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Maryhill Winery 2011 Hattrup Farms Marvell GSM, Rattlesnake Hills, $40

By Great Northwest Wine on September 5, 2014

For the second straight vintage, this Vineyard Series blend of red Rhône varieties has rocked the wine competition circuit, starting the year with a gold medal at the San Francisco Chronicle. There’s no secret behind the ingredients of Grenache (35%), Syrah (52%) and Mourvedre from Joe Hattrup’s vineyards above the Yakima Valley as his Elephant Mountain site produced a 2011 GSM that merited best of show at the 2014 Great Northwest Wine Competition. The nose brings hints of dusty cherry, boysenberry, dark chocolate and hazelnut. What follows is a thick and plush entry and midpalate of black cherry and blackberry. Fine-grained tannins and a juicy finish give this impeccable balance and worthy of dishes such as barbecued ribs, grilled salmon or stuffed pork chops. This is a wine club offering, but the weight of the medals won by Richard Batchelor since his arrival in 2009 makes a compelling case to join. And this is the second consecutive vintage that this GSM has received our top rating.

Rating: Outstanding!

Production: 570 cases

Alcohol: 14.5%

Winery website

About Great Northwest Wine

Articles authored by Great Northwest Wine are co-authored by Eric Degerman and Andy Perdue. In most cases, these are wine reviews that are judged blind by the Great Northwest Wine tasting panel.