Waterbrook 2013 Reserve Merlot

The Winery:  Waterbrook
The Wine:  2013 Reserve Merlot
The Price:  $25.00

Waterbrook is a Washington State winery, located in Walla Walla. Waterbrook is one of Washington's early wineries, opening their doors in 1984. They are a winery that I discovered long ago - probably 16 years or so. They were the first winery to get me beyond the $5 bottle mentality. I reviewed one of their wines in 2009, so it is time for another go around.

The Waterbrook Reserve Merlot is made from 100% Merlot grapes. The grapes are sourced from three vineyards: Mirage, Canyon Vineyard Ranch and Pepper Bridge, all in the Columbia Valley AVA. The wine is aged for 22 months in a blend of American Oak (94%) and French Oak (6%). Each vintage is aged in 25% new oak barrels. The wine was stopped with a natural cork and decanted an hour before tasting.

The Wine is a very deep purple in color, with just a slight hint of brown. It has aromas of cherry, vanilla, dried plum, and a very slight hint of black pepper. It has a pronounced cherry flavor with a strong vanilla back. It has more subtle tones of raspberry, pepper and oak. The wine is very good and drinkable today, but it has pronounced tannins and a bit of a bite that should yield an even better wine after a few years in the cellar.

Liberty School 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon

The Winery: Liberty School (from Hope Family Wines)
The Wine: 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon
The Price: $16.00

Liberty School is one of Hope Family Wines from Paso Robles, California. The wine is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 5% Syrah; all from the Paso Robles AVA. The wine was aged in 10% new French and American Oak and 90% neutral French and American Oak barrels.

The wine was capped with a natural cork. It was decanted an hour before tasting.

The Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon is an extremely dark ruby color. It has aromas of blackberry, cherry, cassis, and black pepper. It has flavors of tart cherry, blackberry, vanilla and a slight hint of cinnamon.

This is a very good wine. At $16, it is a bargain for a wine of this quality.

Ex Umbris 2014 Syrah

The Winery: Ex Umbris
(produced and bottled by Owen Roe)
The Wine: 2014 Syrah
Retail Price: $21

Ex Umbris is produced by Owen Roe, who, interestingly enough, produce both Yakima Valley (Washington) and Willamette Valley (Oregon) wines. They have been around since 1999, so they must be doing something right.

The Ex Umbris Syrah is made from grapes from the DuBrul, Outlook, Red Willow and Union Gap Vineyards; all in Washington. Ex Umbris originally began from a wildfire in 2002, which, apparently, resulted in a phenomenal Syrah that year. They bottled it under the Ex Umbris name, and their fans have pressured them to continue the Ex Umbris brand. For those who are not up on their Latin, Ex Umbris translates to, "from the shadows," which is appropriate given the roots of this wine.

The bottle was stopped with a natural cork (and a wax seal at the top). It was decanted an hour before tasting. The wine is very dark burgundy in color. It has aromas of cherry, plum, leather and blueberry. This is a very big, juicy wine with delicious plum and blackberry flavors and an incredible cherry finish. It is very smooth and bursting with flavor! This is a very special Syrah that is very much worth checking out.

Zin-Phomaniac 2013 Zinfandel

The Winery: Zin-Phomaniac

The Wine: 2013 Zinfandel
Retail Price: $18.99

Zin-Phomaniac is a Sonoma County, California winery. I usually shy away from gimmicky labels and/or names.  But this one was very well done, and used embossed, raised accents, which is not an inexpensive upgrade.

Zin-Phomaniac sources their grapes from the Lodi AVA, and their grapes all come from old vine stock. All of their grapes come from vines that are 20-75 years old. Their wine is aged for 9 months in new and aged oak barrels.

The wine bottle was stopped with natural cork, and was decanted an hour before tasting. It is deep burgundy in color.

The wine has aromas of cherry, dark chocolate and vanilla with a hint of black pepper.

The Zin-Phomaniac has a bit of a pepper bite, followed by flavors of juicy cherries and raspberries, and finally a rich chocolatey finish. This is a really good wine...sexy, bold, and arousing. It is much better than I hoped for when I selected it for review. It is definitely a conversation starter - a fun wine to take to a party. Probably not a great wine to impress a woman on a first date, though.