Every year Wine Enthusiast releases a variety of Top 100 lists at the end of the year. These lists include:

  • Top 100 Cellar Selections – this list represents the top collectible wines of the year with the focus being on age-worthy wines

  • The Enthusiast 100 – this list represents a mixture of quality and price with the focus being on wines to be consumed in the near term

  • Top 100 Best Buys – this list represents the best wines priced at under $15

Among the factors considered are:

  • Score
  • Price
  • Availability
  • Buzz

At this point, the Cellars Selections and Enthusiast 100 are out. Filling out the Top 100 Cellar Selections were some usual suspects from Washington Wine country. In total, four Washington wines made the list. These were:

#44 – Dunham Cellars Lewis Vineyard Syrah 2005 $75, 94 pts

#19 – Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $115, 96 pts

#13 – Leonetti Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $80, 96 pts

#2 – Betz Pere de Famille Cabernet Sauvignon $55, 97 pts

Hard to disagree with any of the wines on that list.

For the Enthusiast 100, an astonishing 12 wines from Washington made the list. These wines were:

#91 – Beresan Sémillon 2006 $18, 92 pts

#84 – Boudreaux Cellars Merlot 2005 $40, 94 pts

#76 – Januik Elerding Vineyard

Chardonnay 2006 $25, 93 pts

#73 – Chaleur Estate Blanc 2006 $34, 94 pts

#61 – Novelty Hill Stillwater Creek

Vineyard Viognier 2006 $20, 93 pts

#56 – Pacific Rim Wallula Vineyard

Biodynamic Riesling 2007 $32, 93 pts

#52 – JLC Syrah 2004 $25, 94 pts

#49 – Robert Karl Syrah 2005 $29, 94 pts

#41 – Leonetti Merlot 2006 $65, 96 pts

#30 – Chateau Ste. Michelle 2006 Ethos

Late Harvest White Riesling $40, 96 pts

#23 – Betz Clos de Betz 2005 $40, 95 pts

#6 – Poet’s Leap Riesling $20, 94 pts

I believe this list reflects not only the large amount of excellent wine being made in Washington but also the relatively good values that can be found here. It also, of course, reflects the fact that local Paul Gregutt is Wine Enthusiast’s Washington wine writer!

You can see the complete lists here.