Five Wines Under $15 - September 2013

In tough times, we continue the search for good, inexpensive wines.

The Owen Roe Sharescropper’s Cabernet Sauvignon is always something of a bellwether for a vintage, with the winery releasing the wine early each year. If so, it bodes well for the 2012 vintage red wines. Owen Roe first started making the Sharecropper wines in 2001, with the winery taking fruit from growers, making the wine, and then sharing the profits back.

The 2012 Owen Roe Sharecropper’s Cabernet brings a classic Northwest Cabernet Sauvignon profile of black olive, currant, and herbs. There’s little apparent new oak influence putting all of the focus squarely on the fruit. Drinking young now, give it some additional time in the bottle or a day open to see it at its best.

Sémillon seems to be somewhat of a forgotten grape in Washington. It peaked at a high of 3,600 tons produced in the mid-1990s but now rests at a mere 1,000 tons as of 2012. A good chunk of the fruit goes to L’Ecole No 41, which seems to be on a one-winery mission to restore its fortunes in Washington. L’Ecole makes a staggering 5,000+ cases of its Columbia Valley Sémillon alone. It also produces a Klipsun Vineyard designated Sémillon and a Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc blend, Luminesce, from Seven Hills Vineyard.

Count me among the people who are glad that L’Ecole continues to champion this grape (much as it does Chenin Blanc). It grows quite well in Washington, makes for a terrific - and often relatively inexpensive - wine, and can age exceedingly well in the right vintages. I recently had a Washington Sémillon that was ten years old and was in a sweet spot. How many other Washington whites could you say that about?


The Thurston Wolfe Dr. Wolfe’s Family Red is a classic kitchen sink-style blend of Lemberger, Primitivo, Petite Sirah and other varieties. Whereas often times wines like these seem thrown together, Wolfe’s skill as a winemaker and blender shine here.

The J Bookwalter Bookmark Red Wine 3NV is another interesting example of blending, with the winery blending across both varieties and vintages. The third iteration of this wine all comes from the cool 2010 and 2011 vintages, and it shows with the fruit flavors lighter and the acid higher. The wine is principally Syrah and drinks like it. A young wine, it improved considerably after a few hours open. Bookwalter is all in on this wine, making over 10,000 cases.

Finally, the 2012 Kung Fu Girl Riesling from Charles Smith Wines is notable in that it is the first released wine since Brennon Leighton (formerly of EFESTE) joined the winery last year. In addition to focusing on a to-be-named Chardonnay project - and from my barrel tastings, these wines look to be extraordinary - Leighton oversees whites and the majority of the other Charles Smith wines, with winemaker Andrew Latta continuing to oversee the top tier CSW offerings, such as the Royal City, as well as the K Vintners line.

Have a favorite Washington or Oregon wine under $15? Leave a comment and I’ll check it out.

Owen Roe Sharecropper’s Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2012 $15
(Excellent) Shows barely a trace of new oak with notes of black currant, olive, and herbs providing a very pure Northwest Cabernet Sauvignon profile. The palate is fresh and lively in style with a focus on purity and texture. Drinking young now, give it some additional time in the bottle or a day open to see it at its best. 13% alcohol. Sample provided by winery.

L’Ecole No 41 Sémillon Columbia Valley 2012 $14
(Good/Excellent) Lightly aromatic and appealing with fig, spice, tropical notes and toast. The palate is broad with a textured feel leading to a warm finish. 87% Sémillon, 13% Sauvignon Blanc. Klipsun, Rosebud, Desert Wind, Stillwater Creek, Seven Hills and Les Collines vineyards. Barrel fermented and aged in new and neutral French oak. 14.5% alcohol. 5,365 cases produced. Sample provided by winery.

Thurston Wolfe Dr. Wolfe's Family Red Columbia Valley 2010 $15
 (Good) A crowd pleasing wine with sweet oak spice notes of vanilla and coconut at the fore followed by pine, whiffs of pepper, cherry, and a medley of red berries. It’s sweet and succulent with rich fruit flavors. 36% Lemberger, 27% Primitivo, 18% Petite Sirah, 9% Syrah, and 9% Merlot. 14.5% alcohol. Recommended

Charles Smith Wines Kung Fu Girl Riesling Evergreen Vineyard Washington 2012 $12
 (Good) An aromatically appealing wine with white peach, mineral, and jasmine. It’s off-dry with a nice lick of acid to off-set the rich fruit flavors.

J Bookwalter Bookmark Red Wine NV3 Columbia Valley $15
 (Good) Lightly smoky with ash, char, floral notes, mineral, cherry, and cedar bringing more complexity than usually seen at this price. The palate is elegantly styled, lower in alcohol with a fresh feel, finishing a bit short. An enjoyable, easy drinker that improves considerably after a few hours open. 73% Syrah, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Malbec. 13.4% alcohol. 10,202 cases produced.

Cooler temperatures come to Washington's harvest

Harvest Report October 26th 2013

The last week has seen a shift in growing conditions in eastern Washington with nighttime temperatures cooling significantly and precipitation falling in a number of areas. The former is particularly significant as one of the hallmarks of the 2013 growing season has been warmer than average nighttime temperatures. This should lessen the sense of urgency that some winemakers have had.

“Ripening should be slowing considerably,” winemaker Chris Peterson of Avennia said. “Most warm site Cabernet is being scheduled for the next week or two. However, now with the cool down that seems to be on the horizon, cooler site Cabernet could be afforded considerable hang time.”

Peterson, for one, is excited about the prospects that these changes bring. “If the pattern holds like it should, we could be in for a classic year,” he said, noting that he was particularly excited about the possibilities for cooler site Cabernet Sauvignon.

At Januik Winery and Novelty Hill, winemaker Mike Januik was also glad to see the temperatures drop. “I look forward to this time of year because we don’t feel like we have to get something picked tomorrow,” he said. “We can wait three or four days and it will probably benefit us.” Januik noted that he has brought in 40% of his fruit so far and expects to be done in about three weeks. “We’re going to be pretty busy here,” he said.

While the past week’s rain has delayed harvest in some cases, few seem particularly concerned. “If it says it’s going to rain, half the time it doesn’t,” Januik said wryly. “When it does, it usually just sprinkles and then a wind picks up. It’s more of a nuisance than anything else.”

* * *

While 2013 has been a warm, early harvest in Washington, some are not seeing the sugar accumulation that might be expected with hot summer temperatures causing vines to shut down.

“The sugar levels this year, at least so far, are very modest for such a warm year,” Chris Peterson of Avennia said. “To get Grenache and Merlot with ripe flavors under 26 brix is unusual in my experience. Most Cabernet samples have been similarly lower.” Peterson noted that, overall, brix levels are generally lower than in 2012. However, he noted that the warmth has had its effects, saying, “The acid levels, however, are quite low.”

In some cases, the effects of the warm temperatures on harvest have been stunning. James Mantone at Syncline Wine picked some of his grapes as much as 30 days ahead of last year’s pace. However, he said that brix levels have generally been lower.

“What was startling early on was the fact that we had brown seeds and the beginning of stem lignification at the lowest brix levels I have ever seen,” Mantone said. “Flavors came on early with incredibly dark colors. This allowed us to pick a number of Syrahs with great acids, low pH's and alcohols in the low to mid 13s.”

However, Mantone noted that the effects of the warm growing season have been vineyard and variety specific. “Some vineyards developed great flavors at lower brix and great natural acidity, especially warm site Syrahs which seem to have undergone veraison in the most uniform and rapid manner I have ever seen,” he said. “Other vineyards/varieties were marked by the most uneven veraison I have witnessed in years.” In terms of the latter, Mantone noted that Grenache has seemed particularly affected.

For Mike Januik at Januik and Novelty Hill, the anomaly this year was picking fruit in August. “This is the first time in 16 or 18 years that I’ve picked anything in August,” he said. While unusual, he said it was not without precedent. “Back in the early nineties, maybe even late eighties, I was always picking something in August, and then it just stopped for years.”

Januik said of the acid levels in 2013, “We mostly will see lower acids in the places that we’ve picked early but now that it seems to have cooled off, the acids that we are seeing in places like the Wahluke Slope, Stillwater Creek, and Champoux Vineyard are right in what I would call the normal range.”

Head winemaker Juan Muñoz-Oca of Columbia Crest said of the heat, “The one variety that may have suffered the most would be Sauvignon Blanc as we lost some acid in warm sites, but picked some blocks early to balance the wines - the advantages of growing grapes in many different AVAs.”

* * *

The warm growing conditions in 2013 have led growers and winemakers to make a number of adjustments in the vineyard and winery. Below are a few winemakers’ thoughts on how they have dealt with the warm growing season.

“The year's mantra is lots of attention to canopy management and irrigation,” Juan Muñoz-Oca of Columbia Crest said. “We were prepared for the heat from the start as we had an early bud break and hotter than normal early spring. We paid a lot of attention to canopy architecture trying to protect the grapes from the heat, especially the afternoon side of the vine.”

Chris Peterson of Avennia said, “The key for me in such a warm year is to visit the vineyards as often as possible to catch the ripeness at a perfect point for our style, which I would call ‘barely, but definitively, physiologically ripe.’ This is always tricky, as you can’t be out every day, and usually have to schedule picking a few days ahead of time, and things were moving fast in September.”

James Mantone of Syncline Wine said, “We are doing larger percentages of whole cluster ferments - up to 60% - partly because there has been no disease pressure, but also to help maintain more freshness in the wines.”

Mike Januik of Januik Winery and Novelty Hill said, “In a year where there are smaller berries or where you pick a little earlier to find the balance between sugar and flavors, there’s going to be more of a tendency for wines to be more astringent, so we back off in terms of maceration and pump overs.”

Picture - "Dejuicing a tank of Syrah" courtesy of Long Shadows. Follow the winery on Facebook here and Twitter here. 


See information on the Washington State Growing Degree Days here.

See monthly forecast for Yakima Valley (Sunnyside), Red Mountain (Benton City), Walla Walla, Paterson, and Mattawa.

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The information in the table below is aggregated from personal correspondence with growers and winemakers, as well as information posted on Twitter and Facebook. It is not intended to be comprehensive but rather is intended as a snapshot of what is going on around the state. If you wish to send data for your grapes or vineyards (or correct any of the information below), please email me at wawinereport@gmail.com, leave a comment here, or leave a comment on the WWR Facebook page.

Winery	Grape	Vineyard	Date	Notes
Columbia Valley
Ste Michelle	Chardonnay	Lawrence	9/18
--	Riesling	Sagemoor	9/18
Columbia Crest	Merlot	Four Feathers	9/18	Across from Cold Creek
--	Merlot	Lawrence	9/19
Guardian	Merlot	Stillwater	9/19
Lodmell	Syrah	Estate	9/22
Cairdeas	Viognier	Lawrence	9/22
Avennia	Cab Franc	Sagemoor	9/24
Yakima Valley
Adams Bench	Merlot	Red Willow	9/16
Masquerade	Syrah	Sugarloaf	9/18
Lobo Hills	Merlot	Lonesome Springs Ranch	9/19
Avennia	Merlot	Boushey	9/20
Rasa	Merlot	DuBrul	9/21
Airfield	Merlot	Airfield	9/21
Airfield	Viognier	Airfield	9/23
NHV	Grenache	Sunland	9/23	Second crop
Wind Rose	Dolcetto	Lonesome Springs Ranch	9/23
Va Piano	Syrah	Portteus	9/24
--	Cab Franc	DuBrul	9/25
Red Mountain
Rulo	Syrah	Ranch at the End of the Road	9/18
--	Syrah	Kiona	9/18
SOH	Cab Sauv	Scooteney	9/18
Matthews	Merlot	Hedges	9/18
--	Syrah	Songbird	9/19
Force Majeure	Cab Sauv	Estate	9/23
Avennia	Mourvèdre	Kiona	9/24
College Cellars	Barbera	Ciel du Cheval	9/24
SOH	Cab Sauv	RMV	9/26
Walla Walla
Rotie Cellars	Syrah	SJR	9/18
Dusted Valley	Merlot	Southwind	9/19
--	Merlot	Windrow	9/19
SOH	Syrah	Les Collines	9/20	Block 23
Rasa	Cab Franc	XL	9/21
Rasa	Syrah	Les Collines	9/21	Block 35
SOH	Merlot	Va Piano	9/21
Leonetti	Sangiovese	Loess	9/22	Brunello/Grosso clones
--	Syrah	Loess	9/22
Walla Walla Vintners	Merlot	Estate	9/23
Walla Walla Vintners	Merlot	Seven Hills	9/24	Upper 17
Gramercy	Syrah	Les Collines	9/25	Block 50
Wahluke Slope
Kerloo	Malbec	StoneTree	9/18
--	Syrah	StoneTree	9/18
--	Tempranillo	StoneTree	9/18
--	Grenache	StoneTree	9/18
--	Petite Sirah	StoneTree	9/18
--	Primitivo	StoneTree	9/18
--	Cab Sauv	StoneTree	9/18	First Cabernet
--	Zinfandel	Clifton	9/19
Angel Vine	Primitivo	StoneTree	9/21
Angel Vine	Petite Sirah	StoneTree	9/21
Fielding Hills	Malbec	RiverBend	9/23
Efeste	Mourvèdre	StoneTree	9/25
Horse Heaven Hills
Tertulia	Merlot	Phinny Hill	9/19
Syncline	Grenache	Alder Ridge	9/19
Rotie	Grenache	Alder Ridge1	9/21
McKinley Springs	Syrah	McKinley Springs	9/23
WT Vintners	Syrah	Destiny Ridge	9/23
--	Primitivo	Coyote Canyon	9/24
	Syrah	Coyote Canyon	9/24
Columbia Gorge
Syncline	Pinot Noir	Celilo	9/19
Syncline	Gruner	Underwood	9/19
Snipes
--	Sauv Blanc	Upland	8/22
--	Chardonnay	Upland	9/6
--	Tempranillo	Upland	9/9
--	Morio Muscat	Upland	9/11
--	Muscat Canelli	Upland	9/11
--	Pinot Noir	Upland	9/13	Sparkling
--	Syrah	Upland	9/14
--	Viognier	Upland	9/16
--	Pinot Gris	Upland	9/19
--	Cab Sauv	Upland	9/20
--	Merlot	Upland	9/20
--	Muller Thurgau	Upland	9/20	Sparkling
Avennia	Grenache	Upland	9/24