70+ wines reviewed below, including the latest from Alta, Anderson Family, Aubaine, Blackboard by Matthews, Chehalem, Fielding Hills, Mark Ryan, Prospice, Savage Grace, Stoller, Succession, Toil Oregon, Trothe, and Virtue.

No one in Washington is making wines like Michael Savage at Savage Grace. Savage moved to the Columbia Gorge in recent years after purchasing part of Underwood Mountain Vineyards. He’s continued to focus on lower alcohol, low oak, and minimal intervention wines from single vineyards that he feels have something important to say. I’ve been tasting Savage’s wines from the beginning, and the current releases are among his very best – all dynamic, unique, and achingly pure. These are wines worth seeking out. Better still, visit the winery.

Trothe is a new project from the Andrews family, who have been farming in the Horse Heaven Hills for four generations. No one knows this land better. The wine is made by Ray McKee, former red winemaker at Chateau Ste Michelle. Few have as much experience working with this fruit. The results from the 2020 are magical. This is a top-end endeavor aiming to place Horse Heaven Hills more prominently on the world wine map. With wines like these, they seem sure to succeed.

Prospice founders Matt Reilly and Jay Krutulis met as students at the Institute for Enology and Viticulture at Walla Walla Community College. They launched Prospice in 2017 and have quickly become one of the most exciting young wineries in the state. Some of the wines below are among the duo’s best to date.

The reviews below also include a look at Chardonnay and Pinot Noir verticals from Anderson Family in Dundee Hills, all current releases. These estate wines come from a vineyard planted in 1992 and were all made “from the same vines in the same way,” says owner Cliff Anderson. They offer a fascinating look at vintage variation and site. The Pinot Noirs bring the intensity and detail one expects from Dundee Hills and are delicious in their own right. But it was the Anderson Chardonnays that I was most struck by, each showing a nuanced style and consistency in expression.

Since 2000, Fielding Hills winemaker Mike Wade has focused on unabashedly bold, estate wines from the family’s Riverbend Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope. If you’re looking for straight up delicious reds, look no further.

Finally, Succession is a young winery located in Manson, Washington, in the Lake Chelan appellation. The winery makes a diverse set of wines, all with a distinctive style that shows elegance and intensity. It is well worth a stop for people traveling to the appellation.

Look for upcoming feature articles on some of these wineries.

NB: I have now started to list all closure types after the reviews, not just alternative closures.

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At Northwest Wine Report, all scores come from blind tastings in varietal/style sets. Read more about this site’s process for rating and reviewing wines. Read about the Northwest Wine Report rating system and special designations. Read how to interpret scores. Read definitions of closure type listings. Wineries do not need to be subscribers to receive or use ratings and reviews. To receive a copy of the reviews after they have been published, contact [email protected]. Please allow two weeks for reviews to be sent via email after they have been requested.

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