-Washington 2011 Collectors Case

99 Pt Charles Smith Royal City

98 Pt Sheridan Block 1 Cab

Cayuse Cailloux or En Cerise

We've stashed Washington's highest rated wines and put one bottle each into 10 Collectors Cases. There is no finer case of Washington wine on planet Earth!

Baer, Cayuse, Charles Smith, Sheridan, Sleight of Hand, Maison Bleue, Andrew Will, Gorman, Rasa, Fidelitas, L'Ecole #41, and Reynvaan are represented in this offering.

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Charles Smith Wines
Royal City Syrah 08 $150

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 99 points

The 2008 Royal City Syrah was sourced from the Stoneridge Vineyard. It displays a soaring perfume of sandalwood, garrigue, lavender, smoke, bacon, game, blueberry, and black raspberry. Super-concentrated, it deftly marries power and elegance in a seamless wine that should see its 20th birthday in peak form. I met up with Charles at his new wine bar in Walla Walla before we drove out to the winery in his 1949 Cadillac, a picture of which is on the web-site (not the deluxe model like my grandfather used to drive). It is always a highlight of my annual trip to Washington because in addition to the tasting, you get a performance but, after all is said and done, when it comes to making wine, Charles Smith is all business. He knows where the vineyards are, he believes in amazingly low yields, and in the winery he is a non-interventionist. All of the following wines were made with native ferments and were bottled without fining or filtration. - Jay Miller

Sheridan Block 1 Cabernet 08 $115

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 98 points

The 2008 Block 1 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 100% new French oak for 30 months. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it reluctantly gives up a brooding bouquet of pain grille, pencil lead, creme de cassis, black currants, floral notes, and earthy minerals. Dense, layered, and long, it will evolve gracefully for 6-8 years and will see in its 20th birthday in fine form.

The intense Scott Greer is one of Washington’s rising stars. His wines are all sourced from estate vineyards which are just now starting to come into maturity. He keeps yields low and the farming and winemaking are impeccable. Greer notes that he harvests totally on taste. He has recently opened a tasting and sales room in the Seattle area which should improve access to his wines.There is really no mystery as to what Scott Greer is doing at Sheridan; total attention to detail, a great vineyard, impeccable farming, and non-interventionist winemaking. - Jay Miller

Baer Winery Ursa 08 $50

Wine Spectator 95 points

This has great presence, offering a dense cloud of blackberry, cherry and spice flavors that hover, almost weightless, over a sleek frame of fine tannins, with just enough acidity to keep it fresh. The finish sails on beautifully. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Best from 2012 through 2020. - H.S.

Ursa is a red blend that is 53% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot. Aromas of ripe black cherry, red berries, vanilla, wood smoke, roasted herbs and sweet oak. Flavors include hints of violet and spicy black pepper. Fruit forward, this wine pairs well with food or is a good stand-alone red.

Sleight of Hand The Illusionist
Cabernet Sauvingon 08 $50

Wine Spectator 95 points

Supple, almost satiny, with gorgeous cherry, raspberry and rhubarb flavors mingling with hints of clove and rose as the finish sails on and on. Offers impressive depth and length. Drink now through 2018. From Washington. - H.S.

For lovers of Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine was built for you! Composed of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Syrah, it is dark, rich, and built for a long life in the cellar. This wine was aged for 23 months in 60% new French oak. Composed of all free-run juice, it is black in the center, dark red to the rim. This wine smells like a bowl of plums and black cherries, surrounded by fresh ground coffee beans. It is rich and ripe in the mouth, with flavors of currants, more cherries and blackberries, and surrounded by a cloak of finely grained tannins. The natural acids frame the finish, giving this wine the ability to lay down for a decade or more! - the winery

Maison Bleue Graviere 09 $40

Wine Spectator 95 points

The 2009 Graviere G.S.M. is a blend of 50% Syrah, 25% Grenache, and 25% Mourvedre sourced from the Upland Vineyard and aged in seasoned French oak for 10 months. Underbrush, brier, pepper (white and black), black cherry, and blueberry notes are followed by a layered, loaded, succulent wine that craftily combines elegance and power. It has the structure to evolve for 2-3 years and will deliver prime drinking from 2013 to 2024. - Jay Miller

The Snipe Mountain AVA is the source for the Graviere's fruit. Wineries like Owen Roe are popularizing the area, making highly rated big reds from the AVA's fruit - Upland Vineyard was used by Maison Bleue.

This is a classic Rhone blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. It's a big, meaty, concentrated melange of licorice, pepper, huge plum and black cherry fruit, cassis, nutmeg, and raspberry compote scents and flavors. Earthy dried field herbs flavor the smooth, slightly grippy tannins in a long, savory finish. - Jean

Andrew Will Sorella 08 $75

Wine Spectator 95 points

Impressive for its intensity and elegance, packed with black cherry, cherry, plum and spice flavors, hinting at roasted red pepper and a tarry minerality as the finish glides smoothly over refined tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Best from 2012 through 2020. 973 cases made. - H.S.

Brawn and brains. 08 Sorella is 80% Cab from Champoux Vineyard's famed Block 1 - planted in 1972, it's Washington's best Cabernet site. The nose is showy - black currant, cedary black cherry, dustings of baking spices, licorice and tar leading to a massive palate (brawn), while holding onto thoughtful complexity and refinement (brains). 80% Cabernet, 14% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot. - Marcus

We've offered every vintage of Sorella and every year it is one of out top ten Washington reds. The flagship red from Andrew Will, it is made entirely from old-vine Champoux Vineyard fruit and named in honor of his sister.

Gorman Evil Twin Syrah - Cabernet
Sauvignon Red Mountain 08 $64

Wine Spectator 95 points and HOT WINE for the week of January 18th!

Supple, focused and intense, a lithe mouthful of bright blueberry and plum tinged with green olive and spice notes, which swirl through the expressive finish. Tannins are present but not obtrusive, letting the flavors sail on and on. Drink now through 2015. - H.S.

Consistently, his highest scoring wine. Intense and full-bodied, needs cellaring or decant for several hours if you just have to try it now. This wine will reward the patient - forceful, seriously huge, big tannins match the dark, dense black fruit, earth, cedar, toast, spice, and fascinating mineral/floral high notes. - Avalon 66% Red Mountain Syrah, 34% Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Intense and full-bodied. 300 cases made.

Rasa Creative Impulse
DuBrul Vineyard 08 $95

Wine Spectator 95 points and HOT WINE for the week of October 5th!

Lithe, supple and full of personality, with floral, green tea and soy sauce overtones adding zip and depth to the disarmingly lovely plum and currant fruit. The finish lingers easily against well-buffed tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2013 through 2020. - H.S.

A remarkable wine and a completely different take on the Dubrul Vineyard Cab than I've ever had. Massive but very complex, there's so much here. Delicate violet floral on the nose, an array of fruits and spices in the middle of the taste, and a remarkably expressive and balanced finish that lasts till eternity, it seems. This goes in my cellar. - Jean

Billo Naravane plus the Dubrul Vineyard equals Creative Impulse. A HUGE and multifaceted red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Will you like it? Creative Impulse is right up there with the best of the broadest bodied Washington reds. People make comparisons to the wines of Leonetti and Quilceda.

Fidelitas Cabernet Sauvignon
Champoux Vineyard 08 $65

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 95 points

The 2008 Champoux Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) was aged for 24 months in 50% new French and American oak. It sports an alluring nose of mineral, spice box, espresso, violets, plum, and black currant. Plush and more succulent than the Red Mountain cuvees, this already complex effort can be approached now but will be at its best from 2013 to 2023. - Jay Miller

L'Ecole #41 Cabernet Sauvignon
Walla Walla 08 $37

Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines for 2011 - 93 points

Firm, focused and dense, with blackberry, cherry, sandalwood and grilled rosemary flavors, coming together seamlessly on the long, vivid finish. Drink now through 2018. - H.S.

Old world structure showing flavors of cassis, black cherry and cocoa with leather, tobacco and savory spice on a balanced toasty finish. A textbook example of delicious Walla Walla Cabernet.

Reynvaan Stonessence 09 $75

The Stonessence is our 100% Syrah and is packed with aromas of tar, liquid asphalt, fresh blackberry, sandalwood and wet stone. The depth and richness of this wine needs to be experienced to be believed. - the winery

Cayuse Cailloux Syrah 09 or En Cerise Syrah 09 $100

Rare Syrahs from Christophe Baron. Powerful, collectible, highly-rated--need we say more?