In May, Lake Chelan was established as Washington State’s 11th AVA (American Viticultural Area). Lake Chelan is home to 13 wineries open to the public and 260 vineyard acres. A 3-hour drive east from Seattle, Lake Chelan has been a popular tourist destination for years especially during the summer months when visitors flock there to enjoy the sunshine and recreation around the lake.

Mom (LaGayle) and Dad (John) visited some of the wineries in the Lake Chelan area during their cross-country road trip last year, but Colby and I had not yet had the opportunity. We had both vacationed in Chelan during college but had not been back. When the new AVA was established, we knew that we had to make time to get over there, and we couldn’t think of a better time to visit than during the middle of summer so we could enjoy the weather and the lake as well. So last weekend, we loaded up the car and headed for Lake Chelan. Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous, and over the course of two days, we were able to visit all 13 wineries in the new Lake Chelan AVA.

On Saturday, we visited seven wineries located on the North Shore of Lake Chelan: Vin du Lac, Benson, Lake Chelan Winery, Tildio, Hard Row to Hoe, Wapato Point, and Rio Vista. While I had not previously visited any of the wineries in Chelan, I had tasted the wines from some of them.

One that was completely new to me and turned out to be our best discovery of the weekend was Benson Vineyards Estate Winery. Located on 28 vineyard acres with a spectacular view of Lake Chelan, Benson Vineyards was founded by Paul and Kathy Benson and their sons, Scott and Jeff. They bought the land in 1998, ripped out the existing apple orchard, and began planting their vineyard in 2002. Their first harvest was in 2004, and they released their first wines in 2005. Currently, they produce about 4,000 cases per year using 100 percent estate fruit. Benson boasts a stunning new facility which has only been open for a little over a month. Our favorites of their wines were the 2006 Rhythm (a blend of Syrah, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot) and the 2005 Syrah.

The other two wineries that made an impression on Saturday were Hard Row to Hoe and Rio Vista. We had the pleasure to visit with the owners at both wineries. Don Phelps at Hard Row to Hoe loves to tell stories. Last year, he and his wife Judy rebranded their winery which was formerly known as Balsamroot. The new Hard Row to Hoe name has a bit of a “naughty” story behind it, and Don is more than happy to share it with visitors. We really enjoyed their 2006 Zinfandel. Owner John Little of Rio Vista is a much more reserved guy, but his wines speak for themselves. He and his wife Jan founded Rio Vista in 2008 and currently produce 740 cases per year. Rio Vista is a little off the beaten path but is a great find along the Columbia River. In fact, they get as much boat traffic as they get car traffic. Our favorite of their wines was the 2007 Cabernet Franc.

On Sunday, we visited five wineries on the South Shore of Lake Chelan: Tsillan, Nefarious, Tunnel Hill, Chelan Estate, and Karma. We also returned to the North Shore to visit one more winery, Four Lakes, which we were unable to find on Saturday.

In my opinion, Nefarious Cellars is producing the best wines overall in Lake Chelan. Founded in 2005 by the husband-wife winemaking team of Dean and Heather Neff, Nefarious currently produces about 2,000 cases per year and plans to remain small. The Neffs are extremely nice folks, and their winery and estate vineyard boast gorgeous views of the lake. We were blown away by their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Riverbend Vineyard. Located in the Wahluke Slope AVA, Riverbend Vineyard is owned by Mike and Karen Wade of Fielding Hills Winery. We also really liked their 2007 Syrah Defiance Vineyard. Produced from estate grown fruit, this wine is composed of 86 percent Syrah, 9 percent Grenache, and 5 percent Viognier.

After several dry runs and wrong turns, we finally found Four Lakes Winery. It sits high up on a hill overlooking, what else, four lakes. The view is amazing. Founded in 2003 by owner Don Koester, Four Lakes’ new tasting room has been open less than two weeks. Our favorite of their wines was the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon.

If you live in Washington or have plans to visit, I highly encourage you to include Lake Chelan in your travel itinerary. The gorgeous lake which offers a host of summer recreation opportunities as well as the 13 wineries in the area make Chelan a fabulous Washington wine country destination.

Here’s a breakdown of the wines that we tasted in Lake Chelan. Under each Quality heading, the wine name and region will be listed along with price and QPR rating. Wines in bold type received a QPR rating of 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5).

Note: Since the Lake Chelan AVA is so new, even wines that are produced from vineyards in the Lake Chelan AVA are currently labeled as Columbia Valley.

Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
2007 Nefarious Cabernet Sauvignon Riverbend Vineyard, Wahluke Slope, $29.99, QPR: 5

Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
2005 Four Lakes Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $29, QPR: 5
2007 Rio Vista Cabernet Franc, Columbia Valley, $25, QPR: 4
2006 Benson Estate Rhythm (Syrah/Sangio/Cab/Mer), Chelan County, $26, QPR: 4
2005 Benson Estate Syrah, Chelan County, $26.50, QPR: 4
2007 Nefarious Syrah Defiance Vineyard, Columbia Valley, $26.99, QPR: 4
2006 Tsillan Syrah, Columbia Valley, $28, QPR: 4
2006 Hard Row to Hoe Zinfandel, Wahluke Slope, $35, QPR: 4
2007 Tsillan Dolcezza d’Oro (Late Harvest Riesling), Columbia Valley, $35 [375ml], QPR: 4
2008 Rio Vista Ice Wine, Columbia Valley, $40 [375ml], QPR: 4

Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
2007 Four Lakes Chardonnay, Columbia Gorge, $14, QPR: 5
2007 Rio Vista Chardonnay, Columbia Valley, $15, QPR: 5
2008 Benson Estate Reserve Chardonnay, Chelan County, $17.50, QPR: 5
2004 Chelan Estate Merlot, Columbia Valley, $20, QPR: 5
2007 Rio Vista Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $25, QPR: 5
2007 Rio Vista Riesling, Columbia Valley, $15, QPR: 4
2007 Tunnel Hill Riesling, Columbia Valley, $15, QPR: 4
2007 Vin du Lac Cuvee Rouge (Mer/Cab/Syrah), Columbia Valley, $19.99, QPR: 4
2006 Four Lakes Trinity (Cab Sauv/Mer/Syrah), Columbia Valley, $24, QPR: 4
2006 Four Lakes Merlot, Columbia Valley, $24, QPR: 4
2007 Four Lakes Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley, $15, QPR: 3
2008 Nefarious Consequence (Sauv Blanc/Aligote/Viognier), Washington State, $16.99, QPR: 3
2007 Tildio Ideale (Chardonnay/Viognier), Columbia Valley, $17.99, QPR: 3
2008 Hard Row to Hoe Pinot Noir Rosé, Chelan County, $18, QPR: 3
2008 Hard Row to Hoe Edelzwicker (Riesling/Gewurz), Columbia Valley, $18, QPR: 3
2008 Nefarious Viognier Defiance Vineyard, Columbia Valley, $18.99, QPR: 3
2006 Tildio Tempranillo, Columbia Valley, $24.99, QPR: 3
2006 Tildio El Buho (Cab/Mer/Syrah), Columbia Valley, $26.99, QPR: 3
2006 Four Lakes Syrah, Columbia Valley, $29, QPR: 3
2006 Benson Estate Reserve Syrah, Chelan County, $32.50, QPR: 3
2008 Benson Estate Viognier, Chelan County, $19, QPR: 2
2008 Rio Vista Sunset on the River (Gewurz/Pinot Gris), Columbia Valley, $20, QPR: 2
2007 Nefarious Malbec Upland Vineyards, Snipes Mountain, $26.99, QPR: 2

Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
2004 Chelan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Stillwater Creek Vineyard, Columbia Valley, $25, QPR: 4
2005 Lake Chelan Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $28, QPR: 4
2008 Vin du Lac Les Amis (Riesling-based blend), Columbia Valley, $13.99, QPR: 3
2007 Vin du Lac Savvy! Blanc (Sauvignon Blanc), Columbia Valley, $13.99, QPR: 3
2008 Tildio Estate Riesling, Columbia Valley, $14.99, QPR: 3
2008 Tunnel Hill Riesling, Columbia Valley, $15, QPR: 3
2008 Benson Estate Chardonnay (unoaked), Chelan County, $17.50, QPR: 3
2007 Tunnel Hill Pinot Noir, Columbia Valley, $25, QPR: 3
2005 Wapato Point Red Delicious (Syrah/Sangio/Mer), Columbia Valley, $26, QPR: 3
2008 Hard Row to Hoe Sauvignon Blanc, Yakima Valley, $18, QPR: 2
2007 Four Lakes Gewurztraminer, Columbia Gorge, $18, QPR: 2
2008 Lake Chelan Winery Sweet Gewurztraminer, Chelan County, $18, QPR: 2
2004 Chelan Estate Merlot Stillwater Creek Vineyard, Columbia Valley, $25, QPR: 2
2006 Tildio Syrah, Columbia Valley, $26.99, QPR: 2
2006 Benson Estate Meritage (Merlot/Cab), Chelan County, $27.50, QPR: 2
2006 Lake Chelan Winery Syrah, Columbia Valley, $28, QPR: 2
2005 Tsillan Merlot, Columbia Valley, $28, QPR: 2
2007 Tunnel Hill Syrah, Columbia Valley, $30, QPR: 2
2008 Tsillan Bocciolo di Rosa (Syrah Rosé), Columbia Valley, $19, QPR: 1
2008 Wapato Point Harmony (Pinot Grigio/Gewurz), Chelan County, $19, QPR: 1
2008 Rio Vista Rosé, Columbia Valley, $20, QPR: 1

Quality: 2.5 stars (out of 5)
2008 Vin du Lac Grisant! Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley, $17.99, QPR: NR
2006 Rio Vista Loony Red, Columbia Valley, $18, QPR: NR
2008 Benson Estate Pinot Gris, Chelan County, $18, QPR: NR
2007 Tsillan Dry Riesling, Columbia Valley, $20, QPR: NR
2007 Chelan Estate Chardonnay-Viognier, Columbia Valley, $22, QPR: NR
2007 Tildio Tourmalet (Pinot Noir/Syrah), Columbia Valley, $22.99, QPR: NR
2007 Karma Chardonnay, Columbia Valley, $22.99, QPR: NR
2006 Karma Estate Syrah, Columbia Valley, $24.99, QPR: NR
2007 Rio Vista Loony Red, Columbia Valley, $25, QPR: NR
2004 Chelan Estate Pinot Noir, Columbia Valley, $25, QPR: NR
2007 Lake Chelan Winery Harding Syrah, Columbia Valley, $28, QPR: NR
2005 Wapato Point Syrah, Chelan County, $28, QPR: NR
2005 Kludt Family Winery Reserve Estate Merlot [Wapato Point], Chelan County, $48, QPR: NR

Quality: 2 stars (out of 5)
2007 Lake Chelan Winery Gewurztraminer, Chelan County, $18, QPR: NR
2007 Karma Estate Gewurztraminer, Columbia Valley, $19.99, QPR: NR

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

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Interestingly enough, The Oxford Companion to Wine does not give a definition for minerality. Ms. Robinson does list minerals and mineral elements such as potassium, nitrogen, sulfur, copper, etc. But it does not seem that those elements are directly related to the “minerality” that wine drinkers describe in certain wines.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Minerality is a term generally used to describe a wine that smells and/or tastes like minerals, stones, or some other element of the earth. Most of these wines lack prominent fruit aromas and flavors.

Last year, I did a post on tips for visiting wine country which included advice on being friendly and polite and respecting the time of the people working in a tasting room. I would encourage all wine country visitors to review that post before venturing out on the wine trails again this summer.

Several months later, I did a post directed more towards winery owners and tasting room managers on areas needing improvement. Today, I want to update that post as a result of the many tasting room visits I’ve made since then. In this recessionary environment, I believe that it is essential for every winery tasting room to make the best possible first impression to potential customers.

Here’s my updated list of suggestions for tasting rooms:

1. Make sure that you are open and open on time during the hours that you have advertised or posted that you are open. As our regular readers know, nothing ticks us off more than a tasting room which is not open as advertised. Be sure to keep your hours up-to-date on your website, your area wine association’s website, your voice mail, and all other places you advertise or have your hours listed.
2. Make sure that your tasting room personnel are friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. Nothing is more off-putting than a tasting room person who ignores you or acts like a visitor is a bother. Why are you open other than to court visitors?
3. Make sure that you clearly explain your tasting fee policy, if any, up front. Better yet, have it posted clearly and explain it. I’ve seen it get very awkward when it was not explained up front and a visitor has already finished tasting when the tasting fee is brought to their attention.
4. Have a handout with tasting notes and a price list. Too often, tasting notes and a price list are nonexistent or either they are in a laminated copy on the counter but not on a sheet on which a visitor can make notes and take with them. Be sure to include your contact information (website, email address, phone number, etc) so that the visitor knows how to reach you when he/she decides to buy some of your wine later.
5. Have spit cups and dump buckets available. I have been amazed at how many tasting rooms do not even have dump buckets, much less provide disposable spit cups.
6. Have water and crackers available for tasters to use to cleanse their palates. This might seem like a small and somewhat unnecessary item; but believe me, visitors remember the wineries whose tasting room covers all the bases.
7. Give your tasting room personnel some flexibility in wines to pour. Again, when I drive five hours to visit your tasting room that is 30 miles from anyone else just to taste a Cab you are noted for, pay a tasting fee, and then your tasting room person tells me you’re not pouring the Cab today, I get more than a little upset. My suggestion is that you give your tasting room personnel the flexibility to open that Cab if they can see that the visitor is a serious wine enthusiast and not just a freeloader.
8. Cool your uppity attitude. Obviously, this suggestion does not apply to all tasting rooms as we have had many wonderful experiences and met some very friendly people on our winery visits. In fact, when we have been served by the owners and/or winemakers in a tasting room, most have been very down-to-earth folks who are very courteous and welcoming. Too often, though, we have encountered tasting room hired hands that cop an uppity attitude and talk down to visitors. Not smart and certainly not good for business.

If visitors remember to be polite and respectful and wineries take some of these suggestions to heart, I truly believe the tasting room experience can be great for all of us. Have a great summer in wine country!

Last month when we were in Walla Walla for Vintage Walla Walla weekend, we had the pleasure to visit with one of our favorite Washington winemakers, Rich Funk of Saviah Cellars.

Saviah Cellars is a family-owned winery located south of downtown Walla Walla, near the Oregon state line. Founded in 2000 by Rich Funk and his wife Anita, Saviah Cellars currently produces over 6,000 cases per year.

Rich took us through a vertical tasting of his Saviah Red Mountain Syrah from the 2003 through the 2007 vintage. (For those of you who are not familiar with a vertical tasting, it is one in which you taste different vintages of the same wine from the same winery.) The grapes for these wines all came from the oldest block of Syrah on Red Mountain at the Ranch at the End of the Road Vineyard.

One of the things that I really admire about Rich’s winemaking style is that he strives for elegance rather than over-extracted huge wines. As a winemaker, he is all about the fruit, but his wines are not fruit bombs. Rich’s wines show balance, complexity, and elegance.

You can’t go wrong with any of these five Syrahs; they are all very good. However, the two that really stood out to us were the 2004 and the 2007. The 2004 is a fabulous wine that is showing really well right now. The 2007 has not even been released yet so it is still very young; however, it is already an excellent wine and should really open up even more with a few more years of age.

Tasting notes, in the order we tasted them:

2003 Saviah Red Mountain Syrah (Red Mountain, WA): Deep purple, not turning to brick yet. Dark fruits, pepper, smoke, and smoked meats.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $30

2004 Saviah Red Mountain Syrah (Red Mountain, WA): Deep purple. Red and blue fruits, spice, and pepper. Medium to high tannins, lively acidity, and a long, lingering finish. Smooth and well-balanced.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR:  5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $30

2005 Saviah Red Mountain Syrah (Red Mountain, WA): Deep ruby red. Black fruits, pepper. Medium tannins, medium finish, a bit hot on the back end.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR:  3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $30

2006 Saviah Red Mountain Syrah (Red Mountain, WA): Blue fruits, cinnamon, earthy. Crisp acidity, medium to high tannins, and a long finish. Good structure, smooth, well-balanced.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR:  4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $30

2007 Saviah Red Mountain Syrah (Red Mountain, WA): Deep ruby/purple. Blackberry, black cherry, medium to high tannins, and a long, lingering finish. I think this one will develop really well over time.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR:  5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Will be released in September (~$30)

During our recent trip to Spokane, we had the pleasure to visit Mountain Dome Winery, the only dedicated independent sparkling wine producer in the state of Washington, and interview winemaker Erik Manz. Founded in 1984 by Erik’s parents, Michael and Patricia Manz, Mountain Dome is located on 84 acres just outside of town in the foothills of Mt. Spokane. Mountain Dome produces 3,500 cases per year using Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes in the methode champenoise or traditional method.

When we met Erik and tasted his wines at the Spokane tasting at Barrister Winery, we were impressed not only with their quality but also their value. All four Mountain Dome sparkling wines (Non-vintage, Vintage, Rosé, and Cuvee Forte) have a QPR of 5 bangs for your buck.

Erik was kind enough to give us a tour of the Mountain Dome facilities and answer our questions on a variety of topics. He shared the history of Mountain Dome Winery, gave us insight into his winemaking philosophy, and took us through the step-by-step process of making sparkling wine. I became particularly fascinated with the sparkling winemaking process when I was studying for the CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine) exam in 2007. So I thoroughly enjoyed having Erik walk us through the process so we could “see” it firsthand. Be sure to watch the video and see for yourself.

Here are some key clips from our interview:

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

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Fruit set is an important and delicate stage of the vine’s development after flowering which marks the transition from flower to grape berry. The setting period of about a week is a critical one for the vine-grower, since it is a major determinant of the size of the crop, yet the grower can do little to change the course of events.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Fruit set, the third stage in the annual growth cycle of the vine, marks the transition from flower to berry.

Over the last few months I’ve read a number of articles encouraging wine lovers to “invest” in good wine, with each typically citing a favorable comparison between wine and the stock market over the last year or two. As an investment management professional for over forty years, my response to these recommendations would be caveat emptor, which is Latin for “let the buyer beware.” (Photo by Frieder Blickle)

1. First of all, comparing for a year or two means nothing in investing. How about twenty or thirty years?
2. Second, wine is a perishable asset, not even just a depreciating asset.
3. With wine, you also have ongoing storage costs and the question of whether the previous owner took proper care of the wine.

I think it’s great to buy a great “collectible” bottle of wine occasionally when you can afford it. But don’t buy it believing that it is your retirement plan. Collecting purely for investment purposes usually proves to be foolish. The chances of losing money when the collectability factor is priced into an item are enormous. Collecting trends are usually fads. And fads usually fade.

I think the best attitude you can have towards your wine cellar was expressed by Jancis Robinson in her book, Tasting Pleasure: Confessions of a Wine Lover:

“I don’t want to manage my cellar. I want to drink it.”

Just like Jancis, my goal is to live long enough to enjoy every bottle that I have.

In sum, know your collectible wines, take good care of them and, most of all, enjoy them. But do not expect them to make you rich.

Cheers!

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In January, I joined Twitter and have been tweeting regularly ever since. Twitter has been an excellent way to engage in the wine blogging community as well as interact with readers and fellow wine lovers in an informal atmosphere (in short, 140 character messages). In addition to tweets announcing new Wine Peeps blog posts, I tweet about other wine-related things that I am doing or that are on my mind as well as random non-wine things from time to time just to keep things interesting. If you are on Twitter, please Follow Me if you are not already.

We recently created a new Wine Peeps page on Facebook as yet another avenue to connect with our readers and create a sense of community. While we do import our posts and occasionally post a status update that is the same as something I’ve tweeted, we are also asking questions and sharing other things on Facebook that we are not posting elsewhere. Over the weekend, we passed 100 fans and were able to get our own vanity URL, http://www.facebook.com/winepeeps. Many thanks to all of you who are already fans! For those of you who are not fans yet, we encourage you to join us and Become a Fan. And we hope that all of you will tell your friends about us.

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We recently spent a wonderful weekend in Washington wine country. We visited vineyards and wineries on Red Mountain, in the Yakima Valley, and near the Tri-Cities. We met some wonderful people, tasted some great wines, and spent time in some of the state’s best vineyards.

On the way from Seattle to our hotel in the Tri-Cities, our first stop was at Chandler Reach Vineyards in Benton City, founded in 1997 by Len and Jane Parris. Built to look like a Tuscan villa, the winery has a beautiful setting overlooking their estate vineyards with a view of neighboring Red Mountain. My favorite of the wines we tasted was their 2004 Syrah.

Next we had the pleasure to visit with owner Patricia Gelles, affectionately known as the “Baroness of the Mountain,” at the famed Klipsun Vineyard on Red Mountain. We met Patricia at Taste Washington in April and were glad to have the opportunity to interview her again and tour the vineyard in person. Patricia and her husband David founded Klipsun Vineyard in 1984. Klipsun means “sunset” in Chinook Indian jargon and is an appropriate name because the vineyard faces west.

The next morning we drove back to Yakima to meet with Sean Gilbert at Gilbert Cellars in Yakima. We tasted through barrels of both the soon-to-be-bottled 2007’s and the 2008’s. We had tasted the 2007’s in barrel last summer so it was great to be able to taste them again with another year of barrel age. I am really looking forward to their 2007 releases, particularly the Syrah, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc. The Cab Franc was the biggest surprise for me; it was fabulous and I haven’t been able to say that about many Cab Francs. The grapes were sourced from Indian Wells Vineyard from 1985 vines. The bad news is that they will never be able to make this same wine again as the vines were ripped out after they bought these grapes.

We spent the afternoon with Hugh and Kathy Shiels at their DuBrul Vineyard and Côte Bonneville Winery. We had been quite impressed with their wines at Taste Washington this year so we were anxious to visit and learn more about their operations. The Shiels planted their first wine grapes in 1992 and started their own winery in 2001 after their last child left home. They are running a first class operation: amazing fruit, amazing wines, and amazing people.

The following day we visited five wineries that we had not previously visited. We visited Airfield Estates, Tasawik, and Masquerade in Prosser, Sandhill on Red Mountain, and Tagaris in Richland. Tasawik and Sandhill were exciting discoveries. We tasted all four Tasawik wines from their first vintage, 2005. Our favorite was their Reserve which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. We found some great QPR wines at Sandhill Winery on Red Mountain. Our favorites were their 2003 Merlot and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. On top of having some excellent wines at great prices, the folks working in the tasting room were very nice too. Sandhill was purchased by Corliss Estates earlier this year.

We wrapped up our trip by spending the following morning on Red Mountain with vineyard manager Ryan Johnson touring Grand Rêve, Cara Mia, and Ciel du Cheval. In addition to being vineyard manager, Ryan is also a partner in Grand Rêve. The Grand Rêve estate vineyard is planted on the upper slopes of Red Mountain, and their first harvest is planned for next year. Meaning Great Dream in French, Grand Rêve boasts a revolutionary and exciting concept of focusing on the fruit first and then selecting Washington winemakers whom they feel can get the best expression of that fruit. (For more info on Grand Rêve, please refer back to my Grand Rêve: New Washington State Winery Bursts onto the Scene post.) Cara Mia is the estate vineyard of Cadence Winery, owned by talented winemaker Ben Smith. The first vines on this 10.5 acre vineyard were planted in 2004, and their first harvest was in 2006. Our final stop was at Ciel du Cheval, one of the premier vineyards in the state. Planted in 1975, Ciel du Cheval is owned and operated by Jim Holmes, Ryan’s mentor. We learned a ton from Ryan during our tours of these three vineyards. He is a knowledgeable guy and his enthusiasm for his work is evident. These traits are already paying off for Cara Mia and Ciel du Cheval, and I expect that his own Grand Rêve project will be a success as well.

Here’s a breakdown of the wines that we tasted on this trip. Under each Quality heading, the wine name and region will be listed along with price and QPR rating. Wines in bold type received a QPR rating of 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5).

Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
2005 Côte Bonneville Carriage House DuBrul Vineyard, Yakima Valley, $50, QPR: 5
2004 Côte Bonneville DuBrul Vineyard, Yakima Valley, $120, QPR: 2

Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
2003 Sandhill Merlot, Red Mountain, $25, QPR: 5
2004 Sandhill Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain, $25, QPR: 5
2004 Chandler Reach Syrah, Yakima Valley, $28, QPR: 4
2005 Tasawik Reserve Barrel Select Red Blend, Columbia Valley, $34, QPR: 4
2007 Côte Bonneville Chardonnay DuBrul Vineyard, Yakima Valley, $50, QPR: 3
2005 Côte Bonneville Syrah DuBrul Vineyard, Yakima Valley, $65, QPR: 1

Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
2005 Tasawik Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $26, QPR: 5
2007 Tagaris Rhon-za Syrah Rosé, Columbia Valley, $12, QPR: 4
2006 Chandler Reach Corella (Sangio/Cab/Merlot), Yakima Valley, $18, QPR: 4
2007 Airfield Chardonnay, Yakima Valley, $20, QPR: 4
2005 Tasawik Merlot, Columbia Valley, $24, QPR: 4
2008 Airfield Late Harvest Riesling, Yakima Valley, $28 [375ml], QPR: 4
2007 Airfield Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley, $32, QPR: 4
2007 Airfield Aviator Red (Bordeaux-style blend), Yakima Valley, $28, QPR: 3
2004 Chandler Reach Estate Parris Reserve Sangiovese, Yakima Valley, $36, QPR: 3

Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
2005 Sandhill Ridgefield Cinnamon Teal (Cab blend), Columbia Valley, $14, QPR: 4
2007 Airfield Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley, $22, QPR: 4
2007 Sandhill Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley, $12, QPR: 3
2006 Chandler Reach Merlot, Yakima Valley, $18, QPR: 3
2007 Airfield Merlot, Yakima Valley, $22, QPR: 3
2005 Tasawik Groovy Red Blend (Syrah-based), Columbia Valley, $22, QPR: 3
2008 Airfield Pinot Gris, Yakima Valley, $15, QPR: 2
2004 Masquerade Merlot, Red Mountain, $28, QPR: 2
2002 Tagaris Merlot, Columbia Valley, $28, QPR: 2
2006 Tagaris BoarDoe (Bordeaux-style blend), Wahluke Slope, $30, QPR: 2

Quality: 2.5 stars (out of 5)
2007 Airfield Riesling, Yakima Valley, $14, QPR: NR
2003 Tagaris Syrah, Columbia Valley, $16, QPR: NR
2006 Chandler Reach Viognier, Yakima Valley, $18, QPR: NR
2003 Tagaris Kokkino RTW (Merlot/Cab), Columbia Valley, $20, QPR: NR
2005 Masquerade Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $22, QPR: NR
2006 Tagaris Red Roan (Rhone-style blend), Wahluke Slope, $30, QPR: NR
2007 Masquerade “Effervescing Elephant” Sparkling Wine, Columbia Valley, $35, QPR: NR

Quality: 2 stars (out of 5)
2007 Airfield Thunderbolt (Sauv Blanc/Sem), Yakima Valley, $12, QPR: NR
2008 Airfield Gewurztraminer, Yakima Valley, $14, QPR: NR
2008 Airfield Foot-Stomped Syrah Rosé, Yakima Valley, $14, QPR: NR

Wishing you all a very happy 4th of July! We hope you are enjoying your day with family, friends, good food, and wine.

In case you are wondering, we are toasting with the 2004 Mountain Dome Sparkling Wine (Washington State). Cheers!