Spring Valley Vineyard Frederick 2013
A Bordeaux-style blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, the 2013 Spring Valley Vineyard Frederic offers sumptuous fruit on the nose and palate. Twenty months in new French oak has further graced it with a balanced, well-integrated toast profile of vanilla and pencil shavings lending structure to […]
Spring Valley Vineyard Nina Lee 2012
Co-fermented with 1% Viognier, Spring Valley Vineyard’s 2012 Nina Lee Syrah opens with a lilting topnote of dried violet that floats above weightier aromas of blackberry cobbler and black cherry. The wine’s namesake, a nod to the family’s enduring history in Walla Walla, Nina Lee was the wife of Frederick Corkrum. After meeting following her […]
Spring Valley Vineyard Sharilee Petit Verdot 2012
Aged 19 months in 100% neutral oak, the 2012 Spring Valley Vineyard Sharilee Petit Verdot is within it’s drinking window, the nose a confluence of fleshy plum and ripe blackberries underscored by spice and a subtle top note of wild fennel. On the palate, the structure is particularly lovely—velvety tannins frame out a plush, black-fruited […]
Waters Loess Vineyard Syrah 2012
Co-fermented with 4% Viognier, Waters 2012 Loess Syrah is crafted from fruit sourced from Leonetti Cellars estate vineyard. Earth, Italian plum, and blackberry reduction weave through seductive notes of brûléed turbinado sugar, earth, and charcuterie. It’s a sumptuous, well structured wine, framed in moderate toast with enough acidic lift to maintain balance. A meandering, lengthy […]
Figgins Walla Walla Valley Estate Red 2011
While the exquisite 2010 Figgins Estate Red merited points well above 95, and the 2012 showed off its pedigree and sumptuous velvety elegance, the 2011 vintage is a good effort in one of the more difficult recent vintages in Walla Walla Valley. As expected, the profile is lighter and leaner on the nose and palate. […]
Canvasback Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Canvasback is Duckhorn Vineyards latest project in Washington State. The winery has partnered with legendary Washington vineyard manager Dick Boushey in sourcing some of Red Mountain’s best fruit, certainly, the results speak for themselves. Seductive aromas of blackcurrant, cassis, blueberry pie, and anise slowly unfurl. In the mouth, even distribution of fine tannins and sweet […]
DeLille Cellars D2 2014
In the high church of classic Washington State wine, DeLille’s 2014 D2 is an exceptional vintage, but one should to point out, it’s always a consistent performer thanks to the efforts of talented winemaker, Chris Upchurch. The nose is a pure array of red and black fruit—black cherries, crushed raspberries, plums, vanilla bean, and spice […]
Walla Walla Vintners Vottavo 2012
Walla Walla Vintners shows of svelte new packaging with the release of this wine—the 2012 Vottavo is a blend of 47% Sangiovese, 32% Merlot, and 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, all from Walla Walla’s Cut Bank Estate Vineyard. Intensely perfumed and infused with sandalwood, exotic spices, black cherries, and plums. The palate is plush, yet elegant, thanks […]
Va Piano Les Collines Vineyard Syrah 2014
Another epic wine Jay shared at a recent Vivino meetup in Seattle. Va Piano’s 2014 Les Collines Vineyard Syrah is the proverbial iron fist in the velvet glove. It’s classic for Les Collines fruit, offering up caliginous tones of steeped blackberries, espresso, char, tilth and bay leaf. The palate is as earth-bound as the nose, […]
DeLille Cellars Four Flags Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
The more I taste Red Mountain fruit, the more enamored I am with it. That said, DeLille Cellars’ 2014 Four Flags Cabernet Sauvignon is blended from four distinct parcels within the AVA, 42% from Grand Ciel, 31% Upchurch, 19% Ciel du Cheval, and 8% from Klipsun. As it slowly unspools, layered aromas of blackberry, black […]