Mount Baker Vineyards

I've been up in the Pacific Northwest for the last couple of days. Bellingham, WA to be exact. Not surprisingly, we took time out to check out a few of the local wineries. One of the cloest to Bellingham is Mt Baker Vineyards. I'd point to the web site, but it appears to be down. It still looks pretty much like this though.

Mount Baker had some very interesting wines, but only one I liked enough to buy. Several of the wines were made from grapes that I'm not sure I can say I've ever heard of. Certainly ones I don't recall tasting. The first of these was their 2003 Madeline Angevine. This was a light white wine with a significant honey taste to it. In some ways it was a refreshing wine, but the honey taste was otherwise just a little too much for me.

Another than was particularly well suited to the cooler NW climate was the 2003 Siegerrebe. This one had a very floral nose and reminded me of some of the Viognier I've been trying recently - at least upon first whiff. But it was lighter in both body and flavor.

Yet another light white by Mount Baker was its 2004 Chasselas Dore. This type of grape is apparently well known and widely produced in Switzerland. Very light in color and taste. In fact, I got almost no nose off it at all.

All of these were in the $11.50 range.

While the whites were interesting, my favorite of the group was actually a wine that was done by Mount Baker, but whose grapes were produced further south in the Yakima Valley. That was their 2001 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. It also turned out to be a double gold award winner at the 2005 SF Wine Competition. This one was still a bit tight and could have sat on the rack for awhile, but still, it was very good. Big and bold with a lingering finish and a hint of cocoa in the taste. This one was a bit pricier at $24.99.

Next... a short trip to the south...