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Showcasing the best of
northwest wines and
the awareness of pacific
northwest wine regions.
Showcasing the best of northwest
wines and the awareness of pacific
northwest wine regions.
 
The Northwest Top 50 Wines

The Northwest Top 50 Wines




Each year, I taste thousands of wines, either as samples that arrive in my office or at competitions in which I participate.

Beginning in January, I taste with this list in mind, seeking out the most interesting offerings from our corner of the wine world. Some of these I tasted early in the year, and they stuck with me as extraordinary, for their clarity, style and purity of fruit.

A few thoughts about this year's list:

• My Wine of the Year for 2017 is a merlot, the same as last year (though a different producer). Maybe this is a signal that we need to pay attention to this often-maligned grape again.

• I've always been cautious about filling this list with high-priced wines. That's been a consistent complaint, which I addressed this year by adding a list for Top 50 wines $30 and under, which was published last week. There are some bargains there. (If a wine made this Top 50 list, I didn't consider it for the $30-and-under one.

• You might look over this list and ask yourself why several obvious top wineries are missing. It's as simple as this: I base this on the wines I taste under blind conditions, meaning I know neither the producer nor the price during the evaluation process. Some producers choose not to submit their wines and, well, I cannot recommend them if I haven't tasted them.

Without further ado, use the link below to see my Top 50 wines from 2017.

For the complete story see: Seattle Times