100 Best Washington Wines 2011
With more than 700 wineries in our state, the juice just keeps getting better. Here are the best of the best.
By Sean P. SullivanWith contribution from Allison Williams
81
Syzygy Cabernet Sauvignon
Columbia Valley 2007 $36
91 Points This cab has aromas of cranberries, strawberries, earth, and licorice. On the palate: plump fruit flavors and ripe tannins.
82
Waters Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2008 $50
91 Points While Waters Winery is best known for its compelling single-vineyard syrahs, winemaker Jamie Brown shows an equally deft touch with cabernet sauvignon. True to the house style, the oak and alcohol are dialed down while the acid is dialed up. The result is a beautiful exploration of cabernet’s feminine side with plenty of earth and herbal accents.
83
Buty Winery Columbia
Rediviva Phinny Hill Estate
Grown Horse Heaven Hills 2007 $50
91 Points Aromas of dark fruit, blueberries, bittersweet chocolate, and spice dominate this blend of syrah and cabernet sauvignon. It is luscious on the palate with a sweet, chocolate-filled finish.
84
Adams Bench Cabernet Sauvignon The V Columbia Valley 2008 $49
91 Points The V’s pure dark-cherry aromas mix with high-toned herbal notes and black currant. The palate is wound up tightly with dark fruit, herbal notes, and chewy tannins. Give this one two or more years in the cellar.
85
Chateau Ste. Michelle Ethos Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Columbia Valley 2007 $38
91 Points The Chateau’s perfumed wine shows earth, toasty spice, dark fruit, mineral, and very light herbal notes, and a palate that is densely packed with black fruit and well-integrated tannins.
86
Bergevin Lane Vineyards
Intuition Red Wine Columbia Valley 2007 $59
91 Points The Intuition Red is Bergevin Lane’s top-of-the-line bordeaux-style blend, dark and brooding with chocolate, espresso, black currant, and black cherries on the nose, it’s dense and powerful wine that drinks like a candy bar with a firm grip of tannins wrapped around a tight core of blackberry flavors and a long, lingering finish.
87
L’Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley 2008 $35
91 Points This ripe, full, 100 percent cabernet sauvignon is made with fruit from a series of distinctive vineyards: Seven Hills, Loess, Va Piano, Pepper Bridge, and Yellow Jacket.
88
Tranche Cellars Cabernet Franc Walla Walla Valley 2007 $25
91 Points A first release from Tranche, sister winery to Corliss Estates with a breathtaking Blue Mountain estate vineyard, this cab franc’s extra bottle age helps it drink like a much spendier bottle.
89
Sineann Merlot Champoux Vineyard Columbia Valley 2009 $36
91 Points Winemaker Peter Rosback says he almost gave up on making varietally labeled merlot after the beating it took in the marketplace due to what he describes as “the plethora of overpriced mediocre examples.” The rich, voluptuous fruit from Champoux Vineyard changed his mind. Give this wine one to two years in the cellar before opening.
90
Ramseyer Vintage Four Red Wine Yakima Valley 2008 $42
91 Points This blend (90 percent cabernet sauvignon, 10 percent cabernet franc) could use at least two years in the cellar; it’s somewhat closed up at present with aromas of dust, cherries, pepper, and herbal notes. The palate has chalky tannins with a firm grip.
91
Tulpen Cellars Merlot
Columbia Valley 2007 $28
91 Points Ken Hart is vineyard manager for a who’s-who list of Walla Walla Valley vineyards. For his own Tulpen Cellars wines, Hart cherry-picks some of the best rows from these vineyards to make wines that dazzle the senses without breaking the bank.
92
Tempus Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2008 $32
91 Points Winemaker Joe Forest follows up his impressive 2007 vintage release with another standout cabernet, a big, bold, fruit-filled wine with firm tannins.
93
Forgeron Cellars Vinfinity Red Wine Columbia Valley 2007 $46
91 Points Give this cab blend one to two years to age; it’s somewhat closed up at present with dusty cranberries and high-toned red fruit on the nose. The palate is loaded with red fruit flavors and grippy, chalky tannins.
94
Novelty Hill Grenache Stillwater Creek Vineyard Columbia Valley 2008 $28
91 Points This Stillwater Creek Grenache hails from a steep, south-facing section of the vineyard, littered with fractured basalt. The resultant wine is aromatic and perfumed with white pepper, floral notes, fresh raspberries, and light chocolate. The broad, expansive palate has soft fruit flavors and a persistent finish.
95
Darby The Flipside Red Wine Columbia Valley 2008 $35
91 Points Seattle native and former professional golfer Darby English is well known for his big, bold reds. But the Flipside, a richly flavored blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvedre, shows his more subtle side. It is full on the palate with a distinctive earthy funkiness.
96
Buty Winery Rediviva of the Stones Red Wine Walla Walla Valley 2008 $55
91 Points A syrah (79 percent) and cabernet sauvignon (21 percent) blend made with fruit that grew on the winery’s LeFore estate vineyard, the nose has mineral and floral notes, plus orange peel, barnyard, and cherry. The tart palate is elegantly structured.
97 Guardian Cellars Chalk Line Red Wine Columbia Valley 2008 $25
91 Points The Chalk Line red is Guardian’s “kitchen sink” wine, made with fruit from a variety of vineyards. Nice sink: dark fruit, black pepper, oak spice, herbal notes, and saline on the nose and a palate that ramps up with waves of dark fruit flavors before slowly receding to a long finish.
98 Elsom Cellars Malbec Yakima Valley 2008 $38
91 Points This dark blend of 91 percent malbec and 9 percent merlot has a beautifully rich, textured palate with dark fruit flavors and a firm backbone of tannins.
99
Sinclair Estate Vineyard Chardonnay Columbia Valley 2009 $28
91 Points Hailing from Lewis Vineyard, this 100 percent chard was barrel aged sur lie (the
residual yeast is left unfiltered) to provide a creamy complement to its stone and tropical fruit flavors.
100 Tamarack Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2007 $3291 Points Winemaker Danny Gordon sources cabernet for this wine from a list of the state’s best vineyard sites including Tapteil, Seven Hills, Bacchus, DuBrul, and Ciel du Cheval. The resulting wine is full of chocolate flavors and velvety tannins.
Too Much of a Good Thing
These two 91-point wines didn’t fit in our top 100, but you definitely don’t want to miss them.
- 101 Syzygy Red Wine |Columbia Valley 2007 $24
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91 Points This rich and extremely well-priced wine from Syzygy is half Syrah with the balance made up of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and malbec.
- 102 Zero One Vintners Golden Delicious Riesling |Columbia Valley 2009 $13
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91 Points This off-dry, 100 percent riesling is singing with vibrant fruit flavors and has a lingering finish.
All labels courtesy the wineries.
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Published: September 2011
Great, more blog-fodder! Well, this list, like so many others, is nothing more than a beauty contest. The winners are in the eyes of the beholder. Having been on several tasting panels over the years, I have come to the conclusion that wines can only be judged in the context that they are tasted. I noticed that there were several wineries that had no wines represented in the list. Was there a published list of the wines that were submitted? I would imagine that there are a few wineries that don’t require affirmation to sell their wine, or feel that this compilation is worth the effort.
The market for high-end wines has shrunk dramatically in the last two years so I am not convinced that a rating of 150 points is going to sell any more wine. Quite frankly, wines that are only available in your market and/or by mailing list only, shouldn’t need to be reviewed. Retailers, restaurateurs and consumers that rely on point scores to determine what they buy are destined not to learn anything about wine. At some point, you have to learn to take reviews with a grain of salt, and start trusting your own palate!
The constant complaining about how expensive Washington wines are and how high prices are hurting the industry is really based on ignorance, whether willful or otherwise. It costs money to grow grapes, buy grapes, process grapes, bottle, market and sell wines. Profit margins for all but the biggest wineries (and a tiny number of boutiques) are barely able to keep the businesses afloat. Saying that there “should” be great Washington wines available for the $6 that most complainers want to pay is like saying there should be waterfront mansions on Mercer Island that a bus driver can afford. And as for the criticisms of Washington whites – have none of you noticed that Washington riesling is world class? And I can point to any number of great Washington chardonnays, sauv blancs, viogniers, even pinot gris is coming on strong.
Not sure this went through – these spam fighters require the vision of an eagle…
Trying again: The constant complaining about how expensive Washington wines are and how high prices are hurting the industry is really based on ignorance, whether willful or otherwise. It costs money to grow grapes, buy grapes, process grapes, bottle, market and sell wines. Profit margins for all but the biggest wineries (and a tiny number of boutiques) are barely able to keep the businesses afloat. Saying that there “should” be great Washington wines available for the $6 that most complainers want to pay is like saying there should be waterfront mansions on Mercer Island that a bus driver can afford. And as for the criticisms of Washington whites – have none of you noticed that Washington riesling is world class? And I can point to any number of great Washington chardonnays, sauv blancs, viogniers, even pinot gris is coming on strong.
As someone who in the past worked in the Washington Wine industry both at a winery (6 years) and in sales (1 year), I used to really push WA wines to my friends and family. I’m sad to say I’ve come down from that soapbox to a large degree and have to agree with the general tone of many of the comments here that WA wine is becoming far too overpriced and consistently overvalued in comparison to many non-domestic producers, Spain being my current favorite. What’s really sad to me is not so much the price, but the style. Big, fruit-driven, high alcohol, EXTREMELY oaky wines (talking red of course) just totally turn me off. I understand it’s what scores well which translates to sales, but IMO these types of wines have totally lost the nuances which originally made WA wines standout in the first place.
There are some great Washington wines…here is what should scare the big wine makers…an $80 bottle of CSM cab gets 91 points…it takes all of about 10 minutes in Costco or any number of wine merchants to find a cab with similiar or better scores for $16…point in fact…Kendall Jackson VR Cab…$16…92 points from WE…“the best VR ever”…lets see…5 bottles of VR with a higher score OR 1 bottle of CSM (whose Coumbia Valley Cab at $14 per bottle got 93 points from WS) Druthers Cab…you make the call…
After a trip to Walla Walla last year I found several wines missing that we thought were outstadning. Most everything from Long Shadow, several from Cougar Crest, Va Piano, and Rulo.
I wonder about the validity of this list and the judges, seems like there were some awesome wines that missed the list and some mediocre ones that made it. Christophe and the Golitzin’s sending wines into Seattle Met Magazine to be rated REALLY??
Interesting read on these comments…Kudos to Sean for the large and I’m sure daunting undertaking. From my understanding Sean certainly knows his WA ST wines, so this shouldn’t be taken as a critique of his picks, but I’m not as impressed with Seattle Met’s method for these rankings. While happy to note that tasting was done blind and in small groups of 4-6 bottles by varietal, I’m confident that a comprehensive Top 100 list would be much stronger if there was a group of tasters ranking these versus one individual. As nice as it might be, what you end up with is a list of Sean’s Top 100. Having a group of at least 4 tasters (if not 6 or 8) would make this a much more well-rounded consensus. Including a winemaker (perhaps from BC or OR in order to be unbiased), a wine retailer, a sommelier, and a wine critic (like Sean) within a larger group would allow for a more nuanced consensus on what is worthy of applause from current WA ST vintages. That likely would add time and expense to this effort from Seattle Met, but if you want a rep as one of the top Top lists and to promote WA ST wine in a rigorous way, then I think the investment would be worth it.
Glad Seattle Met supports WA Wine. Looking forward to future wine-related features.
An interesting list. Looking it over, a couple things really jumped out at me though.
First, 91 of the 100 wines are reds. Only nine whites, and no rose. By comparison, I tallied up the wine types on the Wine Spectator’s most recent Top 100 list (which has a worldwide focus), and it had 25 whites and one rose. I wonder what that says – do Washington winemakers not make much great white wine, or does this reflect the bias of the taster(s)? To me, this is an interesting question. I’m not really driven by ratings, but rather by what I can drink that gives me pleasure. A really good white nearly always gives me pleasure. Big, high-scoring reds on the other hand might be fun to taste, but I’ve found that when faced with a whole bottle at once, they often become more a chore to drink than a pleasure.
Second thing I found, and I think this is more important, is about price. Only three wines on the Washington list are under $25. By contrast, 40 of the Wine Spectator’s recent top 100 are under $25. I find that contrast quite amazing! I’ve tried quite a few of the inexpensive wines on the Wine Spectator list, and as a result, I’ve found a fair number of wines that are not only stunningly beautiful, but also affordable. Because of price though, I won’t be trying that many of these Washington selections. There are some high-profile boosters of Washington wine who tell me over and over that Washington wine presents value, but this list argues the opposite. I (and most my wine-buddies) can’t afford to spend $40 or $50 on a bottle of wine, ever. So, how can the Washington wine industry really move into the mainstream if the good (and even not-so-good) wines are so expensive that even dedicated wine lovers can’t afford them? I’ve learned that value comes from overseas, weak dollar and shipping costs notwithstanding. There are tons of great $25 wines out there for the finding, and even lots of delicious $15 bottles out there for more everyday use, but only a precious few of them are from Washington in my experience. It’s a bad place for the local industry to be if you ask me.
Wow, judging from the comments, I wasn’t aware that wine could be made from sour grapes.
clearly they never tasted the amazing wines from Celaeno!!
There are no doubt some great wines on this list, but as Dave pointed out, they’re all the expensive ones. Are the only great wines in Washington expensive? Not by any means, but those wineries that make great wines at low prices may not have sent in their wines for judging. Who knows. There are plenty of great wines out in Washington for great prices.
I don’t necessarily call into question the wines or the prices, but I do call into question the testing method. Groups of four to six: Who are they and what are their backgrounds? Also, were they allowed to speak during judging? If so, that basically throws out all scores because if one person put forth an opinion, it immediately influences the decision of the others in the group. Judging wine in groups should be silent or it shouldn’t be done at all!
Dan – Thanks for the clarification. I guess I misread it in that I thought that just the rating scale was from Sean and not the actual ratings. I’ve never really cared for Sullivan’s reviews so this list is now meaningless to me. Seattle Met Magazine should seriously hire someone else for wine reviews.
Dave,
A couple of things to note when comparing this list to the Wine Spectator Top 100 list. Wine Spectator’s list is based on a combination of score, price, production, and an x factor they refer to as ‘excitement.’ This favors wines at high scores relative to their prices and also favors wines at higher production levels, which of course also impacts the price. This also allows the magazine to create a list that is balanced in whatever manner they desire – region, wine type, etc. In contrast, I created this list based solely on score, ignoring price, availability, and other factors.
You asked regarding the number of white wines in the Top 100, “…do Washington winemakers not make much great white wine, or does this reflect the bias of the taster(s)?” Personally, I think there is no question that there is a much greater abundance of excellent to exceptional red wine in Washington compared to white wine. While taster bias is always possible, if you look at the percentage of white wines versus red wines that scored highly in Wine Spectator in the last year, you will also find it strongly weighted toward red wines. It is, however, also important to note that red wines comprised approximately three-quarters of the wines sampled in creating this list.
Regarding price, I too was disappointed not to see more highly rated wines at lower price points. However, keep in mind that the ‘Rest of the Best’ list, which contains red wines that received 90-point ratings and is only available on-line, has 20 wines that are $25 or less. There is value to be had!
Finally, I do believe, as your friends suggest, that one of Washington’s strengths is value. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the wines are always inexpensive. Rather it means you are getting higher quality wine for the price compared to similarly priced wines from other regions. To wit, in a popular on-line wine discussion forum, readers have been marveling at the prices of the wines on this list compared to their peers in California! It’s all relative I guess.
Sean
Carl – Read the sidebar again the wines were tasted in groups of 4 to 6 by one person, Sean Sullivan. I don’t think he has any formal training other than a wine blog. Not sure if that really makes him an expert or not?
Forgot Obelisco?
Sean, thanks for the comments on the list. I did suspect that the selection criteria were different for your list vs. the Wine Spectator list, and I suppose there’s room for both approaches. I do wish though that someone would make a list of best Washington wines that also included price as a criteria. I think such a list would be of more use to more people.
What you say about value being relative is certainly true. If you’re comparing Washington’s most expensive wines vs. Napa or Bordeaux’s most expensive, there’s no question that Washington will come out ahead. But, at the price points most people drink most of the time, I still think Washington doesn’t compare very well vs. its comptetition in inexpensive imports. I see really excellent AND inexpensive wine coming from Spain, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, France, Austria and Italy, just to name a few places. I tried a couple of the inexpensive Washington wines in the Spectator list, and although I thought they were competently made, they didn’t excite me in the least. I find lots of exciting wine in the $15 – $20 range from around the world though – and even from some of the less-touted regions in California. For Washington though, I can count the interesting, inexpensive wines I know of on the fingers of two hands.
To be fair, I did really enjoy my trip over to Chelan last summer, and I tasted some really good whites and good Syrah there. I thought the Chelan prices were pretty reasonable, if not quite inexpensive. Chelan might possibly be the answer to Washington’s lack of good white wine production. It seemed like a good climate for some of the cooler-climate white grapes, and wineries there seem to put a little more effort into white production than average.
I was down in the Willamette Valley recently too. On that trip I found some great, inexpensive whites and even some decent, inexpensive reds. Granted, Pinot Noir is more up my alley tastewise than most of the reds we do up here in Washington. Pinot Noir is (usually!) light-bodied with great aromatics, and relatively easy-to-drink, all of which add up to pleasure in my book. I’m finding more and more things I want to drink down there at prices I can afford.
So, I hope that the Washington wine industry can find a way to produce more really excellent AND inexpensive wine. As it is, you’ve got to be rich to afford the really good Washington stuff, while for those of us in the middle and down, it’s either mostly mediocre, or imports. I see some hints of hope, but the industry has a long, long way to go yet in my opinion before it will really compete in the part of the market where most people – even most real wine appreciators – buy and drink a lot of wine.
It is interesting to see which wines were forwarded by the respective wineries in context of their overall lineup. Maybe they know Sullivan’s palate and targeted it but I hope they aren’t that cynical. There is pretty wide consensus on the top 15 or so producers in the state and many of his top ranked wines were also well regarded by Steven Tanzer. Sour grapes indeed.
I spent 2 or 3 days tasting in Washington this summer, and brought back at least a half dozen wines on this list. In my limited survey, I found few white wines of true quality and was disappointed in the overall value, so from my perspective Mr. Sullivan has acquitted himself well.
Are WA wines better values than Napa Cab? Perhaps, but the Syrahs are perhaps a worse value than what a careful shopper can find from CA. I enjoyed many of the wines but I didn’t get much sense of vineyard expression. A consistent climate and quality winemaking creates a lot of very good but not profound juice. Admittedly, I have yet to try a Cayuse.
A couple of the wineries tried to slag down CA Chardonnay. Sorry folks but you shouldn’t bother trying to grow Chardonnay in WA and STFU with the insecurity complex over California. The whites are not where WA is at and all the faux local pride, which appears to be a regional trait, won’t make them any better. I have enjoyed some WA white Rhones but they are not yet a general strength.
Are you kidding me! You did forget one the best Red Mtn. wines. Obelisco Estate.
Thanks for the guidance! So this is all the notes and opinions of one writer? Good to know.
Thanks
Who were the judges on this tasting panel and what were their qualifications for assessing these wines? Thanks
Hi Steven, an explanation of the rankings is in a sidebar on the right. It’s titled “How We Ranked the Wines.”
I’m surprised by a few, and with Tenor making the list…let alone rating so high my opinion of this list just went down.