A colorful collection of labels from christophe baron edited

Washington: Various Shades of Hot

United States: Washington, featured

Stephen Tanzer, Oct 2017

Washington’s recent streak of hot years has yielded an unprecedented number of outstanding wines. But each of these vintages has come with its own set of challenges.

2017 07 29 16.05.29 copy

Cayuse Vineyards’ Syrah Bionic Frog: 2000 – 2014

United States: Washington, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured

Stephen Tanzer, Oct 2017

Christophe Baron’s adventures in Walla Walla Valley quickly bore fruit. Since the turn of the new century his wines — especially his Syrahs — have consistently stood out from the crowd in Washington State. Baron’s Bionic Frog bottling is the best of them, as a comprehensive recent vertical tasting made clear.

Abeja's mill creek estate vineyard  on the northeast side of walla walla copy

Focus on Washington: Hot Times in the Desert

United States: Washington, featured

Stephen Tanzer, Nov 2016

The recent string of extra-hot years has forced Washington State’s growers and winemakers to respond proactively to extreme conditions. But the most successful players have been able to harvest strong raw materials and produce seriously rich, balanced wines.

2016 06 30 13.00.40 copy

2007 Long Shadows Vintners Collection Poet’s Leap Riesling

United States: Washington, Cellar Favorites

Stephen Tanzer, Jul 2016

The Poet’s Leap Riesling, the only white wine made under the Long Shadows umbrella, has been an unfailing crowd pleaser—not to mention remarkably consistent in quality—since its first vintage in 2003.

A view of walla walla valley from seven hills vineyard

Washington Turns Up the Heat

United States: Washington, featured

Stephen Tanzer, Nov 2015

Two thousand twelve brought a return to normal—not too hot, not too cold . . . just right. This “perfectly average vintage,” as a number of growers described it, was also Washington’s easiest in many years, both in the vineyards and in the wineries.

Benches vineyard vinous

New Releases from Washington State

United States: Washington, featured

Stephen Tanzer, Dec 2014

The more I taste the better 2011 red wines from Washington State, the more excited I become about this vintage—and the more I wonder whether the warmest areas within the Columbia Valley’s high desert are just too hot in some years to make elegant, naturally balanced wines.

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The Best New Wines from Washington State

IWC, United States: Washington

Stephen Tanzer, Nov 2013

Wine lovers who stopped following Washington's wines may hardly recognize what the state is up to these days

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New Releases from Washington State

IWC, United States: Washington

Stephen Tanzer, Nov 2012

If Washington State's top producers are indeed aiming to make wines of greater finesse, as is the trend nowadays across much of the New World, their efforts have been facilitated by a pair of back-to-back cooler growing seasons in 2010 and 2011

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Top New Releases from Washington State

IWC, United States: Washington

Stephen Tanzer, Nov 2011

If you're an inveterate Francophile when it comes to structured red wines and have always been skeptical of those upstarts in Washington State, the 2008 vintage offers a perfect opportunity to give these wines a shot

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New Releases from Washington State

IWC, United States: Washington

Stephen Tanzer, Nov 2010

As 2007 by now has gained a reputation as one of Washington’s most outstanding and complete vintages of the past generation, this vintage from the state’s better producers has sold well, even in this moribund economy.