Best Buy! You won't need a scholarship to afford College Cellars' Merlot-focused red blend titled "Scholarship Red." In fact, if you buy it, you'll be helping provide someone else's education as a winemaker or grape grower. In exchange for your 15 bucks, you'll get a Walla Walla Valley wine with aromas of blackberries and blueberries and flavors of blackberry, blueberry and … [Read more...] about College Cellars 2013 Scholarship Red, Walla Walla Valley, $15
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Pacific Rim Winemakers 2014 Wallula Vineyard Dry Riesling, Horse Heaven Hills, $15
Best Buy! The legacy left behind by the intrepid Randall Grahm, this brand’s founding winemaker, lives within this bone-dry vineyard-designate Riesling from perhaps the Pacific Northwest’s most breathtaking site. Feral yeast fermentation of Geisenheim clone 198 in stainless steel tanks yields a nose of elderflower, lime, Granny Smith apple, fresh herbs and jicama. The bright … [Read more...] about Pacific Rim Winemakers 2014 Wallula Vineyard Dry Riesling, Horse Heaven Hills, $15
Mount St. Helens Cellars NV You Bet Your Sweet Ash Orange Muscat, Yakima Valley, $15
Best Buy! Western Washington winemaker Gary Dunbar doesn’t shy away from embracing the historic fallout from the eruptions of Mount St. Helens. He makes Bear Ash Red, Kick Ash Red and his inaugural off-dry Orange Muscat. The nose screams of orange saltwater taffy, apricot, cotton candy, baked apple and pear. On the palate, it’s like a spoonful of apricot preserves with orange … [Read more...] about Mount St. Helens Cellars NV You Bet Your Sweet Ash Orange Muscat, Yakima Valley, $15
Madsen Family Cellars 2012 Orange Muscat, Yakima Valley, $15
Best Buy! Lonesome Springs Ranch between Prosser and Benton City, Wash., continues to provide Western Washington winemaker Dana Madsen with this alluring white wine. The nose of Bananas Foster, lemon cream and Spanish flan leads to similar flavors. It’s got a bit of age to it, which merely builds upon the charming and toasty finish of Crème Brûlée. A bit of spritz and some … [Read more...] about Madsen Family Cellars 2012 Orange Muscat, Yakima Valley, $15
Stina’s Cellars 2014 Rebus Red, Yakima Valley, $15
Best Buy! Thirty years ago, the late R&B singer Jermaine Stewart made cherry wine a part of the pop world lexicon as the drink of choice within his hit We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off. The latest version of Black Muscat by Tacoma-area winemaker Perry Preston — who opened this winery in 2006 - carries a sense of cherry wine from start to finish, even though the grape … [Read more...] about Stina’s Cellars 2014 Rebus Red, Yakima Valley, $15