The Last Hurrah of Washington Wine Month!

Happy Easter!  And since it's the last official day of Washington Wine Month, I thought I'd end it with a tribute to all the wonderful Washington wines I've enjoyed throughout the month that I just haven't had the time to devote a full blog posting to, of course it's easy to lose track of blog time when you're traveling for more than half the month!  So without further delay, here are the remaining Washington wines I've enjoyed with a few notes and a bit of context for where I enjoyed them:

2008 L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Merlot

What can I say, I love me some L'Ecole! This wine we enjoyed at my Washington tasting at the beginning of the month, and I had intended to have posts on all the wines we enjoyed, but alas, what do they say about all good plans of mice and men or something like that?  From what I recall, this wine was a lovely example of a high quality Merlot, with rich black fruit and a lush mouthfeel that made is a joy to sip.

2009 Seven Hills Walla Walla Cabernet Savignon and Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

At the Washington tasting I decided to do a vertical, or is this a horizontal tasting of the same vintage Cabernet Sauvignons, but allow folks to see the difference between the Walla Walla and Columbia Valley wines.  Although I love the Walla Walla Cab, it was interesting that a number of guests actually liked the Columbia Valley better!  In any event, I thought both were lovely to drink, and I got a terrific price on the CV Cab, so I couldn't complain about either one.  I found the Columbia Valley to have a bit more pepper and spice, and some more earthy tones, while the Walla Walla was much smoother, and more refined, with notes of dark chocolate and mocha.

2009 Substance Washington Cabernet Sauvignon

This one I picked up at Rolf's Wine Store in Newport Beach and brought to my old college roommate's house for a nice dinner of lovely Costco ribeyes as we watched our Alma Mater, the Bucknell Bison win the Patriot League tournament and secure a place in the NCAA tournament.  We had three bottles of wine that night, and from what I recall, this one had a good bit of black fruit with some boisterous tannins and some cherry cola on the finish.  Overall, it was a nice wine that paired perfectly with steak.

2007 Hogue Genesis Cabernet Sauvignon

The last of the unrequited Washington wines was the 2007 Hogue Genesis Cabernet Sauvignon that I had at Roy's in Newport Beach with my old roommate.  I was glad I found a nice Washington wine on the wine list as I was committed to drinking only Washington wines throughout the month.  The bottle was pretty reasonable by restaurant wine list terms, and it was a nice easy sipping Cabernet that I enjoyed with my sushi of all things!  Yes, I had this with a rainbow roll, some unagi and some tuna sashimi, and it worked out well for me!

So there you have it, the missing wines of Washington Wine month, here's to enjoying many more before March 2014 rolls around!