2008 Unofficial Classification Of Washington State Wineries

This is the third annual Unofficial Classification of Washington State Wineries. The 2008 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 600 wineries,there must be more than 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 emphasis is on quality rather than quantity. 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 or as they say on Wall Street, past performance is no guarantee of future results.The Washington State wine scene continues to be exciting. New wineries are cropping up everywhere and established wineries are moving on to new frontiers. Several top Puget Sound wineries have invested in their own vineyards in Eastern Washington and you can sense the excitement this is generating among winemakers. Exclusion from this classification, in no way represents a commentary on the quality of a winery. In most cases, it simply means 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 as "deferred", if I have reason to believe they are worthy, but haven't tasted enough of their wines.


Premier Grand Cru ( Extraordinary)

Qiuilceda Creek

Leonetti


Deuxieme Grand Cru (Outstanding)

Betz

Cadence

DeLille

Januik

Long Shadow

Pepper Bridge

Terra Blanca - Onyx

Spring Valley - Uriah



Troisieme Grand Cru ( Exceptional)

Abeja

Adams Bench

Amaurice

Amavi

Andrew Will

Basel Cellars

Boudreaux

Brian Carter

Buty

Canon de Sol

Columbia Crest Reserve

Cougar Crest

Doyanne

Dunham

Ensemble

Fall Line

Five Star

Gorman

Hightower

Isenhower

Lattitude 46 N

McCrea

Nicolas Cole

Northstar

Note Bene

O-S

Palouse

Ross Andrew

Saviah

Sheridan Vineyards

Sleight Of Hand

Spring Valley Vineyards

Syncline

Walla Walla Vineyards

Willis Hall

Woodward Canyon


Quatrieme Grand Cru ( Excellent)

426

Agate Field

Apex

Beresen

Bergevin Lane

Camaraderie

Canoe Ridge

Chatter Creek

Desert Wind

Dusted Valley

Flying Trout

Forgeron

Gifford Hirlinger

Glacial Lake Missoula

Hedges

Hestia

Kestrel

Kiona

L'Ecole

Mark Ryan

Masset

McKinley Springs

Mountain Dome

Novelty Hill

Ponum

Red Sky

Reininger

Rulo

Saint Laurent

Sandidge

Sandhill

Soos Creek

Sparkman

Syzygy

Terra Blanca

Thurston Wolfe

Three Rivers

Two Mountains

Vin Du Lac

Walter Dacon

Whitman

Willow Crest

Wineglass

Yellowhawk


Cinqieme Cru ( Very Good)

14 Hands

Balboa

Barnard Griffin

Cascade Cliffs

Chinook

Columbia Crest "Two Vines"

Gordon Bros

Hogue

Nelms Road

Red Diamond

Ryan Patrick

Sagelands



Deferred

Adament

Andrake

Animale

Cayuse

DeLille Grand Cru

Hence

Seven Hills

Tertulia

Trio

Trust

Zefina