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In early June we found ourselves in the perfectly
sunny, perfectly temperate, perfectly beautiful, Seattle and
environs. That’s right. Not even a hint of rain threatened
our weeklong visit to Washington State. We were there to visit
family but the vines were calling our names and we truly couldn’t
resist. Although we would have happily spent days exploring
Washington vineyards and wineries we were only able to a lot
one day. We concentrated on the Woodinville area – about
30 minutes east of the city of Seattle, and slightly north
of Microsoft’s vast holdings. Read on to hear of our
exploits and findings!
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| Although the wineries we visited were in Woodinville, the
grapes the wineries used were primarily from Yakima Valley and
Red Mountain, several hours further to the east. |
Me and my girls with melted snow rushing down Snoquamie
Falls |
Yakima Valley is an AVA, or American Viticultural Area, also
known worldwide as "appellations." AVA’s were
coined and defined by the US Treasury Department’s Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, although since the creation
of Homeland Security, wine has a new babysitter. An AVA has
unique climate, soil and physical features, which distinguishes
it from surrounding areas. Yakima Valley was Washington’s
first appellation and home to more than 30 wineries and over
1/3 of the states vineyards. Primarily grown in this area
are Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s
actually on approximately the same latitude as Burgundy. Of
interest to beer lovers is that this is one of the highest
producing areas of hops. In fact over 75% of America’s
and 35% of the world’s hops come from Yakima Valley!!
Hops also harvested in Sept along with the grapes.
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| Red Mountain AVA is a tiny appellation and Washington’s
newest, but showing lots of promise. It was established in 2001
and is located at the eastern most tip of Yakima Valley. It’s
producing great red varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Sangiovese. |
Michael's girls really enjoyed the famous Pike's Market!
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First on our list of stops was Matthews Cellars, a small
boutique winery producing some powerful reds. DeLille vineyards
was a must see for us. Quilceda Creek was another that was
top of our list. As all of these were appointment only visits
and Quilceda a bit off the beaten path, we had to forego it,
unfortunately. We’ve heard fantastic things about this
winery and look forward to experiencing it on out next foray
to the great state of Washington.
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Matthews
Cellars
Matthew Loso is the owner and very hands on. His winery is small
but very efficiently constructed and managed. Loso worked with
Chateau Ste Michelle for several years where he says he learned
all of the important functional tasks including cleaning tanks,
etc. His winery produces fewer than 5000 cases and he likes
it that way. All of his wines are unfiltered. He buys his grapes
from 4 vineyards in the Yakima area. Before he consolidated
his growers, he used to travel 700 miles roundtrip just to check
on his vineyards! |
Matthew Loso of Matthews Cellars and me (using bottle
to hide red wine stain on white shirt) |
We tasted his 2000 Yakima Valley Red, a Bordeaux-style wine
that spends 24 months in barrel. It’s a nice, dry but
robust wine containing five of the eight Bordeaux grapes –
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit
Verdot for acidity. 2500 cases are produced and it retails
for $45. Although he had several precious bottles of the ‘99
Yakima Valley Red left, we didn’t taste it during our
visit. Instead we took a few bottles home for our cellar.
The ’99 was primarily Merlot with a price point of $50.
The 2001 Yakima Valley Red will be bottled in August.
The 2001 Elerding Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon reserve
was a very hearty yet smooth blend of 96% Cabernet and 4%
Petit Verdot. Only 150-200 cases are produced annually.
We also took a bottle of his 2001 Columbia Valley Claret
with us. It’s a very nice wine with an attractive price
point at $25 per bottle. He produces 1000 cases of this declassified
2nd label. It’s comprised of Merlot, Cabernet Franc,
Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon and spends 18 months in all
French oak barrels.
Also available but wines that we did not taste include:
‘01 Chandler Reach Syrah - $50
‘02 Alder Creek Sauvignon Blanc - $15
‘02 Inland Desert Vineyard Rose - $14, 225 cases
As mentioned, the winery is open by appointment only. Contact
them on the web at www.matthewscellars.com
or 425-487-9810.
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Columbia Winery
We really weren’t “bowled-over” with the wines
here. But as it was directly across the street from Chateau
Ste Michelle and we had some time to kill before our next appointment,
we decided to give it a shot. They did have a very nice tasting
room and retail shop. It also deserves mentioning that Columbia
was Washington’s first premium winery, and their winemaker,
David Lake, consults with many wineries today in and out of
Washington.
www.columbiawinery.com
425-488-2776
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How bout some Washington "Ice Wine?" |
Chateau Ste Michelle
Founded in 1934, Chateau Ste Michelle is the state’s oldest
winery. A trip to the area wouldn’t have been complete
without a quick stop. The grounds are magnificent and used widely
for events or celebrations. Their tasting room was comfortable,
and the pourers friendly. The retail store adjoining the tasting
room was filled with unique offerings and picnic supplies from
which we made a tasty lunch of meats, cheeses and crackers.
We tasted many wines, but among our favorites were:
2002 Columbia Valley Dry Riesling – $8, grapefruit,
apricots, peaches, crisp, dry, green apple
2000 Columbia Valley Merlot - $15, sharp on the nose but
soft tannins and fleshy mouth, mocha, blackberry, elegant
and complex
2000 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - $16, velvety tannins,
black cherry, spicy cinnamon
2001 Columbia Valley Muscat Canelli - $15, peach, citrus,
delicate balance of acidity and sugar, not overly sweet, wonderful
desert wine
2000 Reserve Chardonnay - $30, nicely rounded, vanilla, toasty
oak, 90 in both Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast
1999 Reserve Syrah - $30, smooth, chocolate, vanilla, 90
in Wine Enthusiast, spicy black pepper
1999 Reserve Merlot - $36, well structured, chocolate, clove,
will age well
The winery has regular tasting hours that can be found at
www.ste-michelle.com
or 800-267-6793.
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DeLille Cellars
Greg Lill, bare-footed and casual, greeted us and treated us
to a phenomenal tasting and story telling. DeLille Cellars was
founded in 1992 by Charles Lill, Chris Upchurch, Greg Lill and
Jay Soloff. Among other accolades they have been recognized
as Winery of the Year 2000 by NY Times web site www.winetoday.com.
DeLille is known for reds although we sampled excellent whites
as well. All of their wines are unfiltered. They use 100% new
French oak barrels for all wines except their Syrah.
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A "chai" style winery |
Wines we enjoyed with Greg were:
2001 Chaleur Estate Blanc – $25, citrus, pineapple, 700
cases, 57% Sauvignon Blanc/43% Semillon 2000 D2 – D2
is the name of the wine road in Bordeaux but also stands for
the 2nd wine, $38, jammy, blackberries, toasty oak, white
pepper, 2000 cases produced, 51% Merlot/30% Cabernet Sauvignon/17%
Cabernet Franc/2% Petit Verdot, Wine Spectator 90 points,
The composition of the grapes changes every year. 1999 was
1st vintage and was 100% merlot.
2000 Harrison Hill - $55, well balanced, cherry, youthful
spice, long finish 65% Cabernet Sauvignon/25% Merlot/10% Cabernet
Franc, from a Yakima Valley single vineyard
Also available are:
2000 Chaleur Estate - $55, 1000 cases, 66% cab sauv/24%merlot/10%
cab franc
2000 Doyenne –$38, Wine Spectator 92 points, 750 cases,
98% Syrah/2% Viognier,
You can visit DeLille by appointment only. Call Greg at 452-489-0544.
Their web address is www.delillecellars.com.
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Quilceda
Creek
Although we did not make it to this visit, it came SO highly
recommended by friends in the area we lamented missing it for
days. It’s a must for our next trip. Robert Parker has
awarded many “high-90” ratings to this hand-crafted
winery. They produce 2500 cases per year and are located north
of Woodinville. Quilceda is know for its Cabernet Sauvignons
and is also know for producing wonderful Merlots. Visits to
the winery are by appointment only, www.quilcedacreek.com
or 360-568-2389.
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Only reds for these guys--and big reds they are! |
Stay tuned for future articles on our travels to conquer
the world’s best wines! |
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