Washington Waltzes in 2018, Slowly Marches on in 2019

BY OWEN BARGREEN | MARCH 22, 2022

Tasting Through a Pandemic

Despite the raging COVID-19 pandemic, I brought my vaccinated palate to a seemingly endless number of Washington wineries in 2021, making five trips to Walla Walla and stopping everywhere along the way. I tasted many other wines in my Seattle-area office under my preferred tasting conditions: using varietal-specific stemware. I was fortunate to have wines sent to my office throughout the year, so I had a good amount of time to sit with them and examine them even 24 hours later. Many phone calls and in-person visits helped me understand the relatively tricky, producer-driven years of 2019 and 2020.

As Stephen Tanzer noted in his last Washington report, I found very few wines to be cork-contaminated or technically unsound, as many producers have moved to DIAM corks that are nearly TCA-free. For vintages 2018 and 2019, I encountered few smoke-tarnished wines, and there were only slightly more among the 2020 white wines. I particularly noticed occasional smoke influence in rosé wines.

2018 Holding Steady as One of Washington’s Great Vintages

After tasting more than a thousand wines from 2018, I’m certain that 2018 is one of the great vintages of our time in Washington State, and this is true for red and white varieties alike. I tasted some producers’ wines up to four separate times over the year, and I was blown away by the consistent quality. Whereas white wines might have fared slightly better in 2017 and red wines slightly better in 2016, vintage 2018 saw both flourish. The 2018 white wines show slightly more fleshy character than those made in 2017 and 2019, and they resemble the 2016 whites but with a greater veil of tension. The best 2018 red wines are thrilling. They are big, bold Bordeaux- and Rhône-style wines with plenty of bright acidity to back up their core of fruit. The 2018 reds’ aromatics are generally shockingly good, rivaling any top vintage and reminding me a bit of the best 2002s and 2005s; they also offer better flavor range than the 2019s. There is an absence of pyrazines in 2018 red wines (unlike some examples from 2017 and 2019).

Indeed, I found very few poorly made 2018 wines. Winemaker Elizabeth Bourcier fondly recalled the vintage as having “truly the nicest September and October we had ever seen, with perfect day and night temperatures.” As they dealt with quite a condensed harvest, similar to 2015 and 2021, they “worked hard to bring fruit in at an even pace as to not have anything overripe.” Similarly, Josh McDaniels knew “it was going to be a special year when the fruit was in the fermenters. The resulting wines also had everything and were uber-balanced. They possess richness without being too tannic, and they show deep color. The ultimate in elegance is what brought 2018 to the forefront.”

If you prefer red wines with brighter acidity and less fruit character, look more to 2017, and even 2019 to a lesser extent. For a bolder flavor profile with even greater flavor range, 2018 delivers. According to vigneron Christophe Baron, 2019 “was a vintage that separated the men from the boys. The results, however, were worth the hard work. The wines are focused, opulent, and have a great energy.” Kerry Shiels said that 2019’s “mild summer and cool fall meant flavors and phenolics developed with less sugar accumulation, resulting in wines with structure and flavor at lower alcohols.”

The famed Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA where Quilceda Creek harvests their Cabernet Sauvignon.

2019: The Growing Season & Wines