for them wherever you live. Rovani and Parker have complained about the quality of Washington wines other than cult wines such as Quilceda and Leonetti, but, in fact, there are dozens of wineries producing extrordinarily delicious wines in a style somewhere between the more structured style of traditional European wine and the fruit forward style of many California wines.
posted by Gene Stein, Ph.D. @ 6:23 PM
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