I’ve been hearing a lot about some of the newer producers mentioned in this article in this month’s Wine Enthusiast. Anyone have any experience with them?
Haven’t had of them but they sound like cool changes of pace. Grosgrain participated in Berserker Day last year and had a good looking offer.
WT is the only one I am familiar with and solid wines. Might want to add Kevin White to this list!
I’ve had a few Savage Grace wines at tastings and they are legit. Well made, interesting, and quite tasty. Definitely worth a try.
Keith is a great guy making really interesting wines at Devium. He is also making excellent wines as the production winemaker at Sleight of Hand.
Cosigned on Savage Grace, have only had one of their bottlings but it was good stuff and I plan to try more. I haven’t tried Echolands yet, but I was college buddies with the other winemaker mentioned in the article (Taylor Oswald) so I’ll definitely be on the lookout for their wines as well.
Savage Grace is definitely worth trying if you typically don’t like a lot of the bigger, ripe, oaky, WA wines. Very pretty, fruit/terroir driven wines, minimal oak, with a number of Cot and Cab Franc bottlings. Some of the wines are from Underwood Mountain AVA, which is a cooler, higher area in the Columbia Gorge that I think we’ll be hearing more about in the coming years. We stopped there about a year ago and really enjoyed the wines as well as talking with Michael, the owner/winemaker. More of an old-world vibe, including tasting over a barrel in the winery.
Would have liked to see Travis Allen on this list. He is crafting insanely good wines at Kobayashi!
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+1
I think Travis would be on a list like this if he had a few more vintages under his belt.
I am friends with Jeff at WT, so beware, who is making great Syrah’s and his Gruner is killer, and Michael at Savage Grace makes great wines, especially Franc.
Just had the ‘17 Savage Grace Copeland Vnyrd Cab Franc tonight…11.9% and delicious
Oh have had savage grace and have particularly liked their cab franc. Their Chardonnay is one of the few Washington Chardonnay’s I like. His wines are definitely more austere. My sense is they will benefit from a lot of age.
I agree about Travis and kobayashi. It does seem he has a few more vintages than some of the producers profiled here. But there are always those who we on the inside know and would recommend.
I just signed up for echolands. Their wines look interesting and along the lines of what I like.
The other newer wines I would recommend are Time & Direction. Solid syrahs and viognier. And JB Neufeld. Some of the most interesting cabs in Washington these days. And also at a reasonable price point.
Thanks for pointing out this article!
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Echo the accolades on Savage Grace. Delicious AFWE wines. Enjoyed the Grosgrain wines too, bought a pack from last years BFest offering. As someone that primarily looks to wine as a food accompaniment, reasonably priced WA wines in these styles are a godsend.
We’ve been to the Savage Grace tasting room several times. Met Michael once. Seemed like a down to earth guy. His wines are legit. Different style than most other Washington wines that are going for the big/massive red wines.
Thanks for posting and welcome to Berserkers. Glad to see the list included wineries that are not used to getting tons of press.
Yes Travis’ wines are definitely changing the old ways of WA. I’m not sure about production levels, but kobayashi is tiny so maybe that’s why it wasn’t included in the list?
Agree with Mark. I wondered if the production levels of Kobayashi had something to do with it. The prices are also a bit higher I think (though I think worth it).
I should actually criticize the OP, as I just bought a case of the Echolands wines… 
I have a Savage Grace 2017 Cab Franc on deck for tonight, as well as a Kobayashi Marsanne (2019). I plan to move about 100 plus bottles of wine today from off site to home, so I feel like I can justify opening two bottles…
Some pretty good wineries on that list (though I may be biased about one of them)! It’s great to see some discussion about the article here. AFWE types should take notice that there are quite a few new projects happening in WA that might be to their liking. I’d add Itä, Hoquetus, Marginalia, Sonder, Orr and Kobayashi amongst others. The recent discovery of phylloxera in WA and current glut of Cabernet Sauvignon plantings present an interesting opportunity for reevaluation and reinvention and I think we will see some exciting developments in the region over the next decade.
Mark,
You are probably right. Not much to go around at all and I don’t think any even gets to retail. I was just stumping for a buddy that I’ve drank wine with for about 15 years and just happens to make f#$king insanely good wine! Get on the list everybody!
Thanks for posting this! WT and Savage Grace are two of my favorite wineries and I’m excited to check the rest of these out. I hopped on the Kobayashi mailing list, too.