Sean P. Sullivan - Washington Wine Report

Bud break is in full evidence throughout  Washington wine country, as contributing photographer Richard Duval can attest. He captured the morning sun bathing an estate vineyard of Watermill Winery in The Rocks District on this last day of April.

“The ever-greening of Washington’s vines will soon be in full swing,” Duval noted. “Visit any vineyard for a full on view of this almost daily change of scenery.”

Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The 2019 Washington State Wine Tour Guide is out! The tour guide can be viewed on-line here. Order individual physical copies here. For bulk orders for businesses, go here.

I wrote two articles for the guide this year. The first is titled, "Variety Show" and starts on page 16. The second is on Walla Walla Valley, starting on page 85.

Enjoy!

Below are my Wine Enthusiast reviews for April 2019. Wines are listed alphabetically by winery. Read additional information on how I review wines here. All of these reviews are freely available on-line at the Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide. See previous Wine Enthusiast reviews re-published in this space here. Search Wine Enthusiast's on-line database here. Read instructions on how to find Washington wine reviews at Wine Enthusiast here.

Eighty-four wines reviewed in the April issue of Wine Enthusiast.

Two Vintners continues to impress with a strong series of wines from the 2015 and 2016 vintage – far too many to list here so make sure to scroll down. Winemaker Morgan Lee’s mastery of Rhone varieties is on full display with wines like the Two Vintners 2016 Make Haste Cinsault Yakima Valley $25 (90 points, Editor’s Choice). This wine is a superb value with a compelling sense of purity. Meanwhile the winery’s Columbia Valley Syrah is again one of the best values on the market (Two Vintners 2016 Syrah Columbia Valley $21, 91 points, Editor’s Choice).

Bud break has begun in eastern Washington. Hedges Family Estate reported seeing wooly buds on their Red Mountain Cabernet Franc on Monday April 8th. Sagemoor Vineyard in the Columbia Valley, meanwhile, saw bud break in their Chardonnay, pictured here, on April 11th. The latter is about the same as 2017, when bud break was noted in Chardonnay in the Columbia Valley on April 12.

Screwcap, DIAM, and Nomacorc (pictured here) are the three most popular alternative closures in Washington

Below is a tabulation of closure choice and cork taint data from my tastings for Wine Enthusiast in 2018. I have also included data from 2017 and 2016, previously published. Here are eight takeaways.

1. Natural cork continues to be the most frequently used wine closure

Natural cork closures continue to make up about three quarters of the market in Washington (74.15%). While this number was down slightly from previous years, additional data would be needed to say whether this represents a trend or is just normal variance. Note that in the natural cork category, I include all 1+1 corks and related variants, as well as any agglomerative corks that are not guaranteed to be free of potential taint.

2. Cork taint remains a significant problem with natural cork closures

Below are my Wine Enthusiast reviews for March 2019. Wines are listed alphabetically by winery. Read additional information on how I review wines here. All of these reviews are freely available on-line at the Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide. See previous Wine Enthusiast reviews re-published in this space here. Search Wine Enthusiast's on-line database here. Read instructions on how to find Washington wine reviews at Wine Enthusiast here.

108 wines reviewed in the March issue of Wine Enthusiast.

Below are my Wine Enthusiast reviews for February 2019. Wines are listed alphabetically by winery. Read additional information on how I review wines here. All of these reviews are freely available on-line at the Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide. See previous Wine Enthusiast reviews re-published in this space here. Search Wine Enthusiast's on-line database here. Read instructions on how to find Washington wine reviews at Wine Enthusiast here.

Playing catchup on recent wine reviews. 110 wines reviewed in the February issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine.

The focus of the May issue of Wine Enthusiast is wine and technology. I wrote a series of articles on this topic for the issue. They include:

An interview with Marc Noël of Nomacorc
Science and the future of winemaking
How technology is improving wine at home
How wine in the restaurant industry is evolving

Enjoy!

I've had a variety of articles published in Wine Enthusiast in recent months. The first marks Seattle as one of the magazine's top 10 wine travel destinations of 2019. In a separate article that was part of our Pacific Northwest dedicated issue, I talk about why Seattle should be your next travel destination.

In that same Pacific Northwest dedicated issue was also an overview of Washington wine, an article on where to eat and drink in Woodinville and Walla Walla, winemakers changing Washington wine, and also a look at women in the Idaho wine industry.

Enjoy!