Love QC, never had the pleasure of a Cayuse or Reynvaan, not a huge Leonetti fan. Not sure how anyone can claim in one sentence that all WA wines are at the same time too sweet, too green and too “the same.” I prefer Chave or SQN or HOG, but I would still say WA has made some very significant contributions.
Yeah - me either. If you’re referring to my post, you missed it. I said “most” and “similar” but… I’ll play…
I live 30 minutes from Woodinville where there are tons of tasting rooms for Washington wines, I go there a lot. I’ve been tasting in Walla Walla a couple if times. I have friends, (I know - hard to believe but I do) and they typically bring Washington wines when we get together. We get together a lot. On the balance, I’ve tasted a sh*tload of Washington wines and TO ME most of them are “too sweet and/or too green and/or too similar.” ![[shrug.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/48636ebda2a440a43ad8d24c83be20ac20c53420.gif "shrug"){kind=small}
Part of it is we are a negociant State…name the Estate wineries in WA, Cayuse and Spring Valley, they are distinct. When everyone is using the same fruit, the only difference is oak, most wineries use the same coopers.
Frankly the most exciting grape in WA is Merlot, followed by Syrah.
Kris,
I hear ya, but not sure the argument holds water . . .think of Gary’s, Pisoni, Clos Pepe, Hudson, Thompson - plenty of vyd where multiple folks make wine from that are distinctive from each other . . .
Cheers!
Add in the wine industry here is barely a decade old for most producers. It takes time to learn the vineyards, fruit and style. Guys like Greg at Gramercy came in with a very specific idea of the wine he would make, but he has a MS background.
Eric - you’re right.
From their website:
"Quilceda Creek was bonded in 1978 as the state’s 12th winery. In its first vintage, 1979, the winery produced a mere 150 cases of its Cabernet Sauvignon, with the fruit coming from Otis Vineyard.
. . .
His very first vintage of Quilceda Creek’s powerhouse Cabernet won the Enological Society of the Northwest’s Grand Prize in 1983."
My writing wasn’t clear. But in any event, back in the early 1980s, WA was making good wine. I’ve never had one of the earliest QCs and I’m curious as to what they turned into. Overall I’m not a huge fan of QC, at least the more recent vintages. Comes across like overdone CA wine to me. There are much more enjoyable wines from WA, at least for my palate.
As to the Syrah, Cayuse is pretty good wine IMO, but it’s not North Rhone, nor should it be. It should be what it is - a wine from a place in Washington. I love N. Rhone Syrahs, but that doesn’t mean Syrah from elsewhere isn’t any good; far from it. Seems to me that Syrah reflects its place more than any other red grape - Cab always tastes like Cab, Merlot like Merlot, but Syrah can take on a number of different personalities and that’s what makes Cayuse a good wine, albeit and overpriced wine.
Got it. We’re both right.
Quilceda from 1997 and before is a dramatically different wine than 1998 and more recently. The 1983 is a stunner as are many of the late 80’s and early 1990’s. I will always have a soft spot for the 1994. Really pretty Cabernet. The modern vintages are dramatically more ripe, later harvest, alcoholic. Cooler vintages like 1999 are pretty terrific though.
Not a Fan of QC but the 99’ was very pretty a year or so ago, haven’t had one since, but that one was nice.
For me, and I know this is a blanket statement but Wa wines taste like Wa wines. I guess it’s the terroir, same oak usage or something in the upbringing but I find that most (sans a few) taste very much the same.
I can almost always guess a Washington wine blind, wether it’s Cab, Syrah, Merlot or Grenache. Generally they are very rich, ripe, fruit driven with a toast on the back end that is not integrated. I get this wether it’s Cayuse, Reynvaan, Andrew Will, ect.
Interestingly, I don’t get the same broad profile in any other region but WA. I do think the wines are very well made and I have had many aged examples, but to me they are just too much the same to really invest large sums of money onto.
What I find interesting is that the ‘Mass produced’ wines or ‘passed over’ wines i.e. Powers, Ste. Michelle are actually some of the more interesting wines being made in Washington today.
All I know is that a few years ago, google stock was under $300. I’m not sure why everyone thinks it’s so expensive TODAY.
Does this qualify as talking about them? I have had a few more Cayuse but have not written nots on others.
-
2005 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (7/25/2010)
Bought off the list a Siro’s in Saratoga Springs after a day at the track. This was the final bottle after a 2002 Ramey Chardonnay, a 2001 Cavallotto Barolo and a lower tier 1999 St. Emillion the name of which escapes me. I wanted one wine to qualify as Rocket Fuel to drink with the lamb chops and steak and this fit the bill. I was surprised to see Cayuse on a restaurant wine list, so I grabbed it. It was that or a Outpost True Vineyard Petite Sirah, and I decided that probably needs another decade in the cellar. The dishwashing machine had destroyed every decanter but one the night before and that one was filled with the Cavallotto, so we opened this and once the Cavallotto was gone, I did the most violent splash decant possible into a magnum decanter. We then let the funk blow off and started drinking it about 20 minutes later. This was an outstanding west coast (I almost wrote Californai) syrah. There were meat juices to go with the strong red fruit and pepper. Tremendous depth, strength and complexity. Not sweet but apparent sweetness from the strong fruit. The taste lingered in the mouth for a long finish. An excellent pairing with grilled lamb chops. (93 pts.# -
2006 Charles Smith Syrah Royal City - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley #11/26/2009#
This was infanticide because I couldn’t wait to try the recent delivery. BIG MISTAKE. One hour after decant, it’s still very tight and giving up almost nothing. Bitter tanins make the mouth want to implode. But there seems to be a lot of intense flavor just waiting to escape. 13 hours after decant, I’m revisiting it. Begining to taste like syrah, with pepper, blueberry and cherry, but still bitterness in the mouth. I’m going to put the rest of them in deep storage. I normally like primary relatively new CA syrahs, but this is too raw. -
2006 Owen Roe Syrah Ex Umbris - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley #3/8/2008#
There was some funky on the nose that that concerned me - you know, that burning car tire smell that might be mercaptan - but it blew off after heavy swirling in a glass to leave a pleasant wine with a sour cherry and red berry palate. A surprise on the approachability meter for a 2006. Nice mouth feel, smooth with a moderate finish. I do not think this wine will ever be great, but I would not be ashamed to either serve it or but it at a restaurant. #87 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
I’ve been gone all day but it is a real pleasure to log on and see so many hits and posts.
- I’ve been on Cayuse’s Waiting list for almost four year (I send them Xmas cards!) and am told I can expect another year or two, depending… I do buy Cayuse from retailers but i would rather be a lifelong supporter of them directly even if I can only get a half dozen bottles a year. It’s important to me. I’m on Reynvaan’s mailing list but have a tiny allocation because the first few years rather than buy from them I purchased from several West Coast shops. I believe there is value in showing support direct to the winery.
- My first experience with Pike and Western was 1992 or 1993. There WAS VERY LITTLE on the shelves from WA state. There was a secondary impression of WA state wine then. I’ve been travelling to Seattle and Vancouver, BC for 23 years (I just retired from a Vancouver company) and believe the acceptance of credibliity of Wa wine is almost a case study. It DID take off after the WS article. Regardless was comment about “Blue Nun” and “Cold Duck” was artistic liberty if you will-I just wanted to write with a bit of humor and not wear out a welcome in a lengthy post. OK, a loquaciously verbose post.
- I just believe there is some great wine being made in the Pacific Northwest and there are also some real bargains out there. Even if the release price of Bionic Frog is $95, the futures price of Royal City is $100 and Reynvaan Stonessence, released NEXT November, is $85 please permit me to mention the price of a single bottle of 2010 Lafite or Mouton or any first growth. You could buy a case of all these for one bottle of those.
Here’s my point: given ten years to cellar I would rather have the case of the three WA wines than a single bottle of the first growth. I’ll go a step further, while these wines are night and day different just from the perspective of respect and enjoyment of a serious effort I would still include some of the WA wine in my purchase if all cost the same.
I am a huge fan of WA syrah and believe it is well worth national attention and acceptance.
Appreciate the many responses. Thank you.
Addendum: the '09 Owen Roe Ex Umbris is an incredible fruit bomb of a jammy, mouth coating wine that I absolutely love. It is easily one of the best values that I have had in years. It is also simply, an absolutely delicious wine that I could drink almost every night. Well, every other night-but it’s a real value well worth seeking out.
The '10 is a slight notch below but worth the effort also. There are several NW wine shops (Northwest wines in Corevallis) that have been excellent in shipping to me in the East. Also more than equitable in their willingness to share allocated wines. I have no connection with any shop; rather I pass this along because of a good experience and a possible source.
Last, I should mention a couple of single vineyard syrahs from Owen Roe than I have enjoyed also.
Thanks again to everyone for participating in this thread.
What’s crazy is that I was in a store last week and had seen all of the new Owen Roe single vineyard releases, Um…$98!
There is a Sea of wine in this world I would buy before those, but I think it is telling about the market.
Wa wines in particular seem to be priced between $30-$90 on average for the new releases and I think that’s where the issue is. Sure there are wines for under $20, but they are more of the ‘Lower tier’ negoc. stuff, that frankly is overpriced for what it is.
Maybe because those of us that like it would rather not make Washington Syrah more expensive and harder to find…
What is “world class” or “significant” to one is most certainly ho-hum to someone else. How else do these wineries sell that sea of wine that is out there? I definitely prefer WA syrah to most CA syrah, but I wish there were more bottlings that showed the savory side of syrah as opposed to the common fruit profile. I have not had the pleasure of tasting a Cayuse yet, but looking forward to it. I have tried several sub-$50 bottles of northern rhones that have not impressed, but will keep on sampling. I think WA is still “dialing-in” syrah and perhaps we will also see development of more vineyards located in cooler growing areas in the future.
I agree with many of the perspectives here. I am not sure I could point out the difference of most $40-60 woodinville winery (lower case) cab/cab blends. They really all do taste the same- big fruit, oak driven, etc. You put a line-up of Efeste, Gorman, Mark Ryan, etc, etc, in front of me and I will be stumped to distinguish them. All very similar.
Yet there are some wineries making interesting and unique wines. To drag out some already bandied about names… Gramercy, Rasa, Reynvaan, Mason Bleue for Syrah/Rhone. Betz, Gramercy and a few others for cab based wines.
Frankly there are just too many going for monsterous jam and oak driven wines as opposed to real terroir driven wines. To pre-counter the anti- AFWE peeps, I have one foot squarely in and out of AFWE preference.
With no offense intended to anyone that likes them. The mention of Owen Roe seems like the opposite way I would like to see the WA wine industry go.
Ditto… (Unfortunately my wife has both feet in the AFWE bucket.)
Move on over to the Pinot influenced cool climate Syrah from OR & CA. ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}