Don't Miss

San Francisco Chronicle shows love to Northwest wines

By Andy Perdue on December 2, 2013

The San Francisco Chronicle top 100 wine list includes many selections from Washington and Oregon.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s annual top 100 list includes 22 wines from Oregon and Washington. (Photo via Flickr/click for credit)

SAN FRANCISCO – American wine is reaching a golden age. So says Jon Bonné, wine editor of the esteemed San Francisco Chronicle as he unveils his 100 best wines of 2013.

Bonné, who began his wine writing career in Seattle in 1999 for MSNBC.com and has overseen the Chronicle’s superb wine coverage for the past seven years, selected 22 wines from Oregon and Washington for his annual list of wines that intrigued and spoke to him the most.

“The top wines coming from the West Coast right now are the best in a generation,” he wrote in his introduction to the list.

Maybe longer.

Unlike many top 100 lists, Bonné does not put his in any particular order. Rather, he posts favorites from a variety of categories.

Bonné shows a particular level of love toward Oregon Pinot Noirs, spotlighting seven of them (plus a Pinot Noir Rosé). That’s out of 19 Pinot Noirs – a bit of a surprise considering the high quality of California Pinot Noir coming out of the Russian River and Anderson valleys in particular.

The first book authored by Bonné, The New California Wine, appeared in bookstores a month ago.

San Francisco Chronicle’s top Northwest wines

Jon Bonne is the wine editor at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Jon Bonné is the wine editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. (Photo via Flickr/click for credit)

Here are the wines from Oregon and Washington that were spotlighted this weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Adelsheim 2012 Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, $22
Memaloose 2011 Chardonnay, Columbia Gorge, $25
Trisaetum 2011 Coast Range Estate Dry Riesling, Yamhill-Carlton, $24
Abacela 2012 Albariño, Umpqua Valley, $18
Cowhorn Vineyard & Garden 2012 Spiral 36 White, Applegate Valley, $28
J.K. Carriere 2012 Glass Pinot Noir Rosé, Willamette Valley, $20
Analemma 2012 Atavus Vineyard Rosé, Columbia Gorge, $25
Teutonic 2012 Laurel Vineyard Rosé, Willamette Valley, $19
Bergström 2011 Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $42
Big Table Farm 2011 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $38
Brick House 2011 Les Dijonnais Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge, $52
Chehalem Wines 2011 Three Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $29
Haden Fig 2011 Cancilla Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $30
Soter 2011 North Valley Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $30
Stoller Family Estate 2011 Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, $25
Betz Family Cellars 2010 Clos de Betz, Columbia Valley, $55
Cadence 2010 Tapteil Vineyard, Red Mountain, $45
Leonetti Cellar 2011 Merlot, Walla Walla Valley, $75
Scarborough Winery 2010 The Royale Columbia Valley, $35
Gramercy Cellars 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $48
Januik Winery 2010 Champoux Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Horse Heaven Hills, $55
Revelry Vintners 2010 Reveler Red, Columbia Valley, $35
Andrew Will 2011 Cabernet Franc, Columbia Valley, $25

featured ticker

About Andy Perdue

Andy Perdue is the editor and publisher of Great Northwest Wine. He is a third-generation journalist who has worked at newspapers since the mid-1980s and has been writing about wine since 1998. He co-founded Wine Press Northwest magazine with Eric Degerman and served as its editor-in-chief for 15 years. He is a frequent judge at international wine competitions. He is the author of "The Northwest Wine Guide: A Buyer's Handbook" (Sasquatch, 2003) and has contributed to four other books. He writes about wine for The Seattle Times. You can find him on Twitter and Google+.