Arbor Crest is a Spokane winery in an exceptionally beautiful location, high on a hilltop with 180 degree views over the town, river and farmland beyond. Friends took me there when we visited Spokane a few months ago. It's a great picnic spot and much sought after, so the tasting room bustles. I was embarrassed to realize that where I'd seen the name Arbor Crest I had no idea it was a successful Washington winery producing premium-level wines--something about the name sounds like California jug wine to me, and I'd never looked any closer. The wines were all fruit-forward and fairly well oaked, so not much to my taste, but they do what they do very well and are therefore extremely successful with people who don't hang out on wine boards. The only wine they made that I would have even considered buying to bring home would have been their meritage blend, the Dionysius, but when I asked our pourer how these wines age he almost seemed surprised I asked, then said something like "Oh, you can lay this puppy down for five years, no problem."
I passed.
But when I saw the 2001 yesterday at Costco, I decided to give it a go. We opened it last night. I don't remember what I learned about the oak program at the winery, but the first thing I smelled in this wine was American oak, followed by blackcurrant and blackberry. Then there's vanilla, and with a few more sips it starts to hit a wall where the finish turns into mud. It's big and simple and dying. And that's not really a surprise.