Latest wine reviews

Brett Brockmeyer’s previous vintage earned a spot in last year’s Platinum Awards with a gold medal at the Sunset International. This bottling from the 2023 vintage is made again with grapes from this historic vineyard near Grandview, Wash., farmed by the Tudor family. The collaboration resulted in one of the highest-scoring white wines of the 2024 Cascadia International, and it … [Read more...] about Brockmeyer Family Wines 2023 Otis Vineyard Albariño. Yakima Valley $21

Rachael Horn and her winemaking daughter Anaïs Mera, both products of Washington State University’s program, created this Italian-inspired effort from Red Mountain grapes that proved to be one of the top red wines of the 2024 Cascadia International. Previously, this Columbia Gorge family bottled Arachne has 100% Nebbiolo from historic Klipsun Vineyard on Red Mountain. For this … [Read more...] about AniChe Cellars 2021 Arachne Red Wine, Red Mountain $44

Few could have gotten into the vineyards that helped Michael Ruhland and Matías Kúsulas to achieve immediate acclaim for their young Valo project. Conner Lee, a comparatively cooler site near the Columbia Basin town of Othello, Wash., was planted in 1980 under the auspices of the late Walter Clore, and this bottling represents the vineyard’s second vintage under the ownership … [Read more...] about Valo 2020 Conner Lee Vineyard Right Bank, Columbia Valley, $50

This second-generation vineyard in the upper reaches of the Yakima Valley north of Zillah is one of the early adopters of the Sustainable WA program, and the 2021 vintage brought a different set of challenges via the "heat dome" event in late June when the Dineen family as the temperature in the vines reached 112. Their charming Bordeaux-driven blend of Malbec (21%), Cabernet … [Read more...] about Dineen Vineyards 2021 Estate Vintner’s Blend Red Wine, Yakima Valley $25