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.