Wine Bazar

This was the tenth Taste Washington but was it the best Taste Washington? Only the shadow knows. Here are some “bests” from Taste Washington in no particular order;

Best Winery Name - Nefarious

Best Beast - Caleb of “Buty and the Beast″

Best Name Change - “Glacial″ Lake Missoula

Best New Puget Sound Winery - Walter Dacon

Best New Woodinville Winery - Brian Carter

Best New Yakima Winery - Waving Tree

Best New Columbia Cascades Winery - Fielding Hills

Best New Lake Chelan Winery - Balsomroot

Best New Columbia Gorge Winery - Benke

Best New Walla Walla Winery - Amaurice

Best Overall Quality -Note Bene, Willis Hall, Fall Line

Best Riesling - Samson Estates, Saint Laurent

Best Sangiovese - Yakima Cellars, Wilridge, Walter Dacon, Waving Tree

Best Chardonnay - Amaurice, Apex

Best Red Blend - Andrew Will, Brian Carter, Fall Line, Cadence

Best Merlot - Apex

Best Cabernet Sauvignon -Five Star, Bloom

Best Syrah - Walter Dacon

Original post by SeattleWineBlog

As I said, I tried to get to as many new wineries as possible. Still, I missed Stemilt Creek and Stinas Cellars and for some nefarious reason, I never got to Nefarious Winery. From the Puget Sound area, I got to Blooms Winery which has been around for a while and tasted their 2005 Blooms Semillon which was dry, crisp, fresh and citrusy. Eagle Haven from the Sedro Woolley area made a good Madeline Angevine. Samson Estates from the Bellingham area, made a classic bony dry Riesling reminiscent of the Washington State Rieslings of the 1970s when the wine industry here was just in it’s infancy. Walter Dacon Wines were all excellent. I finally got to Cedargreen Winery which has been around for a while. Their wines were delightful in a light easy style. From the Lake Chelan area, I tasted 2006 Balsomroot Unoaked Chardonnay which tasted like a delicate green apple and 2006 Riesling which was dry, fresh and refreshing. Tildio wines were mostly light in style with an interesting Syrah co-fermented with Viognier skins. Cayalla from Walla Walla made a blend called RTW. Amaurice produced an elegant 2005 Chardonnay with a fresh fruity nose and a somewhat French style. Benke Cellars in the Columbia Gorge region made a Pinot Noir and Sangiovese. Sangiovese seemed to be the grape of the day. I tasted examples from Benke, Wilridge, Walter Dacon, Waving Tree, Yellow Hawk, Yakima Cellars, Willow Crest, and several others. They were all good. Every year produces a new crop of wineries in Washington and you never know what you will find. Exciting stuff!

Original post by SeattleWineBlog

Love Washington Wine is proud to announce Kristy Mannin, who recently joined our team as the Director of Marketing and Sales. Kristy is a native of Central Washington State and literally grew up with the wine industry.

As soon as we brought her on board, she hit the ground running! You will see and read a lot more from Kristy in the months to come. She is jumping into the blogging revolution full-force and has many other projects to introduce you to our wineries and Washington Wine in general.

We are thrilled to have her on board, she is a tremendous ambassador for Washington Wine and we look forward to learning from and working with her!

Original post by Mark Bolz

Horan Estates is the most recent winery to join Love Washington Wine. Horan Estates is owned and operated by a team of really great people: Doug and Diana McDougall and their friends Ross and Kelly Riedinger have teamed up to create what I believe to be one of the best up and coming wineries in Washington State!

I have to admit, I am a bit biased when it comes to the McDougalls. I grew up in Wenatchee and went to school with their son Corey Wayne McDougall. We were good friends growing up and I had the pleasure of an occasional sleep over at the McDougall home. They are great people with a passion for everything they do!

Their grapes are estate-grown next to Doug’s organic apple orchards in Royal City, WA. They planted 8 acres at Royal City in the Columbia Valley Appellation. Most of this acreage is Syrah grapes, but the McDougalls have recently cloned Cabernet Sauvignon, along with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Viognier and are looking forward to blending these varietals for even more interesting wines!

Doug McDougall also serves as the wine maker for Horan Estates, and simply does things (all things) right! Despite my bias towards Horan Estates, the wine speaks volumes. Their recent offerings are among the best in the state and bring with them passion and dedication of the winemaker. The namesake for their winery, as well as their HVH and CWM wines, are a memoriam to Doug’s late grandmother Helen VanDivort Horan and their son Corey Wayne McDougall. Doug crafted these wines to honor their memory. This sentimental attachment means this winery and its wines are very special.

Their wines are so amazing, that I ordered all of them and sampled each. I highly recommend them all, but don’t take my word for it - the critics do too! Take a look at these complex and wonderful wines:

Horan Estates Winery - 2004 HVH
May 15, 2007 Wine Spectator - 88 points 2007 Silver-San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

Horan Estates Winery - 2004 CWM Syrah
May 15, 2007 Wine Spectator - 90 points
2007 Silver-San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

Horan Estates Winery - 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
May 15, 2007 Wine Spectator - 90 points
2007 Silver-San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

Horan Estates Winery - 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
May 15, 2007 Wine Spectator - 91 points 2007 Bronze-San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

I invite you to try Horan Estates, we are very grateful have the opportunity to list them on http://www.lovewashingtonwine.com. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Original post by Mark Bolz

Wildridge Winery has been making wine since it was established in 1988. It is located in the Madrona neighborhood in Seattle, WA. Paul Beveridge, its winemaker, is immensely talented and an artist in his own right.

Wildridge is a family owned and operated winery. They make big Columbia Valley Cabs and Merlots, along with a wide variety of wines using grapes from Washington’s acclaimed Red Mountain appellation. Wildridge buys grapes from Klipsun and has done so since 1990. Along with Nebbiolo (a rare treat), Klipsun provides their Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot fruit.

My favorite offering so far is the 2004 Nebbiolo di Klipsun, which earned 91 points from Wine Enthustiast. In 2003, Klipsun was named one of the top 25 vineyards in the world by Wine and Spirits magazine.

In addition to making wine, Paul is a ceramic artist who now makes ceramic wine bottles.

Love Washington Wine is very honored to list Wildridge wines. Please sample them at http://www.lovewashingtonwine.com/! They are reasonably priced and do not disappoint!

Original post by Mark Bolz

Almost equal to the pleasure of tasting great wine is the pleasure of talking with great winemakers. These people are artists! They may take a very scientific approach or a very intuitive approach, but what they create is amazing. In many ways winemaking is similar to photography. Winemakers like say that that if they have good grapes the trick is not to mess it up. Let the grapes express themselves. And indeed, varietals have their own personalities and vineyards have their own personalities, but winemakers also have their own personalities and inevitably leave their signature on the wine they make. It is fun to compare wines by different winemakers made from grapes grown in the same vineyard or made from the same varietal.

I had a chance to speak with so many great winemakers at Taste Washington, it is impossible to list them all. Nina Buty Foster explained to me that Buty and the Beast is an inside family joke. Caleb’s Beast, by the way, is quite wonderful. John Bell, showed off his skill with a whole variety of Willis Hall wines all of which were good. Tim Narby made an amazing batch of Note Bene wines this time around. His colleagues in the South Seattle Artisan Wine group, also produced outstanding wines. Tim Sorensen at Fall Line is on a roll, as are Gay McNutt and Ben Smith at Cadence who produce wines of great distinction. Brian Carter’s wines have a smooth seamlessness. Apex wines which he has made for years are a well kept secret lurking quietly on supermarket shelves where many do not suspect what awaits them in the bottle. This year the Apex Chardonnay and Merlot are particularly good and the Chardonnay is on sale at Safeway at about $18 per bottle. Chris Carmarda at Andrew Will made a gorgeous 2004 Sorella, which is big soft and complex. I had a nice chat with Ron Irvine about marketing wine. Talking with winemakers is definitely part of the pleasure of wine.

Original post by SeattleWineBlog

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Original post by Stephen Robinson

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Original post by Stephen Robinson

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Original post by Stephen Robinson

Original post by Alyss