Blaine Winery Diversifies While Continuing String of Successful Releases
Go visit Glacial Lake Missoula Winery in Blaine.
The tasting room is only open during a six-hour window each week from noon to 6 pm on Saturdays. But if you make time for a visit, you’ll take advantage of a great opportunity to sample all of the winery’s current releases and also chat with winemakers Tom Davis and Tracey DeGraff.
Three of their wines represent the newest of these releases and they showcase the skill and diverse range of these two talented winemakers.
For starters, try the 2009 Kolk Rosé ($15), made from 100-percent cabernet sauvignon sourced from Yakima Valley’s Elephant Mountain.
Davis and DeGraff will be the first to admit that this wine isn’t quite on the level of the stellar 2008 vintage, but it’s still a fine effort. Aromas and flavors of cranberry, red currant and rose petals end in a sharp, expressive finish with dazzling acidity. Production was limited to a microscopic 25 cases.
The 2007 Harbor Light Red ($18) is essentially a baby Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, malbec and cabernet franc at a near-steal of a price. The wine displays bright red fruit flavors, dark and inky undertones, and a slightly spicy finish that one might mistake for a syrah. An added bonus: $2 from the sale of each bottle is donated to the Semiahmoo Lighthouse Resurrection Society.
Another Bordeaux blend, the 2006 Deluge ($29) is the latest in a string of stunning red wines produced by Davis and DeGraff under this label.
The complexities of this wine cannot be understated; coffee, caramel, molasses on the nose, dense, chewy textures commingled with a splash of acidity and then a balanced, somewhat silky finish. It’s ready to drink now, but can be easily cellared for another three to five years.
Look for Glacial Lake Missoula wines on the menu at Tivoli and The Cliff House Restaurant in Bellingham as well as Purple Smile Wines, Ferndale Haggen, and The Market at Birch Bay. More information: glmwine.com.
Hightower Cellars has earned a reputation of producing incredible red wines. A perfect example is their 2006 Merlot (about $28), a well-polished wine that is drinking exceptionally well right now. Lovely cherry, white pepper, and chocolate flavors melt seamlessly into a finish with soft, elegant tannins. Well worth the price, and highly recommended.
Although it’s still a distant third behind cabernet sauvignon and merlot, syrah continues to gain ground here. Last year, it comprised nearly 15 percent of the red-wine varietals produced in the state. Here are a few locally available Washington syrahs I have recently enjoyed:
Last month I spent a weekend in the Rose City, but traveling around to visit a number of wineries simply wasn’t practical. I came up with an alternative that I’d recommend to anyone with limited time or budgetary constraints when staying in a city that’s near the wine country. Visit a local wine bar.