We spent 10 days in Washington Wine Country this past summer and we really enjoyed it. Washington definitely does not get enough print here. A few of our favorites were Rotie (Syrah from the Rocks District…Wow), Cooper and Hedges.
One point that isn’t really brought up much is…Washington is REALLY young in the wine scene. These guys are for the most part, at least 20 years behind California and of course centuries behind Europe.
The misses and I dove heavily into Washington this year and learned that we really don’t care for most of the wines. MOST really are overoaked, out of control alcohols and no sense of place. While there are some outliers, they’re frequently overpriced. I can’t personally justify spending $80+ dollars on a bottle of Reynvaan, Rasa, Kerloo because I can buy the real deal for LESS in most cases (N. Rhone, BDX etc).
If you like bigger, in your face wines, the state is gorgeous and fun to visit. Just not for me!
I love WA wine. You just need to taste and find what you like. My go to is the Intrinsic Red Blend ‘16 which has an amazing QPR. I am a big fan of K Vintners, Gramercy Cellars, and Sleight of Hand.
Until about seven years ago most Napa wines were a minimum of $25.00 more than a comparable WA wine. Leonetti and then Quilceda Creek were exceptions. Waaaaay back in the day, when we were young and discovered Silver Oak, we narrowed our purchases to similar wines until we had our first Leonetti Cab. It was different than the Silver Oak in profile and body, (slightly heavier), but it was outstanding. We were paying $40 a bottle for either one, but the Leonetti was hard to come by. When we opened our store, we included Leonetti, QC, DeLille, K-Vintners, Januik, Owen Roe, Sineann, Tamarack Cellars, Three Rivers, Walla Walla Vintners and Woodward Canyon. We added Cayuse, Horsepower and Reynvaan. Didn’t care if we sold them because we knew we would enjoy them. A fair number were sold on line to people in WA, so the WA natives like some of their wines. We’ve also held back bottles to monitor aging. To date, every WA wine, Cab, Syrah, Merlot, Zin and Blend have aged beautifully. K Vintners for example makes some powerful Syrahs. The older Syrahs we’ve opened could be mistaken for Northern Rhone.
WA vintners are doing a stellar job and producing some outstanding wines. There are a good number of winemakers in CA and elsewhere trying their hand at a WA wine. Rudius made a Walla Walla Syrah in 2013 and it’s gorgeous. The WA wine prices are rising on the same level as other regions. There will always be wines that are hype priced for a variety of reasons.
Washington in general is a very young wine industry, for many in the 70s and 80s and even 90s owning a vineyard or making wine was a side job. Until 2000s when wineries exploded in WA we had about 200, now in 2018 we have almost 1000.
People are still finding their way, finding the right place for grapes, brix at harvest, cooperage, etc…for an industry that really took off 17 years ago, some fantastic wines are coming out of WA for such a relatively young region. Some of the oldest vineyards only go back to early 70s, where a region like California has wineries going back to 1800s and I won’t even get into Europe where they make our history look like a newborn.
The fact that we don’t have phyloxerra, and have great grape growing weather it will only get better.
Try Gramercy.
The CT poster’s complaints would have rung more true 10-15 years ago, but things have improved a lot since there, and as noted you need to be selective and find the folks who really know how to make wine.
With regard to trucking grapes across the mountains, realize that some of the very best winemakers in the state do this (Cadence, Andrew Will lead the list), and manage to do very, very well.
Lastly, price is an issue. Certainly the wines are more affordable than California, but to be honest, you can often get “the real deal” from europe for the same price or less than a Washington wine of the same style (think Syrah, GSM, etc). I am very familiar with many Washington wines, and know a number of the winemakers well. I enjoy many of the wines very much, but have to admit that most everything I buy these days comes from Europe.
Add Savage Grace and WT Vintners to that list.
Betz
Force Majeure
What is “interesting” about Washington winemaking is that many wineries are located in and around Seattle, even locate on islands in the Puget Sound (Andrew Will)
Non-estate wine is par for the course and shipping the grapes hundreds of miles is a big part of the equation as are many other factors in the beautiful PNW.
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Still a lot of oak and jam in woodinville, IMO. Still a lot of blueberry syrah. And he/she isnt wrong about some of the pricing and value concerns. Feel the trend of mixing syrah into bordeaux blends has been waining, but could be wrong. Matthews has been extremely hit and miss for me too… mostly miss to be honest.
Why the person is so angry about it is a valid question. As they said themselves, plenty of other styles and values elsewhere if these wines dont suit them. Seems they are awfully proud of their prose tho.
Discussed earlier in this thread, FYI.
Interesting comment with regard to fruit growers converting to growing wine grapes with the same mentality. I hadn’t really heard of that much. I know the folks that (briefly) had Ellanelle Winery were apple famers, but I liked their wine. There is still also a pretty large amount of acreage dedicated to table and juice grapes (concords) where the focus is indeed, and will always be, yield, sugar, and ripeness. It would be interesting to see if any table/juice grape growers also have wine vineyards.
I won’t argue at all that the best WA wines generally come from a relatively small handful of top vineyards where there is undoubtedly a focus on farming specifically for top-tier wines, so that’s often where i start. I think examining vineyard sources is a great place to start, whereas “Napa Valley” generally produces great wines regardless of vineyard site. Off the top of my head: Champoux, Ciel du Cheval, Taptiel, Seven Hills, DuBrul, Upland, Armada, Paciencia, Evergreen (for whites), Kiona. There is a TON of acreage, though, that is meant for wines produced by the likes of Columbia Crest, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Waterbrook, and other large production sites that certainly adds to the negative perceptions, and I think those lag behind their California (and certainly European) brethren.
Great point - and one that is similar to those of us making wine south of San Francisco as well 
Just as with any region, there is bound to be a plethora of styles averrable - but it is often ‘defined’ either by the largest producers OR by those that score big points. The former - folks like Chateau St Michelle, Columbia, etc - have been producing wonderfully elegant, balanced, and great QPR wines for a very long time. They are not ‘showy’ at all and therefore fall under the radar. The latter - folks like Charles Smith, Cayuse, Qulliceda Creek - have made wines in a bigger, bolder style that has attracted notice.
I for one have always dug what folks like Chateau St Michelle, Dunham, L’Ecole 41, and others have done - but YMMV.
My guess is that we are still a few decades out from seeing what the ‘real potential’ is up there. There has been so much ‘outside investment’ in places like Red Mountain that it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Pricing certainly is an issue - with a region that is relatively ‘unknown’ to many, it’s difficult to fathom spending $50+ on a new producer. This is similar to the Paso region - but in that region, you have more eyes on it, more reviewers touting it, and more folks on boards like this pumping them up . . .
Cheers.
Good point, Larry (and others) - lots to see as the years go by and wineries and vineyard managers hone their crafts. I think there is a lot of potential in unexplored areas in the state as well. Frankly, AVAs like Red Mountain and Wahluke Slope are so stinking HOT in the summers, they might not be as ideally suited (certainly in the future as the planet warms) for reds as once was thought. In some cases, maybe they’re already too hot and account for some of the characteristics many find undesirable (especially in years like 2015-2017). There very well may be other sites not even under vine that ultimately would produce better grapes. That said, some of the most “sought after” [highly rated] wines from Washington are made from Red Mountain grapes (Quilceda Creek, for example).
oops, thanks
Although I still purchase several bottles of QC’s CVR red blend every year (great QPR IMO), I just can’t get excited about the Cabs and Bdx blends in general (I’ve tried a bunch over the years). They don’t seem to have the same depth and complexity when compared to Napa. OTOH, WA Syrah has been fantastic and I rarely buy Cali Syrah anymore. I really like the Rocks AVA but there are other fine examples produced outside this area. I still purchase Reynvaan (getting pricey), K Vintners, Gramercy and Two Vintners. Cheers!
I have to confess that my largely uninformed and likely outdated opinion of WA wines is much like the TNs you quoted. I don’t know why that person seems to have such a large axe to grind over this, but it’s not necessarily a negative thing. I have no axe to grind, because who cares? It’s WA wine, what do you expect?
I don’t like having uninformed, outdated opinions, but I’m not going to spend Rhône money on WA wines - give me a reason to look your way!
For example, I now spend a large chunk of funds formerly allocated to Burgundy in Oregon. I’m finding quality there because I first found value there. But if OR was priced at Burgundy levels, my purchases would be very rare.
WA wines represent 12% of my cellar and I have enjoyed them greatly for many years. I have been buying Quilceda Creek since 1999, Cayuse since 2007 and Betz since 2006. In addition I have spent a little time around Seattle and a lot of time in Walla Walla tasting wine and have enjoyed wine from many of the wineries listed above.
For my tastes WA is the real deal and I believe more fairly priced than comparable wines from other regions. In addition, I believe that WA wines are more consistent from year to year than many other regions. Again for my tastes, Quilceda Creek, Cayuse and Betz compare very favorably to comparably prices wines from anywhere in the world. And finally, if you compare the average rating in CT I am pretty certain it would substantiate that I am not alone.
Don, I follow your TNs with interest on CT as I see you drinking lots of Washington wines.