Woodinville Bests

For whatever reason this year the wines just didn't seem quite as exciting as last year with a few exceptions, of course. More and more Woodinville wineries were pouring barrel samples. The barrel samples were exciting! It seemed like half the pours at Washington Wine Company, for example, were barrel samples. The gang of three - Chris Gorman, Mark Ryan, and Chris Sparkman - started a trend in wine naming and many wannabes in the hood are trying to make up cool names, too. This year, I particularly liked Mark Ryan's 2006 The Dissident and Chris Sparkman's 2006 Wilderness Red blend which reminded me of blueberries.

Best Wine Names - The Dissident, Reckoning, Recession Red, Forbidden Red

Best Wine - Darby La Deuce

Best Winemaker - Erica Blue

Best New Winemaker - Michael LeMieux

Best Value - Alexandria Nicole Quarry Butte

Best New Winery - XSV

Best Winery - Adam's Bench

Best Puget Sound Chardonnay - Hollywood Hills

Best Sweet White - Northwest Totem

Best Chardonnay - Volterra

Best White Blend - Oriana

Best Rhone Style White Blend - Darby

Best Red Blend - Pomum

Best Cab - Januik

Best Syrah - XSV