- New Alliance of Women in Washington Wine already stands at 200 strong
- Bullocks bid goodbye to Eye of the Needle Winery in Woodinville
- VineLines Dispatch #7: That’s a wrap
- Former Oregon car dealer gears up with Jachter Family Wines
- VineLines Dispatch: 6 Vineyards at Work
- L’Ecole Nº 41 to create wine bar at Marcus Whitman Hotel
- VineLines Dispatch: Harvest surrounding Lake Chelan
- Northwest restaurateurs purchase Basel Cellars in Walla Walla
- Hayden Homes CEO buys interest in Pepper Bridge, Amavi wineries
- Walla Walla Community College to receive $15 million gift from MacKenzie Scott
Novelty Hill 2016 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Merlot, Columbia Valley, $28

It took more than 30 years after the Alberg family purchased these 235 acres of shrub-steppe near the town of Royal City, Wash., before Tom Alberg, Jr., began to transform it into Stillwater Creek Vineyard. A trio of clones populate the nine Merlot blocks that among the 60 blocks managed by Ed Kelly, a plant pathologist from University of California-Davis who took his education into vineyard management in Napa. His berries in the hands of winemaker Mike Januik became a bold example of Merlot redolent of Bing cherry and Baker’s chocolate. A delicious structure of espresso-grounds tannin and nuttiness is capped by raspberry, currant and vanilla bean. Club members have been taking their share this month, so this cellar-worthy example of Washington Merlot soon will be available to those who visit Mithun-designed industrial-chic tasting room along Woodinville-Redmond Road.
Rating: Outstanding!
Production: 551 cases
Alcohol: 14.4%
0 comments