After visiting more wineries and tasting more Washington wines than I can count, meeting many of the best winemakers in Washington, and walking the rows in many of the best known vineyards in the state, these are the Wine Peeps team’s picks as the best of 2011 in Washington Wine Country.

BEST WINE: 2008 Rasa Vineyards Creative Impulse (featured July 6)
Honorable Mention: 2008 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon (featured Aug 31), 2008 Fielding Hills Cabernet Franc (featured Feb 23), and 2001 Eroica Single Berry Select Riesling [Chateau Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen] (featured Sept 28)

BEST WINERY: Chateau Ste. Michelle (featured in a number of posts, including Jan 17, Aug 15, Sept 28, and Oct 17 as well as in seven A Wine for Tonight posts)
Honorable Mention: Rasa Vineyards and Fielding Hills Winery

BEST VARIETY/TYPE: Red Blends (featured in a number of posts, including June 22)
Honorable Mention: Cabernet Franc and Riesling

BEST WINEMAKER: Billo Naravane of Rasa Vineyards
Honorable Mention: Bob Bertheau of Chateau Ste. Michelle

BEST VINEYARD: Champoux Vineyards (based on wines released in 2011 produced from Champoux Vineyards fruit)
Honorable Mention: DuBrul Vineyard (our 2010 winner) and Boushey Vineyards (always a favorite)

BEST AVA: Horse Heaven Hills
Honorable Mention: Wahluke Slope and Yakima Valley

BEST NEWCOMER: JB Neufeld Winery (featured Mar 30)
Honorable Mention: Mackey Vineyards (featured Oct 3)

BEST WINE SHOP: Wine World Warehouse (repeat winner)
Honorable Mention: Fred Meyer – Ballard, Seattle; Esquin Wine Merchants, Seattle; Pete’s Wine Shop – Eastside, Bellevue

BEST WINE BAR: Purple Café & Wine Bar, Woodinville
Honorable Mention: URBAN enoteca, Seattle

BEST WINE EVENT: Auction of Washington Wines (featured Aug 26)
Honorable Mention: Taste Washington (featured Mar 30)

Congratulations to all of the winners! Keep up the good work. We would encourage all Washington wine lovers to patronize these producers, vendors, and events. They are the cream of the crop.

Happy New Year! Best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous, and wine-filled 2012!

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the NV Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Blancs from the Columbia Valley of Washington State.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

What’s a better way to ring in the New Year this weekend than with a good sparkling wine with a great QPR? The Blanc de Blancs is one of an excellent array of value sparkling wines from Domaine Ste. Michelle. Producing sparkling wines for over thirty years, Domaine Ste. Michelle is one of the largest sparkling wine houses in the United States, producing more than 300,000 cases each year. Rick Casqueiro has been head winemaker since 1994. Given the current state of our economy, I believe that celebrating the New Year with such an economical yet excellent bubbly is especially appropriate.

“Blanc de Blancs is made primarily from Chardonnay and has essentially the same fruit profile. Try substituting our Blanc de Blancs the next time you think about serving Chardonnay.” –Winemaker Rick Casqueiro

NV Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Blancs (Columbia Valley, Washington): Pale, greenish straw yellow. Very aromatic with honeysuckle and white peach on the nose. More white peach, pear, and floral notes come through on the palate. Dry, light to medium-bodied and crisp with small, fairly fast bubbles, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $12; Available elsewhere, $9 to $15

After founding Sineann with Peter Rosback in 1994, winemaker David O’Reilly took his dream solo when he started Owen Roe Winery, named for Irish patriot Owen Roe O’Neil, in 1999. Located in St. Paul, Oregon, Owen Roe produces wines from both Oregon and Washington fruit. O’Reilly sources his fruit from small vineyard sites in Oregon and Washington in an effort to showcase the best expression of each variety. Annual production for the Owen Roe wines is 30,000 cases. The Corvidae line, marketed predominantly in the Seattle area, adds another 10,000-20,000 cases to the total. And the Sharecropper’s line shares profits with the growers whose fruit is used.

Owen Roe works primarily with smaller vineyards in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Yakima Valley in Washington State. Both of these areas have cooler climates that yield fruit with low pH and excellent acidity. All of the grapes used by Owen Roe are hand harvested, handled with minimal processing, small-lot fermented, and aged in French Oak barrels.

We had the pleasure to visit Owen Roe during a recent visit to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. I highly encourage you to do the same the next time you are in the area; but plan ahead, they are open by appointment only. We tasted nine wines, and our favorite was the 2009 Ex Umbris Syrah. It is outstanding. As you will see from my notes and ratings below, Owen Roe produces a number of wines worth checking out if you see them on the shelf at your local wine shop or on a restaurant wine list.

2009 Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah (Columbia Valley): Deep, dark purple. Nice nose with dark black licorice and black fruit aromas. Very vibrant fruit, blackberry, black cherry, licorice, and herbal notes come through on the palate. Full-bodied with crisp acidity, and medium to high, silky tannins. Well-balanced with good mouthfeel and a long finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $24; Available elsewhere, $22 to $33

2010 Owen Roe Sinister Hand Red Wine (Columbia Valley): 71% Grenache, 24% Syrah, and 5% Mourvedre. Deep purple. Aromatic with strawberry, red cherry, game, and spice on the nose. Black cherry, game, spice, and a hint of coffee come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity, smooth tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $24; Available elsewhere, $20 to $30

2009 Owen Roe Yakima Valley Red Wine (Yakima Valley, Washington): 59% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, and 17% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, purplish red. Nice nose with blackberry, black cherry, thick jam, and liqueur aromas. Black cherry, blackberry, licorice, spice, and a hint of earth come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and smooth tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $42; Available elsewhere, $35 to $50

2008 Owen Roe Rosa Mystica Cabernet Franc (Yakima Valley, Washington): Deep, garnet red. Beautiful nose with black fruit, earth, herbal, and vegetal aromas. Flavors of black cherry, black plum, bell pepper, white pepper, and earth. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, and dry yet smooth tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $42; Available elsewhere, $33 to $47

2008 Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah (Columbia Valley): Deep, dark purple. Gorgeous nose with blackberry, black plum, and spice rack aromas. Deep, rich black fruit, espresso bean, and mocha come through on the palate Full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high, drying tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $24; Available elsewhere, $22 to $29

2010 Owen Roe Abbot’s Table Red Wine (Columbia Valley): 48% Sangiovese, 15% Blaufrankisch, 14% Zinfandel, 14% Malbec, 7% Syrah, and 2% Merlot. Deep purple. Nice nose with red and black fruit. Jammy with ripe fruit, blueberry, plum, and cherry on the palate. Medium-bodied with lively acidity, smooth tannins, and a long finish. An approachable table wine.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $23; Available elsewhere, $17 to $27

2010 Owen Roe Chardonnay (Columbia Valley): Light straw yellow. Nice nose with apple, pear, and a touch of vanilla aromas and flavors. Dry and light to medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long, refreshing finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $21

2009 Owen Roe Slide Mountain Cabernet Franc (Yakima Valley, Washington): Deep, dark purplish red. Gorgeous nose with meat, game, and blackberry aromas. Black cherry, game, and a touch of vegetal notes come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium to high, drying tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 1 bang for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $72; Available elsewhere, $57 to $72

2009 Owen Roe Durant Vineyard Pinot Noir (Durant Vineyard, Dundee Hills, Oregon): Medium rusty red. Aromas of cherry, berry, herbs, and a hint of earth on the nose; cherry, strawberry, herbs, and earth on the palate. Medium-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a long, slightly rough, finish.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 1 bang for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $42

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is fruit.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
To a viticulturist, fruit is a synonym for grape…. To an oenologist or wine taster, fruit is a perceptible element essential to a young wine. Young wines should taste fruity, although not necessarily of grapes, or any particular grape variety. Fruit driven is a tasting term used to convey the fact that a wine has a dominance of grape-derived fruit flavor.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
As you can see from the definition above, when someone uses the word “fruit” in reference to a wine, it can mean a variety of things. For the purposes of a wine consumer, “fruit” is most often used to describe wine flavors as in, “This wine has a lot of fruit” or “This wine is very fruit-forward.” Depending on the variety, wines can have a number of different “fruit” flavors such as blackcurrants, blackberries, raspberries, apples, citrus, and so on.

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:10-12)

Merry Christmas!

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2009 Zenato Valpolicella Superiore from the Veneto region of Italy.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

The Azienda Zenato, located in Lugana, Italy, is owned by the Zenato family. Sergio Zenato founded the winery in 1960. Sergio has a relentless passion for winemaking as well as experimenting with new vineyard plantings. Planted in 1975, the Zenato family estate vineyard is in the area of Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella and covers 20 hectares.

“With a ruby red hue, it releases an elegant almond-scented bouquet, classicly Valpolicella; the palate shows dry and full-flavored, with an excellent, velvet-contoured structure. Can be cellared several years.” –Zenato

2009 Zenato Valpolicella Superiore (Valpolicella DOC, Veneto, Italy): 80% Corvina Veronese, 10% Rondinella, and 10% Sangiovese. Deep red in color. Very aromatic with licorice, oak, and black fruit on the nose. Red and black fruits, earth, and licorice come through on the palate. Medium-bodied and crisp with medium tannins, and a long, smooth finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $15; Available elsewhere, $11 to $14

Beef brisket is usually associated with barbeque; however, at this time of year, cooking outside is not always feasible or enjoyable. Having been in the cattle business in Texas for many years, I’m especially partial to the Texas Beef Council whose website offers some great recipes. For this month’s challenging wine pairing, we had two wines that we wanted to include in one of our pairing challenges—both of which were Mourvedre. So, rather than having the usual two different varieties to compare with the meal, we tasted the same variety to determine which particular wine paired best with the brisket.

I found a brisket recipe on the beef council website that is baked in the oven rather than prepared with the more common outside cooking method. Once the main entrée was set as peppered beef brisket, I decided to round out my entire menu from recipes found on the site, including Texas caviar (made with black-eyed peas and corn), garlic flan, and kickin’ slaw (made with Napa cabbage). As you might expect from a group of Texans, we thought the meal was fabulous.

The two Mourvedres that we paired with the meal were the 2009 Rasa Vineyards Vox Populi Mourvedre and the 2008 Hollywood Hill Vineyards Mourvedre. Both wines were excellent, and we went back and forth trying to determine which we believed paired best with the peppered beef brisket. The final tally had the Vox Populi in front by a 3 to 1 margin. Really, though, you can’t go wrong with either of these wines.

We’d love for you to share in the comments what you would have paired with this meal. And, as always, we welcome your suggestions for challenging wine pairings for us to try in the future.

Bon Appétit!

2009 Rasa Vineyards Vox Populi Mourvedre (Columbia Valley, Washington): 100% Mourvedre. Deep purple in color. Very aromatic with plum, game, leather, and earth on the nose. Pepper, spice, black cherry, and plum come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish. Gets even better with food.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $45; Available elsewhere, $45

2008 Hollywood Hill Vineyards Mourvedre (Horse Heaven Hills, Washington): 90% Mourvedre and 10% Syrah. Deep, purplish red. Nice nose with a lot of red fruit and floral aromas. Fruit-forward with black cherry and spice on the palate. Medium-bodied and smooth with medium to high, drying tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $34; Available elsewhere, $34

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is alcohol.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Alcohol is the common name for ethanol. Alcoholic strength, an important measurement of any wine, is its concentration of the intoxicant ethyl alcohol, or ethanol. It can be measured in several different ways, the most common being the degree…. The degree of alcohol is equivalent to its percentage by volume and is sometimes referred to as ‘abv’, alcohol by volume. In most countries it is mandatory to specify the alcoholic strength of all wines on the label….

Layman’s terms from Kori:
In a bottle of wine, less than 11% alcohol is considered low alcohol, 11% to 14%+ is moderate, and greater than or equal to 15% is high. When tasting, high alcohol will taste hot at the back of your mouth.

As I’ve said before, in 2005, we took the trip of a lifetime to Australia. We fell in love with the country, the people, and the wine. While Australia is quite versatile in the number and quality of wines it can successfully produce, it is best known for Shiraz. When you visit Australia, you quickly realize that the wine industry there is actually older than in the United States when you see winery cornerstones dated from the 1840’s and 1850’s. In fact, Australia has some of the oldest continuously producing vineyards in the world, some over 100 years old. In addition to producing a large amount of varietal Shiraz, Australia also produces many Shiraz-based blends.

After we posted about our Digging into the Cellar Party featuring Australian Shiraz from the 2005 vintage, we received a shipment of current releases of Australian Shiraz and Australian Shiraz blends to restock our cellar. Rather than holding onto them for a while, we put them into one of our regular blind samples tastings to see how the current vintages are showing.

Both the 2008 Penley Estate Condor Shiraz Cabernet and the 2009 Kilikanoon Killerman’s Run Shiraz Grenache are great wines; however, the Penley Estate Condor was our clear favorite. In addition to being wines of high quality, these Australian Shiraz blends also deliver outstanding value. Either of these wines would be great choices to put in your own cellar or to enjoy during the holidays.

2008 Penley Estate Condor Shiraz Cabernet (Coonawarra, Australia): 80% Shiraz and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark purple in color. Nice nose with beautiful blackberry, black cherry, and spice aromas. Jammy black fruits, spice, and game come through on the palate. Full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced with a smooth, lingering finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $20; Available elsewhere, $15 to $18

2009 Kilikanoon Killerman’s Run Shiraz Grenache (South Australia, Australia): 65% Shiraz and 35% Grenache. Deep purplish red. Nice nose with black fruits, licorice, and spice aromas. Blackberry, black cherry, spice, and black pepper come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity, medium to high tannins, and a long, slightly hot, finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $20; Available elsewhere, $16 to $28

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2008 Michele Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti Le Orme Superiore from the Piedmont region of Italy.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Coming from a line of seven generations of grape growers, Michele Chiarlo founded his namesake winery in 1956. Today, Mr. Chiarlo is a leading figure in the Piedmont wine industry. Michele Chiarlo is definitely a family business with Mr. Chiarlo’s sons, Alberto and Stefano, now playing key roles. Alberto directs marketing and sales while Stefano manages vineyard operations and serves as co-winemaker.

“Ruby red with purple highlights. Elegant with fine intensity, hints of wild berries and mint leaves. Dry, full-fruity and well structured.” –Michele Chiarlo

2008 Michele Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti Le Orme Superiore (Barbera d’Asti DOCG, Piedmont, Italy): Medium-deep ruby red in color. Nice nose with earth and red fruit aromas. Fruit-forward with ripe red fruit, especially cherry and raspberry, earth, and black licorice on the palate. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity and medium, smooth tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $14.49; Available elsewhere, $12 to $14