Winemaker Notes
Fine berry fruit with notes of spice, pepper, and smoke. Elegant, smooth palate with excellent length of finish.
The most celebrated red-wine vineyard in Washington, Red Willow lies in the remote northwestern corner of the Yakima Valley Appellation. Mt. Adams' 1200-foot peak and the Cascade foothills rise to the west. There are no other vineyards within 20 miles. It is a fairly warm site (mid-region 2 on the old UC Davis scale). At high elevations, 1100 to 1300 feet, Red Willow has complex soil formations and steep hillsides. Owner Mike Sauer has developed the 120 acres of land with sensitivity and respect for soil and slope. The basic land-form is a peninsula of land jutting out from the south-facing Ahtanum Ridge. The south slope of this peninsula formation drops down into a saddle that runs southward to rise upwards to a small hill. There are east, west, and south-facing vineyards and these are divided into 40 small blocks of great red varieties, including seven terroirs of Syrah. All these form a rich blending palette for Columbia's winemaker David Lake. A fine vintage. The grapes ripened slowly in a cooler year and had plenty of hang time to develop their character. Fine berry fruit with notes of spice, pepper, and smoke. Elegant, smooth palate with excellent length of finish.
Professional Ratings
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
As the first recognized wine-growing region in the Pacific Northwest, Yakima Valley is centrally located within Washington’s vast Columbia Valley. The region also includes Washington’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, Otis Vineyard, planted in 1957, and Harrison Hill Vineyard, planted in 1963. Yakima Valley contains three smaller sub-regions: Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, and Snipes Mountain and is ideal for both red and white wine production. In fact, Yakima Valley is Washington’s most diverse region, boasting more than 40 different grape varieties over about one hundred miles.
The cooler parts of the valley are home to almost half of the Chardonnay and Riesling produced in the state! Both are made in a wide range of styles depending on the conditions of the vineyard site.
But its warmer locations yield a large proportion of Washington’s best Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The finest Yakima Valley reds are jam-packed full of red cherry, currant, raspberry or blackberry fruit, as well as cocoa, herb, spice and savory notes, and exhibit a supple texture, great body, focus and length.