2005 Forgeron Zinfandel: a forgotten cellar orphan. The unfortunate choice of American oak really shows here now that there's not enough fruit to mask it. I know I know, it wasn't made for cellaring, but still she charged $25+ a bottle for it and that's spendy for a Drink Now kind of wine. 2005 should have been a perfect year for WA zin, and this wine got orphaned because this bottle didn't live up to the promise. Rather shrill, but slurpable with food.
2007 DCZ, Dynasty Cellars Zinfandel: Owner/winemaker Pete is doing some nice stuff up here, but this 07 zin, which is still being sold in stores, is past its prime and heading downhill. Fair warning.
2010 Memaloose "Idiot's Grace" Riesling, Columbia Gorge: A wine biz friend reccomended this highly. He loves Riesling and called it "Mosel-like". Have to say I don't agree, especially at $18 for second leaf fruit. But it's not dull: almost clear in color, huge soda-poppish lemon-lime flavors propel concentrated fruit onto your palate. The intense acidity keeps it lively, but it's too full-figured and almost-sweet to be called racy. If wines were female pop singers, this would be Christina Aguilera. It's a cocktail, not a wine.
2011 Inyo Dry Riesling, Columbia Valley (actually, it's a single vineyard fruit but I don't know which one, so I'm hedging by just calling it Columbia Valley): a barrel sample of what's about to be bottled. Light straw color with a leesy, vitamin kind of minerality on the nose and then something comes along that's as unusual as it attractive: is it apple cider, I think? No no, not quite, it's...it's..., I go, reaching around in the attic of my brain where unusual but not forgotten flavors are stored, it's the green apple of Jolly Rancher hard candy but without any of the candy elements on the palate. On the palate, true green apple with white melon. Not at all reminiscent of any riesling I've ever had before, but idiosyncratic and unique in a very lovely way. The other wine was Christina--this one's Jewel.