This coming Saturday afternoon the South Seattle Artisan Wineries (Cadence, Fall Line, :Nota Bene and O•S) will “Celebrate Spring” with a four-winery open house from 1 to 5 p.m. They are all relatively small boutiques, family-owned and operated, and they craft (mostly) red wines of exceptional character and diversity.
Though only occasionally open to the public, they all have new releases this spring, and are throwing open the doors to show them off. Three of the four are in South Park, just steps apart; the fourth is in Georgetown.
Cadence, founded in 1998, belongs to the husband/wife team of Ben Smith and Gaye McNutt. In 2004, they planted the Cara Mia vineyard, 10 acres on Red Mountain, near Hightower. Cadence specializes in Bordeaux blends made from Red Mountain grapes. Single-vineyard wines from Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval and Tapteil have historically been standouts, but with the estate vineyard now bearing, the winery is focusing exclusively on grapes from Cara Mia, Tapteil and Ciel du Cheval.
This weekend Cadence will introduce the 2006 Coda ($25). It’s a particularly special occasion, as this version of Coda is the first to include grapes from their own vineyard. The blend includes petit verdot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot. Coda is always the first wine of any given vintage to be released. This one is especially good, bursting with mixed fruits, polished, spicy and detailed.
A few doors down the way you will find :Nota Bene Cellars, begun in 2001 by the wife/husband team of Carol Bryant and Tim Narby. Like Ben Smith, Narby is an alum of the Boeing Employee’s Wine and Beermaking Club, where he was in charge of grape procurement.
Last month, :Nota Bene released a full slate of wines from the 2005 vintage. These are consistently excellent, sourced from Columbia Valley vineyards such as Stillwater Creek, Stone Tree, Conner Lee and Ciel du Cheval. The blends are various combinations of Bordeaux grapes; there is also a fine 2005 Syrah ($30) that includes a generous portion of grenache.
It’s a tangy, juicy wine, packed with raspberry fruit flavors, high acid, and streaks of spice, cranberry, plum and light pepper. Move on to :Nota Bene’s single-vineyard wines. The 2005 Conner Lee Vineyard Red Wine ($32) is 57 percent merlot and 43 percent cabernet sauvignon. It stops just short of voluptuous, but is beautifully scented with rose petals, violets, chocolate and graphite, and is loaded with cranberry and raspberry fruit.
Its companion, the 2005 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red Wine ($35) adds cabernet franc to the mix. Black cherry and cassis fruit flavors are cut with vivid streaks of herb, coffee and rock. It’s young and compact, a wine to savor and cellar.
The last of the three South Park wineries is O•S, formerly Owen Sullivan. It was founded in 1997 by Bill Owen and Rob Sullivan, who left wine-selling and banking careers respectively to combine forces. O•S has won high praise from many in the press (the Wine Spectator’s Harvey Steiman, in particular) for its very ripe and quite heady red wines, especially the Ulysses blend.
A favorite of mine is the O•S Champoux Vineyard Riesling ($22), a spicy little jewel that’s loaded with citrus, light tropical and grapefruit rind. At just under 10 percent alcohol, it’s a not-too-sweet wine that you can sip forever. Special for this weekend will be the release of the O•S 2006 Red Wine ($20). Chocolatey, rich and loaded with ripe fruit and smooth caramel/coffee flavors, it’s the best buy on the table.
The newest addition to the South Seattle Artisan wineries group is Fall Line, whose first vintage was 2004. Tim Sorenson, an economics professor, and Nancy Rivenburgh, a communication professor, are the husband/wife owners. Completing the circle, Tim cut his winemaking teeth while serving as the unofficial cellar hand at Cadence winery some years ago.
Fall Line purchases grapes from vineyards on Red Mountain, the Horse Heaven Hills, and the Yakima valley. Three Bordeaux-style blends are made. One showcases Red Mountain fruit, one Horse Heaven Hills, and the third blend is pure cabernet sauvignon from a mix of vineyards.
All three wines (from the 2005 vintage) will be poured on May 10, along with barrel samples of Fall Line’s 2006 wines. Best of show is the 2005 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($30), bursting with plump cherry, berry, plum and cassis fruit.
For more specifics, and a useful map showing winery locations, visit www.ssaw.info/ , then select “Links to Wineries” and “Download Map.”
You may also call the wineries individually to confirm exactly what will be offered. There may also be a small tasting charge, refundable with the purchase of any wines. And don’t miss the music at :Nota Bene!

Fall Line Winery
6122 Sixth Ave. S.
206-768-9463

O•S Winery
1501 S. 92nd Place, Suite B
206-243-3427

:Nota Bene Cellars
9320 15th Ave. S., Unit CC
206-459-3185

Cadence Winery
9320 15th Ave. S., Unit CF
206-381-9507

Pick of the Week — Attems 2006 Pinot Grigio, $16.
Pinot Grigio (the Italian name for Pinot Gris – same exact grape) has become extremely popular, yet some of the most widely available versions do not do justice to the wine. This superb property, owned by the Frescobaldi family of Tuscany, is in the Collio DOC in northeast Italy. A delicious, complex, textural wine, it builds from grapefruit and tart citrus through layers of mineral, lees, limeskin and almond. A truly lovely bottle.

Novelty Hill Winery, whose sleek, modern, well-appointed production facility and tasting room shares space (and winemaking) with Mike Januik’s winery in Woodinville, has quickly earned a place on the short list of Washington’s best value wines — and best wines, period.
Novelty Hill made its first wines in 2000, the same year the winery’s estate vineyard, Stillwater Creek, was planted. Though the first grapes were harvested in 2002, it takes more years for a vineyard to reach its full expression. Stillwater Creek is not there yet, but what is already being produced has made believers out of many of this state’s winemakers, who lust after this fruit.
The newest Novelty Hill releases — white wines from 2006 and reds from the exceptional 2005 vintage — are brilliant across the entire spectrum. The rare trifecta  — a great vineyard, an experienced and sensitive winemaker, and a price-to-value ratio that is among the best in the country — sets Novelty Hill apart.
Production has increased with each vintage. The most affordable and widely available releases, labeled Columbia Valley, are made with a mix of estate-grown fruit grapes purchased from a variety of vineyards, notably Alder Ridge and Weinbau. There are almost 2,000 cases of the 2005 Syrah; 3,000 of the 2005 Merlot; and over 4,000 of the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. I cannot think of a better lineup of Washington reds at these prices.
The Novelty Hill 2005 Columbia Valley Merlot ($22) brings sweet, tangy red berry fruit, fresh acids, ripe tannins and toasty oak, adding layer after layer to the extended finish.
The Novelty Hill 2005 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($25) is a fine-tuned Bordeaux blend, with cab franc, merlot and malbec making up 10 percent of the total. It’s dark and tannic, tight and compact, but fully ripe and balanced nicely. The flavors are layered and seamless, rather than relying on sugar and oak to fill in where the fruit is lacking.
The Novelty Hill 2005 Columbia Valley Syrah ($22) gets my vote for the best of the three. It’s almost pure varietal, dark and tight and spicy, with pure blackberry and black cherry fruits, grace notes of black olive, and a finish tasting of coffee grounds and a lick of licorice.
Though made in much smaller quantities, the wines labeled Stillwater Creek Vineyard are priced only marginally higher and represent even greater value.
As the vineyard brings more and more fruit online, new varieties keep appearing. Among the current releases are a Novelty Hill 2006 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Roussanne ($22) — the winery’s first — and a Novelty Hill 2006 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Viognier ($20). Both are made in limited quantities, and are 100 percent varietal. Roussanne is a white wine grape that has its origins in France’s Rhone Valley. Only a handful of Washington wineries are making it as a solo offering.
“I had never done roussanne before,” Mike Januik explains, “I wanted to see what it was like.”
Well, it’s like …  wow! Here are mouth-watering flavors of melon, white peach, pineapple and still more exotic tropical fruits.
The exquisite viognier — also a Rhone white, though not a grape I am generally partial to — reveals a masterful winemaking touch. It sends up an almost indefinable mix of flower petals, perfume, citrus rind and stone fruits that’s beautifully defined, racy and sharp.
Along with the Stillwater Creek plantings of syrah, there are smaller amounts of grenache and mourvèdre. No plans for a Cotes du Rhone blend at the moment, but Januik promises a 2007 rosé made from all three, and bottled under a different label, Spring Run. A portion of the proceeds from that wine will benefit Salmon Safe, an organization that works toward habitat restoration. Look for it to come out around the end of May.
The mainstays (both in terms of quantity and quality) of the Novelty Hill white wine portfolio continue to be the 2006 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Chardonnay ($22) and the 2006 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (Pick of the Week). The chardonnay not only can stand alone, it makes you reach quickly for that second glass. It does not require food to “fill in” what’s missing. Nothing is missing.
Quickly touching upon the estate reds — merlot, cabernet sauvignon and syrah — they are priced just a few dollars above the Columbia Valley bottlings but offer extra strength and muscle. Because the vineyard has been planted to quite a number of different clones, Januik feels that despite its youth, each block expresses itself uniquely.
I asked how he chose the barrels to use for the vineyard-designates and he replied simply, “It’s a hedonistic thing.” What tastes best gets put aside for the Stillwater Creek bottlings. All of these wines are distributed by Noble and are currently available. They are not to be missed.

Pick of the Week
Novelty Hill 2006 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, $18. If I have a favorite spring/summer white wine, it is sauvignon blanc, and Novelty Hill’s estate bottling is one of the finest in the country. Racy, bracing tropical and stone fruit flavors are nicely matched to toasty flavors of almonds and biscuits. Elegant, detailed and ripe, yet clearly varietal, this is a beautiful, seductive example of barrel-fermented Washington fruit.

Last week I wrote about Argentine malbecs and struggled to whittle several dozen excellent bottles down to just a single case. This week I want to follow up with some more of these noteworthy wines.
“Malbec,” I am assured by virtually every wine distributor I speak to, “is on fire.” I’m not kidding — “on fire” are the exact words everyone uses. Given that we have entered a time of transition, extreme competition, elimination, consolidation and price inflation across the spectrum of the global wine industry, this is a rare slice of good news.
It’s especially good for consumers in the state and especially Seattle, one of the best markets in the country for malbec. Part of the reason? Some excellent malbec is being made right here in Washington. People are beginning to recognize the grape.
Argentine versions almost always say malbec right on the front label. Price is, surprisingly, not always a sure indicator of quality. I have found $8 bottles that are just right for drinking with barbecue, and much more expensive wines that are so jammy and oak-soaked that all varietal character vanishes. With 80 or 100 different labels to choose from, it’s not easy to guess which will reward you the most. But the percentage of success is quite high. And you can get wines with the big scores (such as the Catenas profiled below) without paying the big bucks.
Everyone has a different theory about why it is suddenly Argentina time in the world of wine. But there is general agreement — and I enthusiastically concur — that the current vintages (2003 through 2007) were all outstanding. In addition, the Argentine economy is still very much tied to the U.S. dollar.
If you like supple, sophisticated, detailed, elegant, structured red wines that combine many of the best qualities of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot in a single grape, these are for you. So here is a second mixed case of my favorites, arranged in order of preference (highest score at lowest price). The name of the local distributor is listed in parentheses.

•     Catena Alta 2004 Malbec, $50: Great stuff. It expresses the unique, high-altitude terroir beautifully — no faking it with overripe fruit and high toast oak; this is rock, acid and fruit. It’s dense, austere and deep; the flavors are subtle and they linger deliciously. (Click)
•     Catena 2006 Malbec, $22: Again the fruit is tight, focused, concentrated raspberry, clean and expressive. It leads into a finish underscored with rock and hints of black olive. (Click)
•     Goulart 2006 Reserva Malbec, $15: From 91-year-old vines, with brambly, zinfandel flavors of strawberry preserves, blackberry, and a light meaty quality. Asian spices around the edges. (Grape Expectations)
•     Marchiori & Barraud 2004 Malbec, $40: This is for those who want a more extracted, fat, dark, rich style. The alcohol is well over 15 percent, with the jammy black fruits and heat to match. For the style and pedigree, it’s a relative value. (Grape Expectations)
•     Alamos 2006 Selección Malbec, $15: This has more focus and polish than the regular Alamos; flavors go deeper, and show some licorice, black fruits and black olives. (Click)
•     Carlos Basso 2006 Malbec, $15: Purple and garnet; strong scents of violets and tobacco; firm, textural tannins, with a deeper, smoky quality and a finish that features sweet black cherry and rich earthy compost. (Grape Expectations)
•     Erales 2005 Malbec, $16: Very spicy and peppery; flavors of a cooler climate site, but it’s got a lot of style. Resonates through layers of tart, juicy red fruits, pepper, spice and green tea. (Grape Expectations)
•     Martino 2003 Old Vine Malbec, $19: Nicely aged, rounded, plummy. The smoke and tar flavors are integrated; the fruit is expressive and it’s got a hint of leather and mushroom. Interesting and complex. (Grape Expectations)
•     Doña Paula 2006 Estate Malbec, $12: The estate bottling from Doña Paula is worth the three bucks you have to chuck over the Los Cardos price; this thick, dark and spicy wine has some meat on its bones. Classic malbec flavors of smoke, green tea and tobacco. (Noble)
•     Alamos 2006 Malbec, $10: Another Catena label, offering has got surprising depth and flavors of tobacco, black cherry, black olive and black tea. (Click)
•     Fantelli 2006 Malbec, $8: Spicy and scented with tobacco and clove, this is a fine value. It’s light and forward, with an interesting streak of cured meat. Fresh and perfect for a summer barbecue. (Grape Expectations)

Pick of the Week
Conquista 2006 Malbec, $8: Good, plump, plummy fruit with malbec’s signature tobacco scents, and a finish with streaks of smoke, tar and licorice. Balanced and full-bodied, yet just 13 percent alcohol, with perfect acidity. (Odom)

Q: I have been drinking white wines (white zin, Champagne, rieslings) for a long time. I would like to start trying red wines, but I don’t know where to start. I know I do not like cabernets.

A: The switch from white to red can be done more easily if you don’t jump immediately into the biggest, densest, most tannic reds, which would certainly include cabernet sauvignon. Please don’t write off cabs completely just yet, but work your way into them by starting with young, fruit-forward red wines from less-tannic grapes.

The white zins and rieslings you already enjoy are probably fairly sweet, so the first adjustment you must make is to the dryness of reds. The tannins will accentuate that dryness, so look for softer red wines such as pinot noir from California’s Central Coast, some of the less-expensive Spanish reds from Jumilla, and lighter southern Italian reds. Be sure to enjoy them with meals, which will also bring out their richness and help you adjust to the different flavors that red wines offer.

I have many friends in the wine business, and many more who just love wine. And I’ve noticed that, while the wine biz folks get all wrapped up in trying to out-maneuver each other — hunting for the most rare and obscure, the highest-rated and the least-known wines — the consumers just focus on price.
People who like a bottle of wine with dinner don’t want to spend a fortune to get it. And in the hunt for value, they inevitably make some spectacular discoveries. Malbec (an obscure Bordeaux grape) from Mendoza (an obscure corner of Argentina) is the latest. Several alert readers have written me to recommend these wines, mentioning specific producers.
Their enthusiasm inspired me to taste through several dozen.
Wow! Honestly, I have never seen so many quality offerings at every day prices. Right now, I don’t think that there are better red wine values in the world than some of the malbecs coming out of Argentina.
The country’s wine industry, which some sources date back to the 1500s, has been revitalized in the past couple of decades. Most of the vineyards are located in the Mendoza region, a high desert at the base of the Andes. Argentina lays claim to the world’s highest vineyards — some over 7,000 feet. But even at lower altitudes, the vines profit from a seemingly unique combination of intense sun, extreme elevation, and nighttime cooling.
International “flying winemakers” such as Michel Rolland and Alberto Antonini jet in to make wines in Argentina, but the so-called “international style” has not obliterated the distinctive flavors that make the country’s malbecs so memorable.
Malbec is one of the lesser Bordeaux grapes, but here it is the star. Think of a truly elegant style of cabernet sauvignon, coupled with the softer tannins of merlot and the spicy coffee and tobacco notes of cabernet franc, and you have a fair handle on malbec.
Alcohol levels rarely reach 14 percent, and except in a few instances, where the producers over-reach, the grapes are neither raisiny nor slathered in new oak. Wines from the higher altitude elevations incorporate a gravelly minerality. They have sharper acids and more delicate fruit, yet bring a lovely precision and focus to the wine.
To summarize: Don’t expect to find jammy, California-style fruit. These wines are more austere, constrained. The cheaper ones may sometimes be earthy, tannic and slightly green; the best are graceful, tart, spicy and laden with rock. They are quite versatile, but will taste best with grilled meats, Mexican, Italian and Cajun dishes, and creamy cheeses.
Here is a mixed case of my favorites, arranged in order of preference, with the name of the local distributor in parentheses.

•     Tomero 2005 Malbec, $13. The fruit is intense, with a spicy flavor of clove cigarettes. The new oak is evident but not intrusive. (Unique)
•     Finca Sophenia 2006 Malbec, $14. Cherry liqueur over rock; this is a powerful, beautifully made wine. Michel Rolland consults. (Pacific Rim)
•     Tahuan 2005 Malbec, $20. This is a satiny, sophisticated wine with a complex mix of ripe berry fruits, gravelly stone, cut tobacco, baking spices and slightly earthy tannins. (Unique)
•     AltoSur 2006 Malbec, $10. Racy and loaded with minerality; the fruit, though light, tastes like sweet cherry candy, delicious, delicate and lasting. A truly lovely bottle. (Pacific Rim)
•     Nandu 2006 Malbec, $15. Classy stuff, packing lots of sweet spice and cinnamon toast around the tart, cranberry fruit. (Noble)
•     Melipal 2005 Malbec, $20. Dark and juicy, with lots of tart, tangy berry, cassis, whiffs of smoke and finishing flavors of astringent rock, sweet toast and tobacco. (Cordon)
•     Mayu 2005 Malbec (San Juan), $13. Loaded with black cherry, blackberry and blueberry flavors, stiffened with bright acids and astringent tannins. (Cascade Trade)
•     Andeluna 2005 Winemaker’s Selection Malbec, $13. This is a fleshy, sophisticated, fruit-powered wine. Consultant Michel Rolland pushes the fruit forward and pulls the acids back, and, of course, shows plenty of toasty new oak. (Unique)
•     Punto Final 2006 Malbec, $13. Chewy, tannic, and substantial with dark fruits, bitter chocolate, coffee bean and suggestions of clove. (Noble)
•     Tapiz 2005 Malbec, $16. This really has pretty fruit flavors; the berries and cherries are mixed with some tropical fruits also. (Cordon)
•     Altos Las Hormibas 2006 Malbec, $10. Lightly spicy, tasting of cranberry and raspberry, clean and refreshing; like a lighter style zinfandel, with a high-toned, lifted finish. (Elliott Bay)

NOTE: Next week — Malbecs, Part Two

Pick of the Week
Altas Cumbres 2006 Malbec, $10. Sweet and spicy New World berry fruit flavors meet gravel and coffee-flavored tannins; it’s a sleek, elegant style that really captures the subtle pleasures of malbec, and uses the new oak very tastefully. There’s plenty of acid for you acid-lovers, and just a little hint of tobacco in the coffee-laden finish. (Cascade Trade)

Taste Washington weekend is just ahead, with a full day of seminars on Saturday, and a wine-and-food-a-thon Sunday. It’s the unofficial kick-off event to a spring full of new releases and specials in the hundreds of tasting rooms scattered around the state. I urge you to grab whatever you can — an afternoon, a weekend, or longer — and get out to wine country.
When you visit a winery tasting room, especially one surrounded by the vines that produce the wines, it changes the way you experience those wines. It is the antithesis of a blind tasting. It might be called an “eyes wide open” tasting. When you see the vineyard, meet the winemaker, and perhaps sample wines right out of the barrel, you dramatically expand the tasting experience, bringing all your senses to play in full force.
Wineries understand this. At any tasting event they are likely to pour not only new releases, but also previews of still younger wines, and wines made in very limited quantities for members of the winery’s wine club. More often than not, wineries these days put their most adventurous, interesting and unusual wines up for sale exclusively to tasting room visitors and winery club members. You won’t find these wines on retail shelves or in restaurants. And that’s a big part of their appeal.
Even the big boys get into the act. Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Head Winemaker Bob Bertheau recently sent a note out to wine writers with a selection of wines made exclusively for the tasting room and Vintage Reserve Club.
“There is a different side to Chateau Ste. Michelle winemaking that most people don’t get to see,” he writes. “This is the world of our small blends, lesser known varietals, ‘roll up our sleeves and have fun’ winemaking. These club wines are generally a little outside of the box of our normal winemaking parameters.”
Boy are they ever! Included among the current releases are some single vineyard, 100 percent varietal gems that equal or even surpass Ste. Michelle’s more widely available wines. I especially enjoyed the Chateau Ste. Michelle 2006 Limited Release Marier Sauvignon Blanc ($16), all Cold Creek vineyard fruit, bursting with sweet grassy aromas and bone dry minerality.
Close behind is the Chateau Ste. Michelle 2006 Limited Release Viognier ($25) from the Goose Ridge vineyard — surprisingly soft, beautifully balanced and warm. Among the Vintage Reserve Club reds were a pair of syrahs, a super-ripe grenache, a petit verdot and a most unusual blend of Portuguese varietals, again grown at Cold Creek.
Many smaller wineries also offer mailing list members the opportunity to purchase such limited releases. In most cases, you can sign up for free, and only a handful of wineries require that you purchase wines in order to remain on the list.
In recent weeks I’ve enjoyed quite a number of these wine-club-only wines that are, in different ways, exploring new directions in Washington winemaking. Here are some highlights:

• Balboa 2005 Mith Red Wine ($40) — grapes from three top-notch Walla Walla vineyards — Yellow Jacket, Pepper Bridge and LeFore — go into this outstanding cab/syrah blend.
• Beresan 2005 Malbec ($29) — the first-ever malbec for this Walla Walla boutique.
• Camaraderie 2005 Pheasant Vineyard Zinfandel ($20) — has a pleasing, brambly quality that speaks to the varietal.
• L’Ecole No 41 2006 Seven Hills Vineyard Semillon Ice Wine — the rarest of the winery’s four different semillons.
• Seven Hills 2005 Tempranillo ($28) — winemaker Casey McClellan is quietly exploring the tempranillo grape in Washington. This fascinating release offers scents of American oak, smoke and cured meats.
• Syncline 2006 Cinsault ($22) — bright, peppery, and rather delicate, this unusual red’s flavors fall somewhere between pinot noir and gamay.
• Tamarack Cellars 2005 DuBrul Vineyard Reserve Red Wine ($45) — an elegant Bordeaux blend, very well defined and crafted.
• Va Piano 2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($38) — 100 percent varietal, with pretty flavors of strawberry, raspberry and cherry candy.

Note: visit any of these winery Web sites or phone the tasting rooms for information on joining their clubs and ordering these wines.

Q. What’s the difference (if any) between syrah and petite sirah?
A.  Big difference. Syrah (also called shiraz) is a peppery red wine grape that provides the core of most great wines from the Rhone Valley of France. It’s widely grown in Australia and has also made a name for itself in California and Washington.
Petite sirah (sometimes confusingly spelled petite syrah) is another name for durif, which is a French cross between syrah and peloursin. Petite sirah is quite popular in California, where it produces dark, tannic, somewhat rustic red wines. Among the top producers are Peachy Canyon, Ursa, La Filice, Eaglepoint Ranch, Parducci and Concannon.

We have reached a moment in the modern history of the Washington wine industry where some of the veteran winemakers are at the height of their long careers. They are making wines with confidence and style. Their decades of work have taught them a great deal about extracting greatness from the unique variations in weather and terrain that define eastern Washington viticulture.
I met Brian Carter some 25 years ago when he was making a lively range of wines at the original Paul Thomas winery in Bellevue. Along with the excellent Rieslings, chardonnays and cabernets were a most unusual pair of dry wines, made from Bartlett pear and rhubarb respectively. When Brian Carter left the winery in 1988, its glory days quickly drew to a close.
Fast forward to a lovely late winter Saturday afternoon in 2008. The tasting room at Brian Carter Cellars (14419 Woodinville Redmond Road; 425-806-9463) is packed with customers happily sampling new releases and chatting with the winemaker. Carter, entering his 29th vintage in Washington, has never looked more at home. After many years of winemaking and consulting for Paul Thomas, Washington Hills, Apex, Hedges, McCrea and Kestrel, among others, he is now pouring a delicious mix of blended wines for his own winery.
It is no exaggeration to say they are the best wines he has ever made.
I am not the first to take notice. The Auction for Washington Wines named Carter its Vintner of the Year in 2007. He is the only three-time winner of the Enological Society’s Grand Prize. His Apex Cellars 2000 Syrah was named the best wine (out of 350) at the Thomas Jefferson Wine and Food Classic, and brought him the coveted Thomas Jefferson Cup.
Despite the accolades, Carter remains humble to the point of shyness, and has somehow avoided the spotlight more often than he has been in it. He seems more comfortable talking about deficit irrigation, fruit set and the intricacies of blending than broadcasting his own impressive track record.
Blending is Carter’s forté, and turns a disadvantage (lack of estate-grown fruit) into an asset. He sources most of his grapes from Yakima Valley vineyards, showing off the valley’s cooler climate flavors in his Euro-styled blends. That generally translates into wines with moderate alcohol levels (averaging around 13.5 percent), sharp acids and a laudable restraint with new oak.
His most affordable (and justifiably popular) wine is named Abracadabra. “I overbuy everything,” Carter explains, “so I can have maximum flexibility blending (the main) Brian Carter wines. The rest goes into Abracadabra — same wines, same barrels.” Abracadabra ($20) is what I call a “kitchen sink” wine, mixing numerous vineyards and varietals. In 2005, notes Carter, seven types of grapes “went into the cauldron.” Abracadabra’s magic is that the finished wine always adds up to something more than a mish-mash. The latest displays lovely, ripe fruit, polished tannins, and a lengthy, tasty finish of chocolate-covered cherries.
The Brian Carter Cellars 2006 Oriana White ($24) is a captivating blend of roussanne, viognier and Riesling. Lovely scents of citrus blossom, lemon wax and tea open into a fleshy, luxurious mid-palate, bursting with fruits.
Byzance is Brian Carter Cellars’ southern Rhone red blend, a variable mix of grenache, syrah and mourvèdre. The seductive 2004 Byzance ($30) offers myriad pleasures, from its floral underpinnings to flavors of fresh red apples, tart berries and plums.
L’Etalon is its Bordeaux-styled cousin. The 2004 L’Etalon (also $30) is three-quarters cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, with merlot and petit verdot completing the mix. It’s a sexy, graceful wine whose flavors evolve through mixed berry/cherry fruits and on into plum, coffee, cocoa and spice.
First of the 2005 reds is the Brian Carter Cellars 2005 Tuttorosso ($30), a  Super Tuscan style blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and syrah. Tangy acids support plummy fruit, and scents of sandalwood add complexity.
All of these wines are distributed by Vehrs, and may also be purchased at the winery tasting room.