Bellevue, WA
Tasted Wednesday, June 1, 2005 by Eric with 1,071 views
Chris Cook was in town for one evening, so Michael Gordon was kind enough to assemble a hardy crew of 12 to taste Washington wines. We gathered at Daniel's Broiler in Bellevue for a very enjoyable evening.
With some tasty seafood trays we started off by milling around a somewhat motley collection of white wines. The Aubert was probably the highlight, but I would take a good German, Austrian or Alsacian Riesling any day over any of these wines. Personal preference.
In each of the red flights we had each taster vote for their favorite wine of that flight.
With the first flight of reds we settled down for serious business. All that we knew was that we had two flights of Quilceda wines, and people knew some but not all of the wines in the overall lineup. In hindsight, I probably underscored this flight by 1-2 points across the board, and it really was the highlight of the evening.
The second flight of Quilceda was very youthful by comparison, oaky and in need of time. In particular, the 1999 had a tough showing.
After this we settled into a steak dinner which we accompanied with the first of two planned Sorella flights. These were bagged and blind, and little did we know that Michael had snuck in two ringers...
The last flight was pure Sorella, consistent, showing racy acidity, and to my palate very precise and enjoyable. The style here is totally different from Quilceda, a bit less impressive and yet still fantastic and consistently strong.
Finally we finished up with a series of Washington dessert wines. Apart from the Single Berry Select, everything here was very, very forgettable.
Thanks to Michael for organizing and to Chris for giving us the excuse. :)
1987 Staton Hills Sauvignon Blanc
USA, Washington
Well, umm, it was alive. It was wine. It wasn't terribly offensive. It's not clear to me why I would taste it though other than to write a tasting note. Well, at least that is out of the way...
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1989 Shafer Vineyard Cellars Gewürztraminer
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Dark gold color. The nose is a little oxidized with nice notes of caramel. The palate starts with lychee but then gets a bit sweet with simple syrup on the mid-palate. The finish though kicks into gear with nice acidity. Interesting wine.
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1995 Covey Run Fumé Blanc
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
Moldy cheese give way to green notes of nettle soup (you really have to taste this before you depart this rock). The palate is dried out, buttery, showing wood and little fruit. No thanks.
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2002 La Soufrandière Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Quarts
France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Pouilly-Vinzelles
It was nice to find a French white amidst the sea of Washington. Clean, well-balanced and showing nice minerality and acidity, there is nothing to dislike here. Unfortunately, there isn't a ton to like either. I found it to be fairly simple without much vibrancy, no fireworks, sort of a let-down after the nice initial notes.
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2003 McCrea Roussanne
USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
The nose is scorchy with lots of barrel. There is also lots of alcohol that is somewhat countered by a large wall of fruit, huge glycerin, and lush mouthfeel. Ultimately this is too hot and too oaky though.
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2003 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
The best of the whites. Cloudy. The nose shows smoke and butterscotch. This is undeniably ripe and Californian, loaded with lemon curd, yet there is a nice shot of acid and mineral. This reminds me of a Kistler but with more fruit and a bit less wood and mineral.
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