The October issue of Seattle Metropolitan magazine is coming out this week and contains this year’s Top 100 Washington wines list. This is the fifth year that I’ve had the pleasure to write this article for the magazine.

This year’s list was drawn from over 700 submissions, meaning that making the list was the most competitive it’s ever been. Wines were tasted in varietal sets and scored using a 100-point system (read the complete methodology in the issue). These ratings were subsequently used to create the list (similar to last year, we did not publish these scores to avoid any conflicts with my work for Wine Enthusiast). The wines were then organized into various sublists. These lists are as follows:

Top 13 (The top wines tasted regardless of category or variety, the best of the best)
White Wines
Wine on the Rocks (A selection of wines from The Rocks District)
Bordeaux-style Blends
Cabernet Sauvignon
Bang for the Buck
Wines to Lay Down
Insta-Cellar (Aged wines ready to enjoy now)
Malbec
Red Blends
Rising Stars
Syrah
Taste the Place
The Best of Washington’s Wild West
For Dessert

In addition to these lists – which comprise the Top 100 – there are also lists for Top Wines $25 and Under and Top Wines $15 and Under available on-line.

The issue also contains several subarticles, including an article about The Rocks and how I went about tasting the wines. Subscribers were sent the issue at the beginning of this week. It will be on Seattle area newsstands September 19th and available on-line at the beginning of October.

Enjoy!