WTN: Wine Touring Washington State – Woodinville part 2

Delille Winery continued

2009 Harrison Hill, Bordeaux blend, single vineyard wine
Medium ruby red. Light nose red and dark fruit, especially raspberry. Delectable black fruit, delicious acidity and silky tannins on the midpalate. Medium to long finish of dark fruit and acidity. Excellent balance. Premium DeLille wine.

2009 Chaleur Estate Rouge, Bordeaux blend
Solid ruby red. Rich nose of cassis and black fruits. Opulent midpalate of blackberry and other dark fruits, powerful but smooth tannins and juicy acidity. Medium to long finish of rich dark fruit and tingly tannins. Solid well-balanced wine that I liked the best of the 3 premium DeLille wines that I tasted because of its powerful yet ripe tannins.

2008 Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon, single vineyard wine
Dark purple red. Light to medium strength nose of cassis and ripe dark fruits. Gorgeous midpalateof purple plum, blackberry, smooth but grippy tannins and solid acidity. Long finish of ripe fruit and smooth tannins. Great balance. Premium DeLille wine.

Amavi and Pepper Bridge wineries

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Amavi
Deep crimson purple. Expressive nose of cassis and black raspberry. Rich dark fruit, solid tannic backbone, and fresh acidity on the midpalate. Medium to long finish of deep dark fruit with a bit of a tannic bite at the end.

2009 Syrah Amavi
Deep reddish violet. Powerful nose expressing earthy to barnyardy smells with rich black raspberry and dark fruits coming on at the end. Rich ripe black raspberry on the midpalate with silky fine-grained tannins and mouth watering acidity. Nice long finish of dark fruit and tannic grip at the end. Great balance. The nose on this wine really sold me and I bought 2 bottles.

2008 Merlot, Walla Walla Valley, Pepper Bridge
Deep crimson purple. Expressive, earthy nose with black plums and blackberries. Smooth entry with solid but silky tannins, dark fruits and solid acidity on the midpalate. Medium to long finish of dark fruit and tannins. Really nice balance and good structure for a merlot. Again the nose and solid tannins sold me on this wine and despite my general resistance to buying merlots, I bought a bottle of this wine.

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, Pepper Bridge
Deep violet red. Earth forest floor with boysenberry and black berry fruit on the delicious nose. Powerful midpalate of dark fruit, grippy but smooth tannins and matching acidity. Nice long finish of dark fruit and tannic grip at the end. Nice cab.

[Jenise]

Tom, Am out of town myself so will comment further in a few days when I'm in front of a proper keyboard, but for now will just say that I'm delighted to see that DeLille impressed as much as I hoped it would.

Tom, Am out of town myself so will comment further in a few days when I'm in front of a proper keyboard, but for now will just say that I'm delighted to see that DeLille impressed as much as I hoped it would.

Hi Jenise,

Yes, DeLille had some great wines that I really loved. My wallet groaned a bit but I still consider the wines to be good value considering the quality.

[Jenise]

The cool thing about DeLille is, that whether you're a Europhile or a new world type, you couldn't NOT be impressed with their wines. For my palate, they're the most European wines in the state yet there's no denying their origins. I too usually prefer the Chaleur, though when tasting the previous vintage, 08, I went with Harrison Hill.

I enjoyed reading that you bought a PB Merlot. As you no doubt realized while there, they actually use all five Bordeaux grapes in each of their wines. The complexity that results is quite seductive. This state used to produce a lot of fine merlot, but now it's down to a small handful--in fact, besides Pepper Bridge and Dunham's Artist Series, I can't recall meeting what I'd call another really serious merlot. All the merlot got ripped out to plant the less-finicky syrah.

Yes, Merlot used to be called the 'king' of WA varieties, the great red hope for WA, but syrah has certainly stolen most of its thunder in the last 3-5 years. While there is some great WA syrah, 90% of it isn't beyond 'solid', and I think you still have a better chance with merlot and merlot dominant wines in WA.

[Jenise]

While there is some great WA syrah, 90% of it isn't beyond 'solid', and I think you still have a better chance with merlot and merlot dominant wines in WA.

I agree with your "90% of it isn't beyond solid" comment, but as to taking chances the problem is that there just isn't a lot of merlot around to take chances with. I'm surprised that more of it hasn't ended up in 50/50 Cheval Blanc style blends with cabernet franc, a grape that does do very well here. I can recall having one from Woodinville Wine Cellars they call by the proprietary name 'Ausonious', but that's about it.

The cool thing about DeLille is, that whether you're a Europhile or a new world type, you couldn't NOT be impressed with their wines. For my palate, they're the most European wines in the state yet there's no denying their origins. I too usually prefer the Chaleur, though when tasting the previous vintage, 08, I went with Harrison Hill.

I enjoyed reading that you bought a PB Merlot. As you no doubt realized while there, they actually use all five Bordeaux grapes in each of their wines. The complexity that results is quite seductive. This state used to produce a lot of fine merlot, but now it's down to a small handful--in fact, besides Pepper Bridge and Dunham's Artist Series, I can't recall meeting what I'd call another really serious merlot. All the merlot got ripped out to plant the less-finicky syrah.

Hi Jenise,

Yes, the person at Amiva/Pepper Bridge pointed out to me that their merlot was blended (with 10% cab franc and 5% malbec), but it still is 85% merlot. However, this wine is not your common quaffer type merlot. I think it could easily evolve and improve in my cellar over the next 3-5 years. The only problem will be keeping my hands off it for that long.

While there is some great WA syrah, 90% of it isn't beyond 'solid', and I think you still have a better chance with merlot and merlot dominant wines in WA.

I agree with your "90% of it isn't beyond solid" comment, but as to taking chances the problem is that there just isn't a lot of merlot around to take chances with. I'm surprised that more of it hasn't ended up in 50/50 Cheval Blanc style blends with cabernet franc, a grape that does do very well here. I can recall having one from Woodinville Wine Cellars they call by the proprietary name 'Ausonious', but that's about it.

Jenise, I'd refer you to the Walla Walla wines of Buty (I know you know them, because you've mentioned them here before). The winemaker spent several years with Ric Small at Woodward and with his own wines he has shown a specific affinity for blending Merlot effectively with other varieties---although he has gone more the Syrah route of late---and I think his merlots and merlot-blends are top-notch.

You would also think the merlot-cab franc would be more prevalent there, wouldn't you, since David Lake did so much fine work with Cab Franc back in the day, and we know there is some tremendous fruit there.

It's kinda sad that the "American model" of winery ownership/winemaking is so dominant that wine is forced to be in the constant uber-competitive volume/popularity/growth direction, rather than allowing winemakers to nourish there urges to develop highly expressive personal styles. The capitalist/corporate system may be great in some ways, but it sure doesn't lend itself to great winemaking too often.

While there is some great WA syrah, 90% of it isn't beyond 'solid', and I think you still have a better chance with merlot and merlot dominant wines in WA.

I agree with your "90% of it isn't beyond solid" comment, but as to taking chances the problem is that there just isn't a lot of merlot around to take chances with. I'm surprised that more of it hasn't ended up in 50/50 Cheval Blanc style blends with cabernet franc, a grape that does do very well here. I can recall having one from Woodinville Wine Cellars they call by the proprietary name 'Ausonious', but that's about it.

I thought there was still a sizeable amount of merlot around, as most of the top (and big) vineyards have merlot (e.g., Seven Hills, Pepperbridge, Boushey, Champoux and Ciel du Cheval) in the Red Mountain, Columbia, Yakima and Walla Walla regions. Most of the main wineries also have either straight merlot or a merlot blend, and often both - there are too many wineries to name, but Walla Walla Vintners, Seven Hills, L'Ecole, Fielding Hills and Betz mall come to mind off the top of my head. And more wineries are trying a 'Cheval blanc' style merlot cab franc blend as well, but I can't think of any other than Walla Walla Vintners and Buty that have one now. But I remember trying several last summer... but I do tend to gravitate to the Bordeaux style wines in WA, so I'm no doubt biased.

But syrah is definitely exploding, somewhat at the expense of merlot, as a result of the Cayuse phenomenon.

[Jenise]

I thought there was still a sizeable amount of merlot around, as most of the top (and big) vineyards have merlot (e.g., Seven Hills, Pepperbridge, Boushey, Champoux and Ciel du Cheval) in the Red Mountain, Columbia, Yakima and Walla Walla regions. Most of the main wineries also have either straight merlot or a merlot blend, and often both - there are too many wineries to name, but Walla Walla Vintners, Seven Hills, L'Ecole, Fielding Hills and Betz mall come to mind off the top of my head. And more wineries are trying a 'Cheval blanc' style merlot cab franc blend as well, but I can't think of any other than Walla Walla Vintners and Buty that have one now. But I remember trying several last summer... but I do tend to gravitate to the Bordeaux style wines in WA, so I'm no doubt biased.

But syrah is definitely exploding, somewhat at the expense of merlot, as a result of the Cayuse phenomenon.

Once upon a time--like 20 years ago--merlot was thought to either be or potentially be Washington's signature red grape--they recognized both that California had Cabernet pretty well sewn up and that our soils grew particularly rich and complex merlots where in California, it was a blending grape and typically only bottled alone at the quaffing level. There were lots of single vineyard merlots around and producers like Andrew Will made their name initially on what they could do with the grape (last I tasted thru Andrew Will's line, the 08 vintage, there wasn't a merlot on the table.) And that's what has changed. Yes some merlot is still here, but the big money's is still in cabernet and syrah is the new Next Big Thing, so a lot of the great merlot vineyards of yesteryear are gone.

Of the brands you name, which of those belong on the same list for super-premium quality and price like Pepper Bridge and Dunham ($55 and $75 respectively)? Yes I know WWV and L'Ecole bottle a merlot, but I don't believe they're in the same class as the two I mentioned. Betz would/could be, and I'll admit I didn't know they bottled one. Have never seen it, or Buty's.