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Washington State 2021 and 2020: From the Frying Pan to the Fire
United States: Washington, featured
, Jan 2024
The smoke-plagued 2020 vintage produced wines that are significantly better than originally expected. By comparison, the 2021s show the effects of unrelenting heat and a compressed season. Despite those challenges, top producers found balance in creating opulent wines that will please a broad audience.
Making History: 21 Vintages of Leonetti’s Red Wine Reserve
United States: Washington, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Oct 2023
Leonetti remains one of the leading producers of Bordeaux blends, not just in Washington State, but worldwide. Gary and Chris Figgins joined me for a tasting of twenty-one vintages of their Red Wine Reserve for this vertical.
Rhônes on the Rise: Washington State Takes the Lead
United States: Washington, featured
, Aug 2023
It’s about time Rhône varieties in Washington State receive the recognition they deserve. In addition to high-quality producers making wines that can compete with established global benchmarks, I found a surge in unique, terroir-driven and unforgettable reds of the highest caliber on my most recent trip to the region.
Against All Odds: Washington State’s 2020s and 2019s
United States: Washington, featured
, Mar 2023
In the face of many challenges, Washington State winemakers are working hard to prove the quality of their wines and terroir. Battling the conditions of the 2020 vintage is just the tip of the iceberg. This is winemaking in the extreme.
Cellar Favorite: 2018 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
United States: Washington, Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Sep 2022
There are very few wines that I personally seek out year after year. For a wine to become a recurring purchase for my cellar, it takes a proven track record, unparalleled quality among. peers, vintage-to-vintage consistency and. relative value. The Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon is such a wine, even with steady price increase over the past ten years.
Washington Waltzes in 2018, Slowly Marches on in 2019
United States: Washington, featured
, Mar 2022
My inaugural Washington report for Vinous focuses on the exceptional 2018 vintage, as well as some bottlings from 2019 and a smattering of 2020s. Of these vintages, red and white wines from 2018 stand tall among the others and complete what is arguably the finest lineup of Washington wines in the last 20 years.
Washington: Neither Smoke Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Frost of Night…
United States: Washington, featured
, Dec 2020
Since enduring record heat in 2015, Washington’s growers and winemakers have enjoyed an unprecedented string of very good to exceptional vintages. Even 2020, so tricky in Oregon and parts of California owing to massive wildfires up and down the West Coast, appears to have been very successful in Washington. This year’s report features mostly red wines from 2018 and 2017 and whites from 2019 and 2018. All three of these growing seasons were capable of yielding outstanding wines.
DeLille Cellars Chaleur Blanc: 1995-2016
United States: Washington, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Jan 2020
DeLille Cellars’ Chaleur Blanc has been Washington State’s most consistently brilliant white wine since the mid-2000s. It has achieved an exceptional track record for longevity over a quarter-century of production, as this vertical back to 1995 showed.
New Releases from Washington: A Bonanza for Consumers
United States: Washington, featured
, Dec 2019
A trio of superb vintages and a glut of grapes have combined to give wine lovers the best chance yet to enjoy outstanding values from Washington.
Focus on Washington: The New Normal
United States: Washington, featured
, Nov 2018
Washington has experienced an unbroken succession of six very warm to hot years, but by now the state’s most serious growers and winemakers have proven that they can stand the heat. While there are underperformers in Washington, at the level of the better wineries quality has never been higher than it is today.