Every now and then, a wine comes along that sits at a rare nexus of high quality, exceptional pricing, and limited availability. When that happens, it’s time to pull the alarm for an emergency wine review: one that simply can’t wait for the next review cycle.

Our first was the 2022 Kevin White ‘Blue Label’ earlier this year. Today we have a second, the Avennia 2022 Parapine Grenache. (As you might surmise from this, 2022 is a stellar vintage for Rhône varieties in Washington.)

Part of the enjoyment of wine is its fleeting nature. Once you’ve opened your last bottle, it is gone forever, never to be another exactly like it.

Avennia’s Parapine, however, is even more ephemeral. The wine is named after a ghost in winemaker Chris Peterson’s house. In that same spirit (see what I did there?), the Parapine comes and goes. The first vintage was a 2012 Syrah, the second a 2020 Grenache. Now we have a 2022 Grenache.

Aptly named, this wine is nothing if not haunting. It’s a blend of fruit from top sources (more on that below) that provides outrageous quality for $30.

How outrageous? There are over 4,300 red wines in my review database that are $30 and under. Exactly 3 of those wines have scored as well as the 2022 Avennia Parapine. None have scored better. Quite simply, wines this high quality and this well-priced are exceedingly rare.

The catch? (There’s always a catch.) Only 166 cases were produced. Like an apparition, the 2022 Avennia Parapine will vanish quickly. Value hunters, this is surely one to consider a case purchase. Full review below.

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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. See the Northwest Wine Report rating system and special designations. Read about how to interpret scores. See a list of recently reviewed producers.

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