Our day began with our departure from Suncadia and a bus ride to Woodinville. Most of the wineries in Washington are located here and ship their grapes in from the vineyards we have been visiting all this week. While it may sound weird, it’s really not that unusual. For example, if a winery in Calistoga (Northern Napa) gets any grapes from Carneros (Southern Napa), that’s an hour shipment that you’d never know about. While not particularly scenic, this is really where all the magic happens and the wines actually get made. There are lots of tasting rooms and that’s about it. Actually, at one intersection, there are no less than 25 tasting rooms. One could potentially come to this one intersection for two or three days. In addition, this is where the famous Chateau Ste. Michelle winery is located which brings plenty of attention.
A small group of us were assigned to go to the DeLille facility with owner Jay Soloff and Chris Upchurch, the winemaker. Chris spoke to us for awhile about his philosophy on winemaking and what is important. He has travelled the world to see wineries and discover “what is a great wine”. Chris then took us into the winery and let us get on the sorting table to sort some Roussanne. Then, he allowed me to inoculate a barrel of Merlot. While a simple process, it was awesome and sounds impressive! This was a great visit and I have a tremendous amount of respect for the team at DeLille now.
We returned to Columbia Winery for a seminar on Merlot, the proposed grape that Washington does best. The seminar featured Bob Betz MW and showcased some of his wine as well as some other producers. I think many of the wine professionals in the room agree that Merlot needs to make a comeback. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the underdog at this point, but the Merlot coming out of Washington (and many other varietals, as well) is exceptional, particularly for the money. Unfortunately, a movie wiped it out of people’s realm of consideration and, with any luck, that will wear off someday and wine drinkers will rediscover amazing wines. Especially those from Washington!
We had a brief tasting in the barrel room across the street at Chateau Ste. Michelle after the seminar. Two tables that were real standouts were DeLille and Eferte. The DeLille wines were great across the board! Their Roussanne has terrific acidity with peach, lime and honeysuckle. The Chaleur Estate Blanc was profound and I can’t wait to go home and buy it! Eferte makes a slew of wines, but their Riesling was a standout: Orange Crush aromas and really zesty acidity supporting the tangerine, lime, melon and peach flavors. Also, their Emmy which is a Mourvedre-based blend was pretty solid. Lots of white pepper and animal flavors over a core of cherry and plum. This one is perfect for Jar.
We dined in the winery after that. “The Ocho” reconvened one last time! I’m really going to miss dining with these people. It’s highly unlikely that we will all be together ever again, but I will hope for that day. It was a bittersweet meal as we all began to re-assimilate into our real lives, checking phones, prepping for our return to work. But we have a tremendous amount of memories to take with us. As well as some incriminating photos…
So, a quick recap, if you’ve made it through this entire rehash of my journey to Washington: These are really wonderful wines and not to be overlooked. There is such an amazing sense of pride and awe that this wine-producing community feels about what they are doing. I’ve never seen so many people in competition with each other who are also so supportive of one another. These are vines that have not been affected by phylloxera. The flavors are complex in a way seen in few places around the globe. These growers and winemakers are incredibly passionate and it shows in the wines they make. And this is just a budding region! It’s going to be amazing to see where they go from here.
I will definitely be on that trip for sure!
In the mean time, there are two very sad dachsunds waiting for me to come home. I'm on my way, boys!
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