Revelry Vintners

Planted in 1991, Chardonnay thrives in the sandy loam soils of Conner Lee Vineyard. Fermented and aged on the lees for 180 days - undergoing a complete ML fermentation - this wine remains incredibly fresh, with an elegant density and electricity all at once. Conner Lee is a name synonymous with some the best Chardonnay ever produced in Washington State. The vineyard sits to the east of the Wahluke Slope, and was planted under the guidance of Walter Clore, the pioneering “Father of Washington Wine.” It was by a simple stroke of luck that we came to know that there was an opportunity to work with this vineyard. Fermented in stainless barrels on its lees, completing both primary and partial-malolactic fermentation, it is a rich, and yet very fresh wine. Savory aromatics give way to honeysuckle, fresh cut pear, baked apple and chilled cream. This wine has the very best traits of one of the most classic grapes in the world. To say it is delicious is would be an understatement.

RANGE is a blend of Grenache from the southern reaches of Washington State, and Syrah grown 100 miles to the north. The product of two classic Rhone varietals, each grown in vastly distinct locales, this wine is a sultry, and incredibly balanced array of flavor. It is the extent to which, or the limits between which variation is possible

Planted in 1985, Dionysus Block 11 Cabernet Sauvignon is really as good as it gets for old vine Cabernet Sauvignon in Washington State. We worked with this fruit for three years before releasing it as a standalone wine as part of the AERIALS Series, dialing in our approach. All along the fruit was top-notch. Each vineyard and each block - even different sites of the same clone - are wildly unique. This is Terroir. This being the case, it takes a lot of time, many trials and various iterations to make the best wine possible from each individual site. Finally, the wines we are creating from this site are everything we had hoped they would be.

Our Block 18 Syrah is grown in the heart of the Wahluke Slope AVA and is distinctive for its jet black color, floral aromatics, creaminess on the palate and density of finish. 30% of the fruit is added to the fermentors on the stems, thereby brightening the wine and lifting aromatics dramatically from the fruit's natural tendency of earthen texture and robust mouthfeel. It is iconic Washington Syrah at its most elegant.

The Block 19 Syrah from Weinbau Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope was the first Syrah to exhibit the qualities we were looking for from the variety. Made from the 877 clone, with its 'roots' (pun intended) in Southern France, this Syrah is produced with a focus on minimal intervention. We leave it on its lees for an extended period of time, stirring those lees early in its cellaring. The wine will spend 22-24 months in barrel. It is unfined, unfiltered, with an incredibly dark yet lively fruit, and a smoky aromatic substructure.

Merlot is the grape most responsible for the existence of Revelry Vintners. After years of tasting and enjoying wine with a raw interest, it was a singular experience with Merlot sourced merely miles from where we now grow our Merlot for this wine in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA that wholly grabbed our Winemaker, Jared Burns', attention. Merlot from these locations shows the variety in what we feel is its true light. With a round profile and a dense, saturated mid palate, this is a Merlot with a great deal of scale. The flavor profile is a beautiful sort of compote of fresh blackberries, Marionberry, and blueberry over roasted vanilla meringue. This wine will age incredibly well for 10 yrs and beyond.

Red Mountain is known for having incredibly warm days and cool nights, with sand and loam soils, which all in turn create some of Washington State's most intense Cabernet Sauvignon fruit and truly incredible scale and structure. The wine has a beautiful nose and great balance in the glass. It will not overpower, but rather compliment, most any protein you pair it with. It is also a wine you could certainly enjoy standalone. In the past two years Heart of the Hill vineyard has been named Vineyard of the Year and the Williams family, Grower of the Year. With age this planting has come to produce elegantly powerful wines. Our 2016 release spent 36 months in 75% new french oak barrels. The result is a wine with a dark ruby hue, aromatics of peonies, creme brûlée and medjool Dates, and flavors of blackberry, black cherry, kirsch chocolates, and a wisp of refined tannin. This is a beautiful wine to be enjoyed now and long into the future.

Grenache is an elusive beast, at its finest in moderately warm climates, and when protected from intense direct sun. Of the two blocks we source from, we use only Block 30B at Alder Ridge Vineyard in this bottling. Set on a bench 200 ft. above the mighty Columbia River, this block of Grenache is planted in sand laden soils and ensconced in an amphitheater of exposed Basalt bluffs. The radiant heat in this area is incredible, though it is tempered by the river itself. The amount of water moved through the Columbia River Gorge is incomprehensible and all that water acts to moderate the surrounding air temperature. This, in tandem with steady air flow through the gorge, works to protect the vines from heat and cold. This vintage is incredibly pure and accomplishes this goal well. This is a wine of moderate body. Neutral French oak barrels are used to accentuate and brighten the fruit qualities in the wine, which carries notes of pomegranate, huckleberry and strawberry hard candy. A savory sensibility anchors the profile throughout, creating a perfectly beautiful wine.

The Wahluke Slope itself is sort of an Eden in the middle of the high desert of Washington State. A south-facing alluvial slope running for miles, it is formed of perfectly draining soils just rich enough to support most any crop you can imagine. Grapes thrive here. We have had the most luck at this site with Cabernet Franc and Syrah in particular. While we generally yield 7 to 9 barrels of wine from the site annually, just a fraction of that makes it to bottle. Past vintages have typically been just a barrel or two (25 cases per barrel of wine) as we tend to scrutinize this wine more than any other for the simple fact that when Cabernet Franc is pristine, it rivals any other variety in the world.

Grenache Blanc is a crisp, high acid wine of incredible purity, grown high in the hills toward the southern reaches of the Columbia Valley. For the past five years we have searched our state high and low for this grape - the white version of the Grenache grape that we love so much. For five years we came up empty handed. Late in the fall of 2018 we heard rumor of a new planting of Grenache Blanc in the lower Yakima Valley. Art den Hoed and his son John, who also grow Cabernet Franc for our Rosé had planted a two-acre parcel as an experiment. We struck gold! Often used in the Rhone valley of France in white blends, Grenache Blanc lends itself to many different winemaking styles. The grape offers wonderful freshness, acidity, and the most mind-bending array of flavors. We love a bit of tension in our white wines where there is competition between the vibrance of acidity and the complexity of flavor. This wine is chalked full of pink and yellow starburst candy, meyer lemon, white flowers, and yuzu. It is the perfect addition to our RANGE series.