Washington State Annual Report: A Cascade of Choice, Untapped Potential and an Apex Syrah

It was snowing hard in Walla Walla on the morning of April 14. I had a cappuccino in one hand and a coffee cake in the other as I sat in the back of a black stick-shift Volvo with Christophe Baron, founder of Cayuse Vineyards, who was driving James and I through a freakish spring snowstorm. “I have never seen snow this late!” Baron exclaimed. Looking out the window, it is no understatement to say that you could see nothing but an endless sea of white. Heavy snowflakes fell around us, obscuring the pastoral vision of the far-reaching farmland of Walla Walla Valley.

We were headed to the vineyards of Baron’s Hors Categorie, where our first-ever 100-point Washington wine was grown. The property is around 33 acres (just over 13 hectares), but only 2.2 acres are under vine. All the syrah vines are vertically trained along a steep, rocky hillside.

Upon arriving, Baron let down the gate of his car, threw on some rubber boots, and sprinted up the snowy and slippery incline, leaving James and I scrambling to keep up. Baron has endless energy.

“It’s a unique place – a place of its own,” Baron said proudly. “It’s where old world meets with new world.”

It certainly is a remarkable site, and it creates outstanding wine. The Hors Categorie Syrah Walla Walla Valley 2019 is concentrated and dense but remains supremely elegant and focused. When tasting it, James was reminded of Cote Rotie, whereas Baron was arguing its similarities to Hermitage. Whether it is more like La Landonne or La Chapelle is not really the point – what matters is the benchmark it sets for Washington wine in general and, on a grander scale, American wine overall.

In our excitement over Washington’s current releases of wine, we took our ratings game to another level and uncorked 600 bottles to get the full flush of what the state has to offer. James and I took the time to travel to Walla Walla, speak to producers, walk the vineyards and get a better understanding of the Walla Walla Valley and what makes Washington wines special.

READ MORE: TOP 100 VALUE WINES OF 2021

GETTING IT RIGHT: Brennon Leighton of K Vintners on Washington wine.

Our tastings focused mainly on the 2019 vintage, which had an overall cooler growing season. The season began with a cool spring, which led to a delayed budbreak. By July it was plenty hot, with temperatures reaching as high as 100 degrees (37 Celsius) in some areas. That was followed by a generally moderate August and September.

However, October brought a cold snap. Brennon Leighton, the winemaker at K Vintners and House of Smith, explained, “We had that freeze on Oct. 19-20, and if you didn’t get affected by it you made off great.” While K Vintners had to drop very little fruit, the frost caused certain producers to lose as much as 25 percent of their overall crop.

But some producers took the cooler temperatures in stride, with Baron saying, “It’s the kind of vintage we want to have every year.” Cayuse Vineyards certainly showed well across multiple labels, including Hors Categorie, No Girls and Horsepower. Their wines are all about terroir and getting the best expression of each estate site they farm. And Baron’s best bottlings are mostly syrah and grenache. Their quality matches or even beats some of the best labels from the Rhone Valley.

Other producers felt differently about the 2019 vintage, with Chris Figgins of Leonetti Cellars and his namesake Figgins Winery saying: “I probably prefer '18 a little bit. It’s a little more classically structured. 2019 is cooler and soft; it’s going to be an earlier drinking vintage.”

Despite Figgins’ preference for 2018, we adored his 2019 releases, and rated seven wines from this vintage 95 points or higher.

We have already written extensively about our excitement for Rhone varietals in Washington, especially the Hors Categorie syrah, which really takes quality to another level with its incredible depth and complexity. But there were other surprises, including some striking grenache offerings. K Vintners Grenache Walla Walla Valley The Boy 2019 and Baron’s Horsepower Grenache Walla Walla Valley Fiddleneck Vineyard 2019 are both fantastic examples of what Washington is capable of producing. The former shows precise austerity and exhilarating red fruit and spice, while the Fiddleneck presents juicy and energetic fruit with excellent intensity, freshness and length. These two may be the best grenache bottlings in America, and savvy readers should take note.

RUNNING THE VARIETAL GAMBIT

Cabernet sauvignon also continues to be a standout in Washington. Leonetti, Quilceda Creek, L’Ecole No. 41 and Betz Family Winery are all venerable producers of cabernet sauvignon-based wines, and their 2019 bottlings are no different. The Quilceda Creek Tchelistcheff Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 was our highest-rated cab sauv in the state, and it showed seamless structure, supporting a plush bed of black and blue fruit. While Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon often sucks all the air out of the room when discussing American cabernet, Washington should not be overlooked.

With so many varieties being grown to a high standard, producers are mixed on their opinions about what the state produces best overall. “The difficulty is that it’s hard to get a concise message,” Figgins said.

For its part, Leonetti focuses on cabernet sauvignon and Bordeaux blends but also produces real-deal sangiovese and aglianico. Other producers like House of Smith run the gambit. They produce Rhone varietals with K Vintners but also make single-site chardonnay bottlings with Sixto and even make pinot noir with their label Golden West, whose pinot plantings spread out over a massive 400 acres.

But Washington can deal with the profusion of offerings. The state is large, with a varied climate and enough soil types to easily accommodate the fancies of winemakers. While some producers are still searching for their apex wine, others are more than happy to test the possibilities. “I don’t think we have discovered the end all and be all of Washington state,” said Leighton, of K Vintners.

Washington also remains one of the best regions in the U.S. for great value, with so much diversity at incredibly reasonable prices. Leighton went as far as to say: “For $15 to $25, no one in the world can beat us. No one can even compete – no one.” With so much quality wine in the state falling in that sweet spot, it’s hard to argue with the man.

Looking to the future, the producers we spoke to seem increasingly interested in terroir and finding the best grapes and farming techniques to reflect that. “We are not trying to reinvent the wheel here,” Baron said. “We are the servant to the land because the land is the master. We are trying to be the steward, and you can taste it in the wines.”

Other producers marveled about the untapped potential of certain AVAs, with Leighton pointing in particular to Ancient Lakes as “super exciting” when it comes to the possibilities for red varieties, even though it is currently better known for whites.

Despite the prospects, it feels like the state still has more to give. The names at the top of our list this year are the same ones that topped our list in previous years. While making truly outstanding wine is no small feat, it does puzzle us slightly that no new names have joined the top ranks.

While many producers make consistently high-quality wines, it seems some are just stuck in their ways. As we see it, the sky is the limit in Washington for making world-class wines. We’ll just have to wait and see who else wants to make the leap.

Back in Walla Walla, the dizzying breadth of the valley becomes readily apparent after all the snow has melted, which it eventually did while James and I were there. From the stone-filled soils just south and the schisty loam of the hillsides, the potential for even greater and fine-tuned viticulture is eminently clear. While this was first time James and I had been to Walla Walla, it won’t be our last. It’s the launching point for our continued deep dive into the best wines of Washington.

– Nathan Slone, Associate Editor