Washington Wine

Memaloose Estate Cabernet Franc ‘Idiot’s Grace Vineyard’ Columbia Gorge 2009

February 5, 2012 By Shea Leave a Comment

Washington State was once the great promise land of American wine. A beautiful climate that can produce wines with great fruit but also freshness, cheap land and a willingness to innovate all suggested great things. Now, however, most Washington wines are mere copies of the big California blockbusters – overripe, over fruity and over priced. How some wineries can justify $50 USD price tags when some of the great wines of Italy and France sell for the same price shows a sad predilection in the market (though I suspect these wines are having difficulty selling these days).

Doing Washington Right

Enter Memaloose. These guys get Washington right – quirky yet delicious wines that merge new world and warmer climate fruit with freshness and great respect for old world traditions and flavours. Memaloose is not concerned with maximum extraction and extreme fruitiness. At the same time, they clearly do not shy away from the greater ripeness of the grapes in Washington compared to France (their inspiration).

Owner Rob McCormick has a history as an executive and consultant in the food industry. Winemaker Brian McCormick trained in Enology at UC Davis and spent time at Zind Humbrecht and in the Dry Creek Valley. However, this is clearly no stereotypical UC Davis project – rather, these guys are serious about making lighter styled wines that pair very well with food. Their achievement with this wine is all the more impressive considering that they only produced their first vintage in 2006.

Gorge Terroir

Columbia Gorge is situated just on the Washington and Oregon border. Extreme weather variations, including very high winds, make this a challenging but unique place to grow grapes. It is challenging insofar as one has to carefully match the right microclimate to the right grape – but unique insofar as almost anything can find a place in one of the many diverse climatic sub-zones. The Idiot’s Grace vineyard, where the grapes for this wine are grown, is at 300 feet elevation and sits on clay/loam soils.

Loire Meets Washington

Cool climate varietally expressive Cabernet Franc. Like Bernard Baudry meets Washington fruit lushness and all at 13% ABV. The wine is beautifully expressive both aromatically and on the long palate. There is almost nothing like this wine being made anywhere in the New World – in fact, it speaks of varietal and place so well that I think it is a new world benchmark for immediately delicious, perfumed, seductive Cabernet Franc – you know, the kind of Cabernet Franc that great producers in the Loire have been making unnoticed for generations. However, here you have a wine that is even more accessible and even more guzzle-inducing given the sheer lushness of the fruit and textures.

I have to place this as one of the most delicious wines I’ve had in months. It is too bad the production is limited to a mere 165 cases.

Excellent and Highly Recommended Value
$25 at Soul Wine Seattle

Filed Under: $20-$30, Cabernet Franc, Excellent, Highly Recommended Values, Washington Wine

Spotlight on Washington Syrah: Cayuse “Cailloux Vineyard” Syrah 2006

October 13, 2010 By Shea 2 Comments

Perhaps it is best to trust a Frenchman with 500 years of winemaking experience in his family to make Washington’s best Syrah. Christophe Baron is not just the leading winemaker of Syrah in Washington, if not the entire U.S., he is also the reason Syrah is a big deal in Washington. When he started, Syrah in the state saw but spotted plantings and nothing inspired.

Chateauneuf Terroir in Washington State

His initial forays into Washington led him to a riverbed that most had ignored, but was filled with Chateauneuf du Papes style galet stones, with silty loam, sand and cobblestone on the surface and then 200 feet of stone underneath. Baron was meticulous in his practices, digging up and hand planting the vineyard that is now known as Cailloux, in the heart of Walla Walla. While Baron now has 3 other vineyards, Cailloux remains the heart of Cayuse and the original site of Baron’s fully biodynamic winery.

Baron experiments with both French and Spanish varieties, but it is his Syrah that is the heart of Cayuse and the most important wine he makes. This stuff is truly terroir driven, and plays out Baron’s obsession with earth, soil and site.

Obsession with Purity

Baron does some outstanding things at Cayuse like planting vines on their own rootstock, despite the risk of phylloxera, along with high density plantings, green harvesting and the use of native yeasts in the winemaking process (interestingly, see Jamie Goode’s article on the importance of yeasts for terroir in the latest World of Fine Wine magazine).

One of the World’s Great Syrahs

The wine itself is aromatically suave and presents some vegetal aromas along with roots, hoisin, meat and mineral. The palate is truly exceptional and extremely balanced and long. Again come vegetal elements, minerals, and soft black fruits without any bitterness. There is nothing out of place in this wine and nothing difficult to understand, even though it is complex and profound. In fact, the wine is truly exceptional and deserving of a place amongst the world’s greatest Syrahs.

The 3000 case production sells out annually at Cayuse, but you can find his wines in Vancouver yearly at Everything Wine and at select restaurants.

Excellent+
$122 at Everything Wine

P.S. There will be about a week of haitus on this blog while I attend a friend’s wedding, then on to Languedoc-Roussillon.

Filed Under: $60+, Excellent, Syrah, Washington Syrah, Washington Wine

Spotlight on Washington Syrah: K Syrah “The Deal” Sundance Vineyard Syrah 2006

October 12, 2010 By Shea 2 Comments

This post is meant as a quick note of juxtaposition to the last wine in the spotlight. Though made by the same producer as the Skull Syrah, the K Syrah “The Deal” is a far more palatable wine.

The wine is made in a big upfront style and is very rich. However, there is enough going on here – such as olives, brine, and game – that make this far more varietally correct (and far better balanced) than the Skull syrah.

Some might argue that the fruit is still too ripe, and I would agree that no one with a particular love of Northern Rhone Syrah should look to this wine. That said, this is not one-dimensional nor does the alcohol become as astringent as it does in the Skull, despite a similar alcohol percentage of 15.5%. It is not, however, balanced compared to the great syrahs of the Rhone or Languedoc, nor is it particularly worth the price.

Is this the future of Washington Syrah? I see no problem with this sort of wine occupying a niche so long as it does not dominate the other wonderful and much more regionally expressive Syrahs also being made in the state such as the Waters and the Betz.

So ends this brief note. I have one more significant post coming in this series before I move into the exciting wines of Languedoc-Roussillon.

Very Good
~$60 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars

Filed Under: $60+, Syrah, Very Good, Washington Syrah, Washington Wine

Spotlight on Washington Syrah: Charles Smith Wines Skull Syrah 2005

October 7, 2010 By Shea 4 Comments

I could spend time in this post discussing the terroir of the Columbia Valley AVA where the grapes for Charles Smith’s Skull Syrah were grown – but doing so would not be true to what’s going on with this wine.

Rock Star Terroir

Charles Smith is a self styled rock-star winemaker with several brands: from the cheap Magnificent Wine Company bottlings like House Wine and Boom Boom Syrah to the K Syrah bottlings which include many interesting single vineyard Syrahs to the uber-premium Charles Smith Wines bottlings such as this Skull, and also the Heart syrah.

The rock-star moniker does make some level of sense given his years managing rock bands in Copenhagen. Perhaps fittingly, Smith became friends with Christophe Baron, winemaker and owner of Cayuse, who encouraged him to start making wine, as there are no two styles that are more diametrically opposed.

To preempt my criticism of his style of winemaking, I am obliged to also recognize that Charles Smith has perhaps done more for Syrah in Washington than almost anyone, except perhaps Mr. Baron himself. And you have to admit Mr. Smith’s marketing has been outstanding. But what of the wines?

Sui Generis “Wine”

An important caveat here is that this is decidedly not a review of the K syrah bottlings, many of which I quite enjoy. The top end Charles Smith wines are sui generis, that is, unique unto themselves. They are also guaranteed to be some of the most controversial being made in Washington today.

The nose is mind-bending in a non-superlative sort of way. It is very rich and extracted with some heavy volatile acids and obscuring dry extract that makes you wonder what happened to the fruit this was made from.

The palate is outrageously massive and almost astringently alcoholic – I taste soy, tar and ripe but obfuscating tannin. As over the top as this wine is, it does retain a smidgen of promise that it might turn into something fascinating with age. And fascinating must be understood in its Vulcan-like neutral capacity. As Allen Meadows mentioned in one of our conversations, a freak of nature can catch your attention, but might not be compelling or enticing over time.

This is what I would call a food unfriendly wine to the point that I’m not even sure one can or should call this wine. In fact, even after a day of air this tastes more like sweetly flavoured alcohol and extract than fruit.

So how to rate this? It is hard to understand and truly is its own thing. It is also the epitome of Charles Smith’s style, even though in my opinion vastly inferior to the wines from K Syrah.

What does this mean for Washington Syrah? Well, it certainly can play the marketing and points game as much as anyone, and it is certainly fascinating to see what “rock star” winemakers can produce. But let’s hope this is an experimental approach that will eventually be abandoned for a more terroir and fruit driven approach.

Fair to Good
$120 USD, $80 CDN at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $60+, Fair, Syrah, Washington Wine

Spotlight on Washington Syrah: Doyenne Grand Ciel Syrah 2005

October 3, 2010 By Shea Leave a Comment

It is always an important exercise to compare different approaches to making wine from the same sites. These sorts of examinations can tell us much about the developing terroir of a younger region. The Doyenne Syrah is, like the last wine in this profile, made from grapes grown in the Red Mountain AVA. But it is of a completely different expression of the grape.

A French Lover in Washington

Doyenne is the Rhone style project of the famed Washington producer DeLille Cellars, which focuses on Bordeaux influenced wines. Winemaker and co-founder Chris Upchurch, however, has always had a great love of the Rhone Valley and has spent much time visiting wineries in France. Thus, like Bob Betz, Upchurch has a good comparative base for wine styles and wine quality.

Unlike Betz, however, Doyenne only started making Syrah recently and so Upchurch has a little less experience with the grape. Doyenne also makes this particular, “super-premium” syrah from a newly planted vineyard on Red Mountain.

Great Horses in the Sky

The Grand Ciel vineyard is planted adjacent to the famous Ciel du Cheval vineyard that has made many wineries famous, such as Quilceda Creek and Andrew Will. The owner of Ciel du Cheval planted Grand Ciel at the behest of Mr. Upchurch for special bottlings at both DeLille and Doyenne. The vines were only planted in 2001, and so are still quite young. However, Upchurch built the vineyard based on extensive clonal research which so far seems to have shown quite a bit of promise. That said, I’m not sure that this wine is distinctive enough yet for me to say the Grand Ciel vineyard has its own distinctive terroir. The vines are likely too youthful to make any real conclusions about terroir yet.

Objectively, Grand Ciel should share many characteristics with Ciel du Cheval, which has sandy loam on top of calcareous chunks and more loam on top of an ancient riverbed and an aquifer deep below the surface, forcing the vines to search for water. Flavour wise, I cannot quite get the same distinctiveness, yet. But again that will likely change.

An Over-Made Up Wine

Co-fermented with Viognier, I expected this wine to approximate a Cote Rotie much more than it did. Instead, it is made in a high octane style with a luxurious no-expense-spared approach.

The nose is quite sweet up front with cherry, strawberry and heavy oak aromas. This is extremely rich and big on the palate and is missing the balance of the Betz bottling, with oak and alcohol dominating far more than they should. I think the oak will integrate somewhat with bottle age as this was better balanced on the second day – but, overall, I felt the wine was too made up for its own good. The fruit was overly jammy and the wine lacked the finesse, balance and complexity it should carry for this price. 14.9% ABV.

In conclusion, Betz’ La Cote Rousse Syrah is a far more transparent and balanced version of Red Mountain Syrah. This wine also goes to show that even the best raw materials can lose their soul when overly made-up.

Very Good
$80 USD in California

Filed Under: $60+, Syrah, Very Good, Washington Syrah, Washington Wine

Spotlight on Washington Syrah: Betz Family Winery “La Cote Rousse” 2004 Syrah

September 28, 2010 By Shea 2 Comments

Washington was once considered a state with great promise and on the doorstep of the world’s great wine regions. Recently, however, popular recognition and consumption of Washington wines has dwindled, with many of the state’s best wineries seeing significantly decreased sales despite increased quality.

Wherefore Art Thou, Syrah?

Washington established its reputation mostly with Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends, the best of which combine lush fruit with brighter and fresher acidity than what you usually find in California. This made sense a decade ago when Cab vines were the oldest vinifera vines in the state, and accordingly the only ones ready to produce wines of quality.

For the past decade or so, however, Syrah plantings have both been on the rise, and the vines that were in place several years ago have now started to reach the beginnings of their maturity. Somehow, however, Washington Syrah continues to be but a speck in the average consumer’s ever decreasing consciousness of Washington wines. This is a decided shame given that I think the state has the potential to produce perhaps the best Syrah outside of France (though New Zealand is still in the running).

For us consumers here in British Columbia, with Seattle a mere two hour drive away, we have greater opportunity than most to taste what is going on in our neighbour state. In this spirit, this spotlight will focus on how far Syrah has come in Washington in the last several years and how the best winemakers are able to get great site-specific expressivity out of the grape in the state’s various AVAs. What I’ve discovered is tremendously promising.

Desert Terroir

Washington’s AVAs are quite new and thus many of them have yet to narrow down into sub-regions, despite the fact that dramatically different terroirs exist within single AVAs. The worst culprit is the Columbia Valley AVA, which pretty much includes every other AVA of note and stretches hundreds of kilometers from central to southern Washington.

Today’s wine found itself into the bottle via grapes grown in the famed Red Mountain AVA, which holds the brunt of the state’s fame and includes famous vineyards like Klipsun and Ciel du Cheval. Red Mountain sits within the Yakima Valley AVA, which is within the Columbia Valley AVA.

Like most of central Washington, Red Mountain sees very little rainfall, which helps the grapes resist disease and rot – not to mention phylloxera (most vines in Washington are own-rooted). With soils derived from ancient glacial floods, the AVA includes a mix of granite boulders layered with rock, clay and mineral. The high winds increase the thickness of the grapes’ skins and the lack of rain helps reduce their weight. In fact, the average grape in Washington is almost half as heavy as one from California.

It is this unique combination of desert conditions, soil and site that make Red Mountain wines so plushly concentrated and yet fresh and balanced.

An Artfully Analytic Approach to Wine

Bob Betz is one of the ‘fathers’ of the Washington Wine world, having started his career in 1976 at Chateau St. Michelle – WA’s biggest producer. He now holds a Masters of Wine (MW) and runs his own estate, holding contracts with the state’s best growers.

A wine maker with a MW designation is a rare thing, and highlights the importance of broad analytical tasting to making great wine. Without the proper analytic tools and comparative methods, it is far too easy to develop a ‘cellar-palate’ and ride off of tasting room visitors and a myopic local press. Much like BC today, Washington wines were once held victim to this parochial ideology. It was men like Bob Betz who helped to change the scene and push the state towards internationally respectable quality, and recognition.

Betz’ dedication to a meticulous and analytic approach to wine is reflected in his wine making practices. He is obsessed with detail and cleanliness – even writing tasting notes on each of his wine barrels. On the other hand, his favourite part of wine making is blending, which for Betz is the most artful step in the process.

Brooding Syrah

This is masculine wine, much like Hermitage. Wafts of smoke, bacon fat, blackberry mark the exceptionally expressive nose. This leads into tremendous density and astute ripeness – pepper, baking spices, bacon, blackberry and raspberry have no trouble delineating themselves as independently unified on the palate.

A wine of exceptional finish and balance, this is a complete experience with all elements in place. The tannins are ripe, though firm enough for aging; however, the wine’s touch of sweetness makes this drink very well young.

An excellent example of brooding Red Mountain fruit and quite an exciting bottle of wine overall. 14.8% ABV.

Excellent
$78 at Taphouse Liquor Store or Everything Wine

Filed Under: $60+, Excellent, Syrah, Washington Syrah, Washington Wine

Winery Profile: Andrew Will

October 29, 2009 By Shea 11 Comments

Yesterday I attended a tasting with Chris Camarda of Andrew Will Cellars, one of Washington’s top estates. Chris started making wines in a tiny rented space in Seattle before expanding and moving to Vashon Island. In fact, Andrew Will was the first wine producer in Washington state to make single-vineyard varietal wines. Over time Chris has changed his philosophy and now all the wines are blended in a Bordeaux style and are meant to express the uniqueness of the particular site from which they come. All are made with the same methods and the same care.

Chris was quite an engaging fellow with tons of knowledge and experience, and a lot of frank outspoken opinions. I appreciated his candor and directness and I think that comes across in the wines that he makes, which all have a distinct personality and a particular approach.

I started with the 2006 Two Blondes, a blend of 43% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Merlot. This was the most expressive of the bunch right now, and had an incredible Cab Franc character to it that you rarely find in new world wines. The nose was brambly, foresty and had chocolate, mint and dark fruits. With air, some of the funk blew off and the wine exposed itself as incredibly juicy. The palate was great: blue fruits, chocolate, and funky earth. As with nearly all of the wines I tasted this had impressive length and a broad structure, with tons of aging potential. Made from the coolest vineyard sites from the youngest vines (I believe around 7-8 years), this is also the most Bordeaux like of all Andrew Will’s offerings. Excellent. $70 at Marquis.

Up next was the 2006 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard red blend, made from 40% Merlot, 37% Cabernet Franc, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot. Ciel du Cheval is the hottest site of all the wines, and this is immediately noticeable in the sweetness of the wine. I do not want this to appear as a derisive comment, however, as the wine is impeccably balanced. The nose had sweeter red fruits, chocolate, and sandalwood. The palate was definitely sweeter than the Two Blondes, but was incredibly flavourful with red and blue fruits, chocolate, and a touch of wood. This is more typical in flavour for Washington Bordeaux blends, but it also has amazing structure and fantastic mid-palate density and length. If you like a bigger and sweeter style, this wine is for you. Excellent. $80 at Marquis and BCLDB.

The 2007 Champoux Vineyard stood out as one of the most complex Cabernet Franc based wines I’ve tasted from the United States, with only Lang and Reed and Reverie from California being comparable in quality. This was a blend of 52% Cabernet Franc, 21% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7% Petit Verdot, and was still a bit closed despite showing incredible concentration. The nose had dusty cedar wood, some cab franc forest funk, but was still closed. The palate was very big and had a massive style up front, although it was softer on the finish. Right now the wine drops off quickly on the back end, but I think it simply needs integration to express itself fully. Like many a mountain-fruit based wine, the density can be unnerving and awkward in youth, but usually expands into incredible flavour layering and persistence. The palate had chocolate and blue fruits with tight tannins. I still thought this had great potential. Excellent. $80 at Marquis or BCLDB.

The 2003 Sheridan Vineyard is somewhat of a library wine given that Chris is no longer making this. While the Sheridan Vineyard used to supply Andrew Will with fruit, Chris eventually bought land that became the source of the Two Blonds red blend, and thus gave up the Sheridan Vineyard contract. I did think this was the weakest wine of the bunch, which is not to say it wasn’t very tasty. The nose was nutty and had dusty cocoa, dark red fruits, and a bit of bubble gum. The palate had spice, cocoa, nuts, cranberry and raspberry. This was a bit sweet for my tastes and had a lot less refinenment than the other wines. A blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. Very Good+. $65 at Marquis (on sale from $80).

sorella The last wine I tasted is Andrew Will’s flagship, ‘reserve’ style wine - the 2006 Sorella “Horse Heaven Hill” – made from the Champoux Vineyards. Chris selects the best barrels for this wine, and unlike the Champoux Vinyeard blend, makes this as a predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon based wine, with 71% Cab Sauv, 17% Merlot, 8% Cab Franc and 4% Petit Verdot comprising the blend. This was very very tight at the tasting and needed either a lot more decanting or a lot more time in the bottle. That said, it was an awesome wine, with blue fruits, black cherry, earth and some clay on the very dense nose. The palate was tight but showed superb concentration and structure: blue and black fruit, hefty tannins, and a bit of confection. The finish is short right now, but this will change. If you pick up a bottle of this, it needs at least 5-6 years in the cellar before you can think of opening it. If you have patience, though, this will probably be the most structured and nuanced of the bunch. Excellent. $90 at Marquis.

I was incredibly impressed by the offerings from Andrew Will and they have established a firm place on my radar as one of the best Bordeaux-blend producers in the US right now. Given the insane prices for Napa wines of a similar calibre, I don’t know why more people aren’t buying these wines. Simply put, they are superb, balanced, and thoughtful expressions of great Washington fruit put together by a very talented wine maker. All for 1/2 the price of comparable Napa wines. What more could you ask for?

Filed Under: Tastings, Washington Wine

Long Shadows Pirouette 2004

September 14, 2009 By Shea Leave a Comment

Long Shadows was founded by Allen Shoup, former CEO of Chateau St. Michelle. Shoup has been building some pretty amazing projects in washington since the late 70′s, including the Antinori project ‘Col Solare’ and the Eroica riesling joint project between St. Michelle and Dr. Loosen. Building on this concept, Shoup founded Long Shadows, a ‘virtual winery’ dedicated to bringing some of the best winemakers from around the world to make wines from Washington grapes. Challenging each winemaker to build on his/her expertise and explore the potential of Washington fruit is, in my opinion, not only a brilliant idea, but a fantastic way to help bring recognition to the state, which is already growing more and more in the consumer’s eye.

Pirouette is a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend created by Agustin Huneeus, Sr. of Quintessa (and formerly, Mount Veeder, Concha y Toro, and Estancia among others) and Philippe Mekka who has made wine for Seavy, Quintessa, and Lail among others. The wine is made with fruit from several small vineyards including cabernet sauvignon from Wahluke Slope and Sagemoor’s nearly 40 year old vines, and petit verdot from dionysus vineyard. The final blend included cab, merlot, petit verdot, and syrah.

On the nose I got blackberry, cherry, cedar smoke, and some baking spices. The palate was big and rich and certainly spoke of the winemakers’ Napa backgrounds: caramel, plum, fig, cedar smoke and cherry. For me this wine is a bit too manipulated and sweet, reminding me of a high end Mollydooker wine. For some, that is a blessing, however, and many would assuredly love this blend. For my part, I did appreciate the wine’s wonderful fullness and ripeness, and its distinctive style: fruit forward, silky, creamy, while elegant.

Very Good+
~$80 at BCLDB

Filed Under: $60+, Cabernet Sauvignon, Very Good, Washington Wine

Spring Valley Uriah 2001

April 10, 2009 By Shea Leave a Comment

Spring Valley is a highly respected Washington producer whose winemaker and owner died in a car crash in 2005. I mention this only because the industry seemed unsure about the direction of the winery after that tragic event. Luckily I was able to get my hands on an older vintage of one of their top Bordeaux style blends.

Here we have a nose of mint, cassis, garden soil and very predominant eucalyptus. The palate itself is quite soft, with a sweet forwardness filled with cassis and blackberry jam. Unfortunately, this is surprisingly hot on the back end, especially for an early 2000′s WA cab based blend. Nonetheless, this is round, and full and very nicely textured, with a drawn and lengthy finish. I suppose I was expecting more from this reputable producer, but this is still a good wine.

Very Good to Very Good+
$45 at Benchmark Wines

Filed Under: $40-$60, Bordeaux Blends, Very Good, Washington Wine

McCrea Sirocco 2004

January 29, 2009 By Shea Leave a Comment

McCrea is a Rhone-style specialist located in Washington state. I have been looking to try something from these guys for a while now and so it was hard to resist giving this a try. In the end, though, I felt this was ultimately not as exciting as many of the other Syrah based projects going on in WA.

A rudy dark purple in the glass. The nose was quite promising, with big brambly, plummy, cherry and earth aromas. Indeed it was very southern Rhone-like. However, the palate brought in such a wallop of sweet fruit that the wine lost its edge. Despite the excellent fruit quality of plum and cherry, this tasted like it was dipped in an oversweetened chocolate sauce that, while imparting smoothness, also caused the wine to lose focus over time. A nice try, but just not worth it. Too bad.

Very Good

$30 at Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant

Filed Under: $30-$40, Rhone Blends, Very Good, Washington Wine