Winery - Columbia
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
In keeping with past vintages, this new release is finished at just under 3% residual sugar. Simple fruit flavors suggest grapefruit and fresh cut slices of orange. The wine seems to lose its focus in the mouth, and does not add any layers or complexity once you’ve latched on to that first taste. It’s competent but not up to the gorgeous scents and flavors of the past four or five vintages.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is quite simple, barely hinting at the lush pear flavors of most Northwest Pinot Gris. Thin and generic, it is as neutral as a white can be, with a hard, bitter, grainy finish.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
The Red Willow/David Lake style remains distinctly tight, firm and herbal. The softly herbal grace of the wine is quite pleasing if you let it be what it is, and the flavors spread out gently through the moderately long, finely detailed finish.
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Columbia Syrah - 2002
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This new release is 100% varietal, with bright, lifted aromas of cherry tobacco, cedar and smoke. It shows good concentration, and the alcohol rests at a food-friendly 13.5%. Hints of forest floor and mushroom add to that impression as the wine winds its way into a graceful finish.
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Columbia Merlot - 2004
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Sweaty and thin, this wine has little character or appeal. Soupy, vegetal and tannic.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Tart and yet sugary at the same time, this has flavors of lemon tea with the sugar not quite dissolved. Fruit flavors of pear and orange are clean and a bit of spritz livens up the mouthfeel.
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Columbia Riesling - 2009
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is spicy and complex; wonderfully aromatic with a mix of Meyer lemon, pineapple and peach. Along with the fruits there are minty streaks and what might be called minerality. It turns a little bit chalky and soapy in the finish.
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Columbia Riesling - 2007
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Red Willow was the launch pad for many viticultural experiments. The wines are usually released a little later than most, and reward breathing and cellaring. The relative lightness of the fruit is compensated for by the textural layering of leaf, berry, barrel and tannin. This new vintage feels a bit softer than most, but the mix of berries, pomegranate and citrus remains, with the new oak lightly applied. The addition of 10% Malbec deepens the color and adds some peppery spice.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This wine feels a bit awkward in the mouth; the flavors don’t quite connect. The light fruit flavors run to strawberry and watermelon—odd for Cabernet—and the mid-palate drops into a thin, hot and hard finish. There is some softness which makes it a quaffable, but generic red.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This is tart and shows mixed flavors of red berries, cranberry and hints of black cherry. The acids are upfront and forceful, and the usual herbal components seem muted. Perhaps the wine is in a bit of a dumb phase, but it is not showing the texture and length of previous Red Willow Cabs.
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