COMPASS WINES 1405 Commercial Avenue • Anacortes WA 98221 www.compasswines.com Happy New Year! Every year at this time, we here at Washington Wine Central, up in little ol’ Anacortes look back over the last year to reflect on the 10 Washington reds and 5 whites that blew us away. This is our own, extremely subjective, biased and politically incorrect assessment of what we have tasted over the last year. Unlike the other guys, we don’t do it blind, we don’t require wines to be submitted and we do wait until the whole year is over (seriously, a ‘wines of the year’ list that is written in August?). In fact, many of these wines are not even available for us to sell anymore, so blatant sales expectations are not part of the picture either. We pick those wines that really spoke to us, our customers and maybe they sold well, maybe they didn’t. There are a couple of ground rules: none of our own wines are allowed, i.e.; No BBQ or ded.reckoning or any other custom bottling done for us. We only will pick one wine per winery. But if there are multiple wines nominated by the staff, the winery is in the running for ‘Winery of the Year’. Two obvious choices that would probably be on this list every year have been grandfathered into the de-facto ‘Compass Wines Hall of Fame’ to make room for everybody else; Leonetti and Quilceda Creek, so they will not ever appear on here again, unless some monumental thing happens like the first 101 point wine or the first winery to get a perfect score on every wine they make. If a winemaker makes wines for multiple labels, they are looked at as a hired gun and the wines are all open for this process. We won’t try to breakdown the source of the juice or who blended it or who punched it down. The winery takes ‘ownership’ not the winemaker(s). And finally, even though all the staff participates in the process of picking the wines, I am the unelected, non-electoral college, autocratic dictator here, so the final decisions are all mine. As the time progresses, we will continue to be moving this newsletter to a more digital format, so please get your email to us. You can sign up for the email list on the website, or just send it to us and we can do it for you. We don’t want you to miss any upcoming news from us. We had a fabulous 2017 and hope all of you did as well! Keep your fingers crossed that winter isn’t too bad, and remember that spring is just around the corner, along with all those great, new releases which come with it! Now to our awards! Doug, Will, Laura, Sandy, Candace, Brandi and Theodore (from afar) ‘Washington Wine of the Year’ ‘Washington Winery of the Year’ Ashan Boushey Vineyard Chardonnay2016 Cadence was $45.00 now $28.99 We love to give Ben Smith from Cadence a ration of grief Chris Gorman is no stranger to this list, but I think this is for always being the first person to get all of his fruit in. Well the first time his Ashan Chardonnay project has made on for 2014, the gamble paid off in spades. He is now making here and this is the first white wine to be the top dog. What some of the most elegant and refined wines in the state, can I say? Maybe the most profound Chardonnay value especially knowing that they hail from Red Mountain, home Washington has ever seen. Only 70 cases made and we sold to some of the biggest wines produced. A hearty round half of that in the first week. Insane value. of congratulations are due. Bravo Ben, but try to wait until August to pick this year, will ya? WASHINGTON’S TOP 10 REDS Washington’s top 10 red wines of the year in alphabetical order A Maurice Involuntary Commitment Boushey Vineyard Grenache 2015 Columbia Valley Red 2016 $38.99 $18.99 If Washington made Burgundy in the Columbia Valley, it would Basically declassified Andrew Will fruit, mostly from the Two taste like this. Brilliant garnet color, medium body with cherry, Blondes estate in Zillah, this stunning value is nearly impossible raspberry and hints of baking spice. Crisp and refreshing with to keep in stock. Classic Cabernet and Cab Franc fruit, with loads of acid and a zippy finish. Try with a slab of King salmon. coffee, dark chocolate and kirsch with just the most subtle amount of smoke. Cadence Bel Canto Cara Mia Vineyard 2014 Savage Grace $60.99 Rattlesnake Hills Cabernet Franc 2016 Every one of Ben Smith’s wines could have easily been on this $28.99 list, but this one makes it just by the skin of its nose. Classic If one were to imagine the most perfect rendition of a Loire Red Mountain fruit, but done in a much more restrained and style Cabernet Franc made in Washington State, this may be it. Bordeaux-like style. Gorgeous and a perfect candidate for the Rhubarb, hints of green tea, orange peel and bright red currant cellar. fruit. Not a massive wine in any way, but a showstopper none the less. Cuillin Hills Dungeon Columbia Valley Syrah 2015 Sightglass Cellars $40.99 Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc 2014 Even though Walla Walla Syrah gets most of the press, there $45.99 are some remarkable examples made all over the state. Lots of You remember Sean Boyd from Woodinville Wine Cellars and funk and gamy fruit, smoked bacon, blackberry and even a hint his famous ‘Eagle Eater’ Cabernet, but this may be one of the of maple. Pretty compelling juice. finest Cab Francs from the new world I have ever tasted. A radically different style than the Loire-like Savage Grace, but Damsel Cellars just as compelling. Boushey Vineyard ‘The Fates’ 2015 $36.99 Whidbey Island Winery Damsel is tiny, but trust me, you need to know what Mari is Puget Sound Pinot Noir 2014 doing here. A simply stunning GSM from the famed Boushey sold out vineyard in Yakima. Lots of fruit, smoked meat, game and earth. Pinot Noir from the West side of the mountains, when done A dead ringer for a top wine from the Rhone. Brilliant stuff. right, is one of the undiscovered gems of the state. Very classy and European in style with more akin to Pommard than Portland. Hightower A crowd pleaser all summer, but regretfully all sold out. Red Mountain Merlot 2013 $30.99 Woodward Canyon Hightower is Red Mountain star and last year made this list with Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 a Walla Walla Merlot. Maybe they are just Merlot stars as well? $49.99 Dark chocolate, candied violets, mocha and Swiss Miss in the Woodward Canyon is pretty much a shoo in for this list nearly finish. Pretty much a slam dunk. every year and this time, the Artist Series Cabernet is the wine to take note of. Classic Washington Cab with layers of pie cherries, espresso, raspberry and a moderate layer of tannin for the cellar. All wines subject to prior sale. TOP 5 WHITES WINE CLUBS Washington’s top 5 white wines in alphabetical order. Welcome to the world of wine clubs. We have several different clubs for all your hassle free wine buying. We will select your wines and either ship them to you, put them in your locker, or have them ready for pickup Delille at the store. And best of all, by being a club member, all featured wines come to you at a minimum of 10% off our Chaleur Estate Blanc Columbia Valley 2015 $35.99 everyday price. Usually, Delille is best known for their Bordeaux styled reds, but this year, it is their white which really knocked my socks off. A traditional New Washington ‘Hot List’ Wine Club Our new Washington ‘hot list’ wine club will provide the Sauvignon/Semillon blend which is aged on the lees in French oak prior to lucky recipient with two bottles of wine per month, of the bottling. A fantastic clone of a Graves Blanc. newest, hottest and tiniest production wines in the state. We are lucky to be in a position to taste and actually have the opportunity to buy many of the ultra limited production Lobo Hills wines made out there that often are only available at the winery (or through us). In many cases, we are talking about Yakima Valley Auxerrois 2016 $22.99 production levels in the range of less than 50 cases total. The Tony Dollar is making arguably the most profound collection of white price will vary each month, with the average bottle being wines in Washington right now and this rare varietal may just put this in the $30-$40 range, and always discounted well below our usual price. If you want the newest and the hottest grape on the map here. Kiwi fruit, guava, ripe pears and little kisses of properties, and those hyper limited production wines that grapefruit. others just dream about, then this club is for you. Washington Wine of the Month Club Two Vintners One bottle, or one each of Washington State red and white Boushey Vineyard Grenache Blanc 2016 $25.99 wine per month, or 4 reds, 2 for drinking now and 2 to lay in the cellar. $14.99 single Boushey Vinyard is popping up on this list with abandon this year and this $28.99 for one red and one white / $99.99 for 4 bottles one is a white.