Cooper Comes to Portland

Red Mountain in Washington State is one of my top wine regions in the world. The wines from this small AVA on a "mountain" at the Southeast end of the Yakima Valley are second to none. One of the area's newest wineries, Cooper Wine Company, paid Portland a visit a couple weeks ago, and offered those "in the know" an epic tasting of their current releases. Owner/winemaker Neil Cooper brought his entire staff along for the ride, and poured 8 different wines, also offering some tasty small bites from the hosting venue, The Original Dinerat. Wines we tasted were:

• 2010 Estate Marsanne ($30)
• 2010 Estate Chardonnay ($40)
• 2008 L'inizio Bordeaux-style blend ($50)
• 2008 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon ($40)
• 2009 L'inizio Bordeaux-style blend ($50)
• 2009 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon ($40)
• 2009 Estate Merlot ($n/a - wine club only)
• 2009 Carmenere ($n/a - wine club only)

All of the wines were outstanding, with the two whites being my least favorite (as usual, I love the big reds!), and the stand outs being the Walla Walla Cabernet and the L'Inizio blend. Wine of the Tasting for me was the 2008 Walla Walla Cab. Huge fruit and structure, but very lush and delicious. Thanks Neil and team for a great tasting event! My friend Dave and I had a great time chatting with everyone while tasting through the line-up. I hope to see everyone again at the winery next time I'm in the area!

#WASyrah Twitter Tasting

I love these Twitter tastings, except it is a bit difficult to tweet on my iPhone and taste at the same time! Nice lineup of Washington Syrah from a variety of producers, and hosted by E & R Wine Shop, located in the John's Landing neighborhood of Portland. And, lucky for me, only 4 blocks from my office!

• 2008 Dusted Valley Vintners Syrah Boomtown - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Wine #1. Good cherry fruit, bright acidity, medium body. A bit sharp on the finish, but excellent QPR. (86 pts.)
• 2008 Magnificent Wine Company Syrah Columbia Valley - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Wine #2. Another great $20-ish range QPR wine. Cherry fruit on the entry, medium body, midpalate is a bit flabby, but showing some nice plum fruit. Finish is all cherries. Would definitely grab this off a restaurant list. (88 pts.)
• 2008 Milbrandt Vineyards Syrah The Estates - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope
  Wine #3. Loved the nose on this one! Big funky, pepper and blackberry, following to the palate. Good structure and acidity, supple tannins, medium/full bodied and drinking nicely. Sorry I missed this winery on our last Prosser visit! Tied for my WOTT. (92 pts.)
• 2008 L'Ecole No. 41 Syrah - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Wine #4. I caught a hint of TCA on this one. Not very apparent to others at the tasting, from what I overheard, but I am particularly sensitive to TCA taint. Flavors were a bit muted as well, if comparing this to the 2007 means anything. Lacking the big peppery fruit of the '07, and is actually a bit harsh. Would love to revisit this from a different bottle, as I loved the '07 and it is a killer QPR wine at $24. (85 pts.)
• 2009 Dusted Valley Vintners Syrah Stained Tooth - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Wine #5. Very forward nose, showing big fruit. On the entry, you can tell this is a young wine. A bit disjointed at the moment, and harshly tannic for my palate. Some vigorous swirling calmed this badboy down a tad, and that fruit really stood out. Lots of cherry and plum, but the tannins and acidity are both quite apparent. Give this one a year or two and it'll shine! (88 pts.)
• 2008 Mercer Estates Syrah McKinley Springs Vineyard Horse Heaven Hills - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills
  Wine #6. Right off the bat I can tell this is a Horse Heaven Hills wine. Huge peppery nose dominates. Lots of sweet fruit hitting the palate, some vanilla and mocha on the back. Nice tannins and acidity, quite well-integrated. First Mercer wine I've had, and I'm impressed! (89 pts.)
• 2007 Reininger Syrah - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Wine #7. Very nice blackberry and pepper nose on this one. Hits the palate with sweet/funky blackberry fruit, and ends with a big dollop if black pepper. I think the extra age on this one gives it an edge, and it was drinking very nicely. Smooth, integrated, and delicious. I think this was tied for my WOTT. (92 pts.)
• 2008 Otis Kenyon Syrah - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Wine #8. Good fruit with a nice bit of funk. Strikingly strong blueberry flavors, which I usually don't get off Syrah. Finish is a bit sour cherry, which detracts from this wines appeal somewhat. (89 pts.)
• 2008 L'Ecole No. 41 Syrah Estate Seven Hills - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Wine #9. Another great Walla Walla wine, blackberries and pepper abound. Medium to full bodied, with lots of thick fruit, and a great black pepper finish. So tasty, and just a tad below my top picks in this tasting. Evolving quite well since the last time I tasted this (Dec 2010). (91 pts.)
• 2009 Amavi Cellars Syrah - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Wine #10. This is another young'un. Nose is quite reticent, taking some fairly vigorous swirling to coax any aromas out. Just a hint of fruit. Palate-wise, this is highly acidic at the moment. Bright, with ample tannins that need to calm down a bit for pleasurable drinking (or several hours of decanting). The fruit emerges with more swirling, and is very nice black cherry. Hints of pepper and dark chocolate appear on the finish, but are overshadowed by the tannins. This should be a blockbuster, given some time to bring everything together. (90 pts.)

A great tasting with some stellar Syrahs. E & R Wine Shop is fairly new to me, but it is a great little shop! Lots of older vintage bottles here and there, and some rare stuff you never see anywhere (2006 Gramercy John Lewis Syrah, anyone?). My only complaint is also one of the shops benefits: There are bottles stashed horizontally on the racks behind bottles standing upright, so it is hard to really see all their inventory. However, this probably explains how they still have all those older vintages and rare bottles!
Tasting notes posted from CellarTracker.

Corked Wines: A Reflection on Disappointment

Corked! Nothing worse than popping a much-anticipated bottle of wine and discovering it is spoiled! We've all heard the word 'corked', but how many people actually know what it means, really? Most people I've asked think it has to do with a wine's cork closure actually failing in some way. While this is partially true (the cork failed to remain neutral towards the wine), the term 'corked' refers to the presence of TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) in the wine, most commonly from a tainted cork closure, or 'cork taint'. TCA has a very distinctive odor, most commonly described as wet newspaper/cardboard, damp shoe leather, wet dog, or musty basement. In other words, it is not pleasant, especially in a wine!

Ever wonder why there are so many alternative wine closures showing up on store shelves these days? Examples are Stelvin, or screwcaps, Vino-Lok/Vino-Seal, or glass corks, Zork, which is a bulbous plastic cork from Australia, and a myriad of synthetic/plastic corks. The stats don't lie: The number of corked wines from alternative closures is next to nothing, and if they are corked, typically the source of TCA in wine sealed with an alternative closure is NOT from the actual closure, but from a tainted barrel or something else within the winery itself. What percentage of wines are corked? I've read 1-3% as the normal range. A fellow wine blogger, Sean Sullivan of Washington Wine Report, has a running Corked Counter for 2011, where he documents his experiences with corked wines (he tastes a LOT of wine). As of July 2011, he had tasted 835 wines, with 26 being corked, for a corked rate of around 3%. But what about my personal experience?

After opening a corked wine this evening, I decided to take a look at my wine consumption history, using Eric Levine's wonderful tool, CellarTracker, which I've been using religiously since late 2007 to track my wine purchases and consumption. Here's the breakdown of my personal wine consumption and corked rate, by year.

• 2007 (Oct-Dec): 71 bottles consumed, 0 corked.
• 2008: 283 bottles consumed, 5 corked = 1.8% corked rate.
• 2009: 297 bottles consumed, 6 corked = 2.0% corked rate.
• 2010: 262 bottles consumed, 4 corked = 1.5% corked rate.
• 2011 (Jan-Aug): 125 bottles consumed, 3 corked = 2.4% corked rate.

Out of 1,038 wines personally consumed over roughly 3 years, 18 were corked, for a corked rate of 1.73%. Cost of these 18 corked wines came to $430.50, and I was able to get refunds on 2 of them that totaled $56. So my overall financial loss due to corked wines is $374.50. That's certainly no small number, even over 3 years.

I'm curious to hear from readers if anyone has experienced a corked wine, and what your thoughts are on traditional cork vs alternative closures. Comments are appreciated!

Walla Walla Invades The Willamette Valley

On Saturday, February 19, friends and I ventured south to McMinnville for an epic tasting event at Noah's Wine Bar (Google Places page; they have no website) in downtown McMinnville. But prior to there, we stopped at Cana's Feast Winery for their wine club pick-up party. They released their 2008 Cabernet Franc, 2008 Taptiel Vineyard Merlot and 2008 Montagna Rossa, a SuperTuscan blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot, and provided barrel samples of the 2009 Taptiel Vineyard Merlot. All were very, very good wines, and pair with freshly-prepared fare from the bistro kitchen at the winery.

A total of twelve wineries and some 40+ wines were available for tasting at Noah's event, all for the minuscule sum of $10. There was no way I could taste all of the wines, so some abbreviated notes follow.

Amavi Cellars, sister to Pepper Bridge Winery, brought their 2008 Walla Walla Syrah and 2008 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon. Both showed quite well for being so young, with the Syrah edging out the Cab for me. Both were nicely structured, but the Syrah showed serious black pepper and some additional complexity that may eventually appear in the Cab, once it has additional bottle age.

Pepper Bridge Winery provided two of their five wines: the 2007 Merlot and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, both from estate (Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills Vineyards) fruit. The third wine is a Reserve bottling, typically a Bordeaux blend of the previous two offerings. The fourth and fifth wines are wine-club only single-vineyard blends, Seven Hills Vineyard and Pepper Bridge Vineyard. Both the Merlot and Cab showed well in this tasting, with the Merlot being a bit more approachable currently.

Basel Cellars makes a number of wines from both estate grapes, as well as grapes from vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley. For this event, they provided their 2006 Columbia Valley Syrah, 2007 Claret, 2006 Estate Merlot, 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2006 Inspired Bordeaux-styled blend. The Syrah was again my favorite, but having tasted at the winery several times, I already knew I loved their Syrah. The Inspired was also a very tasty offering.

Five Star Cellars provided their 2008 Sangiovese, 2007 Merlot, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2008 Quinque Astrum, another SuperTuscan blend of Sangiovese, Cab and Merlot. All fruit is 100% Walla Walla Valley. I really enjoyed the Cabernet with this winery. Full-bodied and really drinking well with lots of fruit. The SuperTuscan was also very tasty.

Leonetti Cellar brought their full line-up, but we were only allowed one taste (with a provided ticket). Available to taste while we were there was the 2007 Sangiovese and 2008 Merlot, with the 2007 Cabernet being available if you asked nicely. I chose the Cab and was rewarded with an explosive, extremely rich, full-bodied wine that will easily cellar for another 5-10 years. A delicious wine, although I question if it is the wine or the Leonetti brand that you are really paying so much for. With release prices being $80+, and the same wines being offered on wine auction sites for $30 or more below release price a year later, one has to wonder.

Reininger Winery is no stranger to my blog. The winery brought 2 wines from their Walla Walla Valley-sourced label, Reininger, the 2007 Syrah and 2007 Carmenere, and 2 wines from Helix, their lower-priced Columbia Valley label, the 2005 Sangiovese and 2006 Pomatia red blend. I liked the Pomatia a lot. It was easy to drink and very fruit-forward. But it was the two Reininger wines that really impressed. The Carmenere gets my vote as the most unique wine at the tasting. Not only unique, it was also delicious. The 2007 Syrah was also delicious, with a ton of black pepper and some funk, although not as much as their Ash Hollow vineyard bottling, which was regrettably absent from this tasting.

Seven Hills Winery brought their 2009 Reisling (not tasted), 2007 Malbec (slightly corked, although I am particularly sensitive to TCA), 2007 Petit Verdot (for the wine geeks), 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Klipsun Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA, and 2007 Pentad red blend. All but the Cabernet are from Walla Walla fruit. The Cab was far and away my favorite, but I'm partial to Red Mountain wines. It had serious structure and over-the-top flavor. The Pentad was also very tasty, but overshadowed by the Klipsun Cab, in my opinion.

Sinclair Estate Vineyards provided only 3 wines, their 2009 Chardonnay (not tasted), 2008 Sangiovese and 2008 PentaTonic, a Bordeaux-style blend. The blend was definitely my favored Sinclair wine, full of fruit and earth flavors. We will definitely pay them a visit the next time we're in Walla Walla.

Tamarack Cellars brought the most wines to this tasting. Present were the 2009 Chardonnay (not tasted), 2009 Firehouse Red (a 'kitchen sink blend' of many grape varietals), 2007 Merlot, 2009 Cabernet Franc, 2008 Syrah, and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. I was really surprised how much I like ALL of the wines offered by Tamarack, but I really liked the 2008 Syrah and 2007 Cab Sauv. Both were very tasty and structured for decent cellaring.

Waters Winery only brought two wines, their 2007 Pepper Bridge Vineyard Syrah and 2008 Interlude Bordeaux-style blend made from 55% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. Readers of this blog (all two of you) already know of my love for Waters 2007 Forgotten Hills Syrah. I haven't been the biggest fan of the Pepper Bridge Syrah in the past, as I feel it lacks the earthy funk and pepper flavors I love about Walla Walla Syrah. While not a bad wine by any means, the Pepper Bridge is overshadowed by the Forgotten Hills and Loess Syrahs, when compared side-by-side. At this tasting, the Syrah tasted good, with very pure Syrah flavors, minus the pepper and earth. The Interlude had the earthiness in spades however, and was my favorite Waters wine at this tasting.

A sister winery of Waters (and joint venture with Gramercy Cellars), Wines of Substance (fun website, by the way) brought their 2009 "Ch" Chardonnay (not tasted), 2009 "Sy" Syrah and 2009 "Cs" Cabernet Sauvignon. The Syrah again took top honors for me, barely edging out the Cabernet with it's nice blackberry flavors.

Woodward Canyon Winery brought their 2008 Chardonnay (not tasted), 2008 Nelms Road Merlot, 2008 Nelms Road Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2008 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon. I was surprised how well the Nelms Road wines were tasting. For just $20 these two may just get some rotation into my daily drinkers lineup. Nice wines! But the Artist Series Can stole the show, with huge cassis and earth, also with some vanilla oak flavors evident. I really liked the amount of oak on this wine!

Va Piano Vineyards brought three wines, the non-vintage Bruno's Blend VII, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Syrah. I only tasted the Syrah and it was quite good, but seemed a bit flat compared to some of the others. It may have just been my tired palate at that point however.

There was one other wine being offered by the gentleman pouring Leonetti's wines, and it was not from Walla Walla. DeLille Cellars is based in Woodinville, just northeast of Seattle, and sources their grapes primarily from Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills AVAs, with a little bit of Yakima Valley too. The wine being poured was the 2008 D2, a rich, Merlot-based Bordeaux-style blend. To my palate, the D2 was one of the tastier wines being poured. Very rich and mouth-coating, with solid tannins bringing up the finish. Interesting that at a wine tasting for Walla Walla wines, I liked a non-Walla Walla wine the most. Wine of the Tasting for me: DeLille Cellars D2, followed closely by the Leonetti Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon.

Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend - Day 3

Make sure you read about our Day 1 and Day 2 adventures first!

Day 3 started off just like Day 2, with the killer free breakfast at our hotel, and then Starbucks. Everyone sort of went their own ways this morning, with one couple heading home, Kristina and I going for a drive out in the country, and making plans to meet up with my Aunt and Uncle, who live in Walla Walla. Eventually we met up with 3 of our group at K Vintners. We didn't realize they were closed on Sunday, and were only accepting tastings by appointment. Fortunately, winemaker Charles Smith had a tasting appointment at the same time we showed up (along with a bunch of others), so he poured for us all! And what an experience! Charles is a no-nonsense kind of guy, and his gruff manner and crude jokes had the entire group laughing hard in no time! We started out with the 2009 Eve Chardonnay, moved to the 2008 Motor City Kitty Syrah, and then to the 2008 Phil Lane Syrah. Both were quite delicious, but the icing on the cake, and my favorite wine, was the 2007 Heart Syrah. What an amazing wine! Huge fruit and a ton of structure. It was a bit too pricy for us, so we went home with bottles of the Phil Lane and MCK Syrahs instead. I also snapped this great shot of an etched bottle of 2006 Royal City Syrah:



After getting some great pictures of Kristina on the K Vintners "K" (shown below), we headed over to my Aunt and Uncles house for a short visit, prior to hitting the road back to Portland. Another great Walla Walla trip, and I'm sure there will be many more!

Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend - Day 2

Make sure you read about our Day 1 adventures first!

We started off Day 2 by grabbing the free breakfast at our hotel. A nice spread! Afterwards, as part of our group was already out at the Airport wineries, we headed downtown for Starbucks and ended up tasting at DaMa Wines, with Mel pouring again (this time as a brunette!). I liked their Syrah a lot.

Finally, we headed south to my favorite Walla Walla winery, Rasa Vineyards. Pouring their wines was winemaker Billo Naravane. His brother and business partner, Pinto, was unfortunately not able to make the trip out to Walla Walla from his home on the East Coast. The wines were, as always, absolutely amazing! From their second-label PB Wines to the perfect-scoring 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah, all were so good! The Principia was my favorite, but I went home with another bottle of their delicious 2007 QED Rhone blend. Barrel samples were the 2009 QED, 2008 Principia and 2008 Creative Impluse, a stellar Bordeaux blend sourced from DuBrul Vineyard in Yakima Valley. If you thought Rasa was only great with Rhone varietals, think again! This wine shows a ton of promise, and I'm kicking myself for not jumping on a couple bottles at futures pricing. Such depth and purity of fruit. Just amazing wine.

After Rasa, we headed back into Walla Walla and out to the airport to meet up with our wayward friends at Dunham Cellars. The winery was all decked out in full Christmas decorations, with a huge tree in one corner, perfect for photo ops. Favorite wine at Dunham was the 2006 Columbia Valley Syrah. The barrel samples were a 2008(?) Syrah and Cabernet from Lewis Vineyard (both were VERY tasty).

Although I wanted to hit the 5 "incubator" wineries at the Airport, we ended up heading back into town to dump the cars and set off on foot to the downtown area tasting rooms. First stop, Trey Busch and Sleight of Hand Cellars. A bonus this time, we got to meet Trey's stepfather (I think), Dougal, from Georgia. What a fun guy! Trey makes an amazing Syrah, the Levitation, and the 2008 was drinking well this day. The barrel sample was a 2009 Syrah from Funk Vineyard called "Funkadelic". It was superb. I wanted to pick up a couple bottles of the Levitation, but didn't want to lug them around with me all night, so I swore to stop by on Sunday before we left to stock up. I forgot, of course (sorry Trey!), but will get some soon! The wine is too good to pass up.

After leaving SofH, we hiked down to El Corazon Winery at the end of downtown, and next to Mill Creek Brewpub. Spencer is the owner/winemaker, and his lovely wife and 6 year-old son were helping out in the tasting room. Never having tried El Corazon wines, I was very impressed! The barrel sample was a special extended-barrel aged Syrah. Great stuff, but reserved for wine club members. I'll be leaning on Woody to kick me down some when it is available! Kristina ended up buying a magnum of their 2009 Malbec. Really yummy stuff! As a bonus, the Walla Walla Holiday Light Parade went by as we were walking over to our next stop up the street.

That stop being Nicholas Cole Cellars. A great, modern tasting room, right at the end of downtown (and a perfect place to watch the parade of lights, while staying warm). Stand out wine here was the Estate Reserve, but ALL of the wines were great. A sad aside here, winemaker Mike Neuffer has closed the winery indefinitely, in order to care for his children in Seattle, after the death of their mother. I hope all goes well, and he is able to return to winemaking soon. The wines are delicious.

At this point, we had all hit our wine limit and headed over the the Marcus Whitman Hotel bar for some cocktails and warmth, before going back to the hotel. Don't miss our Day 3 adventures!

Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend - Day 1

I recently took a weekend trip to Walla Walla for the Holiday Barrel Tasting weekend event, December 3-5. And finally got my girlfriend, Kristina, to come along, and see some of where I spent a lot of growing up. The 3 1/2 hour drive from Portland was uneventful, even with snow on the side of the highway. Once we pulled into the outskirt towns of Walla Walla, we made our first stop: L'Ecole No. 41 in Lowden, just west of Walla Walla on Hwy. 12. While all of their wines were delicious, we especially loved the 2008 Walla Walla Valley Estate Syrah, and the 2007 Perigee and Apogee Bordeaux blends. The barrel samples here were 2009 Perigee and 2009 Apogee.

Our group had all driven out from Portland the day before, and were already deep into wine country, so we decided to meet up with them south of town, at Basel Cellars. Of course we had to drive past my grandparent's old place on Wallula Road (wow, has it fallen apart since they sold it 20 years ago!), since it was on the way. We were the first at Basel Cellars, and proceeded to start the tasting. I think we were the only customers in the tasting room! Stand-outs at Basel Cellars were the 2006 Columbia Valley Syrah, 2007 Walla Walla Valley Estate Syrah, 2006 Basel Cellars Merriment Bordeaux blend, and the 2008 Cabernet Franc. We got a private tour of the winery, which used to be a huge garage for collectible cars and motorcycles. A very cool operation there. Upon returning to the tasting room, we met up with our group, and got to taste the barrel samples, a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, and (I think) Merlot. Much wine was purchased, for me, the 2006 Syrah.

After Basel, we raced over to Gramercy Cellars before they closed. I love MS Greg Harrington's wines, and we got to try a new one this night: The 2008 "Lower East" Cabernet Sauvignon (which gave the standard Gramercy Cab a run for it's money!), basically juice from the regular bottling that didn't quite make the cut. The 2008 regular Cab must be amazing, because the Lower East was damn tasty! The stand-out wine for me was the "Inigo Montoya" (My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.) Tempranillo. I can't remember the barrel sample here (2009 Syrah?), but I liked it a lot. Along with Gramercy, we got to taste Substance (fun website!) wines too. My favorites here were the Malbec and Syrah. I don't recall any barrel samples from Substance.

While everyone was tasting away, I boogied over to Waters Winery to taste through their Syrah line-up. I recalled from our Labor Day trip that I really, really liked one of the Syrah's, but not which one. Turns out, they are ALL amazing, but the meaty, stinky 2007 Forgotten Hills Vineyard Syrah. Wow, what a wine. I went home with 2 bottles of this treasure. Barrel samples were the 2009 Forgotten Hills Syrah and 2009 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon.

After tasting, we all headed into Walla Walla to our hotel, the Walla Walla Best Western, to freshen up and prepare for our dinner at T. Maccarones (we had to go back, after our stellar meal last trip). Great food, as always, and an amazing server (Nikki, I'm talking to you!). Although my favorite wine from last time, the Adamant Cellars Syrah, was out of stock, we ended up bringing a couple of our own bottles to enjoy.

After dinner, we walked around downtown (in 20+ degree weather, no less) before heading over to the Sapolil Cellars Tasting Room for some live music and a glass of their tasty Syrah, before stumbling back to the hotel for the night.

Read about our Day 2 and Day 3 adventures next!

Woodinville Wine Excursion

What was supposed to be a quick afternoon stop for the grand opening of Obelisco Estate's new Woodinville Warehouse District tasting room, quickly turned into a full "excursion" and resulted in some some epic wine tasting! Read on about each of our stops.

Grand Reve Vintners
Although we had tried to hit this tasting room twice before, we either couldn't find them, or they were closed. I'm VERY happy they were open this day, because their excellent wines set the stage for a wonderful day! I'm also happy that I was able to previously order their sold out 2007 Collaboration Series III Syrah. These are amazing wines, built to age for years, and I highly recommend them all. The concept is using the best grapes (Red Mountain, natch), grown by master vineyard manager Ryan Johnson (Ciel du Cheval, Cara Mia, Galitzine, Grand Ciel, etc...) and then having some of the top wine makers in the region craft an individual wine, hence the "Collaboration Series" name. Collaboration Series I is a Bordeaux blend made by Ben Smith of Cadence Winery. Collaboration Series II is a Southern Rhône blend made by Ross Mickel of Ross Andrew Winery. Collaboration Series III is a Syrah made by Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery. Collaboration Series IV is another Bordeaux blend made by Carolyn Lakewold of Donedei Winery. Collaboration Series V is a Grenache made by Chris Gorman of Gorman Winery. Collaboration Series VI is another Southern Rhône blend made by James Mantone of Syncline Wines. They also have a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which we didn't get to taste, and are just about to release a delicious new lower cost, tasting room-only wine called "Petrichor", which is a Syrah-Cabernet blend.

• 2005 Grand Reve Vintners Collaboration Series I Ciel du Cheval Red Mountain - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Rich, full-bodies, amazing fruit, with some nice earthiness in the mid-palate. Sweet fruity finish, with just a touch of oaky vanilla. A very well-balanced, well-made wine. (93 pts.)


• 2006 Grand Reve Vintners Syrah Collaboration Series III Ciel du Cheval Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Wow. This is the type of Syrah I love! Very structured, with some nice tannins on the finish. Great blackberry fruit, smokey, with some black pepper. (94 pts.)


• 2006 Grand Reve Vintners Petrichor - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  This is a pre-released Cabernet-Syrah blend, from the "second label" of Grand Reve. “Petrichor” describes the smell that results from rain hitting stone, and comes from “petri”, meaning “rock”, and “ichor”, the ethereal colorless fluid that was said to flow in the veins of Greek gods. An apt name for this elixir. Very rich, with nice structure, and amazing fruit on the attack. Mid-palate is full bodied and full of fruit, with a long sweet finish. (91 pts.)

Obelisco Estate
Obelisco Estate is a relative newcomer to the Washington Wine scene, but no stranger to high-quality winegrapes. In fact, co-owner Doug Long used to own IX Estate Vineyard in Napa Valley, famous for supplying grapes for some of Colgin Cellars' highest scoring wines. The wines produced by Obelisco Estate's Red Mountain vineyard are all amazing, particularly the Electrum Cabernet Sauvignon. The first released vintage from Obelisco Estate was 2007, consisting of a single wine, the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. For 2008 that wine was renamed "Electrum". They will also release a special Reserve-level Cabernet bottling called "Nefer III" in 2011. I can't wait to get my hands on that one!

• 2008 Obelisco Estate Syrah Tejen Les Gosses Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  First wine in the lineup, paired with mushroom bruschetta. Lots of cherry fruit, licorice, and some pepper. Very young, but there is serious potential here. (90 pts.)


• 2008 Obelisco Estate Malbec Tejen Obelisco Estate Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Wine #2, paired with Belgian endive salad with stilton cheese, pecans and caramelized pears. Blue fruit, black cherries, with some spices. (89 pts.)


• 2008 Obelisco Estate Tejen Red Wine Obelisco Estate Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Wine #3, paired with a caprese salad (on a stick). Plums, blackberries, spices, and some vanilla oak. Very structured with some nice, integrated tannins. (91 pts.)


• 2008 Obelisco Estate Merlot Tejen - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Wine #4, paired with an apple and onion tart, with gruyere cheese. Lots of cherry fruit, cola, and some vanilla oak. This is Merlot! (91 pts.)


• 2008 Obelisco Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Electrum Obelisco Estate Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  The final wine, paired with a beef canape. Amazing wine! Lots of structure, many layers of flavors...blackberry, cherry, vanilla and spices. Finishing with a vanilla coke/blackberry pie mix. Very tasty wine, and a step up from the 2007. (93 pts.)

Gifford Hirlinger
Having visited the Gifford Hirlinger tasting room on many occasions, it remains one of our favorites. Not only for the delicious wines, but also for the fun tasting room manager, Jessica (sister of winemaker Mike Berghan), who always has a great story about the wines we are tasting. This visit was no different, and we had a great time chatting with Jessica, leaving with a bottle of their 2006 Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon.

• 2008 Gifford Hirlinger Stateline Red Walla Walla Valley - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  A simple blend, but quite flavorful. Having loved their Merlot and Cabernet, I'm surprised that the whole is less than it's individual parts...although I'm sure the fruit isn't exactly the same. Nice and quaffable, at an amazing QPR. (88 pts.)


• 2006 Gifford Hirlinger Merlot Estate - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  Thinking our last bottle of GH Merlot may have been heat damaged, we locked eyes over our glasses after the first sip, knowing for sure that the last bottle we had was indeed spoiled. THIS was some good stuff! Tobacco, big fruit--blackberry and cherry--with some nice earthiness on the finish. Mike has a deft hand with wood on this wine, and there are no overbearing oak notes. Nice work! (90 pts.)


• 2006 Gifford Hirlinger Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  This wine just keeps getting better, every time I taste it! Great fruit, solid structure, nice acidity, and some really fine secondary flavors starting to emerge. The fruit is the star of the show here, with blackberries leading the charge. A bit of cassis in there too, with some earth and tobacco filling in, not a lot of oakiness at all, but just a bit of mocha coming in on the finish. (91 pts.)


• 2008 Gifford Hirlinger Malbec - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  This one edged a bit more towards the blue fruits than the other wines. Very rich, perhaps overly so, but a really nice wine. Not many secondary characteristics at this point, just a lot of fruit. (88 pts.)

Darby Winery
Darby Winery recently moved their tasting room from a nondescript space in the Woodinville Warehouse District to the Hollywood Schoolhouse District. The tasting room is in a new building next to Village Wines, amongst a number of other winery tasting rooms. A much better location, in my mind. Winemaker Darby English has again crafted some great wines, all at very respectable price points. My favorites are again his Syrah-based wines, and we went home with a bottle of The Dark Side Syrah.

• 2009 Darby le deuce - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  58% Viognier, 42% Roussanne. Definitely not a fan of this one, although maybe in the heat of summer it would work better. Lots of pear fruit, with some ginger ale (minus the carbonation). Well-made, just not my type of wine. (85 pts.)


• 2009 Darby The Endless Road - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Darby's first Rosé, a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. Quite nice, with some good dryness, and ample strawberry fruit. Really nice acidity too! (87 pts.)


• 2008 Darby Purple Haze Columbia Valley - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Malbec, 10% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, from Conner Lee, Sheridan, Stonetree and Boushey vineyards. I really liked this one...Lots of cassis and raspberry fruit, with a long finish of dark chocolate. Some tannins that could use a bit more time to integrate, but other than that, it was an amazing wine (and only $20!) (91 pts.)


• 2007 Darby CHAOS - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 12% Cab Franc, 8% Petit Verdot. Not as tasty as the Purple Haze, in my opinion. Almost too tannic, and not giving up much flavor at the moment. Not sure on the barrel regime between the two, but this wine seems like it is built to age much longer, and perhaps needs some more time to integrate. Lots of cherry fruit, but a ripple of greenness throughout that I didn't like so much. (89 pts.)


• 2007 Darby Syrah The Dark Side Columbia Valley - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Very meaty Syrah! Lots of dark fruit, smoked meat, espresso. Very dark and full-bodied, reminds me a bit of a Betz Syrah, only at 1/2 the price. Good stuff (bought a bottle). (92 pts.)


• 2008 Darby The Flip Side - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  This is a Grenache-based Rhone blend, barrel sample (I think). The bottle was unlabeled, at any rate. Quite young tasting, with ample tannins, in sort of a Chateauneuf du Pape style. Some mocha/oak, strawberry and cherry fruit. A touch of white pepper. (90 pts.)


• 2008 Darby Syrah Aunt Lee - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Another barrel sample (I think--unlabeled bottle at least). We had a bottle of the 2007 Aunt Lee, and LOVED it, so it was no wonder we really liked this wine as well. Definitely on the younger side, but already showing some serious legs. Big blackberry and plum fruit, with lots of spices and smoked meat. Just what I love in a Syrah! (93 pts.)

Tasting notes posted from CellarTracker.

Penfolds Tasting Seminar

Penfolds tasting seminar, hosted by Liner & Elsen Wine Merchants in NW Portland, and presented by Penfolds' Assistant Winemaker Steve Lienert and Technical Winemaker Andrew Wright. A great slideshow presentation of Penfolds history, and current winemaking areas, techniques, and the wines themselves. We tasted through 10 red wines from various vintages, including 2 vintages of Grange. A great event, and only $20!

The Bin Wines
The 'budget' end of Penfolds red wine lineup at this tasting, these Bin wines are typically around $20, and named for the concrete "bins" the bottles were stored in while aging. Some of the Bin series (Bin 389, Bin 707, etc) are quite expensive, however, and rival Grange in quality and prestige.

• 2006 Penfolds Bin 138 Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Wine #1. Nice nose of blackberry and chocolate. Sweet & spicy fruit with a bitter, dark chocolate finish. (88 pts.)


• 2006 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 128 - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  Wine #2. Black fruit and spices on the nose. Elegant but with ample tannins. Some mint along with the black cherry fruit, and finishing with some spicy cherry. (90 pts.)


• 1996 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 Kalimna - Australia, South Australia
  Wine #3. Plummy nose, with big red fruit and lots of pepper. Sweet plum fruit and vanilla, with surprising tannins for a '96. (91 pts.)


• 2004 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 Kalimna - Australia, South Australia
  Wine #4. Not much on the nose...very tight, with just a touch of fruit. Lots of tannin, sweet blackberry fruit, oak and vanilla. A bit disjointed to me... (89 pts.)


• 2006 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 Kalimna - Australia, South Australia
  Wine #5. Big peppery nose with blackberry and currant. Surprisingly less tannin than the '04. Much sweeter, with a long finish smoky finish. (92 pts.)

St. Henri
The St. Henri wine goes back to the 1950's with Penfolds, and even older vintages before it was purchased by Penfolds. A true Australian relic, known as the 'alter-ego of Grange'.

• 2006 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri - Australia, South Australia
  Wine #6. Completely different than any of the other wines so far. Elegant nose of black fruit and cassis. Much more refined flavors than Bin 28 and none of the big pepper. Sour cherry flavors ending with some dark chocolate. Somewhat Bordeaux-like (!) in it's complexity. (92 pts.)

RWT - Red Winemaking Trials
Started as an experiment in 1995, and first launched in 2000 with the 1997 vintage. Working from a single region within Barossa Valley, and matured only in French oak, RWT is more muscular and assertive than Grange.

• 2004 Penfolds Shiraz RWT - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Wine #7. From magnum. Wow...Spices and sweet black fruits. This is what I like in Shiraz! Still quite tannic and drying, but very smooth and silky too. Blackberry pie comes close, with the sweet fruit and vanilla. Happy I have a bottle in the cellar, but I won't be touching it for at least 5 years. (94 pts.)


• 2007 Penfolds Shiraz RWT - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Wine #8. Couldn't be more different from the '04. Huge peppery nose, with some alcohol as well. Very tannic and a lot of pepper on the palate. Huge blackberry fruit, and some black licorice. A bit too over the top at this point. Needs a good 5-8 years in my opinion. (90 pts.)

Grange
The iconic Australian wine. And rightly so! Just an amazing line of Shiraz.

• 2002 Penfolds Grange - Australia, South Australia
  Wine #9. From magnum. 98.5% Shiraz, 1.5% Cab in the blend. Huge nose of black fruit pepper and vanilla. Such an immense wine, and so damn good! Fruit for days...blackberry, sweet with oaky vanilla. Still just a baby, especially from magnum. (98 pts.)


• 2005 Penfolds Grange - Australia, South Australia
  Wine #10. 96% Shiraz, 4% Cab. Another huge wine! Lots of plum fruit, seemingly from a hotter vintage? 100% new American oak for 18 months. Black pepper, big plum fruit and A LOT of tannins! Vanilla on the finish, but fairly hidden by the chalky tannins. At this stage, I much prefer the 2002. (93 pts.)

Tasting notes posted from CellarTracker