10/28/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

My absolute favorite Walla Walla cabernet, and it's amazing value at $31. It's my kind of wine: dense, fruity, nice acid, moderate oak. The fruit is pure Walla Walla, dark purple flavors, just wonderful. I'm so sad I don't have any left.

10/16/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Very good. Wife drank it so I don't have any other information.

10/16/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

This was very decent, but not so much to my preference any more. GREAT wine for the table at christmas because it's a crowd pleaser. Good quality, well balanced, good acid, good structure, but not the big wines I'm into any more.

10/16/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

This was surprisingly good. It's been a while since we drank it, but I distinctly remember being very impressed with the QPR.

9/26/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

This wine is quite decent, although mildly over oaked. Nice acid works well with food and the fruit is decent. It reminds me of a standard $20 bottle from Columbia or CSM, or one of the other local mega wineries. At almost $30 I don't think the QPR is there for this wine.

9/20/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Lovely Walla Walla blend. Excellent QPR. Nice limited oak, very purple and dense fruit.

9/14/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Surprisingly good! Really good actually! Nicely rounded, light on the tannins, smooth, fruity. Great! Will buy again.

9/10/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

I love this wine. Black fruit, nice oak balance, beautiful walla walla style syrah. And the QPR is great!

9/10/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

This wine is decent, and very interesting, but not amazing. Medium tannins and reasonably fruit forward. Not the best QPR but not bad.

8/30/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

A *touch* too sweet for me, but still within my range of sweetness. Caramel, butterscotch, quite a bit of nuttiness at the end. Most people would really like this port, but if you're really into the 20/30 year old good stuff, you'll likely find it too sweet. But really, it's not like those other sugary gross ones, so do give it a try! At $14 you really can't lose too much here!

8/30/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

I really liked this wine, but I can't help but wish it wasn't non-vintage because I think most of the reviewers are reviewing something different than me. This wine is very fruit forward, with lots of smooth black fruit. It's light to medium in tannins with moderate acid, but probably not enough to stand up to eating with rich foods. I think it's more of a party wine, a crowd pleaser, and something that most people will enjoy. At $14 I think it represents excellent QPR.

8/29/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Meh. This wine is "ok". I was really hoping this $9 wine would be a winner, but it just seems like every dollar below $12 really eats into the quality. The wine has an astringent bitter edge to it. Don't me wrong, it's not bad, but it's not good either. To put it another way, if I was given this wine in economy class on a flight I'd be super happy! But that's not saying much. :)

8/29/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

I really enjoyed this wine, mostly probably because I was sitting at a mountain lake at 5000 feet while drinking it! This is a very solid Zinfandel and I would certainly purchase again as long as I could buy it for under $20. Above that, I think it really loses its value.

8/29/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Pretty decent wine. Well rounded and very drinkable. Highly food friendly. Not convinced of the value, but I think I got it on sale for about $15 so I think that's it's ok value at this price point.

8/15/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Great wine, but not entirely my style. VERY jammy, medium tannins, low-medium acid. Not entirely food friendly but a GREAT tasting wine. In fact, it's hard to drink more than one glass because it's so packed with flavor. I enjoyed it a lot, but it's very odd and I don't feel it's a good QPR at $40. I would be very happy with this wine at $25-$30.

8/15/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Very green apple. VERY dry, and has an astringent aspect. Me no likey.

8/15/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Perhaps Viognier isn't my bag, baby, but I didn't like this as much as I did when I tasted it at the winery. Yes, it's still good, and the purity of the fruit is great.

8/15/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Alas, this was my last bottle. Still love it.

6/1/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Not going to score because I drank this wine too long ago. I really like it, but not as much as some other Viogniers I've had. At $20 I feel the QPR is a little too low to consider buying again.

6/26/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Sitting out on the deck, it's 75F with a gentle breeze, and you need this wine to finish off the experience. It's excellent. I hate oaked whites so this is the perfect white for me. Love it. Tropical fruits, lovely acid (not too much!) and a crisp finish. Great.

6/1/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Drank too long ago to remember this wine. I don't remember being wowed by it, and I didn't hate it either. I can only assume it was pretty drinkable. If I see some on sale for $10 I'll probably pick up a bottle or two. I think I prefer K's regular offerings, but will continue to try this range on every release because I'm always on the lookout for good <$15 wine.

6/25/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

I think I'm getting a bit fed up of this wine. I don't think it's changing on me, but perhaps I'm finding it too one dimensional... It's still very enjoyable though. I think I might cellar age the last few bottle to see what an additional year will do to it. It's a $14 bottle of wine - seems like a reasonable experiment...

6/27/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

This wine has improved. On release it had a bit of a rough edge to it. With a little bit of bottle time it's really mellowed up enough to give a better drinking experience. I feel this Grenache is a very good QPR.

6/26/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

I love this wine. Dark, inky, purple fruit with just the right amount of oak (i.e. not much!), well balanced tannins, and fairly light on the acid. Not a hugely food friendly wine IMO, but more of a tasting wine for the fans of the Red Mountain, WA fruit.

6/27/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Delicious. Really, very nice, complex but delicate. Light fruit, very nice wine.

6/21/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Very drinkable, but interesting and flavorful red blend. Lovely mix of fruit and slight vegetal quality that I really like. Not too much oak either, which again is very good for me. At $22 I think this offers really good QPR.

5/22/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Love this wine, although I'm very biased towards the Tapteil style. Quite oaky, but not overly so. I think that might diminish in a couple of years, but right now it's quite well balanced as it is. Wonderful fruit. VERY good QPR.

5/25/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Amazing wine! Perfectly balanced, with oak, powerful fruit and integrated but medium tannins. Finish is long, mouthfeel is lush, and it's just a lovely Walla Walla style wine. You can really tell it's Red Mountain fruit and the QPR is just outstanding.

5/23/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Perfect summer wine for a hot day, especially for people like me that don't like oaky whites! Best a little warmer than fridge temp, although the level of acidity somewhat requires a nice chill on the bottle.

5/23/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Great wine. Excellent example of Walla Walla fruit driven wine. Not too much oak, and excellent dark fruit and aromatics. Needs to be decanted for an hour or so, and filtered too - it has a little sediment. Nice little winery in the Walla Walla airport complex, which is where we bought the wine from. Owner/winemaker Lynne Chamberlain is one of the few women winemakers we've found in the area.

5/19/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Medium to thin in body. Brambly, semi-zin like, a little astringent, decent acid. Just decent.

5/15/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

This is my second bottle of this and I can't believe I didn't pick up before on the insane oakiness on this. This wine needs an hour or so to breathe to let the fruit aroma build up enough to even try to compete with the oak. Luckily the oak is fairly smooth and sweet and not horrendously overpowering, but I can't help but feel they really over oaked this. The fruit is actually decent once you get over the nose and let it sit in the glass/decanter for a while. Nice acid too, which really cut through the fat of the beef ribs I had with it.

Overall, fairly drinkable, but too much oak and I would have been pissed if I had bought this at anywhere near MSRP.

5/14/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Meh.

4/14/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Compared to the 2006 I was very unimpressed. Yes, I know this is a a<$10 wine, but the 2006 was amazingly good for the price and this one is just "ok". Give it a whirl as the value is still decent. I'll give it another try in 6 months or so - perhaps it needs some bottle age? I doubt it, though, the complexity is just not there...

4/20/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Pretty good! Nothing spectacular, but a well made and very drinkable wine. Good food wine, IMO.

5/3/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Great wine. Really really needs at least an hour in the decanter. This wine is packed with flavor and is more of a sipping/tasting wine than a wine to drink with a meal, IMO. For the $15 I paid, it's a great value too. Typical strong Walla Walla red.

5/10/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

OK. Rather too acidic and lacking in character. I wouldn't say it's easy drinking either, given the acidity and slight bitterness. It's just "ok" and I probably won't buy again even at the $9 I paid.

4/23/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Great wine and very enjoyable at this price point - $16. Good balance between fruit, tannins, acid and moderate oak. Definitely breathe for half an hour or more as it's a little harsh straight from the bottle. Great complexity for a $16 wine, although I have to admit that I've had better wines at a little cheaper. However, it's a local winery for me and I like to support the locals, so I'll go back for more.

4/21/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Great rose! If you live near Woodinville, do yourself a favor and head down to the winery and buy a bottle or two from the winery. You'll get to try some good wine (at good prices), meet some nice people including the wine maker if he's around, and also funnel a higher percentage of your dollars towards the place that actually made the wine, and not just the supermarket or the distributor.

Anyway, this rose is medium in fruit and highly drinkable. It's a crowd pleaser for sure. Personally, as a bit of a wine geek, I think I could do with some more fruit and a little more acid. I think that would give it the extra zing that would be perfect for someone like me. However, for $12 I think this is a perfect summer rose to chill in the fridge and serve on the deck with the charred remains of your BBQ cooking. Enjoy.

4/18/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

I think I'm getting bored of this wine. I still feel it's a good value, but it's just not interesting. I'm not sure I'd buy again... Decisions decisions...

4/18/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Very enjoyable. Decent fruit, good acid (very food friendly) and with a nice kick on the back end. Medium length finish. Not an overly complex wine, but I think it's a good value at $18.

4/6/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

I love this wine, perhaps because I can't stand the oaky whites, which is pretty much ALL of them. This wine is produced and aged in stainless steel and maintains the clarity of flavor from the fruit. Tastes of apples are quite prominent with some pear undertones. Sitting out on the deck on a warm day with a chilled glass of this wine is something I look forward to. At $18 it's a good price.

4/7/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

This is still a good wine, but it's very different when compared to the '05 which was MUCH better. The '06 tastes almost twig-like, which is interesting, and lacks the clean and powerful fruit of the '05. It's still an OK wine, but I a bit sad I lost one of my awesome value sub $15 table wines.

4/3/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

When given 30 minutes or so to breathe you get a smooth, people pleaser of a wine. Medium bodied, averagely fruity, mild tannins and decent acid. Overall I'm very pleased with this wine, but at $16 I'm not sure the value is quite there. Borderline...

4/2/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

If you like AU Shiraz, of the cheaper type, you'll love this. It's like the cheaper stuff, but with some added character. Very jammy, very fruity, syrupy mouthfeel (that I was not keen on) and with a decent dose of acid and a bit of tannins. For $14 I don't think it's a good price, but you'll disagree if you're a fan of this type of thing.

3/27/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

I'm always impressed by this wine. I feel it offers much better value for money than their Ethos line. I usually can pick this one up for about $13 so it's a weeknight wine of good QPR.

Do let it breathe for a while though (30 mins in the glass will do). If you pop and pour this wine you'll find it a bit aggressive and it smooths out quite nicely given a little bit of time...

3/23/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Enjoyable as always

3/20/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Decent. For the price ($10) it's very good QPR, but there's nothing really interesting about it. It's just "good" wine.

3/21/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Pretty decent pinot noir. For the price ($16) I think it represents good value for money, for a pinot. :)

3/20/2009 - nwbackpacker wrote:

Yum.