Washington Producers Sharpen Their Game Eastern Washington is shaking its anti-Disneyland charm. On a recent trip to the Northwest to check out current releases, we found a change of pace in our favorite best-kept-secret wine region. For those of you who have not ventured into eastern Washington wine country, and this includes most of our wine friends, we are talking about places like Walla Walla and Red Mountain. Forget classic, evergreen, postcard Washington. This is east-of-the-Cascades Washington, where irrigation is life. It is destination wine country for the hard core; the less adventuresome speak of Washington wine country in terms of the viewing box of Seattle and Woodinville, famous for its urbanite tasting rooms. It’s been several years since we last toured the area. At that time, we were sometimes tasting in corners of wineries, often with producers looking around to find clean glassware, and tasting whatever happened to be open. That has changed. Right off the top, we have to explain that our impressions were likely skewed by the fact that most of Walla Walla was coat-tailing on “Cayuse Weekend.” Tasting rooms in general were suspiciously overstaffed. Even so, Washington producers are undeniably becoming better marketers. They’re just more ready for the public, with daily tasting room hours, serious glassware, more polish to their written materials, more clubs, events, wine-related retail, etc. The city of Walla Walla is blooming, too. We gravitated back to our favorite restaurant, White House-Crawford, where the entrees are thoughtfully offbeat and the so-called “local wines” are the jewels. Our server happened to be the one who chose the local wines, and there was a common theme among his picks—concentrated aromatics, interesting layers and lively acidity. The Rulo Syrah was a winner with lamb ragu. And the best part was the offering of half-pours by the glass. Our server enthusiastically responded to our request to bring us his top five picks in half-pour portion. We had our own little tasting room. Our Walla Walla visit was centered around attending a wine club event at Saviah Cellars, south of town. We’ve been fans for years, impressed with their consistent reds and extraordinary value. And we weren’t disappointed this time around. Owner/winemaker Rich Funk has come up with an unexpected white wine treasure—Riesling, with just the right amount of zip and the perfect hint of residual sugar. In a region where the lifeblood is red wine and white wine seems to be an afterthought, this Riesling is a great change of pace. It is part of his everyday, value-priced “Jack” line, but there’s nothing everyday about it. Not surprisingly, his strongest market for the wine is in New York. The trip’s highlight was a Sunday morning vineyard tour with Funk. He showed us the “rocks” vineyard area that is the buzz in the Walla Walla Valley, although over the state line and into Oregon. And it does look like a mini-Chateauneuf du Pape, with a generous layer of smooth, round, sea-colored stones heaped in an even mound down the vineyard rows and lying throughout the vineyard floor. Once an agricultural outcast, this region is the source of terroir talk, where the struggle of the vines through the rocks adds Old World minerality to concentrated fruit. As we stepped out of the pickup, the stiff Northwest version of “le mistral” made us reach for our coats.Washington is part of a Cabernet Sauvignon-driven world. But, at least to us, Washington has a claim on the best of something else—Syrah—and it can be the smoky, spicy, gamey Syrah that speaks a little bit of French. Even in Washington, however, there is foot-dragging about Syrah. Although it cannot be denied that Washington Syrah is appreciated for being unique, it is also part stepchild, just because it is Syrah. Washington is a great place to take extensive tasting room notes. We had to pace ourselves, even with spitting, because producers have a generous lineup. (I guess we can’t say no.) After tasting the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Bordeaux style blend, Syrah, Syrah blend, everyday-red blend, you’ve almost forgotten about the lonely white with which you started. Too many wineries are offering the top-heavy, more-is-more lineup of six or more whopper red wines, leaving us with tasting fatigue, and tannin overload. Saviah, Seven Hills, Dunham, and LeEcole have nice balance to their offering. It really should be a rule that you can’t leave eastern Washington without visiting Red Mountain, near Kennewick. Red Mountain fruit has that sink-into-a-fine-leather-chair feel, where you feel surrounded by the satisfaction of ripeness and richness. The tannins are in great quantity, but they are velvety. We were already familiar with Hedges and Col Solare on Red Mountain. This was our first trip to Fidelitas, and we very surprised that their complete reds were priced so reasonably. We were drawn to their Red Mountain Red, which is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. It showed powerful black fruit, a nice mix of herbs, and then that velvety mouthfeel. It’s always the same story—so much wine and so little time. But the bottom line is clear. Visitors to eastern Washington expect more than they used to, and producers are exceeding their expectations.
