Woodinville’s Brian Carter, whose past four decades have been spent becoming one of Washington’s best-known wine blenders, uses four classic red grapes of Portugal to make his Opulento fortified wine. His expression from the 2016 harvest — named for the Portuguese word for opulent — is Touriga Naçional (50%), Tinta Roriz (19%), Souzão (17%) and Tinta Cão, all from the Yakima Valley, and the result is a wine with aromas of dried red and blue fruit, dates and sweet flavors of blackberry, blueberry and plum that finish with restrained tannins and subtle alcohol. This cruised into the sweepstakes of the 2021 Cascadia International, earning a double gold medal on its way to the award for Best Sweet Wine.
Rating: Outstanding!
Production: 295 cases
Alcohol 19%
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