Tasting Notes from the West Coast:

In honor of the upcoming wine bloggers' conference this weekend in Walla Walla, Washington, here are some recent notes from the Random Oenophile's West Coast correspondent James Bassett. All the content below is his. We're looking forward to visiting with him in Seattle next week. As you can see, he finds good stuff, both wine and stories (and we agreed on the "Southern Crossing," as you'll see next week):

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah Volume II
Charles & Charles
Mattawa, WA

The label looks like a poster for a low-rent circus coming to town, but fortunately this 50/50 blend isn’t nearly as egregiously gregarious. Light on the palate, not too tannic or oakey, and initially intensely plummy, though a surprising complexity develops through the long finish, with blackberry, plum, and spicy, acerbic cranberry riding on soft, sweet tannins. A hint of chocolate and even the vaguest touch of tobacco develop at the very end.

2007 Night and Day “Southern Crossing”
A to Z Wineworks, Rogue Valley, OR
36% Cab Sauv, 26% Merlot, 20% Syrah, 10% Sangiovese, 4% Grenache, 4% Cab Franc

Don’t let the mongrel blend fool you -- this is no mutt! A juicy Very Berry blast up front, tempered by spice and pepper, slowly gives way to a backbone of olives (*lots* of olives!), darker fruit, tobacco, and a slaty minerality that bites hard on the front of the tongue. The slate fades into cocoa in a long, slow finish. This wine gets *much* brighter as it open up -- taste it immediately after opening the bottle, then wait for 10 minutes before pouring a full glass, and you will be quite (pleasantly) surprised.

Corvidae Wine Company, Columbia Valley, WA
“Rook” 2007 CSM -- 17% Cab. Sauv., 57% Merlot, 26% Syrah

Full of fruit from the Merlot, with dark fruits like cassis, blueberry, and plum predominating thanks to the addition of the Cabernet, which also adds cocoa and rich tannins, but brilliantly balanced with smokey Syrah spices. Notes of leather, pepper, vanilla, and chocolate sneak in as well. This is a big, big wine, but it doesn’t quite manage to hide the heat from the alcohol. Perhaps the best CSMs I’ve ever encountered (though still not as spectacular as Corvidae’s The Keeper), but get it soon -- this vintage feels like it’s just on the downside of its prime.

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
Barnard Griffin
Columbia Valley, WA

Berries (lots of ‘em!), plum, and cherry balance perfectly against an acerbic minerality and vanilla oak, with hints of mocha above and below. Bright and tart and surprisingly smooth, and all for less than $20 from a family-owned winery that is among the best in our fair state, with scads of awards (this particular wine is a double platinum award winner from Wine Press Northwest).

2007 Naked Cabernet Sauvignon
Snoqualmie Vineyards
Columbia Valley, WA

Tart cherry, currant, and cranberry aromas. The taste is full of fresh young fruit and herbs (definitely sage; is that licorice, too?), with a medium-bodied tannic backbone and some slightly sharp spice notes trailing off into a hint of oak in the finish.

Snoqualmie sells no wine for more than $26 (and many for considerably less -- this bottle was just $10), and all of their “Naked” wines are made with 100% USDA-certified organic grapes.

2006 Bombing Range Red
McKinley Springs Winery
Horse Heaven Hills, WA
Another blend, this one 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cab Franc, 8% Syrah, and 4% Mourvedre. (Yes, all of these grapes grow in Washington -- and very nicely, too, thank you very much!)

According to the back label, during WWII the Army “asked” families in the Horse Heaven Hills to leave their farms so the area could be used to train fighter pilots. If all those munitions had an effect on the soil, it wasn’t a bad one. The Cab character comes through the strongest right off the bat, of course, but the rest of the blend smooths it out into a mellower, medium-bodied drink. This is a tasty wine, full of plums, cassis, and cherries and other dark fruit., but cedar, sage, and subtle tannins keep this safe from “fruit bomb” status.

Bottle-aged, this is a fairly small production and not widely distributed -- like the Renegade, there isn’t even a UPC code, so even in the PNW you’ll have to look for this in specialty shops, but it’s worth it for a good lazy afternoon kind of wine.

Tasting Notes from the West Coast

It's so nice to have friends who are willing to drink for you! I recently received some more tasting notes on Washington wines from West Coast Correspondent James Bassett. All content below is his:

Renegade Wine Co.
2008 Red Wine
Columbia Valley, WA

“Glasses? We don’t need no stinking glasses!” So it says on the label, which looks almost hand-made -- in fact, there’s not even a UPC code, so good luck finding this anywhere but in Washington, is my guess. (Although I found this at QFC, which is Pacific Northwestern for "Kroger,” so who knows....)

Still, you ought to try -- and you’ll want a glass to help capture and concentrate the faint aroma. Fortunately, the taste itself is much bolder. There’s oakey Cabernet here, lighter, the sweetness of fruitier Merlot, and . . . Sangiovese? Something cedary and earthy and a wee bit spicy, with plum, cassis and black cherry. Considering the label (and the $10 price) this was a gamble, but I’m very happy with the result. It is somewhat rough around the edges, but this seems like it should age well for at least 2-5 years.

"For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore --
Nameless here forever more." -- Poe, The Raven

Corvidae Wine Company, Columbia Valley, WA
“Lenore” 2007 Syrah
My next try from David O’Reilly’s latest venture, the “Lenore” Syrah is medium-bodied with a deceptively tenuous nose. Take a sip, though, and dark black raspberry and smokiness practically explodes into the mouth. Spice, some hints of flowers (lavender?), fruity but with a smoldering backbone that keeps it from being too syrupy and a lingering lightly tannic finish. Better than its price would have you think, although it’s still not nearly as good as The Keeper -- but what could be?

Tasting Notes: Washington Wines (from Pacific Coast correspondent)

One of the best things about being into wine is the people you meet and get to hang out with. Sometimes these people will even step up and drink wine for you if you're away (like Dan) or they'll take notes and send them even after moving all the way across the country. Hence the following notes from the Pacific Coast correspondent for the Random Oenophile blog, James Bassett, who is always happy to share about the wonderful wines he gets to drink in Seattle:

From a Washington wine tasting:

2008 Cavatappi Stimulus Package
white (blend unknown)
Plenty of ripe, bright peachy fruit. Easy to drink. Some minerality keeps it from being too sweet. Nice -- great summer quaffer! Wahluke Slope.

2008 Naches Heights Vineyards Riesling
Wide, faintly apricot nose. Short, buttery attack gives way almost immediately to a fruity Riesling palate.Great acidity, full-bodied. Off dry style. From the highest Riesling block in Washington.

2007 Naches Heights Vineyards Syrah
Beautifully smoky/dusty/plummy aroma. Licorice. Elegant, rich flavor, dark berries and pepper. Gold medal - Sunshine and Wine Competition. Grown at 1800’ elevation on the Goat Rocks Andesite lava flow.

2006 Willow Crest Cabernet Franc
Light yet flavorful bright red bouquet of berries and sweet cherry, faintly dusty undertones. Long, tantalizing finish, with vaguely citrusy afterhints of carambola or other tropical fruit.

2006 Ross Andrew "Glaze" Cabernet Sauvignon
100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Ciel du Cheval, Alderidge and Klipsun vineyards. Complex nose of dark fruit, toast, bacon and vanilla. Tobacco? Loads of plums, cassis, and raspberries finishing with spice and a touch of pepper. Dry but not necessarily tannic.

Other wines:

Corvidae Wine Company, Columbia Valley, WA
The Keeper 07 Cabernet Franc

From David O'Reilly, one of the brightest stars of PNW winemaking. A stunning, full-bodied Cab Franc, with a rich nose of tobacco and lush vegetation, like walking through deep forest after a rain. Smoky, smooth tannins. The flavor adds cedar, spice, bell pepper, cassis, and dark currants to the tobacco, and finishes with a surprising hint of olive. Powerful in ways beyond its 14.1% alcohol content. Tastes even darker and more mysterious than it looks, and the label is the best I’ve ever seen -- a true work of art by itself.

Sagelands Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Columbia Valley, Washington

Ripe fruit nose with a hint of licorice and chocolate. Dark black/blueberry and cherry palate. Smooth, subtle tannins with a leather/tobacco backbone lead into a lingering licorice and cocoa finish. Very very nice.

Go Girl Red 07
Working Girl Wines, Columbia Valley (WA)
71% merlot, 29% cab franc
Fruity nose. Exceedingly jammy -- blackberry, a hint of vanilla, light and yummy, but a bit too sweet. Long, strong finish, higher on the palate

Winery also makes Working Girl White (Chardonnay/Riesling), Rose the Riveter, and Handyman Red (Bordeaux). I'll try those next. The reds, at least....

Hedges CMS Red 2007
Hedges Family Estate, Columbia Valley (WA)
42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 51% Merlot and 7% Syrah.

Beautiful red-purple color with a deep, tannic nose. Bright vanilla fills the mouth on first taste, full of berries (red, black, and blue), cloves, and earthy coffee. The vanilla stays high on the palate as toast (yum!), cloves, and tannic earthiness develop into a long, slightly aggressive finish. Very, very nice -- probably ties with the Sagelands for my second favorite Washington wine (after The Keeper) so far. In a more European tradition, The winemakers apparently prefer minimal “intervention” with all of their wines, so this is only lightly filtered. (and vegan!); this may be responsible for that unexpected (but not at all unpleasant) aggressiveness at the end.

James is a sculptor, freelance editor, and author in Seattle, Washington. You can find out more about him at his web site.