I really like some of the Bordeaux Varietals that I’ve tasted from Washington State in the 2012 Vintage and moving forward. I seem to really gravitate to bottles using Horse Heaven Hills fruit as a Major component in the blend. Really like Producers such as Soos Creek, Andrew Will, A’Maurice, Quilceda Creek and Woodward Canyon. Any thoughts on which Vintage between 2017, 2018 and 2019 that might lead itself to be anything as Iconic as that 2012 Vintage when it comes to Ageworthy Wines?
Haven’t had any 2019’s.
2017 and 2018 will both be nice vintages, 2017 will be a bit more tannic young, with a little more acidity. 2018 won’t lack tannin either but will be less apparent in the robe of fruit that 2018 delivered.
Just depends on your taste profile. Both should be age-worthy.
WA in general doesn’t really have bad vintages since the risk of frost has been addressed since the bad frosts in 90s and early 200s by burying the vines. It’s a high desert so it’s very consistent here.
Okay, thanks so much. I appreciate the help. Newbie to the board, but much prefer Horse Heaven Hills examples over Red Mountain in what I’ve tasted so far.
Force Majeure. Their wines are of very high quality. Great vineyards and wine making team. Dunnuck rates most of their stuff in the 95-100 range.
Depends on grape, but HHH produces world class Cabernet. Syrah from Walla Walla, Milton Freewater and Yakima are my preference.
Wahluke Slope produces the most consistent top notch Cab and Syrah at the same time/vintage.
IMHO … Dunnuck - 2 points = Much closer to accurate.
I too haven’t found dramatic differences among vintages in WA. Even 2011 which was especially cold and late turned out much better than expected. You could try avoiding the hottest vintages like 2015 but I can’t say I’ve been disappointed much by 2015s either.
FWIW, I highly recommend the DeLille Harrison Hill, easily one of the top half-dozen best wa Cab blends year in and out. Another wine I’ve mentioned here several times is the Long Shadows Pirouette which now has been the preferred wine beating out the likes Leonetti and Quilceda Creek at several blind tastings at 10 years post-vintage; that’s a trend, not random.
Cheers.
Actually, the cooler vintages tend to be the best at the better estates–you’ll find 2011 the most recent favorite of many winemakers.
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I should have been more emphatic, the 2011s have been great, no doubt.
Regarding the risk of frost, burying vines helps with avoiding bud damage and vine death, but it doesn’t provide any protection against early fall frosts while grapes are hanging on the vine, which is still a real threat.
In 2019 there was a frost event on October 7 that killed the canopy at a large number of vineyards throughout the State, preventing further ripening. Very little Cabernet Sauvignon had been harvested at that point (it is common for WA wineries to harvest Cabernet in late October, and even early November). Higher elevation vineyards were spared for the most part, but many wineries were left competing to schedule picks after the frost and struggling to find tank space, while dealing with fruit that is less ripe than they are accustomed to.
Luckily we were bringing in our last fruit of the season around that time, but I expect that there will be quite a bit more variation in quality in 2019 than is typical.
We attended the Rasa virtual tasting of '09, '11 and '15 QED where Billo and Pinto both said '11 was their favorite vintage due to the cooler weather (but hardest vintage to produce).
With 7 of us at home doing the tasting the '11 was the least favorite getting 1 first place vote, '15 the favorite with 4. I picked the '09, being in the middle of the lighter, more acidic '11 and the fruitier '15.