New Releases from Washington State

The more I taste the better 2011 red wines from Washington State, the more excited I become about this vintage—and the more I wonder whether the warmest areas within the Columbia Valley’s high desert are just too hot in some years to make elegant, naturally balanced wines.  Of course, the same statement can be made about any hot, dry region where the challenge is to get adequate ripeness of the grape skins before sugar levels skyrocket, grapes begin to dehydrate and natural acidity levels plunge.

Certainly, Washington’s growers and winemakers have gained an extraordinary amount of experience in recent years, as the last five growing seasons have presented an improbably wide range of temperature conditions:

2010:  Cool

2011:  Very cool (downright cold by Washington standards)

2012:  Perfectly average, classic

2013:  Very warm

2014:  Seriously hot (record total degree days)