Betz Family Winery Clos de Betz Columbia Valley Red 2012
Clos de Betz Columbia Valley Red 2012 is a sumptuous Bordeaux-style blend of 67% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot. As with all Betz wines, it’s precise and steeped in power. Arresting aromas of plums, kirsch, Madagascar vanilla and graphite lie under a beguiling floral top note. It’s concentrated, and inky, a bit […]
Betz Family Winery La Serenne Syrah 2012
I felt incredibly lucky to have tasted this bottle with Betz assistant winemaker, Louis Skinner, who is both talented and, as I learned, something of a wine collector himself. The 2012 La Serenne is fabulous, with a nose that reminds me of blackberries macerated in fresh thyme, crème brûlée and cedar. The innate sweetness at […]
Côte Bonneville DuBrul Vineyard Chardonnay 2010
2010 was a cooler vintage in Yakima Valley, affording the grapes extended hang time and phenolic maturation. The 2010 Côte Bonneville DuBrul Vineyard Chardonnay proffers a generous nose of buttered rum, vanilla, pineapple and toasted coconut. Aged for 17 month on new French oak with fine lees, it’s medium-bodied and voluptuous, with firm, tight-grained tannins […]
Quilceda Creek Galitzine Red mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
With respect to Washington producers, Quilceda Creek is in a league of it’s own. I found the Galitzine to have a slightly different profile than their flagship Columbia Valley Cabernet, which often has a unique fingerprint of soy and Asian spices. Even so, this Red Mountain Cab is exquisite and pristine. Notes of violets, graphite, […]
Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
The 2004 Quilceda Creek is a stunning wine, with a nose that evolves to reveal layers of boysenberry, cassis, charcoal, dark chocolate, pain grillé and exotic spice. Truly, this is among the best of Washington, there is a reason why Quilceda has attained cult status. On the palate, massive structure is deceptively cloaked in silky, […]