Taste a Washington you can’t find anywhere else
This article was originally published in March 2016
Taste Washington Wine month is a great excuse to sip the best of the state’s 13 different recognized wine-growing regions. It’s an even better excuse to explore our Washington wines with “Quite the Find” labels, as you won’t find them anywhere else.
“Character” is a word our wine stewards like to use a lot, and they apply it equally to their favorite wines and their favorite winemakers. With a person, character can mean an individual has integrity or it can mean they’re a bit eccentric. When applied to a wine, great character means it’s easy to identify — where it’s from as well as what grapes were involved and maybe even who made it. It’s no surprise that some of our favorite characters make some of favorite wines with character.
Dusted Valley in Walla Walla has been partnering with us on three beautiful wines since 2010: the 40 Days riesling and 40 Nights merlot and a syrah/cabernet blend. Every year we make a few hundred more cases, and every year all three wines sell out. Blended through the combined talents of PCC’s wine buyer Jeff Cox and Chad Johnson and Corey Braunel of Dusted Valley, the three wines present the unique flavors of Walla Walla’s terroir in three distinct ways. The riesling is juicy, crisp and well-balanced (a lovely choice for sunny afternoon sipping or a weekend brunch with seafood), the serious merlot is dark and lovely and the syrah/cab blend is big, juicy and downright friendly.
Keep Tasting: More Washington-grown exclusives from PCC
Chinook Wines
Chinook has made wine since 1983, and their superb Yakima Valley White and Yakima Valley Red bottles each provide a two-dollar donation to Long Live the Kings, which protects precious salmon habitat.
Way Out West
Blended by Terra Blanca, these affordable merlot and chardonnay wines are crafted with grapes grown on Salmon Safe Certified land in the Red Mountain viticultural area, a distinct part of the Yakima Valley.
Powers Winery
Columbia Valley’s Powers Winery creates two wines for us, both of which give back to PCC Farmland Trust. For every bottle you buy of this cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay, two dollars goes to the trust.