A great winery founded by two of the nicest people in Washington wine, Structure Cellars focuses their program on high quality red wine that doesn’t break the bank. Headed by Brian and Brandee Grasso, Structure is located in the SoDo district and a nice buzz has been slowly growing over the past few years. I’ve noticed that the winemaking continues to improve, as Brian is a relatively new winemaker, whose wine story began in the restaurant industry where he was previously working as a somm. Eventually he internet at Baer and then followed by training under Chris Sparkman of Sparkman Cellars before starting his own winery. Brian is a really easy-going, down to earth guy. He’s passionate and dedicated to making high quality, good value wines.
Last week I stopped by their SoDo district winery. His new wines are some of the most recent releases from the 2016 vintage, which was another warm vintage that did not possess the heat spikes of the 2015 vintage. Brian is very optimistic about this vintage for red wines and I thought that the new releases were very good across the board. One of my favorite wines that I tried was the 2016 Structure Cellars ‘Bauhaus’ Syrah (WWB, 91) which had a wonderful range of red and dark fruits and was difficult to put down. herbaceous edge and shows a lovely texture and feminine quality. Even better was the 2015 Structure Cellars ‘Foundation’ Cabernet Sauvignon (WWB, 92) which has really good richness and tension, as this wine will cellar marvelously over the next decade. Learn more about these excellent wines at structurecellars.com Here are the great new wines by Structure Cellars.
2017 Structure Cellars Roussanne- This was sourced from the Olsen Vineyard. The nose \shows nice melon and gooseberry on the nose. The palate shows really good tension and weight on the mid-palate showcasing green apple and cantaloupe flavors. Drink 2018-2022- 90
2016 Structure Cellars ‘The Newel’ Red Wine- The wines is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Syrah sourced from the Destiny Ridge, Stillwater Creek and Red Willow Vineyards. The dill on the nose really drives this wine as does the pretty rose petals and red fruits. The palate shows a wonderful tension and viscosity. Red fruits dominate the palate alongside some nice mineral and earthy tones. Drink 2018-2024- 90
2016 Structure Cellars ‘Spire’ Merlot- This 100% Merlot wine begins with aromas of toasty oajk, red currant and red cherry preserves. The palate has really good tension and medium weight with red cherry and milk chocolate flavors with roasted fig. Drink 2018-2028- 90
2016 Structure Cellars ‘Bauhaus’ Syrah- The wine begins with aromas of red currant with red cherry and mocha. The palate is downright delicious showing a nice range of red and dark fruits with chocolate fudge. Drink 2018-2024- 91
2016 Structure Cellars ‘Foundation’ Cabernet Franc- This shows a really good herbaceousness on the nose with red and dark fruits dancing in the glass. The palate shows good tension and weight The wine shows off a wonderful dark and red fruits that mmic the nose. Drink 2018-2026- 91
2016 Structure Cellars ‘Foundation’ Cabernet Sauvignon- Sourced from the Stillwater Creek Vineyard and Upland Vineyard this has a wonderfully herbal edge on the nose. The palate shows some wonderful richness an tension, showing copious dark fruits and a touch of dried sage and chocolate. Downright delicious, this will cellar well for a decade or more. Drink 2018-2028- 92
2016 Structure Cellars ‘Foundation’ Malbec- This deeply colored Malbec this is largely sourced from the Olsen Vineyard. The wine begins with aromas of mocha, black tea and anise. The palate reveals juicy flavors of blueberry compote, blackberry and black tea with cassis. Downright delicious, this will cellar marvelously for a decade. Drink 2018-2028- 92