Arresting Development
During the course of an evening at the just-opened Ardè Osteria & Pizzeria in Wayne, over a table topped with piping hot, wood-fired pizza and plates of meats and cheeses, I filled my stem with some impressive wines from Washington State. Some of those bottles, from Baer and Tamarack, were covered in our November and December roundups.
Perhaps the most arresting, though, were a pair from a small, Woodinville-based producer called Guardian Cellars. Founded by Bay Area native and former policeman, Jerry Riener, Guardian crafts a lineup of about 6,000 cases – varietals and blends with cheeky aliases like Confidential Source, The Rookie and The Informant.
I connected with Riener to discuss the wines I sampled, and he was quick to dime out the good fortune of finding Guardian’s lineup in Pennsylvania. “A vast majority of the wineries in (Washington) produce well under 5,000 cases, thus little of it makes it off the West Coast,” he emphasized. “I think people are beginning to discover that we can stand with the best wines in the world. Not that it is the only metric to use, but I think a comparison of scores from the various wine critics has proved that we have grown into a great wine making region. So much so, that you have wineries and wine makers throughout the world now making Washington wines, including Michel Rolland, Philippe Melka, Randy Dunn, John Duval and others.”
Sure, but I, for one, wasn’t in need of direct evidence to the point. I did a long stretch in Seattle and have run (conjugally) with the native juice ever since – but that hasn’t jaded me against its evergreen charms. My first sniff of Riener’s Sauvignon Blanc, The Angel 2013, brought the superlatives, clanging clear and anew. To start, I pulled a pronounced snootful of peach from the bottle, mixed with a pleasant, low level funkiness that evaporated with more air. The effect is clean and lean on the palate, with a dry upfront style and outstanding structure. Sharp grapefruit, lemon and a little grassiness lead the way to a weightier mid palate and the lift of tropical fruit and peach. It’s an electric, exciting white.
Riener explained: “The Angel is not typical. First, the fruit is Red Mountain, and this is the hottest spot temperature-wise in the state. It yields riper fruit flavors, and 2013 was a delightfully warm year, adding to the richness of this wine. The second major difference is 100% new French oak ferment for about six weeks. Not really enough time to impart oakiness, but enough for structure and depth. Even bits of the vanilla goodness can come out of barrel and provide a balance to acid.”
Guardian’s elegant Cabernet Sauvignon-weighted red blend, The Wanted 2011, adds a balance of Cabernet Franc and could go toe-to-toe with comparable Californians – at a considerable price advantage. An opulent, relaxed effort, it floods the senses with sexy, leathery aromas and a mouthful of flavors including deep blue/black fruits, vanilla and chocolate, black pepper and caramel. Dusted by tannins and smooth as snakeskin.
“Although the wine is slightly Cabernet Sauvignon dominant, The Wanted is an expression of Cabernet Franc,” said Riener. “With its spice and herbaceous-ness, it makes itself known immediately in the blend…2011 was a cold year, so it was a real balancing act between thinning the fruit out to develop rich ripe flavors and avoiding the green notes that can sneak into Cab Francs.”
Guardian wines are found in the PLCB Premium Collection lineup primarily in Pittsburgh and greater Philadelphia. As your counselor, I advise swift cross-examination. And let’s be careful out there.