William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Yes Virginia, there is Zinfandel in Washington. Washington is not known for producing Zinfandel wine. Zinfandel is a difficult varietal to cultivate in Washington - it requires more time on the vine and a slightly cooler climate to mature properly (SE Washington is just too hot for Zin ). Fortunately, there is at least one grower cultivating the grape with great success in Washington. Dan Gunkel is a grower in the Columbia River Gorge valley. The Columbia River Gorge is in South Central Washington, bordering the Columbia River and it is the sweet spot in the state for Zinfandel. Dan Gunkel and his family produce some of the finest fruit available - and he's a nice guy too. Rob Griffin and Dan Gunkel have an amiable relationship - the fruit of this friendship includes Rob Griffins award winning Zinfandel wine. I had the pleasure of enjoying a bottle of Barnard Griffin Zinfandel 2005 vintage this weekend. The first thing I noticed about this wine was the bright, clear garnet color...

In the U.S. we are very varietal oriented. Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. while there are many excellent blends being made, and some very exclusive, we are still loyal to the varietal. By Washington state law, to name a wine by a varietal, it must be at least 75% of that varietal. Most varietal wines I enjoy have much more than that, perhaps 90% +. Wine makers do blend some wine from other varietals into the bottle to achieve a complexity, balance and taste that the varietal by itself may not have. But there's nothing wrong with that. Case in point, Rob Griffin has another special treat for his wine club members this month... a bottle of 2005 Malbec and a bottle of 2004 Touriga. In the new world, Malbec is now known as the wine of Argentina and Touriga Nacional is the wine of Portugal. I have already sampled the Malbec, and not being an expert, I still think it is quite good and will probably get better in bottle. As soon as I have a sample of the Touriga, I...