Columbia Valley

This is their basic Washington Cabernet Sauvignon.  It is a nice value and provides good quality for the money.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cassis, black cherries, slight bell pepper and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good balance.  On the palate, cassis and black cherries with underlying char.  Good finish. This drinks great on its own and will work well with typical Cab matches.  A nice wine with a sausage Pizza.  Drink over the next ten years.  

This is a really interesting wine.  From the great Champoux Vineyard in Columbia Valley, Washington.  Deep purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has plums, black raspberries and char.  Full bodied.  Tannins mostly resolved but still present.  Nice texture.  On the palate, boysenberries with char.  Good finish.  This is a great wine to get a feel for the Petit Verdot grape.  It drinks ok, but is better with food.  This would work well with a steak or Prime Rib.  

This is a blend of red wines after they have completed their single varietal bottlings.  It differs from vintage to vintage but tends to have Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel as the main grapes.  It is always a great value.  Purple in color with ruby swirls.  The nose has black cherries and cherries with some spice and char.  Medium bodied.  Good energy and well balanced.  On the palate, this drinks easy.  Nice black cherry and cherry fruit.  Good finish.  This is a perfect wine for mid-week pizza night.  Drink over the next five years.  

Washington state makes some excellent Merlots and "Right Bank" blends.  This is another case in point.  The wine is a blend of 55% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9% Cabernet Franc.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is classic and enticing.  Black cherries, cassis, bell pepper, chocolate, and spice.  Nice texture.  Great balance.  On the palate, at age eleven, this is showing a nice maturity.  perhaps just on the younger side of fully mature.  Complex and layered with flavors of cherries, black cherries, milk chocolate, and underlying earthiness and char.  Long

This is a lovely Washington Cabernet (from an Oregon producer).  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, dust and a slight minty note.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this has cassis, bell pepper and slight tobacco notes.  Some depth.  Still young but showing some evolution.  Nice finish.  This is a more traditional (not extracted) Cabernet that seems to speak of place.   It will improve with a bit of cellaring.  Drink over the next ten years.  

From the Oregon producer comes an interesting GSM blend out of Washington.  The wine is aged ten and though still in the marketplace, the winery has closed it doors for retirement.  It is a blend of 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah and 15% Mourvedre.  The color was quite light (about the same as their light colored Pinot), ruby, clear and bright.  The nose has some cherries with a touch of spice.  Light to medium bodied.  On the palate, there is some depth and complexity.  Cherry and earth.  Moderate finish.  I would have liked to taste this in its youth as I suspect its a bit past prime.  It was ha

As always, this is a blend of left over single varietal wines to make a value blend.  And as always, it is a great value.  This vintage is  mostly Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.  Deeper ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, char, spice and slight chocolate.  Lovely texture.  Bright acidity.  On the palate, black cherries, cherries with some char.  Good finish.  An easy to drink red that is nice on its own and a great wine with a Burger.  Drink over the next few years.  

The grapes for this wine come from the Wy'east vineyard.  Wy'east is the Native American name for Mt. Hood.  Light silvery gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose has pears, slight citrus and almond.  Light bodied.  On the palate, pears and citrus.  This is an easy drinking, lighter wine.  The folks at Sineann suggest Sushi as a pairing and that sounds about right.  Drink over the next year or two.  A very nice value.

Served blind.  Always a favorite, it seems this has come down in price over the years and is now an excellent value.  Light golden in color with some slight silvery hues, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with an outdoorsy/hay quality.  Also minerality and slight lemon/citrus notes.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  Nice texture.  On the palate, lemons with slight grapefruits.  Slightly clipped finish.  This drinks great on its own and is very food friendly.  It will go well with Thai food.  Drink over the next ten years.  

This is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 5% Malbec and 2% Petite Verdot from Washington state.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, char and slight dark chocolate.  Full bodied.  Silky tannins.  On the palate, black cherries, cassis, slight chocolate and a bit of spice.  Some minty and bitter cherry notes on the finish.  There is some depth here and it may improve a bit with short term cellaring.  It is nice on its own, but seemed better with food.  Of course, a burger would do, but it worked great with Felafel.  Drink over the next five to eight years.