2009 Unofficial Classification Of Washington State Wineries

This is the fourth annual Unofficial Classification of Washington State Wineries. The 2009 Unofficial Classification Of Washington State Wineries represents my personal, perhaps, idiosyncratic or eccentric, opinions of the quality of Washington State wineries. Out of more than 650 wineries, there are at least  a hundred producing great wine. About half of the wine produced in Washington comes from wineries owned by Chateau Ste. Michelle. The other 600 some odd wineries are mostly small artisanal family enterprises typically producing 2000-3000 cases, in some cases up to 20,000 cases or more. The AP reports that Washington wineries are increasing their production.The emphasis has been on quality rather than quantity. Let us hope it remains so. In contrast to other classifications of wine such as the 1855 classification of Bordeaux, the Unofficial Classification of Washington Wineries is not set in stone and changes every year. Since it is retrospective, it does not necessarily predict future rankings, past performance is no guarantee of future results.This has been a difficult year with so many people unemployed, retirement funds cut in half, and a housing market that is limping along at best. In general, it appears that most people have lowered the price they are willing to pay for a bottle of wine, but have not cut consumption.Wines at the top of the list be special wines for special occasions, whereas wine in the "Cinqieme" group tend to be outstanding values. Exclusion from this classification, in no way represents a commentary on the quality of a winery. In many cases, it may simply mean that I am not familiar enough with the wines or winemaker to form an opinion. On the other hand , not all Washington wines and wineries are great, so only the best that I am familiar with are listed here. Wineries are listed in alphabetical order  and not ranked within each category. Wineries are listed as "deferred", if I have reason to believe they are worthy, but haven't tasted enough of their wines recently.


Premier Grand Cru ( Extraordinary)

Cayuse

Leonetti

Quilceda Creek


Deuxieme Grand Cru (Outstanding)

Andrew Will

Betz

Cadence

DeLille

Januik

Long Shadow

Pepper Bridge

Spring Valley


Troisieme Grand Cru ( Exceptional)

Abeja

Adams Bench

Amaurice

Boudreaux

Brian Carter

Buty

Cougar Crest

Doyanne

Fall Line

Five Star

Gorman

Hestia

Hightower

Isenhower

Mark Ryan

Note Bene

O-S

Palouse

Ross Andrew

Saviah

Sleight Of Hand

Sparkman

Syncline

Trio


Quatrieme Grand Cru ( Excellent)

426

Adamant

Amavi

Baer

Barrage

Basel Cellars

Beresen

Bergevin Lane

Canoe Ridge

Darby

Desert Wind

Dusted Valley

Flying Trout

Forgeron

Gifford Hirlinger

Hedges

Kestrel

Kiona

L'Ecole

Mountain Dome

Nicolas Cole

Northstar

Novelty Hill

Ponum

Red Sky

Reininger

Seven Hills

Sheridan

Syzygy

Terra Blanca

Tertulia

Thurston Wolfe

Three Rivers

Trust

Vin Du Lac

Walla Walla Vineyards

Walter Dacon

Whitman

Willis Hall


Cinqieme Cru ( Very Good)

14 Hands

Airfield Estates

Apex

Balboa

Boomtown

Barnard Griffin

Chinook

Columbia Crest "Two Vines"

Dama

Goose Ridge

Gordon Bros

Hogue

Martinez & Martinez

Maryhill

Nelms Road

Pavin & Riley

Pine & Post

Red Diamond

Revelry

Ryan Patrick

Sagelands

Saint Laurent

Willow Crest


Deferred

Agate Field

Andrake

Animale

Cameraderie

Canon De Sol

Chatter Creek

Columbia Crest Reserve

Dunham

Ensemble

Glacial Lake Missoula

Hedges

Latitude 46 N

Massett

McKinley Springs

McCrea

Parejas

Rulo

Sandidge

Sandhill

Soos Creek

Terra Blanca - Onyx

Two Mountains

Woodwark Canyon

Yellow Hawk

Zefina

Totally Deceptive?

Totally deceptive? Well, maybe not totally, but seemingly so. Some of us may consider ourselves lucky to have a Total Wines in the neighborhood, though certainly not your local wine shop. Total wines claims the lowest prices, though there is no case discount and prices for many wines such as Bordeaux at $75 and up or Champagne at $30 plus are really not such great bargains. Like Bevmo, Total pushes "direct" purchases which appear to be sweetheart deals of some sort. They certainly don't offer wineries, wholesalers, or consumers any deals when it comes to the real deal like boutique wines from Washington or Oregon.

Total has achieved a certain amount of infamy with a line of wines priced at $1.97 - Two Buck Pacific Peak, if you will. After driving almost an hour to check out Two Buck Peak, I was only able to find a Chard and a Cab buried among other bargain/value wines at $4.99 and $7.99. Prices were not obvious and placed so low that only a miniature poodle could have read them. Why? The boss told us to do it that way.

It was a real treat to find wine from Uruguay. Desaffortunadamente, two different blends in the same space with apparently the same price, but not at checkout. Competitors Costco and Trader Joe's would never display such carelessness or sloppiness or is it deception? Great to have a source of interesting wines and beer, but please, just because you are a big box,  don't compete with "too big to fail" banks in apparently deceptive practices.