Wine & Dine

Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser

You think your summer’s been busy? Winemaker Ron Bunnell released the second vintage of his Bunnell Family Cellar wines, introduced an appealing lineup of lower-priced wines under the new RiverAerie brand, did the usual work in his vineyard and winery and, at 57, became a brand new dad.
Shortly after Mrs. G. and I stopped by Ron and Susan Bunnell’s tidy winery, overlooking a cozy bend in the Yakima River just north of Prosser, this note came via e-mail:
“I am overjoyed to announce the arrival of Robert Alexander Bunnell (called Alex), born on Sunday, July 1, at 12:16 in the afternoon, weighing 7 pounds, 7.4 ounces and 19 inches tall. Mother and son are both well and coming home today. Happy 4th of July.”
I think you all will be happy as well, when you sample Bunnell’s latest project, RiverAerie.
“I’m consulting winemaker at Milbrandt Vineyards,” he explained, “so I’ve got ‘cherry-picking rights’ on the inventory. It’s a great opportunity to pick little jewels out.”
Little jewels they are. The whites are sealed with screw-cap, the reds with cork. The striking label — designed by Susan Bunnell — includes a vertical red collage and a horizontal band with the wine name. Prices float between $10 and $15.
Included in these first RiverAerie releases are a fresh and creamy 2006 Pinot Gris; a bright and spicy 2006 Chardonnay; and a vibrant, almost crunchy (yes, I meant crunchy!) 2006 Viognier. There’s also a fascinating group of red wines, including a tart, raspberry and cherry-flavored 2005 Barbera; a spicy, herbal 2005 Malbec; and a Bordeaux blend called Fête. My Pick of the Week is the smooth, silky 2005 Sangiovese.
The mainline wines, under the Bunnell Family Cellar label, now include a buttery 2006 Talcott Vineyard Viognier. But the great strength remains the syrahs and Rhone blends.
As with the initial (2004) releases last spring, there are single-vineyard 2005 syrahs from Clifton Hill and Boushey-McPherson ($38) — both outstanding — and an update on the lively country red called “vif” ($28), a blend of syrah and mourvèdre.
New Bunnell wines include a syrah/grenache/cinsault/mourvèdre blend dubbed “à pic” ($28) and a Northridge Vineyard Mourvèdre ($38). No sophomore slump here; everything in the lineup suggests that Ron Bunnell, a veteran winemaker who has worked at Beringer, Chateau Souverain, Kendall-Jackson and Chateau Ste. Michelle, is making the best wines of his life.
The Bunnells own a piece of land at the new Prosser Vintner’s Village just north of Prosser. Current wineries in residence include Airfield Estates, Olsen Estate, The Winemakers Loft, Thurston Wolfe and Willow Crest. Ron Bunnell hopes to join them in the future. For now the cozy tasting room is located a few miles away at their winery/residence. Visitors are welcome by appointment. Call ahead for directions (509-973-4187). The wines are distributed in Seattle by Cascade Trade.

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A later excursion took me to Northstar winery just south of Walla Walla. Northstar was originally begun as the designated merlot specialist in the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates portfolio. The winery and visitor facility, on a small hilltop near Pepper Bridge, Basel and several other smaller wineries, opened in 2003.
Where once there were just one or two merlots offered, visitors may now sample a broader selection, several available only at the winery. A second label, Stella Maris, was introduced last year, and the new release — 2004 Stella Maris Red Wine ($28) — is a fine bottle, with sweet raspberry fruit leading into a succulent mouthful of chocolate and cherries. The 2005 Stella Blanca Semillon ($20) is just as good — fragrant, barrel fermented, rich and seductive.
The main Northstar label now includes non-merlot offerings — a smoky, toasty 2004 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Franc ($40); a spicy 2003 Columbia Valley Syrah ($40); and a limited 2005 Petit Verdot (wine club only).
The 2004 Northstar Columbia Valley Merlot, slated for August release, is intensely fragrant and complex, with unusual scents of pineapple along with the requisite black cherry. It’s resonant and tangy, with good long flavors and lots of new oak.

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Hot weather makes for perfect reading time, and I have been enjoying “The House of Mondavi” by Julia Flynn Siler (Gotham Books, $28). It’s the most interesting unauthorized wine industry tell-all since Elin McCoy’s Robert Parker bio. Siler, who writes for the Wall Street Journal, piles on the juicy tidbits while maintaining a certain businesslike dignity to her account of the Mondavis’ rise and fall.
Nonetheless, reports Tom Wark in his Fermentations blog, “there are a number of folks around Napa Valley who are upset with the tone and substance of Julia Flynn Siler’s book and by extension with her. Napa Valley and the wine business is a pretty small place and folks can be understandably protective of their home and friends. They’ll probably get over it.”
Let’s face it. Robert Mondavi is irreplaceable, a massive figure in the development of the American wine industry. Throughout his long life he has been a man of extraordinary energy, passion and power. But Siler has pulled together a solid, well-researched journalistic portrait of what went wrong. And just about everything did, resulting in a complete takeover of the company and its assets by mega-conglomerate Constellation Brands.
What ruffled my feathers was not Siler’s book, but a wine called Vinetta, recently added to the Robert Mondavi “Private Selection” lineup. These low-priced, rather generic wines were introduced shortly after the Mondavi family made the disastrous decision to take the company public. Whatever tenuous connection they once had to the authentic Mondavi vision and commitment to excellence has vanished.
The honorable and classy thing to do, in my view, would be for Constellation to reserve the Mondavi name for the top-tier wines. Re-brand the low-end plonk, and give the man the respect he deserves.
Pick of the Week
RiverAerie 2005 Sangiovese, $15. With 10 percent cabernet in the blend, this is a beautifully plummy color, fragrant and fruity, tasting of fresh plums and strawberries. There is good concentration and a tangy snap to the finish. (Distributor is Cascade Trade)

Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt.com.

Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser
Q. We want to spend a few days wine touring outside of Portland. Any recommendations?
A. I find visiting the Oregon wine country in the northern Willamette Valley equal parts thrilling and frustrating. The landscape can be lovely, and there are many small, charming wineries scattered about. However, getting to them is a real challenge. The limited highways serving the region are clogged with traffic and run through small towns with even smaller speed limits. The back roads are poorly marked and confusing.
If you go in July or August, you should be prepared for extremely hot weather, which makes wine tasting in the afternoons an endurance contest.
On the plus side, the Oregon Wine Board has upgraded their Web site (www.oregonwine.org) and it now offers detailed and searchable advice on wine touring. In fact, it’s the best I’ve seen for anywhere in the world. The Oregon Wine Explorer feature lets you search by location, type of wine or winery features (tasting room, RV parking, wheelchair accessible, etc.). Individual winery listings offer contact and production information, links to maps and driving directions.
Do your research, expect to spend a fair amount of time driving, and don’t plan too many afternoon visits, and you’ll have a fine time.
Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt

Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser
Most winemakers agree that, as the closure of choice for soon-to-be-opened white wines, screw-caps make good sense. Such good sense, in fact, that white wines from Australia and New Zealand are almost always sealed with screw-caps, which are turning up more frequently on American wines as well.
This is all fine and good. But what about red wines? Red wines are generally considered to be more cellar-worthy than white wines, and it is red wines, far more than white wines, that are collectible — that is to say, expensive. Putting a screw-cap on such a bottle has always seemed a bit déclassé. The cork is still king when it comes to cachet.
Or is it? A few years back, Napa’s PlumpJack winery decided to bottle half of its $125 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon under screw-cap. Being the first to offer such a prestige bottling, it got a windfall of publicity. To me, it seemed more like a publicity stunt than a serious attempt to spark an attitude adjustment, but now I’m not so certain.
These days it’s not at all difficult to find higher quality — sometimes the highest quality — red wines from California, Oregon, Australia and New Zealand using screw-caps. Wolf Blass’ best (Platinum Label) Barossa Shiraz sells for $88, and says it uses the cap “to preserve the style of the wine and to ensure quality is maintained.”
Meaning that corks do not? D’Arenberg’s “The Dead Arm” McLaren Vale Shiraz ($56) goes one further, remarking on the back label that the wine will benefit from further bottle age — no worries about the screw-cap, mate.
From California, Quixote Petite Syrah ($56) misspells the name of the wine — it’s petite sirah, not syrah — but puts out a good bottle, albeit pricey for that particular grape, cork or no cork.
DeLoach Vineyards, part of the Jean-Claude Boisset portfolio, has put its most expensive wine — the 2005 Sonoma Stage Vineyard Pinot Noir ($85) — in Stelvin Lux+ screw-caps. This new and improved Lux+ cap, the winery explains, is engineered to allow a bit of oxygen to pass through the seal, mimicking the porosity of cork, and (hopefully) enhancing its ageability.
It’s pinot noirs such as this that have assumed the leadership role as far as screw-capped reds are concerned. New Zealand appears to make the lion’s share — juicy, fruity wines offered in a range of prices.
In Oregon, both WillaKenzie and Argyle are backing the cap. WillaKenzie claims it was the first winery in the country to bottle pinot noir with a screw-cap.
“You can be confident that wine sealed by screw-caps is in top condition, tasting the way the winemaker intended, and that every bottle is of consistent quality whether you plan to drink it right away or cellar it for several years,” the winery boasts. “Wine is expected to age at least as long and as well under a screw-cap as it will under natural cork.”
Personally, I have no experience storing cork-free red wines over a period of years, but you can be sure that no winery is going to risk putting its $40 or $60 or $100 wines out into the market with a closure that has not passed rigorous testing. In fact, a very prestigious Washington winery, hoping to go the screw-cap one better, is now experimenting with glass closures. Before committing to them, the winery is shipping sample bottles around the country and back home, to see if they survive the rigors of travel.
It seems to me that it’s time to agree that screw-caps can do the job. Not everyone will like their look and feel (improving rapidly, by the way), but you must agree that these closures have a lot of advantages, the manufacturers are working hard to correct some of the early problems associated with them and they have certainly shed their cheap wine image. Here are some good ones, in order of preference.

• Cloudy Bay 2005 Marlborough Pinot Noir, $32. What I love about this archetypal New Zealand wine is its elegance. The pinot fruit is quite ripe, pretty and full, but it’s buttressed with a firm minerality, and it sails through a crisp, lingering finish.
• Amisfield 2005 Central Otago Pinot Noir, $32. Another gem from New Zealand, this is a soft, plummy, smoky wine with seductive power. The fruit is smooth and ripe, without being jammy or tutti-fruity, and the tannins are substantial enough to give it some authority.
• Smidge Wines 2005 “Adamo” Barossa Valley Shiraz, $41. Soft and warmly fruity, this broadly built Aussie wine is flush with ripe flavors of berry and cassis. Lots of snap and sizzle to the finish.
• Two Hands 2006 “Angels Share” McLaren Vale Shiraz, $26. An Aussie bomb, with plenty of fruit power and interesting streaks of tobacco and licorice.
• Bald Hills 2005 Central Otago Pinot Noir, $42. Delicious black cherry and currant fruit is enlivened with zippy acids, finishing chewy and minty.
• WillaKenzie Estate 2005 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $22. This is nicely balanced, tart and juicy with black cherry fruit.
• Vidal 2005 Marlborough Pinot Noir, $28. Sappy and loaded with strawberry fruit, this is easy drinking and accented with cola notes.
• Vidal 2004 Hawke’s Bay Syrah, $28. A pleasantly tart, tangy style, not ashamed to show some leafy herb, with firm, almost stiff tannins wrapping up the finish.
• Argyle 2005 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, $23. A lighter, elegant style, gently herbal and moderately tannic.

Pick of the Week

• Bird in Hand “Two in the Bush” 2004 Merlot-Cabernet, $20. This oddly named wine, topped with a screw-cap and coming from Australia’s Adelaide Hills, delivers 90-point flavors at a moderate price. It’s got good deep color, a thick middle, ripe fruit that mixes red and blue berries and cherries, and a satisfying finish. It’s quite alcoholic (15.5 percent) but otherwise a very tasty effort. (Distributed by Pangaea/United By Wine)

Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt.com.

Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser
Q. What does it mean when a winery “waters back” its wines?
A. In general, wineries prefer not to discuss most of the techniques that are used to reduce the alcohol in wines.
The image that the industry likes to promote is that wine is a completely natural product that everyone takes a hands-off, non-interventionist approach, and basically that good wine is made in the vineyard — the winemaker’s main job is not to mess things up. But as vineyard practices have pushed sugar levels at harvest higher and higher, finished wines have gotten hotter and hotter.
There are a number of high-tech methods for lowering the alcohol in wine, but the preferred method is decidedly low tech. Called watering back, or more humorously “post-harvest irrigation,” it simply means that water has been added to the wine during fermentation.
In some countries this would be illegal, but in much of the world there is legal wiggle room to do so. Wineries see watering back as a means of picking ever-riper grapes to get the sweet fruit flavors consumers love while keeping the alcohol levels from rising to 15 percent or higher. They just don’t want consumers to know about it.
Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt.com.

Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser
The widespread industry acceptance of the Stelvin wine bottle closure — most commonly referred to as the screw-cap — has lit a fire under cork producers, who have been scrambling, with some success, to improve their products. Meanwhile, the humble screw-cap, which traditionally occupied about the same low rung as the jug among wine lovers, has seen its image and appearance radically transformed — all in a remarkably brief time.
The reasons that the screw-cap has been so warmly embraced are quite simple. Wineries were sick and tired of losing money and worse yet, customers due to tainted or “corked” wines. The bacterial taint, abbreviated as TCA, that infects a small but significant percentage of corks, means that until a bottle of wine is opened, you cannot be certain that the wine inside will be sound.
That is the reason for the cork-sniffing ritual that bedevils so many people, who assume it is just another form of ancient snobbery. The screw-cap is widely perceived as the solution to the cork-taint problem.
The screw-cap has gained traction and popularity in both Australia and New Zealand among high-end and red wine producers. American wineries are paying attention, because important alt-packaging trends often originate in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite some resistance from sommeliers and wine retailers (“what are we going to sniff?!?”), the screw-cap is clearly here to stay.
So I was a bit surprised to see a recent story in the wine magazine Decanter quoting research done by Wine Business Monthly that was headlined “America ‘baffled’ by screw-caps.” Baffled? The same story noted that the number of wineries using screw-caps was up five-fold in the past three years.
I doubt that very many Americans are truly baffled by screw-caps. Though not everyone likes the way they look, their other advantages are obvious. Apart from taint-proofing the wines, they are easy to open, quick to re-seal, and also may offer further protection from bottle variation caused by differing degrees of oxidation.
Screw-caps have come under fire for being ugly, but newer versions seem to me to be far more attractive. The “Stelvin+” cap, now turning up on more expensive wines, has a high-quality finish, a longer skirt, and the sort of bottle top embossing traditionally reserved for the best of the best.
Another, more disturbing and somewhat technical rap against screw-caps is that they may cause wines to be “reductive” – a condition in which the wine receives too little rather than too much oxygen and may develop off aromas, particularly from sulfites.
These problems too are being addressed, by adjusting certain winemaking techniques before bottling, and also by improvements being made by the manufacturer (Alcan Packaging).
It’s clear that for white wines, even those that you expect to age for awhile, the screw-cap has earned a permanent place in your wine cellar. When wineries such as Burgundy’s Domaine Laroche begin using screw-caps on their Grand Cru Chablis, you know that a tipping point has been reached.
So, unless you are truly devoted to the ritual of cork-pulling, and inured to the disappointment of wines — sometimes very expensive wines — that taste musty and tired, you are advised to let go of any residual hesitation about the screw-cap’s appearance. Twist a few and you will quickly adjust, I am certain. In fact, your friends may think you are downright trendy.
Here are recommended screw-cap whites, organized by varietal. In next week’s column, I’ll tackle the thornier topic of putting reds under a screw-cap.
Miscellaneous

• Pewsey Vale 2006 “Individual Vineyard Selection” Riesling, $17. This is dry, yet retains some Germanic fruit sweetness.
• Yalumba 2006 “Virgilius” Viognier, $40. Amazingly rich Australian wine, pricey but exceptional.

Sauvignon Blanc
I have recommended many sauv blancs and semillon/sauv blanc blends from Australia and New Zealand in recent columns. Here are some additional releases from around the world.

• Bonterra 2006 Lake/Mendocino, $14. Organically grown grapes yield a wine of piercing tartness, strong flavors of grapefruit, clean and palate-tuning.
• Huntington 2006 Sonoma County, $14. Creamy and textural, mixing stone fruits, citrus and grapefruit with just a hint of residual sugar.
• Rodney Strong 2006 “Charlotte’s Home” Sonoma County, $14. Sharply defined fruit flavors; like a glass of limeade.
• Evans & Tate 2006 Margaret River, $14. Lovely penetration, herbal complexity and a steely, stony core.
• Ch. Bel Air 2006 Perponcher Reserve Bordeaux Blanc, $15. Crisp and tight, dry and compact. Hints of mint adorn the green fruits and fresh herbs.
• Oberon 2005 Napa Valley, $15. Napa fruit tilts toward the semi-tropical, with hints of melon and papaya, pineapple and sweet grapefruit.
• Ferrari-Carano 2006 Fumé Blanc Sonoma County, $15. A lifted, tropical style that will appeal to some more than others.
• Justin 2006 Paso Robles, $16. This is done in a softer style, best suited to those who don’t cotton to the grape’s aggressive grassy/herbal flavors.
• Kim Crawford 2006 Marlborough, $18. Kim Crawford is widely known, reliable and flavorful, a New Zealand take on Sancerre.
• Vidal 2006 Marlborough, $20. “Screw-cap preserves wine’s integrity,” reads the skirt under the cap, sounding a bit like some sort of enological chastity belt. Incomparably fresh, in the New Zealand style, with passion fruit, peach and pea vine.

Chardonnay

• Domaine Chandon 2005 Carneros, $24. Green-gold, ripe and very toasty, this is an old-fashioned California chardonnay, but done well.
• Jermann 2005 Venezia Giulia, $29. “A screw-cap closure to preserve quality at its best,” reads the label from this exceptional Italian producer. Immaculate, lightly herbal, subtle and fragrant flavors of white peach, melon and fresh apple.
• Mountford Estate 2004 Waipara, New Zealand, $36. Open, bright aromas of fresh pineapple and grapefruit load the palate with thick, lush flavors, streaked with butterscotch, bourbon barrel and toasted almonds.

Pick of the Week

• Sonoma Vineyard 2005 Sonoma County Chardonnay, $12. This screw-capped chardonnay is done in a crisp, well-defined style, with sweet Meyer lemon, grapefruit, apricot and pear fruits nicely melded together. Acids are clean and balanced, the fruit solidly supported and the finish hits you with the sort of lip-smack that invites the next sip. (Distributed by Odom)

Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt.com.

Paul Gregutt
Wine Adviser
Q. My son shipped home some Chianti while he’s in Italy writing his thesis. I’m planning a homecoming dinner party for him and would like to serve his wine. Any suggestions for a menu?
A. As it happens, I love Chianti. It’s a light red, rather versatile, but depending on which Chianti from which producer and which vintage it can vary considerably as far as food affinities.
In general, the cheaper Chiantis are quite light, and can be paired with fried foods, as if they were very dry rosés. If you have Chianti Classico (indicated on the label), which is from the heart of the region, you will find that the wine is more sturdy and tannic, and can accompany more substantial grilled meats.
The Chianti Classico Riservas are the biggest and boldest of all. If at all possible, I would try to avoid any Chianti from the 2002 vintage, which was one of the worst in recent decades. If you don’t know what is coming I would venture to suggest that the safest course — to state the obvious — would be some basic Italian comfort food such as spaghetti and meatballs, or lasagna, or even homemade pizza. Bottom line: I wouldn’t fret too much about it.
Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt.com.

Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser
Chateau Ste. Michelle, working in partnership with Germany’s Dr. Loosen estate, recently hosted a three-day “Riesling Rendezvous” in Woodinville. The event brought together over four dozen Riesling producers and winemakers from around the world.
I’ve tasted my share of Rieslings over the years. But I’ve never sat down, as we did at the conference, and focused so relentlessly on the grape in all its guises.
Ste. Michelle’s CEO Ted Baseler summed it up on the first morning with a telling vignette. Recalling the first and only other global Riesling conference here in 1989, Baseler noted that much of the discussion revolved around what, if anything could be done to popularize the grape, which had sunk into the doldrums.
“One panelist suggested that we should change its name,” Baseler noted, grinning. “Riesling, this panelist felt, was just not a sexy enough name. Chardonnay, he thought, was much better. I think that had to be the low point for Riesling in this country.”
Riesling is doing much better these days. Tastes are changing, and younger consumers are interested in elegant, aromatic white wines. Tony Stewart, the winemaker from B.C.’s Quails Gate Estate Winery, hit the nail on the head when he said, “Brightness, freshness and acidity are in vogue these days.”
Riesling sales are up dramatically. Vineyards are adding more Riesling, rather than ripping vines out. Celebrity winemakers are jetting into Washington to make Riesling here. And winemakers all over this country are making better Rieslings than ever before, showing off the chameleon grape in its many guises, from bone dry to off-dry to diabolically, seductively sweet.
No one at this conference suggested a name change. Rather, discussions focused on the subtleties of Old World/New World regional styles, and how to do a better job of labeling Riesling. The problem that Rieslings from everywhere face is that there is no labeling that tells you what the wine in the bottle is actually going to taste like.
How can you tell if the wine labeled Riesling is going to be bone dry, somewhat dry, slightly sweet, very sweet, floral, fruity, stony, tart, lush, bright or buttery? Basically, you can’t, unless you already know something about the region where it was made and the style of the producer.
“The Riesling grape,” said St. Urbans-Hof’s Nik Weis, “is a magnifying glass for the landscape, a picture that the landscape creates.”
His wines, he believes, reflect not just the soil in which the grapes are grown, but the sunlight, the slope, the other plants and even the animals that inhabit the land.
Other, less poetic souls echoed the same sentiment, proven over and again by the wines themselves. Australian author James Halliday described it as “a hands-off variety,” meaning that winemakers tend to ferment it in stainless-steel tanks and then leave it alone. No new oak, no malolactic (secondary) fermentation, and increasingly, no additions of store-bought yeasts and nutrients.
Riesling, when made as an unblended varietal, has an innate ability to reflect the place it is grown. Many believe it is unrivaled by any other white-wine grape in the world.
Riesling’s flexible strengths are what make it so difficult for consumers to understand. Most grapes, though they can be vinified in a variety of styles, fall into fairly predictable flavors. Riesling stubbornly resists such categorization.
In Germany, where most of the world’s greatest Rieslings are made, the classification and labeling of the wines is the strictest on the planet. Yet the results leave even the experts scratching their heads in exasperation.
The problem isn’t entirely with the eight- or nine-syllable words, which stack up on German wine labels like chips at the World Series of Poker. It’s that no matter how you try to categorize it — measuring the residual sugar (an indication of sweetness) is the general standard — the Riesling in the bottle may still not taste the way you expect it to.
In flight after flight at the “Riesling Rendezvous,” the wines refused to fall into clean, crisp categories. Some of the supposedly dry wines had noticeable sweetness, while the sweet-wine flights included wines that tasted bracingly tart. The dynamic tension pinged around unpredictably depending on the interplay of the levels of acid, sugar and alcohol. A fourth element, dubbed minerality — which, by the way, may or may not exist — also enters the picture, particularly with German wines.
I was pleased to moderate a panel entitled “Classic Fruity Riesling,” which included wines from New York, Michigan, Germany, Washington and Tasmania. Though they shared a certain sugar-based commonality, these wines were very different. Their alcohol levels ranged from a low of 7 percent to a high of almost 14 percent. The acids were equally festive.
Since we were tasting blind (the wines were not identified), I asked the audience for a show of hands before each was revealed. New World or Old World? Out of the 14 wines, eight were European (Old World) and in every instance the vast majority got it right. But of the six New World wines, in every instance the vote was split right down the middle.
I take this to mean that New World Riesling styles are still evolving, not nearly as well-defined as those made in Germany or Alsace. Those benchmark Old World Rieslings are unrivaled. So set aside worries about whether the wine is dry or sweet, and simply treat yourself to a lovely Riesling from any of the following producers (where known, I’ve indicated the local distributor):
Albert Mann (Cordon)
Dr. Loosen (Young’s – Columbia)
Gunderlach (Vehrs)
Joh. Jos. Prüm (Vehrs)
Maximin Grünhaus
Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Schönborn
St. Urbans-Hof (Unique)
Van Volxem
Von Othegraven (Noble)
Wittmann
Pick of the Week
St. Urbans-Hof 2006 Riesling QBA, $13. Everything from this exemplary Mosel producer is worth exploring. Organically grown and traditionally made, these are wines of thrilling elegance. This is their entry-level Riesling, and a fine introduction to the style. Spend a few bucks more and the thrills get even better. If it were my wallet, I’d aim for the 2006 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett ($16) or the 2004 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett ($19). (Distributed by Unique)
Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt.com.

Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser
Q. After reading your column about rosés last summer, I was intrigued and tried a few. Before that, the last rosé I drank was Lancer’s, sometime in the mid-70s. Some that I tried last year were quite good and others bore an unfortunate resemblance to white zin. Do you have any recommendations for dry-to-bone-dry rosés?
A. Dry rosés are really catching on across the country these days. The latest data from the Nielsen Company shows that sales of premium-priced rosé wines have gone up 45 percent in the past year. But for consumers, it’s still confusing, because for so long pink wines were sweet wines, and many still are.
The best way to be certain that you are buying dry rosé is to ask the wine-seller. If that person is unavailable, you can usually rely on rosé wines from France and Spain being among the world’s driest.
In the U.S. any wine labeled “White (name of red grape)” — example, White Zinfandel — is quite likely to be sweet. Wines labeled rosé are usually dry, though not always bone dry.
Another hint: dry rosés are also a little more expensive than the soda pop sweeties, so look for wines priced at $8 and above. And remember that even when dry, rosés made in Washington or California can give the flavor impression of sweetness, because the fruit is riper and the alcohol levels higher than wines made in Europe.
Rosés are usually from the most recent vintage, often produced in limited quantities and released in the spring. One that is widely available and consistently tasty is from Chateau Val Joanis. It’s made in southern France. The 2006 is now in the market and sells for $12.
Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt.com.

Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser
    Mike Januik’s winemaking credentials reach back to the mid-1980s, when he began his career with (now-defunct) Stewart Vineyards. Januik worked only the 1984–86 vintages, before moving on to Snoqualmie and later Chateau Ste. Michelle. But he made an indelible impression.
Some years ago, I asked winery owner Martha Stewart (not that Martha Stewart!) about Januik as a young winemaker. “Having Mike for a winemaker,” she replied, “was sort of like asking an inexperienced painter to paint the ceiling of your rec room, and then learning that his name is Michelangelo.”
Januik himself would be embarrassed at such praise, for he is among the most modest and unassuming winemakers I have ever known. But his talent, unmistakable from the very beginning, has finally brought him the ultimate reward: a gorgeous new winery with his name on the front door.
Actually, the name on the front door reads Novelty Hill —Januik, for the new winery at 14710 Woodinville-Redmond Road NE, is home to both brands. Januik makes all the wines, including 4,000 cases of Januik whites and reds, and another 5,100 cases of Novelty Hill. The ultra-modern facility, which presents a rather stolid concrete face to the highway, is quite impressive on the inside.
Januik has a full quota of shiny new winemaker toys (a dry fog machine, computer-monitored fermentation tanks, an Italian bottling line), two large barrel rooms, a sleek and open tasting room, a full kitchen (with chef Charles Walpole in charge) and four private rooms for special dinners and events. In one of them is a grand tasting table, fashioned from reclaimed old growth timber, that is 24 feet long. The landscaped grounds back onto a creek and border the Columbia winery on the north.
His years of making wine for Chateau Ste. Michelle gave Januik the opportunity to explore many of Washington’s emerging wine regions, such as Horse Heaven Hills and the Wahluke Slope, while accessing grapes from top vineyards such as Cold Creek. Since starting the Januik winery in 1999, he has continued to use fruit from Cold Creek in his cabernets and chardonnays, and has added other top-tier vineyard sources such as Champoux, Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval and Seven Hills.
Novelty Hill’s own estate vineyard, Stillwater Creek, which was planted in 2000, has quickly become a favorite among many of Washington’s rising star winemakers. I assume that Januik gets his pick of the best fruit, because his Novelty Hill Stillwater Creek vineyard-designated wines are stunningly good.
I could wax euphoric about all of the latest releases from Novelty Hill, which offer impeccable balance, a profusion of carefully sculpted fruits, herbs and spices, and exceptionally fine-tuned oak aging. Suffice it to say that the 2005 Chardonnay ($20), Sémillon ($16) and Sauvignon Blanc ($18) are as good as it gets; and the Stillwater Creek reds — a dark, spicy 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon ($28); a seamless, smoky 2004 Syrah ($28); and a firm, cherry-laden 2004 Merlot ($25) — are their equals.
From Januik Winery there are more excellent new releases. The 2005 Januik Cold Creek Vineyard Chardonnay ($30) is less oaky, more forward and fruity than in the past. The two single vineyard cabernets — Champoux and Ciel du Cheval — are still quite young and tight, but the less-expensive Januik Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($30) is a marvel of complexity that opens up nicely with a little breathing time. All of these wines can benefit from decanting.
Novelty Hill – Januik is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Special events require advance reservations. Of particular interest is an appearance at 7 p.m. July 10 by Julia Flynn Siler, author of the just-released  “The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty.” The cost is $25 per person and includes a wine and cheese tasting.  Books will be sold separately. For reservations call Sarah Klapstein at 425-481-5502.

Meanwhile in another area of the state
I have frequently admired the marketing brilliance of Charles Smith, the man behind “K” Syrah, House Wine and such one-of-a-kind, over-the-top bottlings as “The Creator” and “The Hustler.” But with his latest — Kungfu Girl — he has really outdone himself. The eye-catching label — a comic-book rendering of a young woman in a martial arts pose — introduces the first release from his latest venture, a 2006 Washington state Riesling.
Smith has been a busy man this past year. His Magnificent Wine Company’s “House Wine” brand became such a huge success that he was able to sell a big chunk of the company to the owners of Precept Brands, who will market and expand it. With funds from the sale, Smith purchased 66 acres of land, near Walla Walla’s Morrison Lane vineyard, and plans to plant Rhone varietals next spring. This spring his K Vintners winery, which made no single-vineyard syrahs in 2004, is back with a full slate of 2005 syrahs that are, without a doubt, the best he’s ever made.
He also formed the Charles Smith Wine Company, to test new ideas such as Kungfu Girl and it’s a home run. Sealed with a screwcap, supremely aromatic, dry-tasting but actually off-dry at 1.66 percent residual sugar, Kungfu Girl is certain to start turning up at Thai and sushi restaurants all over town.
After a two-year wait, expectations for the 2005 syrahs have been quite high. It was, and is, a marvelous vintage, especially in Walla Walla and especially for syrah. The lineup from K Vintners will not disappoint.

• K Vintners 2005 “The Boy” ($40) — mostly grenache from Christophe Baron’s Armada vineyard — is packed with flavor and spice and assertive, earthy flavors.
• K Vintners 2005 “The Beautiful” Syrah ($50) is only the second vintage that this special selection from Cougar Hills fruit has been produced. Co-fermented with viognier, it uses native yeast, is foot-crushed and then slowly re-fermented in barrel. Its flavors run through the entire length and breadth of the palate, a fascinating mix of herb, leaf, earth and tight berry fruit.
• Single vineyard 2005 K Syrahs from Phil Lane ($70), Wells ($50) and Cougar Hills ($45) are pricey but competitive with the very best that this state — indeed this country — has to offer. As usual, the more-affordable 2005 K Vintners Milbrandt Vineyard Syrah ($25) will be the people’s choice, and deservedly so. Fruit-forward, spicy and appealing, it is consistent with previous vintages, but offers the extra dollop of rich blackberry fruit.

Pick of the Week

• Charles Smith Wines 2006 Kungfu Girl Riesling, $12. Almost 6,000 cases were released May 1, and this wine is almost sold out. Why? Because you simply do not find Washington state riesling of this quality at this price. “Washington,” says winemaker Charles Smith, “is a fresh, clean, beautiful place, and this riesling reflects that.” The fruit, sourced from the Evergreen vineyard, delivers scents of orange peel, pink grapefruit and flowers. It is a complex and invigorating wine, not quite dry, but not too sweet. (Distributor: Alaska)

 Paul Gregutt, author of “Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide,” can be reached at wine@paulgregutt.com.