2010 Charles & Charles Rosé Columbia Valley

It's 4 bzillion degrees out, I have no air conditioning, and I hereby proclaim it officially rosé weather. I will be drinking nothing else (including water) until the temperature goes below 85 degrees. This could be dangerous, but luckily for me, I won't care.

This Washington state rosé is made from 100% syrah, which is pretty much a recipe for happiness for me. The color is a fairly deep pink with hints of copper, though not nearly as deep as some Southern Rhone syrah rosés I've seen. You couldn't mistake this one for a pinot noir, let's put it that way. The aromas are heavenly, which is good because I spent a lot of time inhaling its aromas while mopping a glass of it off the floor. The Kong got away from the dog and disaster ensued. But now my glass is refilled, and I'm ready to see if these honeydew, lilac, and raspberry perfumes carry over to the palate.

Oh, yes. Raspberries and cream on the palate, with the floral aromas carrying through the finish. The texture is smooth, with just a whisper of tannin. The alcohol and acidity are balanced and in control. The only somewhat unpleasant element is a growing bitterness on the finish, that threatens to overpower the fruit. But all in all, a great wine to sip when the temperature outside - or inside, in my case - is unbearable. It'll cool you off, and you'll enjoy the process.

Vintage: 2010
Grape: Syrah
Region: Columbia Valley, Washington State
Price: $13

2009 Columbia Crest Gewürztraminer Washington Two Vines

Most people would probably look at me as though I had just sprouted a third head if I said, "I've really been craving a gewürztraminer lately." But I'm confident that most people reading this will know what I'm talking about and realize it is not an unusual eastern European sausage variety. I love gewürztraminer's rich fruity flavors and aromas, and I love the touch of sweetness that you get in the best of them. This, I have to say, is probably not the best of them. It was the only one they had at Trader Joe's and I was desperate. But I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

I can tell by looking at it that it has some sweetness to it. Sugar and alcohol can both make a wine viscous, and I'm willing to bet this wine isn't too high in alcohol. Because of their inherent high sugar content, gewürztraminer grapes can make high alcohol wines if fermented dry, so I suppose it could go either way. But my vote is for sweet.

The wine is strangely unaromatic for a gewürztraminer. I've read that gewürztraminer grapes and lychees share some aromatic compounds, hence the signature lychee aroma you often get in a gewürztraminer. This wine doesn't have even a hint of it. There is some ripe apricot, a sweet malty aroma, and honey, but no lychee. I can't pretend not to be a little disappointed (lychees always remind me of my graduate work in Mexico, when the little kids in the village where I was working would bring me bags of lychees).  But the wine is surprisingly flavorful in the mouth. More apricot, as well as something a little petrol-like (I would easily mistake this for a riesling in a blind tasting, actually), and not a little sweetness. The acidity is lower than I like, and that plus the viscosity makes the wine a little flabby, although the sweetness could be camouflaging the sourness a bit. There is certainly some alcohol content, but it's not out of whack.

Overall, this is a wine that I wouldn't turn up my nose at, were someone to hand me a bottle. Of course, short of a bottle of sherry (a.k.a. salted mushrooms stuffed into a dirty gym sock and buried in the back yard for 3 months), there really aren't any wines I'd refuse to drink. I'm not as much of a snob as I pretend to be.

Vintage: 2009
Grape: Gewürztraminer
Region: Washington State
Price: $7

2007 Hedges CMS White Columbia Valley

The CMS in this wine's name refers to the three white grapes in the blend: Chardonnay, Marsanne, and Sauvignon Blanc. True to the origins of these grapes, the wine appears to be made in the old world, French style - without aging in oak barrels - as many new world Chardonnays (and some Marsannes) are. This explains the very faint aromas displayed by this wine. I get a bit of green wood or hay, maybe a little green apple. Chardonnay is known for lacking strong aroma (one of the reasons oak is so often used); not true of the other two, which I thought might indicate that Chardonnay is the dominant grape in the blend (it's not - the wine is 64% Sauvignon Blanc).

I've heard good things about earlier vintages of this wine, but I'm not terribly impressed by this one. In addition to the wimpy nose, it's not a wine that grabs hold of the palette, either. It has a noticeable lack of acidity, which, when paired with the relatively high levels of residual sugar and alcohol, leave you with a wine of substantial body but not much structure to support it. I've heard Marsanne referred to as the Falstaff of white grapes. The analogy certainly holds true in this case: plenty of heft, but lacking the fortitude to follow through.

2007 was a particularly hot summer in Washington state, I believe, which goes quite a way towards explaining the high sugar and alcohol, and the low acidity, as warm temperatures tend to increase sugar levels, while acid levels decline. It does carry some nice, juicy fruit on the palette, though the green apple is opposed by a kind of bitter grapefruit rind that isn't entirely appealing.

The wine isn't faulted, but there's not much there there, really. I give it an 80. Meh.