(no subject)
The Yakima Valley, along with the area around Walla Walla, is becoming the new wine mecca. Bold, fruity varieties grow well here - Merlot, Syrah, etc. Pinot Noir doesn't do so well here, as it's a wussy grape that can't stand the cold.
I personally like my red wines with lots of tannins, and my whites as dry as possible, so my taste preferences might not be for everyone.
This weekend, I did a little tasting, as I was in town for the Yakima Symphony concert. I visited 5 wineries in the space of four days. I only like to taste at 2 to 3 wineries at a time, otherwise everything just blends together and I get murky on the details (hic!)
The first winery I visited was Preston, located just north of Pasco, WA. They are the 3rd oldest winery in WA state, after Chateau St. Michelle and Columbia Crest. I tasted their "Estate" wines, paid my tasting fee and got my souvenir glass. The lady working the counter was uber sweet and gave me 8 pours when she was supposed to give me 5. All of the wines I tasted were lovely, but the one outstanding one was the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. It was rich, mellow, and smooth while feeling "fat in the mouth" if that makes any sense. (I don't pretend to speak wine, I only can write my own impressions.) Definitely a wine for mature tastes only. I was disappointed when I clicked on Preston's home page, as it sang an annoying jingle at me, but you can cut to the chase and just go to the wine page: http://www.prestonwines.com/index.php?ID=46
Wineglass Cellars, in Zillah, was the next one I went to. I didn't love their wines universally, as they were inconsistent from wine to wine, but they had a few standouts, including their 2007 Merlot, their 2006 Capizimo blend (Cab. Sauv, Merlot, Sangiovese, Malbec, and Cab. Franc), and their wonderfully surprising 2007 Zinfandel. I tried their "Reserve" 2006 Syrah but wasn't too impressed. http://www.wineglasscellars.com/Our_wines.htm
I constantly gush about a little boutique winery in Walla Walla called El Corazon, run by a lovely young gentleman named Spencer and his equally lovely wife Jen. Spencer usually has only three or so varieties of wine released at a time, and frequently sells out, so I usually buy while the buying's good. I love boutique wineries like his, that make consistent, decently priced, drinkable wines that are artfully crafted.
In that vein, Cultura, located in Zillah, is my new favorite boutique winery, run by a lovely couple named Tad and Sarah. They had three releases, all of which were lovely and quite reasonable for the quality. I deliberated long and hard whether to get the Cabernet Franc/Merlot 50-50 blend, but eventually settled on a Cab. Sauv. Their tasting room was lovely, and I can't wait to see it in summer when the walls open up to connect with an outside courtyard complete with wrought-iron furniture. Their webpage won't sing annoyingly at you: http://www.culturawine.com/
Next, we headed to Severino Cellars, also in Zillah. They had a fairly consistent selection of wines to enjoy. They didn't post on their website that they had a tasting fee, but a lot of wineries do nowadays. Most of them don't charge if you buy something, but nothing moved me to purchase... I found their Viognier rather sweet and bland. Their red blend was nice, and affordable to boot, but didn't inspire me to pull out my wallet. http://www.severinocellars.com/wines/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx
The last winery in Zillah we visited was Bonair. The grounds are absolutely lovely. Not so much the wines, or the website: http://www.bonairwine.com/ Granted, I didn't pay a tasting fee and get to sample the reserve wines, but I did have an unimpressive Chardonnay, an acceptable 2008 Cab. Franc, and a mediocre red blend with the unfortunate name of "Bung Dog".
This concludes my wine tour for this evening. Thanks for reading!