So we started our day (10 a.m.! So early!) with an appointment at Gramercy Cellars. Best I understand the story, Gramercy Cellars started long ago when a bright young sommelier named Greg Harrington went to some backyard gathering in New York and tasted a Walla Walla syrah that blew his mind. Though he makes a cab and a tempranillo, his major interest is Rhone varietals. He makes at least six different syrahs plus grenache and one of the few 100% mourvedres in this state. He now has an estate vineyard, but also procures from some of the best sources: Sauer's Red Willow, Boushey, and Olsen among them. His style is leaner and his wines are ageable (his '10 Mourvedre, which I own, is just hitting peak). Oak is very precisely controlled, never lavished.
Tasting through the line-up (six of the 12 wines currently available for purchase), a very definite style and sense of purpose emerges, one that makes it clear these wines aren't made for immediate drinking but for better days ahead. I like that, and if I were going to join a wine club this would be it. I'm sorry I couldn't buy more.
2020 Gramercy Cellars Rosé Olsen Vineyard Columbia Valley Rosé Blend
A perfectly nuanced/balanced summer sipper with serious intentions. 50% cinsault, 26% Grenache and 24% syrah. I bought some and they won't last until September, but bottles held over to next year should be even more interesting. $22.
2016 Gramercy Cellars Tempranillo Inigo Montoya Walla Walla Valley
Tempranillo but not 100%, a tiny percentage of cab franc was added for a little herbaceousness and merlot was brought in to smooth out the midpalate. As well, some American oak was used for Rioja-like authenticity. Usual suspects here: red fruit, tea, orange rind, spice cake. My husband's favorite in the line-up, so we brought a few home. $42.
2017 Gramercy Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley
Cassis, dark chocolate, dusty, pretty. $50.
2016 Gramercy Cellars Syrah John Lewis Reserve Walla Walla Valley
One of the stupidest things I did on this trip was NOT buy this wine. Floral nose with black currant, meaty palate, light smoke, deeply layered. Best syrah of the trip, a timeless wine. OFS. $85
2017 Gramercy Cellars Syrah "Lagniappe" Red Willow Vineyard Columbia Valley
On a different day, I might have preferred the Les Collines but on this day the richer, earthier Lagniappe with it's peppery black fruit won out. Bought some. $65
2017 Gramercy Cellars Syrah Les Collines Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
This, per our pourer, is their most popular syrah--he was surprised that our table roundly preferred the Lagniappe. Whole cluster fermentation in concrete; lean and peppery with a mild green olive background. Very Crozes-ish. $60
2018 Gramercy Cellars Grenache The Third Man Columbia Valley
A blend of 75% grenache, 15% syrah, and 10% mourvedre from Olsen Vineyard. Lighter bodied with high acidity, a candy nose, and strawberry-rhubarb on the palate. Needs more time to knit together, but it's a great start. $36
Afterward, we visited winery Maison Bleue. Not that dissimilar from the above story, MB started when a dentist in Tennessee tasted a WW wine, and next thing you know he moved his family to Prosser and was pumping out some very fine syrahs in more of a French style than most in the Valley. Not sure why but he sold the winery to Willamette Valley Wines, a huge maker of more or less nondescript Oregon pinot noirs (the kind you find at Costco for $16) who now apparently makes nondescript syrahs under the MB label. We tasted five wines at their DTWW tasting room, all of which seemed wan and dilute. Definitely the biggest disappointment of the trip.
2017 Maison Bleue Syrah Gravière Stone Valley Vineyard Yakima Valley Snipes Mountain
Best wine in a line-up that struck me as below average. This one, with just-decent fruit with mild funk, was the best of the lot, but only then just barely average.