Sean P. Sullivan's Northwest Wine Report

Three warm vintages result in very different wines

After a vintage in 2012 where heat accumulation was a near perfect match for 20-year historical averages in Washington, 2013 through 2015 saw three increasingly warm growing seasons. While it is tempting to characterize each of these years as simply producing ‘warm vintage wines,’ side-by-side tastings reveal significant differences.

Below are my Wine Enthusiast reviews for November 2018. Wines are listed alphabetically by winery. Read additional information on how I review wines here. All of these reviews are freely available on-line at the Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide. There is also a freely available Wine Enthusiast Tasting Guide app. See previous Wine Enthusiast reviews re-published in this space here. Search Wine Enthusiast's on-line database here. Read instructions on how to find Washington wine reviews at Wine Enthusiast here.

181 wines reviewed in the November issue of Wine Enthusiast.

Bodegas Valdemar, a fifth-generation family winery based in Spain, is in the process of building a facility in Washington. The winery, which will be called Valdemar Estates, is expected to open in spring of 2019.

“We decided to do this big step to Washington State, and we are really, really excited about it,” says Jesús Martínez-Bujanda Mora, who recently relocated to Washington with his wife and three-year-old daughter to focus on the project.

Below are my Wine Enthusiast reviews for October 2018. Wines are listed alphabetically by winery. Read additional information on how I review wines here. All of these reviews are freely available on-line at the Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide. There is also a freely available Wine Enthusiast Tasting Guide app. See previous Wine Enthusiast reviews re-published in this space here. Search Wine Enthusiast's on-line database here. Read instructions on how to find Washington wine reviews at Wine Enthusiast here.

280 wines reviewed in the October issue of Wine Enthusiast.

We’re at the six week mark of harvest!

Harvest began in Washington this year on August 17th, with a pick of Chardonnay for sparkling wine at Hilltop Vineyard in Yakima Valley. Most winemakers I’ve spoken with recently have reported they have brought in about 60% of their fruit and expect to continue harvesting for the next several weeks. Hillary Sjolund, consulting winemaker at Wine Boss in Richland, provided on Facebook the following summary of 2018, which I have combined with her summary from the same point at previous vintages: