Wines of Washington State

Fort Collins
Tasted Wednesday, February 17, 2010 by andtheodor with 795 views

Flight 1 - Whites (2 Notes)

  • 2007 Chateau Ste. Michelle Dry Riesling 87 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

    Tasted Blind. Straw colored, very light. Stony, apple, melon nose. Dry, nice acidity and minerality with crisp clean fruit. Really enjoyable. A number of people guessed Riesling.

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  • 2007 Columbia Crest Gewürztraminer Two Vines 83 Points

    USA, Washington

    Golden yellow, densely aromatic with sweet peachy mineral water, rose, lychee, apple, pear all showing on the nose. Sweet and low acid so this comes across as a little flaccid. Not bad for domestic Gewurz but a little too syrupy to be elegant. A nice after dinner wine though.

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Flight 3 - 1996ers (2 Notes)

Both surprisingly youthful and in a great spot.

  • 1996 Andrew Will Sorella 91 Points

    USA, Washington

    "The Sister" Deep purple, surprisingly youthful color for a 14 year old wine. Fairly classic personality for a Bdx blend; currant, cedar, cherry, spice. Nice berry component on the palate complemented by a woodsiness on the long finish. Sizeable but not overgrown, this is elegant and nicely balanced. Medium weight. In a nice window right now, maturing but still holding some fruit and tannins. 91-92 points.

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  • 1996 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Canoe Ridge Estate Vineyard 90 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

    Interesting old WA Cab; aged but still pretty dense. The drinking window is clearly wrong on this one, it has a ways to go yet but it's approachable now. Green olive & bell pepper nose, a little sour. Good structure, long finish. I'd pair this with food for sure.

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Flight 5 (3 Notes)

Some very good and very different Ciel du Cheval wines. The Andrew Rich wins with classy elegance.

  • 2006 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

    Decanted for 3 hours. Youthful purple color, nose of dusty, smoky black cherries, chocolate, oak. Pretty generous fruit-forward nose that verged on being overdone. Thankfully, this was very composed on the palate showing cherry, spice, plum, beautiful structure and balance. 91- 92 points is certainly conservative but this could stand to mellow some and integrate the oak better.

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  • 2005 Andrew Rich Petit Verdot Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 93 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

    Served blind; restrained and elusive. Very dark, almost black. Hints of sweet tobacco, leather?, and dark fruits on the nose. A pronounced spiciness, nice fruit, chocolate on the palate. This was elegant, balanced, and beautiful. Tasted between two very showy and ostentation wines, this really held its own and then some. 92-93 WOTN

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  • 2004 Spring Valley Vineyard Uriah 89 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

    Dark, lush, Merlot-driven. Ripe cherry, plum fruit, chocolate, burnt coffee. Unlike the other Washington wines tasted, this one failed to conceal it's alcohol and come across as almost nosehair-curling and overripe. Still very much enjoyed but not in balance.

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Flight 10 - The Meat (4 Notes)

This is where things start to get hazy. Too many wines! Subsequent notes are reduced to a single line of chicken scratches.

  • 2007 Substance Syrah 85 Points

    USA, Washington

    Dark fruit, spice, oak. A little thin. Similar to my previous note. Hard to get excited about, especially with so many strong showings on the table.

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  • 2004 K Vintners Ovide En Cerise Vineyard

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

    This was *weird*. Very polarizing - I can't decide if I like it or hate it. Bizarre nose of tamari, rubber, seaweed, sushi, iodine, and an interesting green streak like the Cab was underripe. On the palate pepper, spice, broth, umami richness. Not a lot of fruit but not flawed. Medium-light body, some structure but not the sturdy spine I expected. Might need more than 30 minutes out of the bottle to come together...78-93 points.

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  • 2006 K Vintners Syrah The Deal Sundance Vineyard

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope

    Popped and poured. Dense dark purple. Berries, meat, flowers, dense. Big bodied and some amount of oak. Consumed late in the evening - I know I'm not doing this justice. Sorry Charles.

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  • 2005 Gordon Estate Syrah

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

    Berry, cherry, spice palate. Ugh, 11th wine of the night and my notes all suck. Too many! This had too much oak but also probably showed poorly next to a lineup of big Cab/Syrahs from Washington.

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Flight 12 - Dessert (1 Note)

Closing

Overall, I think the Bordeaux styled blends showed the best. They shared a vein of elegance, restraint, and balance. The Washington Syrahs, on the other hand, were all over the board but promising too. I wish I had more of the former and less of the latter.

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