{"id":7205,"date":"2026-10-25T04:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T11:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=7205"},"modified":"2026-10-25T06:48:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T13:48:01","slug":"washington-wine-of-the-week-selections-for-fall-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=7205","title":{"rendered":"Washington Wine of the Week – Selections for Fall, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the week of October 25, 2026: El Corazon Winery 2024 Gamay Noir<\/strong> – Guaranteed to be unlike any other Gamay Noir you’ve tasted, this newly released red from the Walla Walla winery is mind-numbingly delicious. Packed with big, juicy flavors of red cherry and red plum along with nuances of baking spice on the finish, it’s bold, dark, and borderline full-bodied. If not for the streak of bracing acidity, there’s no way you’d guess you were drinking anything close to a Gamay Noir. Varietally correct? No way, but who cares because this wine is so much fun. The grapes were sourced from Oregon’s newest AVA, the Lower Long Tom, which is located within the state’s Willamette Valley AVA between the cities of Corvallis and Eugene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the week of October 18, 2026: Edward Lynne Cellars 2020 Syrah<\/strong> – Edward Lynne winemaker\/owner Bill Kitner had a breakthrough year at the 2026 Pacific Northwest Wine Competition with two Golds and two Double Golds, including this 94-point Syrah that was one of the event’s higher scoring wines. Ultra-dark plum and black raspberry fruit at the core are accentuated by notes of black pepper, teriyaki, and subtle minerality. The judges also loved the combination of jamminess and gaminess along with a super-velvety finish, no doubt a product of the wine’s extra time in the bottle. Slam dunk food pairings include rack of lamb or grilled lamb burgers. The winery\/tasting room is located in Puget Sound on the north end of Camano Island.<\/p>\n\n\n

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For the week of October 11, 2026: Dama Wines 2024 Grenache<\/strong> – Dama Winemaker Mary Derby (pictured at right) continues to impress with this blockbuster Grenache that has New World character on all levels with a big flavor profile and bigger-than-you-might-expect body style. Perfume-like aromas of violets and blueberry pie lead to a palate of blackberry, star anise, cinnamon spice, sweet cedar and candied ginger. The wine’s mouth-watering acidity contrasts beautifully with a bit of tannic structure to give it a smile-worthy finish that’s both juicy and textured. Sourced from the Painted Hills Vineyard in Washington’s Yakima County, the wine earned a 92-point score and Double Gold medal at the 2026 Pacific Northwest Wine Competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the week of October 4, 2026: L’Ecole No. 41 2023 Ferguson, Estate Vineyard<\/strong> – In a word: Wow! This Bordeaux red blend (Cabernet Sauvignon dominant, plus all four other major varietals from the region) is a blockbuster from start to finish. Sourced from the winery’s Ferguson Vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley, it opens with tantalizing aromatics of blackberry and black currant that carry over to the palate. Robust, yet pliable tannins are balanced with nice acidity, and the finishing touches influenced by the vineyard’s basalt terrior are amazing; graphite, minerality, and a touch of salinity reveal themselves on the wine’s final stanza, along with undertones of baking spice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it’s perfectly acceptable to drink now – it’s already received two 98-point scores – this is one wine you’ll want to hold on to to allow for even more depth and character development. A minimum of three to five more years in the cellar is recommended…if you can wait that long. Just released this fall; 1,000 cases produced.<\/p>\n\n\n

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For the week of September 27, 2026: Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards 2025 Shameless Hussy Ros\u00e9 <\/strong>– Head Winemaker Julian Shaver is doing some great work at this long-standing Lake Chelan winery, and he often uses a light-handed approach to produce some delicious food-friendly wines that don’t cost a small fortune. This scrummy Ros\u00e9 (about $29) is a combination of the seldom used Gamay Noir grape – a 77% base – with Malbec taking up the remaining balance. Lovely aromatics include rose petals, strawberries, and a touch of petrichor, followed by juicy red berry, red currant, and tart red cherry flavors. The .8% residual sugar content gives it a bit of extra body and also a whisper of sweetness that nudges it into the off-dry category. Perfect with seared tuna, shellfish, or a variety of mild cheeses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the week of October 25, 2026: El Corazon Winery 2024 Gamay Noir – Guaranteed to be unlike any other Gamay Noir you’ve tasted, this newly released red from the Walla Walla winery is mind-numbingly delicious. Packed with big, juicy flavors of red cherry and red plum along with nuances of baking spice on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-washington-wines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7205","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=7205"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7230,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7205\/revisions\/7230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}