Washington

• Columbia Valley
• Horse Heaven Hills
• Red Mountain
• Wahluke Slope
• Walla Walla
• Yakima Valley

Washington state makes some excellent Merlots and "Right Bank" blends.  This is another case in point.  The wine is a blend of 55% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9% Cabernet Franc.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is classic and enticing.  Black cherries, cassis, bell pepper, chocolate, and spice.  Nice texture.  Great balance.  On the palate, at age eleven, this is showing a nice maturity.  perhaps just on the younger side of fully mature.  Complex and layered with flavors of cherries, black cherries, milk chocolate, and underlying earthiness and char.  Long

This is a lovely Washington Cabernet (from an Oregon producer).  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, dust and a slight minty note.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this has cassis, bell pepper and slight tobacco notes.  Some depth.  Still young but showing some evolution.  Nice finish.  This is a more traditional (not extracted) Cabernet that seems to speak of place.   It will improve with a bit of cellaring.  Drink over the next ten years.  

From the Oregon producer comes an interesting GSM blend out of Washington.  The wine is aged ten and though still in the marketplace, the winery has closed it doors for retirement.  It is a blend of 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah and 15% Mourvedre.  The color was quite light (about the same as their light colored Pinot), ruby, clear and bright.  The nose has some cherries with a touch of spice.  Light to medium bodied.  On the palate, there is some depth and complexity.  Cherry and earth.  Moderate finish.  I would have liked to taste this in its youth as I suspect its a bit past prime.  It was ha

As always, this is a blend of left over single varietal wines to make a value blend.  And as always, it is a great value.  This vintage is  mostly Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.  Deeper ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, char, spice and slight chocolate.  Lovely texture.  Bright acidity.  On the palate, black cherries, cherries with some char.  Good finish.  An easy to drink red that is nice on its own and a great wine with a Burger.  Drink over the next few years.  

The grapes for this wine come from the Wy'east vineyard.  Wy'east is the Native American name for Mt. Hood.  Light silvery gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose has pears, slight citrus and almond.  Light bodied.  On the palate, pears and citrus.  This is an easy drinking, lighter wine.  The folks at Sineann suggest Sushi as a pairing and that sounds about right.  Drink over the next year or two.  A very nice value.

This wine is made in northeast, Ohio with purchased grapes from Red Mountain, WA.  It is a very good Cab and a nice value.  Purple in color with ruby hues, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has a bit of a smoky quality but also cassis, slight cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good balance.  On the palate, cassis, slight black cherry and char.  Good finish.  This is not a robust Cab but it does have enough fruit to drink on its own and would work well with a burger.  Drink over the next five to seven years. 

In just a few short years of production the Canvasback Cabernet Sauvignon has become one of the de facto wines from the Red Mountain AVA in Washington state. Having reviewed this wine from multiple vintages, there is a clear consistency to its quality. Like most Cabernet you will find the requisite black cherry, blueberry, blackberry notes, but this adds huckleberry, boysenberry into the mix along with dusty tannins and a light mocha quality. But Red Mountain fruit also offers an earthiness and minerality with richer fruit.

Served blind.  Always a favorite, it seems this has come down in price over the years and is now an excellent value.  Light golden in color with some slight silvery hues, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with an outdoorsy/hay quality.  Also minerality and slight lemon/citrus notes.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  Nice texture.  On the palate, lemons with slight grapefruits.  Slightly clipped finish.  This drinks great on its own and is very food friendly.  It will go well with Thai food.  Drink over the next ten years.  

This is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 5% Malbec and 2% Petite Verdot from Washington state.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, char and slight dark chocolate.  Full bodied.  Silky tannins.  On the palate, black cherries, cassis, slight chocolate and a bit of spice.  Some minty and bitter cherry notes on the finish.  There is some depth here and it may improve a bit with short term cellaring.  It is nice on its own, but seemed better with food.  Of course, a burger would do, but it worked great with Felafel.  Drink over the next five to eight years.  

This is a blend of  54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 14% Syrah, 3% Petite Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Malbec from Washington State.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is nice; dusty with black raspberries, plums, spice, slight black cherries and a hint of vanilla.  Soft texture with medium tannins.  On the palate, black raspberries, cassis with underlying spice and slight char.  Long finish.  This is an easy drinking red that has some backbone and depth.  Drink over the next five to seven years.  Very nice on its own, this will work great with a brisket out