William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Washington Syrah Day One: This wine is a dark purple/violet color, with dusty violets on the nose, slightly chalky (powdered candy & vanilla taffy), with a hint of coconut. Good mouth feel, plum, mint, vanilla, coconut, chocolate. Leave the bottle open longer, and this wine really fills the mouth with fruit flavors. The finish lengthens too. Velvety finish, balanced tannins, with just the proper amount of acidity. A refined wine, easy to appreciate with a medium finish that encourages another taste. This wine puts me in the mood for salami, aged Cheddar and the best crusty bread you can find - with a chocolate truffle to finish. Although not as big as the last two wines I reviewed, it still hits all the correct notes for me, and gets better the longer it is open (read on). Day two: I saved half the bottle to taste the next day. Wow, this wine has transformed itself. The medley of flavors has unified into a silky, luxurious and suave wine. The dry tannins punctuate the experience. T...

I'm 2 for 2 baby! I discovered Boomtown Syrah last year, based on the recommendation of a local wine merchant down the street. She was spot on. Before leaving the country, I just had to pick up a bottle of 2006 Boomtown Syrah . I wanted to make sure it is as good as remembered. Boomtown is made by Dusted Valley Vintners in the Walla Walla valley. I left the wine open before drinking, let's say at least an hour. This is a dark wine, of course, it is a Washington Syrah . It had an inky purple color. On the nose, rich aromas, slightly sweet, with dark, earthy fruit, and some tarragon. It had a good mouth feel, quite silky, with intense flavors and I detected a note of mushroom and some tar just underneath, ending with a blackberry/raspberry finish. For me, this wine screams Washington Syrah . Yummy. I really enjoyed it and so did my friends. note: This wine was just as good on day two. I found Boomtown Syrah to be balanced, with just the right amount of acidity. It has...

A Tasty Washington Cabernet Sauvignon When I broke the seal on the screw cap, there was an instant aroma of dark fruit, jammy, and blueberry on the nose. Immediately appealing. On my first taste, I got gobs of fruit in the mouth, with a dry and tart blueberry finish, not a monster finish, but very pleasant. Two hours later, now there's a whiff of dark earth and candied fruit, reminds me of those cherry suckers dentists always used to have (red was my favorite when I was a kid) and there's a hint of tar residue. I like how the wine has changed. The fruit now rolls around on the back of my tongue and tickles my ears. Tasty. This wine sure puts me in mind of a Syrah blend. As I already noted, it's tasty. This is my second Eliseo Silva wine. Last year, I enjoyed the Eliseo Silva 2005 Syrah. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is just as good. My advice is go cook up some steaks or burgers and crack open some Eliseo Silva 2005 Cabernet - it's ready to drink now. If you crank it open...

Red Mountain I've enjoyed Hedges wines for many years. You can find their signature Red and White CMS wines all over the state of Washington. Two years ago, we enjoyed a private "Star Party" at the beautiful Hedges Family Estate chateau. The head winemaker Pete Hedges and his wife were enchanting hosts. They provided food and libations into the evening, after sunset, we were joined by the Tri -City Astronomy club for a night of star gazing. It's so dark on Red Mountain, it seems as if you can almost touch the heavens. A truly one of a kind experience. Hedges also makes a fantastic Rose wine. Crisp, dry and fruity, the way I like it. The 2008 vintage should be seeing the light of day soon. Look for it if you live in King county (alas, not much of a market for it in SE Washington). Locally you have to purchase the Rose from their Red Mountain winery. But this post isn't about Rose. Yesterday, I cracked open a bottle of Hedges 2006 Three Vineyards. This is a robust...

Kestrel Lady in Red 6 th Edition The attractive label on the bottle was designed by marketing students at Columbia Basin College in Pasco , Washington, http://www.columbiabasin.edu/ The clever design has been a great success for Kestrel. Even so, I never sought out the label and usually avoided it entirely. Until now. My wife is famous for bringing home wine, "I would never purchase" and once again she's made a marvellous selection. Wow, it's good. Raspberry jam, with a touch of marmalade on the nose, medium heavy, cherry vanilla, a truly vibrant wine, with firm tannins , a bit of oak, which works for me, some sedimentation, deep garnet in color. Good cherry cola hang time on the finish. I enjoyed this bottle over three days. Day one, the wine was immediately easy to appreciate, the flavors and tannins were more intense, and held up through day two and by day three the wine had smoothed out a lot, but still had a lot going on. You can probably get several years...