A Yakima sampler


2004 Willow Crest Pinot Gris ($9). Vigneron Dave Minick gets my vote for Washington's unofficial potentate of pinot gris. His latest release is as fresh as a spring breeze, nicely structured with crisp fruit and a polished, snappy finish. Just the ticket for summer sipping.

2004 Hedges CMS White ($11). You may know the CMS (cabernet/merlot/syrah) red, always a popular blend from this Red Mountain winery. Now they've added a CMS white, replacing their Fumé-Chardonnay with a chardonnay/marsanne/sauvignon blanc (get it? — another CMS) blend that has plump fruit and just a bare hint of sweetness.

Kestrel "1st Edition" Platinum White ($15). The sexy Platinum package follows in the (high) heels of the winery's successful "Drop Dead Red" series. Once you tear your eyes away from the bottle, you'll find the 50/50 blend of viognier and gewürztraminer ain't too shabby either. Off-dry, yeasty, spicy and loaded with bright citrus orange flavor.

2003 Chinook Chardonnay ($17). Don't let this wine, with its modest 13 percent alcohol and fresh, un-oaky style, slip by you; it's a well-crafted chardonnay that offers many subtle pleasures. White peaches dusted with cinnamon and hints of tea, honey and candied apricot lift it well above the ordinary.

2002 Piety Flats Mercantile Red ($12). It's always nice to find a pleasant red blend at this price. This tastes like a wine with some cellar age on it; showing mature, drying fruit, tobacco leaf and plum flavors.

2002 Windy Point Merlot ($15). This handsome new winery makes a worthy estate syrah and a pleasant cab franc, but I was most utterly charmed with the merlot, which includes Portteus grapes as well. Sweet cherry pie never tasted so good!

2003 Thurston Wolfe Burgess Vineyard Syrah ($16). If you like your syrah thick and inky black, this is your wine. Jammy, meaty scents show ripe, gamey notes; and the flavors follow with a blocky, muscular, take-no-prisoners palate. For all its power, it remains balanced and varietal, with a nice spicy lift to the tannins.

2002 Wineglass Cellars Boushey Vineyard Sangiovese ($18). You may know Boushey for its spectacular syrahs, but this soft, varietal sangiovese shows another, more elegant side to the vineyard. Sangiovese can be hit-and-miss in Washington — it's easy to manhandle it by over-extraction or too much new oak — but here it is pretty, soft and round, and retains a good core of cherry fruit, accented with leaf and spice.

2002 Sheridan Vineyard L'Orage Red ($35). L'Orage means "the storm," acknowledging a big blow that devastated the vineyard in June of 2001. Sheridan is a rising star in the valley and was first selected by Andrew Will's Chris Camarda for vineyard designated status some years ago. This is the winery's own top wine, gorgeously smooth and fragrant with sandalwood, cocoa, tobacco and black fruits. Silky, generous and seductive.

2002 Chandler Reach Vineyards Parris Cabernet Sauvignon ($42). This is the estate reserve, the first to bear the Parris moniker (for vineyard owner Len Parris). It's sweet and plump, with well-ripened fruit that warrants its reserve tag. The oak is balanced against supple tannins and the alcohol remains a sensible 13.8 percent. Streaks of coffee, ground pepper and black tea finish it well.

2002 DeLille Harrison Hill Red Wine ($65). Apart from Columbia's Otis cabernet, this is Yakima's (and Washington's) oldest vineyard. Always distinctive, the latest Harrison Hill gracefully evokes a mix of old vine bramble, Yakima valley pepper and other peppery spice, with dry tannins redolent of Earl Grey tea.