Walla Walla Valley vintners Marty Clubb and Mike Sharon have established a delicious pink tradition with this venerable and wind-blown site along the Columbia River as they continue to bring this often-overlooked Rhône variety back onto the Washington wine map. (They focus on StoneTree Vineyard for their aged Grenache program). This bottling marks the second straight vintage that L’Ecole has earned our top rating, and the 2014 experience starts with a striking light raspberry color, followed by aromas of tutti frutti, cherry, lavender and clove. It’s akin to a punch bowl on the palate, bringing flavors of cherry, President plum and strawberry. Those flavors are ripe, yet dry, as the residual sugar settled out to 0.5% — the same as 2013 — and the finish is reminiscent of blood orange. Production of this got trimmed slightly from 2013, so act accordingly.
Rating: Outstanding!
Production: 410 cases
Alcohol: 14.5%
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