William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Do not believe me if I tell you I'm not a fan of Washington Riesling.  Many long time wine drinkers may tell you that over time a change in palate occurs. Mine has. A progression from light to sweet white wines, to robust red wines. Then the dabbling in diverse white varieties and on to the realization that many different red varieties exist, which need to be explored. In my case there was a casualty. A wine I had mostly given up on in preference to tastier realms. Riesling. Washington Riesling. Occasionally, a Washington Riesling comes my way which forces me to recognize the fallacy of my prejudice. The Gård Vintners 2011 Riesling Grand Klasse Columbia Valley is such a wine. Provided by the winery, this is the third Gård Vintners I had the pleasure to taste and review. You can now consider me a fan.

The second Gård Vintners wine I had the pleasure to taste and review. Gård Vintners is a family owned and operated winery. "Gård" means "farm" in many Scandinavian languages and is a tribute to the owners Scandinavian heritage and farming tradition. The Lawrence family, founders of Gård Vintners, have farmed the Royal Slope in Washington's Columbia Valley for over 45 years. Brothers Hervey "Sandy" Lawrence and John Lawrence, along with John's son Josh Lawrence, launched Gård Vintners, a product of Lawrence Cellars, in 2006. The 2011 Don Isidro Red Wine was named after vineyard manager, Isidro Mondragon.

Spotlight on Gård. I've mentioned many times on this blog how much I enjoy the quality, diversity, complexity and overall satisfaction delivered by Washington Syrah. Add the Gård 2010 Syrah to the list. This is my first time tasting a wine by Gård Vintners. Gård Vintners is a family owned and operated winery. "Gård" means "farm" in many Scandinavian languages and is a tribute to the owners Scandinavian heritage and farming tradition. The Lawrence family, founders of Gård Vintners, have farmed the Royal Slope in Washington's Columbia Valley for over 45 years. Brothers Hervey "Sandy" Lawrence and John Lawrence, along with John's son Josh Lawrence, launched Gård Vintners, a product of Lawrence Cellars, in 2006.