March is the first official “Washington Wine Month” and really the only one I recognize. I know somewhere along the way they included August. I haven’t researched this, but we may be the only state with two wine months. I need to check that out at some point. I think you know what I’m leading to. My pick for March is from Washington State. Washington is the second largest wine producing state in the U.S., California being the largest. The cool thing about our state (I live in Washington) is that many of the wines that score big points are much less expensive than the big scoring wines out of California. It’s true, we do have some higher priced wines, but in general, they are much less expensive than, for instance, many of the wines from top-producers out of Napa, CA.
My pick for this month is a red blend, one of the hottest categories in wine today. It’s produced from a blend of Walla Walla Valley fruit and fruit from Red Mountain, two of the most sought after places to get grapes in Washington State. Here is the gem I found to represent (partially of course) “Washington Wine Month.”
Aromas of red flowers, currants and blackberries. Ripe currant notes on the front of the palate, on smooth tannins. Ripe blackberry notes join in near the mid-palate with a kiss of baking spices. Ripe citrus notes loom in the background front to a long finish. Excellent structure and balance with nice complexity for the money. 40% Cabernet Sauvignon (Walla Walla Valley fruit) with 30% Cab Franc, 20% Malbec and 10% Merlot all sourced from Red Mt. (B/B+)
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
