Great Northwest Wine

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Yakima Valley thrives as historical heart of Washington wine

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Pomum Cellars 2013 Shya Red Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley, $42

Spanish-born winemaker Javier Alfonso named this brand for the Latin word for fruit, and he began working with Yakima Valley grapes in 2000. The sources for this bottling are dominated by Morrison Vineyard, a planting dating to 1968, and he also blends in Merlot (13%), Petit Verdot (5%) and Malbec (2%) from Konnowac Vineyard – another venerable Rattlesnake Hills site. He’s developed a nose of sweet tobacco, cherry candy and violet with lavender, backed by dark purple fruit flavors of plum and blackberry. Its structure shows polish as currant-skin tannins are joined by juicy acidity, toast and a dark chocolate finish.

Rating: Excellent

Production: 318 cases

Alcohol: 14.3%

Winery website

About Andy Perdue

Andy Perdue is founding partner of Great Northwest Wine LLC and a longtime wine columnist. 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 the author of "The Northwest Wine Guide: A Buyer's Handbook" (Sasquatch, 2003) and has contributed to four other books.

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