The 2021 Washington Winery of the Year opened 2022 by producing one of the top Merlots in this tasting. Rob and Donna Mellison doted on these eight barrels of juice courtesy of Napa-trained viticulturist Ed Kelly. The hedonistic presentation of dark red fruit comes...
Brad Sherman of Michael Florentino Cellars in Woodinville launched this label to showcase the Bordeaux-inspired wines he crafts with Jared Welchel, and they selected their top barrels of Merlot from Destiny Ridge Vineyard to earn gold medals for bottlings from the...
Leigh McMillan is in her second decade as a Washington winemaker, and she’s recently invested more deeply in her relationship with Yakima Valley vineyards managed by Patrick Rawn. Black cherry cola, vanilla bean and a light amount of toast lead the descriptors of...
Keith Kenison, who has enjoyed a 30-year career with Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, produces these wines below the northern slopes of the Horse Heaven Hills, and it's a 100 percent expression of Merlot from the Horse Heaven Hills above. Remarkable layers of Bing...
Ste. Michelle first planted this site in the Horse Heaven Hills in 1991, and for the first 35 years of its life, all of the 559 acres were managed by Mimi Nye. The label reflects the winds that swirl up from the Columbia Gorge, which provide natural pest control...
Best Buy! The first time our panel staged a comparative tasting for a magazine was in 1998. The focus was Merlot, and one of the best was the Washington Hills 1995 Merlot. Twenty-two years later, this Precept brand ranks among the most delicious Merlots, and the...
Furniture craftsman Tom Stangeland takes a Right Bank approach with this vintage of his Panorama, which focuses on Merlot (78%) from Arianses Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope and highly decorated Elephant Mountain Vineyard in the Rattlesnake Hills of the Yakima...
One of the Pacific Northwest’s first destination wineries continues to prove the bottlings from this bucolic property in Walla Walla are worth seeking out as the husband/wife winemaking team of Daniel Wampfler and Amy Alvarez-Wampfler produced our tasting’s most...
Danny Gordon continues to maintain the high standards of founding winemaker Ron Coleman with this darkly purple beauty from the brand that pays tribute to Walla Walla airport’s historic World War II firehouse. Napa-based Vintage Wine Estates invested wisely in...
Lisa Baer’s continued support of Stillwater Creek Vineyard on the Royal Slope paved the way for Woodinville winemaker Erica Orr to turn this into gold. Orr’s restrained use of French oak (22% new) allows for the focus to remain on the fruit. Its elegance begins in...
