{"id":2046,"date":"2015-04-21T18:29:19","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T01:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=2046"},"modified":"2015-04-26T18:42:46","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T01:42:46","slug":"whats-my-favorite-wine-here-are-a-few-suggestions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=2046","title":{"rendered":"What’s My Favorite Wine? Here Are a Few Suggestions"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s your favorite wine?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s easily one of the most-asked questions I\u2019ve encountered during the past 15 years as a wine columnist for the Herald.<\/p>\n

The answer, of course, is always a moving target, as new wines are introduced into the market and older vintages go out of circulation as they\u2019re consumed or cellared.<\/p>\n

One of my goals at last month\u2019s Taste Washington event in Seattle was to come up with a laundry list, of sorts, of some current \u201cfavorite\u201d wines from the attending 200-plus wineries to pass along to consumers.<\/p>\n

Given the time constraints and volume of wines at this event, first impressions mean everything. So with that in mind, here are my notes on some standout wines I sampled during my whirlwind tasting:<\/p>\n

White Blends<\/strong>: COR Cellars poured an awesome 2014 Celilo Vineyard Alba COR, sourced from Columbia Gorge gew\u00fcrztraminer and pinot gris grapes; Lake Chelan\u2019s Charlie Lybecker had another winner with his Cairdeas Winery 2013 Southern White Rh\u00f4ne Blend; and Cloudlift Cellars continued to impress with a lovely Bordeaux blend in its 2012 Updraft White.<\/p>\n

White Single Varietal Labels<\/strong>: The Ancestry Cellars 2014 Rejouissant Sauvignon Blanc piqued my taste buds with its laser-sharp acidity and crisp, clean finish, as did the Tempus Cellars 2013 Riesling; Victor Palencia scored again with his Palencia Winery 2014 Albari\u00f1o; and two over-the-top 2013 Columbia Valley chardonnays I enjoyed included those from Walla Walla\u2019s Forgeron Cellars and Guardian Cellars in Woodinville.<\/p>\n

\"null\"Sparkling and Ros\u00e9 Wines<\/strong>: Yakima\u2019s Treveri Cellars\u2019 two Non-Vintage Brut Methode Champenoise sparklers, a Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noir were both excellent, as was the 2011 Brut from Karma Vineyards in Chelan (albeit at over twice the price); while Seven Hills Winery served a gorgeous, pale pink 2014 Dry Ros\u00e9 Cabernet Franc.<\/p>\n

Red Blends<\/strong>: A pair of Woodinville winery red blends were amazing: the Brian Carter Cellars 2010 Byzance Red Rh\u00f4ne Blend and Robert Ramsey Cellars 2012 Le Mien Red Rh\u00f4ne Blend (pictured at left); Scott Southard of Selah\u2019s Southard Winery poured a mind-blowing 2012 Red Blend that was insanely underpriced, as were two of Redmond\u2019s Cinq Cellars\u2019 selections, a 2012 \u201cThe Professors\u201d Bordeaux Blend and 2012 \u201cThe Storm\u201d Rh\u00f4ne Blend. <\/p>\n

Red Single Varietal Labels<\/strong>: Spokane\u2019s Barrister Winery featured a stunning 2012 Bacchus Vineyard Syrah that was probably near the top of my list of favorites; Des Voigne Cellars\u2019 2012 The Duke Zinfandel was unique, spicy and flavorful; relative newcomers J&J Vintners\u2019 2012 Malbec and 2012 Syrah represented Walla Walla Valley fruit at its finest.<\/p>\n

Zillah\u2019s Two Mountain Winery 2012 Estate Cabernet Franc was superb, as was the 2013 Cabernet Franc from Walla Walla Vintners; and the $89-a-bottle Doubleback 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon was so spectacular it nearly justified its stratospheric price.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s your favorite wine? That\u2019s easily one of the most-asked questions I\u2019ve encountered during the past 15 years as a wine columnist for the Herald. The answer, of course, is always a moving target, as new wines are introduced into the market and older vintages go out of circulation as they\u2019re consumed or cellared. One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-washington-wines","category-from-the-bellingham-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2046"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2054,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046\/revisions\/2054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}