WoodsLake 2006 Syrah

Mmmmmm....bacon-ee. Meat-ee. Anise-ee. Grape-ee. Syrah-ee. Wine-ee. How do you like them apples? See?! I can talk just like the most knowledgeable wine aficionados. Or not.

Anywho. I've been sipping on a bottle of WoodsLake (aka: Washington Wine Company) 2006 Columbia Valley Syrah tonight and I'm telling you this Syrah fracking KICKS ASS!

Okay, this wine isn't 100% Syrah. It's actually a blend of 85% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 2.5% Cabernet Franc, 1.5% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot. But it still fracking KICKS ASS!! Okay, I might've said that already but I'm not kidding. This wine is dark, dark purple, beautiful color in my book (I'll admit, my book is pretty danged small but it's still a book so shut up!). The aromas are so meat focused it's not even funny. When I first opened this bottle and sniffy-sniffed this wine in the glass after pouring, all I could think of was meat. Pig meat. Bacon. Yum.

I have a question, Washington Wine Company. First you were called Washington Wine Company. Then you were called Patterson Cellars. Now you're producing wines with WoodsLake on the label. What the frack? Are you like Cybil? Multiple personalities? Who are you? What should we call you? Oh hell. Who cares? All I know is, whenever I go to your tasting room in the Warehouse District in Woodinville, I go in to your tasting room and inevitably I buy your wines. They're all good.

Okay. A little history. Way back when I was a Washington Wine Ambassador (before the fracking stoopid-ass lawyers took away our fun), the first wine gig I did as an Ambassador was the Ballard Seafood Fest (in Ballard, no really? HA!). I was brand spanking new at the pouring wine thing and got lucky enough to pour wine for what was then the Washington Wine Company (you didn't confuse me back then because you were only using one name). So there I am. It's a beautiful sunny day in Seattle (yes, we actually have them) and I'm pouring this amazing wine, it was a Sauvignon Blanc and I'm trying to act like I know what I'm doing but I don't. Who should come up and give me a lesson on how to open a bottle of wine and how to remove the foil but THE David LeClaire. Silly me. And Jack, the winemaker was standing behind me and talked to me and he was really nice and told me he was making wine out of his garage in Monroe but was soon opening a tasting room in Woodinville. And I'm sure I looked like a rank amateur. But I got through it and I learned a lot that day. The biggest lesson I learned that day is this family (dad and son operation) knows how to make wine. There's no doubt about that. All of their wines, no matter what the name is on the label, are damned good. Quality wines. From their Malbec, to their Du Anni, to their Syrah, to their Chardonnay (I bought several of their Chard last time because they didn't soak it in oak and you could really taste the grape - delicious!).

I highly recommend Patterson Cellars wine, or Washington Wine Company, or WoodsLake, or what the frack? Confused again.

You can visit Patterson Cellars on the Web at: http://washingtonwinecompany.com/

or you can visit them in person in Woodinville at: 19501 144th Ave NE Suite D 600, Woodinville, WA 98072

They're sweet people. Tell them I said hey.