2006: great wine products and places

I'm approaching the end of my fifth year as the Seattle Times wine columnist, which means I've had close to 250 opportunities to praise wines, challenge winemakers and cajole readers into trying something new.

Without a doubt, the focus of this column, more and more, has been on the wines of Washington state.

In just that same five years, the number of Washington wineries has more than doubled and now exceeds 450.

Washington's impact on the world at large remains quite small, but that is a function of quantity, not quality. In quality terms many wineries, even some of the newest and smallest, are quite ready for prime time.

Who is doing the best job? What are the best wines? And how does Washington fit into the larger picture?

This week and next I'll take a look back at 2006, pick out some of the many highlights, and point you toward the wines and the wine-related trends and challenges that are likely to be in the news in 2007.

Temperatures are rising

In 2006 the issue of global warming, and its impact on the wine industry, began to be taken quite seriously. Dr. Greg Jones, a leading authority on the subject, spoke at the Washington Wine Grape Growers annual meeting and noted that the growing season has trended warmer for the past 50 years and is expected to do so for the next 50.

In the Puget Sound, he predicts, that will mean another 2.3 degrees of warming; in Eastern Washington, another 3.3 degrees of warming. This, he concludes, "could put the region in a very different ripening climate."

So is alcohol

Many readers have taken notice of the fact that I am an advocate for reducing the alcohol content of our wines — not by artificial or mechanical means but by enlightened vineyard management.

Global warming is not the villain here, though it certainly plays a part. Warmer ripening cycles mean higher sugar levels are achievable, which translates to higher alcohol in finished wines. A combination of factors has brought us to the point where such monster wines as zinfandel at 17 percent alcohol are considered sound, even balanced!

Whether you believe the blame lies with the critics who award jammy, alcoholic wines with high scores and gold medals or the winemakers who encourage vineyard practices designed to push up the sugar levels, there is no arguing that American wines have gotten more and more potent. The average wine from California, Oregon or Washington, whether red or white, has gained at least 2 full percentage points over the past two decades.

Despite the apparent popularity of these high-octane wines, my sense is that consumer tastes are changing. Elegance and complexity are becoming more important than sheer power. Wines that are expressive of place, that are true to varietal, that convey as much pleasure in their aromas as in their flavors, and that perform well at the table are in vogue.

Many Washington vintners have shown that this is, indeed, a perfect climate for making such wines. More often than not, those are the wines that you will see singled out for praise in this column.

Consumers are ultimately driving this bus. When you seek out aromatic white wines such as pinot gris/grigio, dry riesling, gewürztraminer, viognier, albarino, verdelho or gruner veltliner, the wine sellers, distributors and importers take notice. When that most elegant of red grapes, pinot noir, becomes the hip sip, it is not just because it was the star of a hit movie. It is because people like its subtlety and finesse.

In 2006 I tasted especially fine pinot noir from unexpected places. Burgundy and California and Oregon of course, but also British Columbia, Italy, New Zealand and Western Australia.

Next week I will offer my list of the year's best Washington wines and wineries. In anticipation, here are some of the other highlights (and a few lowlights) from my wine tasting and travels in 2006.

Most Interesting Wine Region : A tie between Canada's Okanagan and Western Australia. The Okanagan valley is the largest and oldest wine-growing region in western Canada, home to Canada's only desert, and capable of producing a startling range of wines — from tannic, earthy syrahs to delicate pinot noirs to racy rieslings and pinot blancs.

Equally impressive are the gloriously aromatic white wines of Western Australia, rieslings, verdelhos, sauvignon blancs and sauv blanc/semillon blends. Excellent reds are also made there, including pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. Look for a full report in an upcoming column.

Most Overrated Wine Region: South Africa.

Most Underrated Wine Region: Mendocino.

Most Interesting Wine Tasting: Ste. Michelle and Columbia wines from 1960s and '70s.

Most Encouraging Trend: French, German, Swiss, Italian and Australian winemakers coming to Washington, many of them as permanent residents, to make wine.

Ongoing Trends We'll Continue To Cover: Unoaked (naked, unwooded, etc.) chardonnays. Critter wines. Box wines. Aromatic white wines. Glass stoppers.

Best Replacement For Corks: Glass stoppers

Worst Replacement For Corks: Zork stoppers

Best Wine Blog: Tom Wark's www.fermentation.typepad.com (see his blog on blogs)

Best Humorous Wine Writing: The Cork Jester (www.corkjester.com)

One Critic We'll Miss: Pierre Rovani, who recently resigned as Robert Parker's assistant, visited Washington in the winter and again in the spring and lavished unprecedented praise on our wines. It's too bad he's gone from the influential publication (the Wine Advocate) where his glowing reviews appeared, but the impact of his words ("today Washington is home to some of the most astute winemakers in the world") will be felt for a long while.

Best Non-Washington Red Wine Discovery: Old vine garnachas from emerging regions in Spain such as Calatayud, Campo de Borja and Montsant.

Best Non-Washington White Wine Discovery: Bone-dry, bracing, low-alcohol rieslings from Western Australia.

Best Non-Wine Discovery: Clear Creek Distillery's new fruit liqueurs in cassis, cherry, loganberry, raspberry and pear flavors.

Best Gimmick Wines: The year brought a full complement of sweet, simple critter wines, wines named for vehicles, wines with cute dogs on the label, wines attempting to appeal to women with names such as "Little Black Dress," wines attempting to appeal to men with names such as "Used Automobile Parts" and wines with names unprintable in a family newspaper. But clever marketing does not always mean junk wine. Cycles Gladiator, Papio and Charles Smith's indefatigable House Wine were this year's best.

Best Retailer: Garagiste

Best Winemaker Dinners: Waterfront Seafood Grill at Pier 70.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the late Michael Manz , whose Mountain Dome winery pioneered boutique sparkling winemaking in the Northwest; the late Russell Claar, who planted some of the first wine grapes in Washington; and the late John Farmer, whose guiding hand at Alder Ridge vineyard ensured that many of this state's best wineries received the sort of world-class grapes that make world-class wines. All will be sorely missed.

David Lake, this state's first Master of Wine, retired from his winemaking duties at Columbia Winery this past fall after more than a quarter-century at the helm. I wish him well.

And I want to send a special message of cheer to my good friend, bandmate and fellow wine enthusiast Bear Silverstein of West Seattle Cellars, back home from the hospital but not yet behind the counter.

Paul Gregutt is the author of "Northwest Wines." His column appears weekly in the Wine section.

He can be reached by e-mail at wine@seattletimes.com.