At a recent Walla Walla wine tasting event, I had the opportunity to try some terrific red wines from Spring Valley Vineyards. Spring Valley Vineyards is perched on Walla Walla land that was originally used for farming all the way back in the 1880s. More than 100 years later, Shari and Dean Derby planted vines on the land and made their first vintage in 1999.
Their head winemaker since 2005, Serge Laville, is from the Northern Rhone region in France and has created many impressive vintages of Syrah, Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. While I’ve had many other vintages of Spring Valley, I found their 2012 Reds to be particularly compelling. Many of their wines could benefit from cellaring but were drinking exceptionally well for the tasting. You can find most of these wines at Northwest wine shops and a few of them can also be found at Costco. Also look for them at Total Wines for about 40 to 50 bucks each.
Here are some of the great wines from Spring Valley Vineyards that I recently sampled.
2012 ‘Katherine Corkum’- This is their Cabernet Franc. Herbaceous nose with red bell pepper, anise and oak on the nose. Palate has nice mouthfeel with cassis, anise, red cherry. Delicious juice. Drink now or cellar for 1-2 years. -92
2012 ‘Uriah’- This is a blend of 48% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec. The nose has cassis and oak with blackberry. Palate is dense and has anise, chocolate and blackberry. Maybe black cherry. Impressive. Drink in two plus years. -92
2012 ‘Fredrich’- This is their Cabernet dominant blend. Herbaceous nose with blackberry, anise and oak. Palate has blackberry, anise, oak and dense mocha flavors. Serious. Drink in two plus years. -93
2012 ‘Nina Lee’- This is their Syrah wine. Blackberry and oak on the nose. Palate has red cherry, anise, blackberry and cassis. Maybe red tomato as well. Drink now.-92