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S.F. Chronicle top 100 list honors Oregon, Washington wines

The San Francisco Chronicles top 100 list, which focuses on West Coast wines, has plenty of Oregon and Washington wines featured. That should be no surprise, as Chron wine editor Jon Bonne used to be based in Seattle when he worked for MSNBC and knows the Northwest wine market well.

The list is varied, and there are a few surprises, which always makes for nice little discoveries. No Northwest wines made the Zin list. This doesn't surprise, but I look forward to the day when a Washington Zin does.

Here's the entire list.

Here's a rundown of the Northwest wines:

-- Argyle Winery 2006 Nuthouse Reserve Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, $30.

-- 2007 J. Christopher Riesling, Willamette Valley, $20.

-- OS Winery 2007 Champoux Vineyards Riesling, Horse Heaven Hills, $20.

-- Pacific Rim Winemakers 2007 Biodynamic Wallula Vineyard Riesling, Columbia Valley, $32.

-- Bergstrom Winery 2006 Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $45.

-- Brandborg 2006 Love Puppets Pinot Noir, Umpqua Valley, $30.

-- Broadley 2006 Shea Vineyards Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $50.

-- Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $45.

-- Stoller Vineyards 2006 JV Estate Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, $25.

-- Cadaretta 2006 Syrah, Columbia Valley, $32.

-- Columbia Crest 2006 Grand Estates Shiraz, Columbia Valley, $13.

-- Cristom 2005 Estate Syrah, Eola-Amity Hills, $30.

-- K Vintners 2006 Cougar Hills Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, $50.

-- Abeja 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $42.

-- Amavi 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $25.

-- Andrew Will 2005 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard, Red Mountain, $56.

-- Chateau Ste. Michelle 2006 Ethos Late Harvest Riesling, Columbia Valley, $40.

By aperdue at Dec 10 2008 - 8:45am | books/reference | news | Oregon | Washington | aperdue's blog | 1165 reads

Washington Zin

Tim and Mrs Vintage, thanks for the zin recommendations. Outside of Forgeron I can't say that I have had any zins from Washington that have done much for me. I will look for El Mirador as I didn't have a chance to stop by their tasting room when I was in Walla Walla for Holiday Barrel Tasting.

By spsulliv at Wed, 12/10/2008 - 10:37pm | login or register to post comments

San Francisco Chronicle and WA Zins

Yo people!

It is easy to understand why Washington State zinfandels are overlooked since California is the self-proclaimed Zinfandel Capital of the Planet, but I think these writers need to look a little closer. Just because our zinfandels aren't the overblown fruit bombs that so many California zins are doesn't mean we produce some killer bottles!

There are several fabulous zins produced by wineries such as Sineann, Forgeron, Maryhill, El Mirador (I heard they were shutting their doors??), Thurston Wolfe, and a few others. Our zins tend to be more elegant and "claret" in style. I absolutely love the Forgeron and El Mirador zins, which have much better balance than many of the California versions. They also pick up that earthy Walla Walla quality (not sure where the fruit comes from) that I love from many of the WW wines, which makes for a fascinating experience for zin lovers. I would put Thurston Wolfe's zin, which you can find in the $15 range, up against ANY California zin in the same price range. The less expensive CA bottles, especially from producers like Ravenwood, Kenwood, and Rosenblum, tend to be overripe, flabby, and taste more like cough syrup than a nice zin. There are exceptions, of course, such as Dancing Bulls Sonoma County Heritage Vines zin ($14 range), Seghesio's basic Sonoma zin ($20), Rodney Strongs basic zin (about $13), and the delicious Brassfield Round Mountain zin ($16 at Yokes, although I have seen it elsewhere over $20). But for the most part, and I know we don't have a lot of bottles to compare, Washington zins are less expensive, better balanced, and more food friendly than the California zins. Wine writers, please take note! Give our zins a chance. You might just be shocked at how good they really are.

Cheers from a self-proclaimed zin freak!
Tim

By timinspokane at Wed, 12/10/2008 - 9:30am | login or register to post comments

Washington Zin

Other excellent sources of Washington Zin include The Pines 1852 with tasting room in Hood River: they feature a Zinfandel & at the upper end, an Old Vines Zinfandel: both sell out very quickly. Maryhill winery also has 2 zinfandels: one in their regular level of wines & an outstanding Reserve Zinfandel. Definately agree: Forgeron Zinfandel is a good choice. After following high quality Washington wines, it is hard to drop back to some of the lack luster mass produced California wines. We recently had Ravenwood Zinfandel at a restuarant with less than interesting wine list, it was very dissappointing. Ofcourse Tim, I noticed that you were referencing an article from the San Fran Chronicle, so ofcourse they would favor California wines. I would imagine that more Washington vineyards would be planting zinfandel vines.

I, too, had thought that El Mirador was gone, however, they now have a tasting room in downtown Walla - right by Ash Hollow & Vintage Cellars.

By mrs_vintage at Wed, 12/10/2008 - 8:36pm | login or register to post comments

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