Archive for the ‘Washington State Wine’ Category
Varietal: 100% Syrah
Region: Red Mountain – Washington – USA
Cost: $25
Winemaker’s Notes: Earth, fennel spice and structure, the hallmarks of a great Red Mountain syrah, framed by classic French Oak barrels.
My Review: With the wife out of town for a work conference that can mean only one thing – George is cooking steak and drinking red wine. The grill fired up and a steak cooking away, I pulled out one of my always handy corkscrews (since I have like a dozen of them) and popped open the 2009 Hedges DLD Syrah.
Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Region: Columbia Valley – Washington
Cost: $14 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Intense northern latitude west coast style. Angular, sharp, and grown for food consumption. Apple, flint, citrus, and stone define the palette. A classic north west style.
My Review: As you’ll recall, when I had the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from the Hedges Family, I didn’t hate it, but I also wasn’t in love with it. Because of that, as I was opening up the 2010 Chardonnay, I was, understandably, a bit apprehensive. I’ve enjoyed their reds so far, so I kinda wanted to enjoy the whites as well. I shouldn’t have been worried.
Varietal: 36% Cabernet Sauvignon; 33% Merlot; 14% Syrah; 11% Cabernet Franc; 6% Malbec
Region: Washington – USA
Cost: $25
Winemaker’s Notes: Flagship wine of the estate, the HFE Red Mountain consistently displays dense color, firm tannins, and well-defined acidity. Always a majority blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, this wine is suitable for drinking upon release, but will reward those with the patience to age it. This wine represents all vineyard blocks farmed within the Hedges Family Estate vineyard portfolio. A true chateau-production bottling, the HFE Red Mountain is the epitome of classic style, and one that represents the Terroir of the Red Mountain AVA in a pure and elegant form.
My Review: Oh big red wines, how I enjoy you. A couple of weeks ago the folks over at Hedges Family Estates sent me a sampling of their portfolio to check out, and included in that was two bottles of the 2008 Red Mountain. On my wife’s recent trip to South Carolina with her parents to visit her brother and his wife I sent one of those bottles with her to share with her brother. Her early report was that it was a steak wine, so the other night we grilled up some steak and lobster tails and popped open the other bottle.
Varietal: 77% Sauvignon Blanc; 20% Chardonnay; 3% Marsanne
Region: Columbia Valley – Washington – USA
Cost: $14
Winemaker’s Notes: Bright, lively aromas of ripe pear, grapefruit peel, caramel apple, and orange blossom. The palate is lean, angular, and well defined, emphasizing the virtues of structure and elegance.
My Review: I don’t think I’ve made any secret to my enjoyment of Sauvignon Blanc over the past few years, which is why when I received a box of samples from Hedges Family Estate, I was happy to see a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, especially since I couldn’t remember having one from the state of Washington. I’m always looking to try new things.
Varietal: 100% Syrah
Region: Columbia Valley – Washington State
Cost: $25
Winemaker’s Notes: Spicy, deep plummy flavors and silky tones.
My Review: And so the final bottle of the samples sent to me by the Good Works Wine Club was finally opened. The closer I got to the Memorial Day weekend the more I knew that I would be opening this bottle then because Syrah and ribs are a great pairing, and I knew I was going to destroy me some ribs on Memorial Day. Mmmm…ribs.
The wine was a dark purplish-red in the glass and while I didn’t get much nose on it, there was some spice that came through after swirling the wine around a bit in the glass. In the mouth I got dark fruit and more of the spice from the nose, and all in all it was a nice enough pairing for the meal of ribs and corn on the cob that my wife and I shared with an old friend for Memorial Day.
Varietal: 92% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Sauvignon; 3% Cabernet Franc; “kiss” of Syrah
Region: Washington – USA
Cost: $13
Winemaker’s Notes: Entices the nose with aromas of blueberry, cassis, and hints of tobacco and spice aromas. The silky and sweet mid-palate introduces slight dusty, earthy, and rich berry notes with cumulate in the long and concentrated finish.
My Reviews: During a grocery run to Costco (a brand new one no less, stocked like I’ve never seen), my wife’s eye was caught by the label of the 2008 Horse Heaven Hills Merlot and since I’m always one to try new things, I encouraged her to add it to our cart. While putting away said groceries we threw a pizza in the oven and opened up the bottle we had just purchased since it was a Thursday night and such things call for a glass of wine.
