On the Road with the Grape Guy
Washington Story 3
05 Nov 2019- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
April 2nd, 2019 ... There’s a place called Reynvaan Family Vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley where owner and winemaker, Matt Reynvaan, has to start with the pronunciation of his name, explaining it is of Dutch
origin. The winery was established in 2007 with a 5-acre parcel devoted mainly to Rhone Valley varieties - today the Washington side is 15 acres while they also have 23 acres in Oregon … the Washington vineyard sits at 1600 feet above sea level that's one of the highest in the state. Their total production is 3000 cases.
2017 Grenache Blanc … (****+)
2016 Stonessence ... (****+)
2016 The Classic ... (****)
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Our next visit was lunch at Seven Hills Winery where Casey McClellan (winemaker and founder) greets us and pours some great lunchtime wines. This is not my first run-in with Seven Hills Wine, they were also a mainstay at The Estate Room back in Seattle - so between those two locations I cobbled together my list of favourite wines - and this is also where I found my favourite Rose of the trip:
2018 Rosé … (****)
2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, Seven Hills Vineyard … (****)
2015 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red … (****+)
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After leaving Seven Hills we ventured over to Long Shadows where we learned of the special nature of this Winery: Partnerships in winemaking with well-known winemakers in their respective regions working with Washington fruit. The likes of Folonari (Italy), Randy Dunn (Dunn Vineyards, California), John Duvall (Penfolds, Australia), Michel Roland (who needs no introduction), and others have lent their expertise to create this portfolio all overseen by Gilles Nicault (director of winemaking).
2015 Pirouette ... (****+) 
2016 Sequel Syrah ... (****+)
2016 Feather Cabernet Sauvignon ... (**** ½)
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Dinner this night is with John Bookwalter at his acclaimed winery restaurant “Fiction” - John's the kind of guy you could have dinner with three times a week and never get bored and not hear the same story twice. His dad, Jerry, is a pioneer of the Washington wine industry helping to establish three of the state's most iconic (and oldest) vineyards Sagemoor / Bacchus / Dionysus. The winery was established in 1982. Plenty of 
wines were poured through dinner, but I got stuck back with two wines one called “conflict” and the other “suspense”, and just couldn’t get passed how good they were.
2016 Cabernet Franc “Suspense” … (****+)
2016 “Conflict” … (****)
