2006 Matthews Estate Claret Columbia Valley

Aryn Morell returned to his native Washington after years in Napa Valley, first working for Silver Oak then joining a team of enologists at a Napa Valley consultancy. Upon his homecoming, he realized that Washington was a little behind Napa when it comes to viticulture, with crop levels naturally high, no green harvest, and no restriction of yields. The solution was to pay by the acre, rather than by the ton, to bring in high quality fruit from the premier vineyards in Red Mountain and Royal Slope. The latter is the source of all the Syrah fruit, while the former produces most of the fruit for the two red blends.

Aryn Morell returned to his native Washington after years in Napa Valley, first working for Silver Oak then joining a team of enologists at a Napa Valley consultancy. Upon his homecoming, he realized that Washington was a little behind Napa when it comes to viticulture, with crop ... more