Best Buy! One of Idaho’s most popular wines rises to the top of its category at our “best of the best” judging and delivers to Gregg and Mary Alger their first career Platinum. Riesling (83%) forms the foundation, but there’s Muscat Blanc (13%) to super-charge the aromatics and Roussanne (4%) for body-building. It’s both perfumy and zesty, a mix of Ruby Red grapefruit, Mandarin … [Read more...] about Huston Vineyards 2021 Chicken Dinner White Wine, Snake River Valley $16
Idaho
Rolling Hills Vineyard 2019 Tempranillo, Snake River Valley $36
Spain’s early-ripening Tempranillo continues to show itself to be well-suited for Idaho’s Snake River Valley, and Mark Pasculli has proved to be a quick study. He and his family began rehabilitating the vines on the estate he purchased in 2016, and the awards have been pouring in quickly. Aromas of ripe Rainier cherries, breakfast bacon, violets and sweet cedar lead to a stream … [Read more...] about Rolling Hills Vineyard 2019 Tempranillo, Snake River Valley $36
Clearwater Canyon Cellars 2021 Crawford Vineyard Albariño, Washington State $22
Proven to be among the Pacific Northwest’s most brilliant winemakers, Coco Umiker takes this brilliant Spanish grape to the next level, and judges believed there was no white wine at the Platinum that was better than this. Her work with Albariño from the Crawford family’s vineyard in a cooler site in the Yakima Valley shows tropical aromas and flavors that pick up notes of Fuji … [Read more...] about Clearwater Canyon Cellars 2021 Crawford Vineyard Albariño, Washington State $22
Clearwater Canyon Cellars 2021 Crawford Vineyard Albariño, Washington • $22
The Umikers venture beyond the Lewis-Clark Valley and onto Washington’s side of the Columbia Valley for some of their most important wines. They have joined other wine- makers in making Crawford Vineyard in the Yakima Valley their prized source for Albariño. Coco Umiker has earned a Double Platinum for her work with the Spanish white, and this bottling seems to mirror those … [Read more...] about Clearwater Canyon Cellars 2021 Crawford Vineyard Albariño, Washington • $22
Cold Springs Winery 2016 Syrah, Idaho, $25
This 34-acre site established in 1998 by Air Force pilot-turned-attorney Bill Ringert is between Boise and Twin Falls along Interstate 84, and the Reece family has taken over the business and the cellar that's been overseen by Neil Glancey. The longtime Idaho winemaker has worked with Hagerman Valley sites throughout two decades, and his work with Syrah has earned acclaim at … [Read more...] about Cold Springs Winery 2016 Syrah, Idaho, $25