{"id":4599,"date":"2020-11-06T14:17:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T21:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=4599"},"modified":"2020-11-09T18:57:28","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T01:57:28","slug":"in-a-year-many-of-us-would-like-to-forget-washington-wines-were-truly-memorable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=4599","title":{"rendered":"In a Year Many of Us Would Like to Forget, Washington Wines Were Truly Memorable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article originally appeared in the November\/December, 2020 issue of Bellingham Alive Magazine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trying to come up with some of the\nbest Washington wines in 2020 is a daunting task. With over 1,000 wineries and counting,\nthe state\u2019s winemakers are increasingly creating a \u201cnice problem\u201d for wine\nenthusiasts by providing them with quality wines to choose from at every taste\npreference level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you have a limitless\nsupply of time and money for tasting, a great way to narrow down the field is\nto refer to the results of a judged competition. The Bellingham Northwest Wine\nFestival, now in its fifth year, has just such a competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo Credit: Dean Davidson, Bellingham Alive Magazine<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s judging, held at\nBellingham\u2019s Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, featured 274 wines from the Pacific\nNorthwest. Eighteen of the entrants received double golds (unanimous gold\nmedals) from the panel of judges in a blind tasting. Although these medalists\nrepresent just a tiny fraction of Washington wines currently available, they\noffer a great starting point for those interested in exploring some of the\nstate\u2019s standout wines of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reds and red wine blends continue\nto dominate the Washington wine scene, and the judging results overwhelmingly reflected\nconsumer preferences in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven double golds went to six different red varietals, with syrah claiming the only multiple winners: the Beaumont Cellars 2017 Syrah<\/strong>, and the Joseph Christy Vineyards 2017 Estate Syrah<\/strong>, which also took home Best in Show honors as the top point-receiving wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bayernmoor Cellars 2017 Puget Sound AVA Pinot Noir<\/strong>, Bergevin Lane Vineyards 2015 Dreamweaver Malbec, Hightower Cellars 2018 Murray Cabernet Sauvignon, Lagana Cellars 2017 Cabernet Franc, <\/strong>and Robert Ramsay Cellars 2016 Grenache<\/strong> rounded out the other red varietal top medalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those enjoying red wine blends, several double gold-worthy wines were selected. The Dama Wines 2015 Collage <\/strong>features a Bordeaux-based blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and cabernet franc; Desert Winds Winery 2017 Ruah <\/strong>is a proprietary blend of five red varietals; Eternal Wines 2015 Reserve Blend <\/strong>includes a 50\/50 combination of cabernet sauvignon and syrah; and Chelan\u2019s Mellisoni Vineyards 2017 60\u00b0<\/strong> offers a stunning, equal-parts blend of three Italian varietals: nebbiolo, sangiovese, and barbera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albari\u00f1o is an up-and-coming white varietal that\u2019s gaining popularity among Washington winemakers and wine drinkers\u2026and three of the judging\u2019s albari\u00f1o entrants received double gold honors: Walla Walla\u2019s Eternal Wines 2019 Albari\u00f1o<\/strong>, Woodinville\u2019s Michael Florentino Cellars 2017 Albari\u00f1o<\/strong>, and a Palencia Wine Company 2019 Albari\u00f1o <\/strong>from the Tri-Cities. Put this wine on your must-try list; it\u2019s bright, sassy, and somewhat similar to a sauvignon blanc, oftentimes with citrus and white peach flavors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sparkling and dessert wines also fared well in the competition, indicative of Washington\u2019s diversity and reach into an area where wines are traditionally served before and after a meal. Double golds were awarded to the Treveri Cellars Non-Vintage Sparkling Gewurztraminer<\/strong> and Wit Cellars 2019 Sparkling Ros\u00e9<\/strong>, along with the Lopez Island Vineyards Raspberry Wine <\/strong>and Pacific Rim & Company 2019 Sweet Riesling.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a complete list of all 2020\nmedal winners go to: whatcombeerandwinefoundation.org\/wine-festival<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared in the November\/December, 2020 issue of Bellingham Alive Magazine Trying to come up with some of the best Washington wines in 2020 is a daunting task. With over 1,000 wineries and counting, the state\u2019s winemakers are increasingly creating a \u201cnice problem\u201d for wine enthusiasts by providing them with quality wines to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-bellingham-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599","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=4599"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4606,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions\/4606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}