WTN: Five Easy Pieces

[Jenise]

At a block party last night:

2022 Alexandria Nicole Syrah Jet Black Destiny Ridge Vineyards Horse Heaven Hills
A deep, structured and modern American syrah--black cherry and purple plum fruit with very mild black pepper and tar. Very good.

2022 Kunde Zinfandel Sonoma Valley
There's quite a bit of dill here from American oak which needs more time to integrate, if it can--but otherwise decent and it showed well with the host's pulled pork. Been a long time since I've had a Kunde wine.

2018 Caprio Cellars Eleanor's Estate Walla Walla Valley Red Blend
A tad jammy and hot; typical of the vintage. Others liked it better than me (and it was my wine!)


At a croquet party last weekend:

2013 Maloney Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Single Vineyard Scooteney Flats Vineyard Red Mountain
A delightfully aged Cabernet from a vineyard I've not heard of before. More savory than sweet with dark fruit and tobacco notes--seems closer to Napa than WA, which is a good thing (and mostly only possible with Red Mountain fruit). Hanging on well; impressive for a vintage that, in my experience, hasn't produced a lot of keepers.

2018 L'Ecole No. 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley
A very good bottle from a hot, overripe vintage. Good fruit, decent structure, true to the grape, nicely evolving in the bottle and a good example of the values that can still be found in WA cabernets (only $18 on release).

[David M. Bueker]

I remember having a bottle from L’Ecole 41 back when I visited Washington in 1999. It was hot stuff back then.

[Jenise]

In 1999 there wouldn't have been a lot of competition. IIRC they went commercial around 1983 and were second to do so in the state. The first might have been Woodward Canyon, who coincidentally just recently hired L'Ecole winemaker Marcus Rafanelli (no relation to the Sonoma Rafanellis) who in the time I've lived here brought more structure and consistency to their products. I'd kinda written them off as just a supermarket brand, TBH.