Pic of the Vine - January 2018

Winter might mean fewer wine outings to Washington wine country for some but that doesn’t mean life stands still in the wineries and vineyards. Snow can actually help ensure healthy grape vines in the spring, acting as an insulator against freezing temperatures. It also makes for a striking photograph, noted contributing photographer Richard Duval, who ventured to the scenic Owen Roe wine estate in Wapato on a windy, snowy day.

“Owen Roe is amongst my favorite vineyards to photograph year-round,” Duval said. “The estate winds up and down the Valley hillsides, anchored by the dark red winery, and always offers a vineyard vista to capture. Here sleeps another vintage of a great Washington wine.”

Click on the picture to see a larger image.

How to search for Washington wine reviews at Wine Enthusiast

Recent changes on the Wine Enthusiast website have made it significantly easier to search for categories of wine reviews, such as Washington wines. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Go to winemag.com

2. Click on ‘Wine & Ratings’ in the upper left corner (or just go here).

3. Scroll down to where it says ‘Buying Guide’ on the left. Click on ‘Search.’ This will show you all of the reviews in the Wine Enthusiast database.

4. Notice a series of selection boxes on the left-hand side. Scroll down to where it says ‘COUNTRY’ and click on the ‘+’ symbol by U.S.

5. Click on the box for ‘Washington.’

This will show you all of the reviews for Washington, by default showing the most recent reviews first (you can change this using the ‘Sort by’ function).

From here, you can use the selection tools on the left to look at any number of things. For example, you can look at all of the ‘Red’ reviews under ‘Wine Style.’ You can look at all reviews for a particular variety, such as ‘Cabernet Sauvignon.’ You can search by ‘Publication Date,’ either by year or by expanding it to look at specific issues.

As always, all of these reviews are freely available on the website. Of course, if you’re just looking for a specific wine or producer, just type the name into the search box and hit 'Enter.' But if you’re interested in searching by broader categories, this is a powerful set of tools to use.

Enjoy!

P.S. My intent is to continue to republish Wine Enthusiast scores in this space, though I'm behind at present. So if you're looking for the latest reviews, the steps above are how to find them.

P.P.S. I began reviewing wines for Wine Enthusiast in January of 2013, covering certain specific appellations in Washington, as well as other areas. I began covering all of Washington in January of 2015.

Is Cabernet Sauvignon Washington’s premier grape?

The following article appeared in the December 31, 2017 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Washington State wine is perhaps best known for its diversity. There are more than 80 grape varieties planted here, but one variety seems to be separating itself from the crowd: Cabernet Sauvignon.

Washington’s Cabernet plantings date to the early 1940s, and vines planted in 1956 at Otis Vineyard in the Yakima Valley remain some of the oldest in production today. With a climate once thought too cool to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon, plantings across the Columbia Valley (Washington’s largest wine-growing region) have increased through the decades.

Many of the state’s early producers, names that include Quilceda Creek, Leonetti Cellar and Woodward Canyon, made reputations based on their Cabernets. Still, varieties like Riesling and Chardonnay led the state in production.

Then, in 2013, Cabernet became Washington’s most-produced grape variety. Plantings have only increased in subsequent years, with Cabernet production up a whopping 50 percent in 2016. Could it be that in a state of diverse varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon has become first among equals?

Read the rest of the article here.