Though labeled Columbia Valley, this is actually Wahluke Slope fruit, 100% varietal. Licorice, smoke and herbs race up the spine, rounded out with black fruits, fig, tobacco and coffee. Good grip and length.
— P.G.
(5/1/2010)
Behind a Plain Jane label is a wine with real force. Densely packed with kirsch and chocolate flavors, this wine rests on top of bright acidity, that seems to punch the fruit down and into the palate, while setting up the toasty barrel flavors and taking some of the rough edge off the tannins. Decant it.
— P.G.
(11/1/2011)
Kiona vineyard fruit, given 32 months in new French oak, yields a very smooth, chocolaty wine, loaded with mocha and caramel flavors. Black cherry and cassis fruit is nuanced with Red Mountain notes of iron and earth. It does a quick fade; perhaps extra decanting would lengthen it out a bit.
— P.G.
(5/1/2010)
A nice effort, loaded with round, sweet berry and currant fruit, mocha, baking spices and toasty caramel. The acids poke out a bit, and the tannins have a slightly green edge, somewhat masked by residual sweetness, but all in all it’s a very pleasant and drinkable wine.
— P.G.
(11/1/2009)
This unusual rosé is a very quaffable, lightly grassy, plum-pink wine that is sure to stand out in any tasting of rosés. The fruit is a mix of strawberry, raspberry and nougat, really quite tasty.
— P.G.
(11/1/2009)
Though it’s 80% Syrah, the rest of this wine includes all five Bordeaux grapes. It smells and tastes powerfully of new French oak, wrapped around sweet cherry and cola flavors. Cedary and chocolaty through the finish, it carries a suggestion of sweetness, though it’s listed as bone dry.
— P.G.
(5/1/2010)
Barbera grapes from a Lake Chelan vineyard are blended with 25% Sangiovese from the Yakima Valley. It’s an interesting wine, with pretty strawberry fruit, tart acidity and a wall of tannin that cuts it short. The components are starkly apparent, but with time may ultimately blend into a more seamless expression of what seems to be good fruit.
— P.G.
(11/1/2011)
High-toned, with somewhat muted fruit – waxy comes to mind – yet with appealing softness and immediate drinkability. It’s non-vintage, a blend of two Cabernets, Merlot and Syrah, streaked with vanilla.
— P.G.
(5/1/2010)