Founder/co-owner Jeff Martin and winemaker Dominic McCosker, a fellow Aussie, pulled from vines on the Naramata Bench near Penticton, British Columbia in the Okanagan Valley one of the Pacific Northwest's top examples of Viognier. None of it saw oak, but 7% of the juice spent time in a concrete egg. The result was a wine with aromas of lime, pineapple and orange. On the palate, … [Read more...] about La Frenz Winery 2018 Wits End Vineyard Estate Viognier, Naramata Bench, $24
Outstanding
L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Seven Hills Vineyard Estate Luminesce Sèmillon • Sauvignon Blanc, Walla Walla Valley, $21
The little schoolhouse in Lowden, Wash., makes the dean's list once again for its work with white Bordeaux varieties. L'Ecole's latest blend continues the decade-long trend of Sèmillon leading the Sauvignon Blanc (46%) that hails from Seven Hills Vineyard, which is closing on its 40th birthday. Nearly a third of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation and all of it was aged … [Read more...] about L’Ecole No. 41 2017 Seven Hills Vineyard Estate Luminesce Sèmillon • Sauvignon Blanc, Walla Walla Valley, $21
Duck Pond Fries Family Cellars 25th Anniversary 2016 Pinot Noir, Oregon, $52
Last year, the Fries family sold their underrated Duck Pond brand to the Integrated Beverage Group, and this commemorative bottling of Pinot Noir showcases the work in the vineyards by then-owner Greg Fries and then-winemaker Trevor Chlanda. The Napa transplant compiled the best barrel from each of the family's six Oregon vineyards - young Coles Valley in the Umpqua Valley and … [Read more...] about Duck Pond Fries Family Cellars 25th Anniversary 2016 Pinot Noir, Oregon, $52
Weather Station Wines 2016 Connor Lee Vineyard Merlot, Columbia Valley, $22
This summer, Kristina Mielke-van Löben Sels of Spokane's picturesque Arbor Crest Wine Cellars unveiled her family's new Weather Station brand, a 3,000-case project that's allowed her to deepen her lengthy relationship with venerable Conner Lee Vineyard in the Columbia Basin. This debut Merlot offers pleasing aromas of black cherry, milk chocolate, vanilla and toast, a theme … [Read more...] about Weather Station Wines 2016 Connor Lee Vineyard Merlot, Columbia Valley, $22
Novelty Hill 2016 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Merlot, Columbia Valley, $28
It took more than 30 years after the Alberg family purchased these 235 acres of shrub-steppe near the town of Royal City, Wash., before Tom Alberg, Jr., began to transform it into Stillwater Creek Vineyard. A trio of clones populate the nine Merlot blocks that among the 60 blocks managed by Ed Kelly, a plant pathologist from University of California-Davis who took his … [Read more...] about Novelty Hill 2016 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Merlot, Columbia Valley, $28