In the nomenclature of Yakima Valley College’s winemaking program, the “Dean’s List” reference indicates the bottling of a reserve wine. Of the nine career Platinum awards won by students of Trent Ball and instructor emeritus Brad Smith, five were from the Dean’s List. Now, the 2018 vintage has qualified for this fall’s 2022 Platinum Awards, thanks to its layers of blackberry, black pepper and red bell pepper and structure of plum jam with light chocolate. Smith, who also has a culinary background, suggested serving this with grilled flatiron steak and sautéed mushrooms.
Rating: Gold medal – 92 points
Production: 26 cases
Alcohol: 13.6%
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