WTN: Jet City, baby, Jet City

[Jenise]

So with friends we spent a day tasting in Seattle, and we capped it off by visiting Charles Smith's new tasting room called 'Jet City'. It is in the Georgetown neighborhood of South Seattle and quite literally across the street from Boeing Field. Neither of us are particularly fans of these wines, but the hype from the opening--Jerry Lee Lewis performed, Charles got the key to the city and all that--piqued our curiosity.

We started with three chardonnays from Charles' new Sixto label"

2012 Sixto Chardonnay 'Uncovered' Washington
A three vineyard cuvee, and presumably a blend of the leftovers when the best barrels were taken for Sixto's (a Charles Smith brand) three single vineyard bottlings. Big bodied with Meyer lemon, heavy toast, green figs and hot alcohol. A caricature of the fat California style. Not sure why WA needs this. $35

2012 Sixto Chardonnay 'Frenchman Hill' Washington
Toned with better fruit and alcohol management than the 'Uncovered', presumably enabled by a cooler site (1200 ft elevation). Still the fat California style, though. $55.

2012 SIXTO Chardonnay 'Moxee' Washington
The richness of 38 year old vines really shows here. Full-bodied and lower in acidity than the previous two with lemon meringue pie, sweet spice, butterscotch, marzipan and brioche--and still too Californian for my tastes. $55.

A fourth $55 Sixto chardonnay was also available but upon reading the description of it being from the warmest of the three single vineyard sites, I decided to pass.

We tasted three reds:

2012 K Vintners Morrison Lane Syrah
Am always delighted to encounter a WA syrah that doesn't scream blueberries, and this is one. Medium-bodied, earthy and plummy with fine grained tannins and good acidity. Deftly made, and surprisingly (after the chardonnays) not over-the-top.

Another single vineyard syrah was available but our server got confused and I didn't get that one, so I proceeded to try:

2012 K Vintners Merlot Northridge Vineyard Wahluke Slope
Light bodied with ripe and cooked flavors of strawberry jam with Raid bug spray for spice. Shockingly poor for the $45 price tag--shouldn't even cost $10. By now the operations manager had joined us as my friend knows him, and he was surprised by my reaction to this merlot (which no one else had opt for a pour of). So he went and got a taste, and his eyes get big with surprise. "I don't entirely agree with your word 'disgusting'," he said quoting my summation, "But I see where you're coming from." Another reviewer on CellarTracker, I see today, described it as similar to Pride (Napa). Well flat out no frickin' way, not even close--not in flavor, not in body, nowhere. Which is not to question his judgement, but why the contents of our bottles varied so.

2012 K Vintners 'The Creator' Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah blend Walla Walla
Light/dilute flavors of dark fruit and tree bark. Lacks variety typicity and concentration. Insanely overpriced at $55. Tastes like under-$12.

So what the heck is going on here? We tasted three very well made chardonnays, like the style or not, that showed a strong similarity in style and sense of purpose. No doubt the fourth I passed on would have made it a perfect quartet. But the three reds came from three different planets--that is unless the planet the Merlot and CS-Syrah blend, though not sharing any characteristics other than poor quality, both came from is the bulk market. Me and anyone who would compare that merlot favorably to a Pride Merlot did not have the same wine.

Btw, Charles himself showed up before we left the tasting room. Was interesting watching him hold court.

Btw, Charles himself showed up before we left the tasting room. Was interesting watching him hold court.

Yup, Jenise....I've seen this several times in person. And it seems like every other word is "f*ck". Maybe he was on his good behavior and it was only every other 5'th word!! It's all part of his schtick.
Tom

[Jenise]

Tom, I wasn't part of the court, so didn't get the treatment one way or the other. But I did talk to him a few years ago outside his tasting room in Walla Walla. The rest of our group was inside, but I left because all they were pouring was the lower end, like Kung Fu Girl, which I didn't wish to waste a brain cell on. And because the cat outside was more interesting. I don't recall any F words, but maybe it's hard to be a badass while talking about kitties.

Was there (Walla Walla) a week ago. Studiously avoided the Charles Smith tasting room (though it's a very attractive space). Did visit and greatly enjoy Gramercy, Kerloo, Maison Bleue, Tero/Waters, Morrison Lane, El Corazon and Result of a Crush.

[Jenise]

Good names, Bruce.

Btw, things are changing rapidly here and there are many, many wineries in Woodinville that aren't just tasting rooms for wineries actually located in Walla Walla. Which is to say that there are some fantastic wines from Washington that you actually have to come to Seattle to experience. I visited several of those on Sunday--three standouts were Obelisco, Barrage and Avennia.

Good to know. I didn't make it to Seattle on this trip, but did go to Portland, and while there's no equivalent of Woodinville, they have some urban wineries, too -- perhaps most notably, the Southeast Wine Collective, where I tasted wonderful wines from Vincent and Division. Also discovered a garage winemaker -- literally -- in the north part of town named Jan-Marc, who gets grapes from both the Willamette Valley and Columbia Gorge, and bottles a variety of excellent wines.