Last night with cold steak and asparagus salad:
2008 Saviah Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Walla Walla Valley
Was absolutely terrific last night with a cold steak and asparagus salad. At the absolute peak of aged divinity now, showing the structure of the cool vintage with optimally picked fruit: blackberry, cassis, black coffee, and just a whisper of Washington's signature herbal/green bell pepper thing. Loved it. Best WA 2008 I've had. At the peak of aged perfection and will hold here for years.
A word about Saviah: this is one of Washington's most unheralded wineries. They make wine from almost every grape in the book, and every year turn out solid, competent stuff at very affordable prices, many of which are sold in Washington supermarkets. For that the owners (the Funk family I kid you not), are probably happy enough--the wine sells. They have legions of fans and one of the best tasting rooms in W2. But they're treated by wine critics like they're another mass-appeal style wine like Chateau Ste. Michelle, which they're not (Charles Smith IS, but they fawn over him, go figure.) So when a bottle from what I consider a great vintage (because it was cool, not an opinion widely shared here though) and a winery that never gets 95 points for anything they do shows up at auction, it goes for a measly $25 which I pounced on just four months ago.
2020 Orofino Vineyards Riesling Wild Ferment Old Vines Smilkameen Valley
From my share of a case shared with Bill Spohn and John S. This old world style riesling took three days to fully open up, transitioning from soft/sweet to layered/minerally with extra complexity from slowed fermentation and wild yeast. Acidity is sufficient for the task but not huge; will probably be at its best in 2023 - 2025. Really classy. Lots of riesling being made in WA these days but none are hitting the nail on the head for old world style like some of the wineries in BC--this is one. Orofino made 13 different rieslings in this vintage.
