Today as part of Washington Wine Month we bring you a brilliant new Washington winery project by the talented Ashley Trout. Vital Winery partners with a host of other wine industry entities, from coopers to other wineries, and amazingly all of the Vital Wines profits go to the SOS Clinic, a free, non-profit health care clinic in the Walla Walla area dedicated to helping all people receive free healthcare. I can’t think of any other Pacific Northwest winery that focuses on giving to this level. This is not only a visionary project but the new wines are seriously good. Ashley Trout got her start in the Washington wine industry at age 18. A fellow Whitman graduate, I had the chance to interview her last month as she was a delight to speak with. Last year she was she was named by Wine Enthusiast as one of ‘the top 40 under 40 tastemakers.’
One of the outstanding new Rose wines I have sampled at this price point, the 2018 Vital Winery Rose (WWB, 90) utilizes Sangiovese and shows very delicate red fruit flavors with a really good texture. I also really enjoyed their 2016 Vital Winery ‘GSM’ Red Wine (WWB, 91) which shows nice smoky tones and dark fruit flavors. Learn more about this great new project winery at https://www.vitalwinery.com Here are the beautiful new wines by Vital Wines.
2018 Vital Winery Rose- The 2018 Vital Wines Rose is an intriguing blend of 85% Sangiovese, 8% Cinsaut, 6% Mourvedre with a touch of Counoise. Red fruits and red rose aromatics dominate the nose with lighter citrus rind undertones. Bright, showing a lovely soft mouthfeel, the wine impresses with its silky texture. A downright steal, showing copious red fruits and sterling acidity, enjoy this on a hot summer day. Drink 2019-2023- 90
2016 Vital Winery ‘GSM’ Red Wine- The 2016 Vital Wines ‘GSM’ is a compelling blend of 45% Mourvedre, 36% Grenache, and 19% Syrah, all sourced from the Columbia Valley. On the nose this offers heady aromatics of smoked meats, green olive tapenade and blackberry cobbler. The palate has a good combination of poise and weight with black tea, Asian spice, blackberry pie and milk chocolate, with smoky undertones. Downright delicious now, this will continue to evolve well over the next decade. Drink 2019-2024- 91