2010 Dusted Valley Stained Tooth Syrah

The winemaker's notes begin with "Purple is our favorite color..." Everything this wine touches turns to purple - and it's great.

The wine is 91% Syrah, 5% Petite Sirah, 2% Mourvedre, and 2% Grenache and weighs in at 14.6%. The wine was aged 12 months in 20% New American and French Oak and 80% Neutral. The grapes hail from some of the top vineyards in Washington State's Columbia Valley.

Dark fruit and silky tannins provide a great finish. Now where did I lay down that whitening toothpaste?

Julie's take - "A great big syrah - tasty".

J. Bookwalter - Bookmark N.V.

If you are looking at one of the best QPR (Quality Price Ratio) this is it. This wine can often be found for less than $10 a bottle - but it's no wine in a box. The wine comes from J. Bookwalter which is one of Washington State's pioneering wineries - established in 1983. Bookmark is a blend but it doesn't just stop with blending varietals, it includes lots from multiple vintages - a processed referred to as vertical blending.

Bookmark is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and hails from vineyards throughout the Columbia Valley. The wine relies on the winemaker's taste and vision and blends young and mature fruit with fantastic results, especially at this price.

The wine is well balanced with dark fruit, cherry and chocolate.

Julie's Take : "This is very good"

Abeja - 2010 Beekeeper's Blend

Abeja winery is located east of the Walla Walla at foot of the Blue Mountains. The winery is not open to the public, and you can visit on select weekends or if you are on the allocation list and are in town to pick up wine (that's me). There is a Inn on the property and I highly recommend checking out their website at Abeja.net so you can see the property.

Taken from the Spanish word for "bee" it makes sense that one of their Columbia Valley blends is called "Beekeepers". They are known for fantastic Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon - I've never had a wine from Abeja I didn't enjoy. (A note that this will be consistent on this blog as I will likely only post wines, which in my opinion, are worth acquiring). 

The Beekeeper's Blend is tonight's subject and is produced from fruit in their "younger" vineyards in the Columbia Valley. Each vintage varies as to composition, but it is predominately Cabernet Sauvignon blended with some combination of the following varietals: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Syrah and Petit Verdot.

This is my first year having the Beekeeper's Red and I can say I ordered more after trying the first couple bottles a few weeks back. It is a great table wine and goes well with our nightly dinner and conversation.

Julie's Take - "I like this a lot!"