SMAK Wines 2019 Spring Rosé, Walla Walla Valley, $18

Winemaker/sommelier Fiona Mak grew up in Hong Kong, graduated from Syracuse in hospitality management and moved into the restaurant industry on the East Coast until her passion for wine led her to Walla Walla Community College’s famed winemaking school. She spent several vintages working at vaunted Artifex Wine Co., and while she left to focus on her rosé-only SMAK program, Mak continues to make her wines at Artifex. Spring is one of her three releases available at her SMAK tasting room in the Walla Walla airport incubator complex, and regardless of spring rains or sunny days, you’ll find this wine to show off floral aromas of apricot and honeysuckle flowers with hints of lavender and melon. Red cherry and red currant enter the palate with crisp acidity and meld into tropical fruit flavors. A truly delicate example featuring Sangiovese, this wine finishes clean with pleasing minerality and lingering red cherry. Suggested pairings include oysters, ramen and sushi as well as spicy and fried fare. This summer, her 2019 Spring received a gold medal at the 2020 Cascadia International Wine Competition.

Rating: Outstanding!

Production: 230 cases

Alcohol: 11.9%

Winery’s website