Check back often for news on harvest, winemaking, events and other fun wine-related things.
Sean Sullivan has been writing about and reviewing Northwest wine since 2004 and has written more than 400 magazine articles, published over 2,000 articles on his blog, and reviewed over 17,000 Northwest wines. He was also a contributing editor at Wine Enthusiast Magazine from 2013-2022 focused on northwest wines.
Sean recently reviewed several of our wines in his Northwest Wine Report. The 2021 Mistral Grenache and 2021 Virga Red Blend both scored 91 points. The 2019 Squall Line Red Blend received 89 points and the 2019 Storm Front received 88 points. You can subscribe to Northwest Wine Report at https://www.northwestwinereport.com/.
We only have 24 bottles remaining of the 2018 Squall Line Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from three vineyards: Phinny Hill (60%) and Coyote Canyon (10%)--both Horse Heaven Hills--and Boushey (30%) in Yakima Valley. Deep ruby colored, the wine has classic varietal aromas of blackberry, cherry, plum, crushed black roses, tobacco, cedar, rosemary and wood smoke. The flavors, as well, are direct and true to variety, with dark fruits that are intermixed with licorice, dark chocolate, French roast and Horse Heaven scorched earth. The penetration continues on the back with roasted berries and nuts, mocha and pulverized charcoal, followed by a sweet-dry tannin finish. Pairs well with roasted or grilled meats, good friends and stormy nights. Purchase at the winery or online for pickup or shipping.
Our January White and Rose’ Case Sale is now on! Mix and match 12 bottles of our Cat’s Away Chardonnay, Drizzle Pinot Gris or Three Forks Rose’ and enjoy a 25% discount with $10 flat rate shipping.
Wine club members’ discounts are stacked for stocking up (shipping included as always):
Order online or purchase at the winery by Jan. 31. Discount will automatically be applied in your cart.
Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were filled with joy, family, tasty food and outstanding wine. Now that it’s 2024, it’s time to get busy again in the winery.
In January, we need to file annual State and Federal wine production and sales reports and taxes. It’s the part of winemaking I detest, but it’s better than filing monthly! I bet you also stress over preparing for and filing your taxes. When you need a break, stop in for a glass and we'll commiserate.
We also start preparing for spring bottling: stabilizing white and rose’ wines and ordering bottles, corks, screwcaps and labels are some of the tasks ahead this month.
Finally, we monitor whether the 2023 red wines have completed the malolactic fermentation in barrel. This second fermentation converts malic acid to lactic acid, softening the wine. We use paper chromatography for this testing. Once complete, we can top off the barrel (completely fill it with wine) and start the aging process.