A flash mob of Columbia Valley's great wines at the Wine Bloggers Conference

If Napa Valley is the preeminent region for Bordeaux varietals in America, then I would consider Washington’s Columbia Valley as an emerging “1-A”.

 What makes the Columbia Valley unique? It could be the silty mineral-rich soils brought on by the ancient ice-age MissoulaFloods. Or it could be the geography of this northerly region – a high desert made bountiful by the mighty Columbia River. Or it could possibly be a climate where cold harsh winters are balanced by bright, sunny and warm summers that feature longer daylight hours than more southerly wine regions. All this is capped with a 40 degree diurnal shift from day to night temperatures. With these climatic advantages, the chief challenges are potential hard freezes in the winter.

These factors allow for wines with bold fruit and fresh acidity, along with vintages that are consistent from year to year. For me what distinguishes Washington reds, especially the Bordeaux varietals, are the vibrant red fruit-driven flavors solidly structured with mineral, tea and spice depth.

To its credit, the powers that be in Washington wine do a good job in teaching the educated wine consumer about its distinctiveness. From tasting rooms in the Columbia Valley, to seminars conducted during the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference (held in Walla Walla), they state their case clearly. And although this year’s Wine Bloggers Conference was held in Portland, the Washington Wine Commission managed to steal a little thunder with a seemingly impromptu tasting held on the Friday night of the conference.

Upon returning from the conference’s Friday excursions to the Willamette Valley, the nightcap of the day featured “The Night of Many Bottles”. This was an event where attendees donated bottles for a walkabout self serve tasting held in a hotel ballroom. If it sounds like organized chaos, it was. Nevertheless it was a good opportunity to pick and choose some special wines to taste. Fittingly, there was dizzying array of options. I noted a few of the wines that I tasted. Click the link for tasting notes.

It was pushing late night by the time I made my way through the ballroom for The Night of Many Bottles. Then suddenly, and in what seemed like a flash mob, the Washington Wine Commission had set up shop at a table in the hotel lobby. With them were several big reds from the Columbia Valley being poured from magnums. The vintages spanned from 2006 to 2010 with names like Leonetti, Buty, and Col Solare. Click here for tasting notes on the 7wines that were tasted.

This was a closely knit group of wines from a quality standpoint. All were excellent examples of the Columbia Valley region. My standouts were the 2008 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, coming from Columbia Crest’s top vineyard sites and aged in new French oak for 25 months. This was noteworthy for a massive structure that held savory complexity to balance its silky elegance. It’s a beautiful wine and quite a value at around $40. I also loved the 2009 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate Red from Red Mountain. This is a Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend from two top vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA (Ciel du Cheval and Klipson). It featured focused mineral, savory and cherry notes along with nice depth. Finally, another Red Mountain Cabernet-based blend that soared was the 2008 Terra Blanca Onyx. It comes from the Terra Blanca estate vineyard and is aged for 32 months in mostly new French oak barrels. Here lied a youthful darker savory fruit profile along with nice depth and feel, and another good value at around the $50 mark. I tasted late 90’s vintages of Onyx at the winery two years ago that were still very young wines; this seems to be on a similar trajectory.

Look for world-class reds at reasonable prices from the Columbia Valley. You don’t have to look far.

Red Teeth on Red Mountain- A Visit to the Red Mountain AVA

People in the know about Washington wine often call Red Mountain the "crown jewel" of Washington AVA's. Last month I attended the Wine Bloggers Conference post-conference excursion to the Red Mountain AVA. The Red Mountain vintners and growers who hosted my group set out to make us believe it.

Red Mountain is located just east of the Yakima Valley AVA, and just north of the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. It's the smallest of Washington's AVA's, distinguished by it's tributary (Yakima River), its sand and clay silt loam soils left from ice age glacial floods, and its gentle slope up the 1400 foot Red Mountain. The weather is high desert climate; with only 4 to 6 inches of rain a year, hot summer days, moderating breezes, cool evenings, and a long growing season. All these factors combine to create a terroir well-suited for the Bordeaux red varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, as well as Rhone varietals such as Syrah.

After meeting the group at Terra Blanca Winery, we headed up the slope to Col Solare. Col Solare is an instant classic of a wine estate; founded in 1992 as a partnership between Chateau Ste Michelle and the Antinori family of Tuscany. It produces one of Washington's preeminent wines. Col Solare's red wine, a blend of mostly Bordeaux varietals with just a touch of Syrah, is sourced from top vineyards throughout Red Mountain, Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope, and Horse Heaven Hills- including Col Solare's Red Mountain estate vineyard.

The modern and stately winery is beautifully situated toward the top of the Red Mountain slope. It overlooks the Red Mountain AVA below as well as the Horse Heaven Hills in the distance. We listened to the story of the winery on the patio overlooking the vineyards, then headed into the aging cellars to taste the 2006 Col Solare, Columbia Valley ($80). Aged in 100% new French (75%) and American (25%) oak, the 2006 is a wine of great beauty, finesse, and seamless structure. It is marked by mineral, cherry, and spice aromas; and beautiful lush black fruit, spice, and vanilla across the palate. Lush and rich in tannic structure, this is a stunner that I'd love to watch develop over time. As an added bonus, we tasted the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon component for the blend from barrel- a promising preview...

After the tasting, we hiked through the vineyards and down the slope to Hedges Cellars. Learning along the way about some of the prevailing viticultural philosophies of Red Mountain growers (covered later at Ciel Du Cheval Vineyard).

Finally, at Hedges Cellars, we were greeted by Christophe Hedges. Christophe, the national sales manager, expressed strong opinions to the group about the importance and distinction of estate wines- grown and produced. He talked with conviction about his belief in Red Mountain as unique terroir, and about how Hedges strives to maintain this in their wines. He tied in the role of critics and wine ratings to diminishing the unique terroir of places like Red Mountain and other areas throughout the wine world.

From there, we headed into the aging cellars to taste Red Mountain wines side by side with landmark wines from other famous regions. The pairings included:

~2007 Obolisco Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain with 2007 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley- comparing the former's leafy savory fruit elegance with the latter's powerfully lush structure and rich dark spicy fruit. Two different expressions of Cabernet, both excellent wines.

~2008 Descendant's Liegeois Dupont Syrah, Red Mountain with 2008 Kaesler Shiraz, Barossa Valley- comparing the former's musky & gamey tobacco and fruit with the latter's lush black fruit and sweet spice. Distinctly different Syrah/Shiraz with great results.

~2006 Hedges Family Estate, Red Mountain with 2006 Chateau Talbot, St-Julien- comparing the gamey black fruit & musky herb/spice notes & silky minty structure of the former with the latter's dusty tobacco and spice & mineral fruit. An incredible comparison, both great wines.

~2006 Goedhart Family Bel' Villa Syrah, Red Mountain with 2006 René Rostaing, Côte Rôtie- both exhibiting a wild and free gaminess along with brambly fruit, tea, and mineral- along with various spice accents. What a couple of magical Syrahs!

Lesson learned- the wines of Red Mountain stand toe to toe with world class wines from more famous regions. If there's an identifier of Red Mountain that I'm picking up at this point of the day, it's fine structure and elegance... and ripe fruit delivered deftly yet powerfully. This was the common thread that I picked up from Red Mountain on this day.

From there we were off, just down the way, to the famous Ciel Du Cheval Vineyard. Originally developed in 1975 and planted with Riesling, Chadonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon; Ciel Du Cheval is now most known for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. Its wines have averaged 92 point scores from major publications over the last 5 years.

We were greeted by owner, Jim Holmes. Mr. Holmes talked about his philosophies on vineyard and people management. The vineyard workers don't work when the temperature hits 95 degrees. He practices his own brand of sustainable farming, deeming sulfur sprays as harmful to the soil, his people, and surrounding lands (sulfur is approved for use in organic farming). They don't change the soil composition by introducing organic compounds and composts. And the vineyards is developing alternatives to use of artificial fertilizers. We then got our hands dirty with the soil, learning how to distinguish the different types of soil by how it responds to moisture.

Such Washington luminaries as Quilceda Creek, Andrew Will, and Januik make wines from Ciel Du Cheval.

Finally, it was back to Terra Blanca Winery. Located toward the bottom of the Red Mountain slope, Terra Blanca is a grand setting for a winery. It's set among its vineyards with grand views of the Horse Heaven Hills. Proprietors Keith and Renae Pilgrim led us into the cellar for a vertical tasting of Terra Blanca's Onyx- a Bordeaux blend from their Red Mountain estate vineyards. We tasted the 2006, 2001, and 1999- all very enjoyable with savory, spicy, minerals, and earthy depth; and laced with lush refined fruit and elegance. The older two wines very much exhibiting and enhanced depth and silky feel.

From there it was on to a grand tasting of Red Mountain wines from various vintners, and then a Spanish-style barbecue dinner on the patio of Terra Blanca overlooking the Horse Heaven Hills at sunset.

What a wonderful day, complete with great wines and great learning about this beautiful area of Washington. This was a wonderful close to my time in Pacific Northwest wine country. For more pictures of the Red Mountain AVA, click the link.