McCrea Cellars is a Washington State producer who can't seem to produce a bad wine.  Located in Rainier, Washington, winemaker Doug McCrea specializes in Rhone varietals, and sources his grapes from the finest vineyards east of the Cascades, including Boushey VIneyard (Yakima Valley), Ciel du Cheval (Red Mountain), and Elephant Mountain and Sugarloaf (Yakima Valley). 

This afternoon afforded the opportunity to attend a tasting of 15 of the current releases, which included several rare bottlings that are normally available only at the winery, and in the case of the brooding blackberry and plum 2000 Ciel du Cheval Syrah, not available at all.

The lineup began with the 2007 savory-lemony-minerally Grenache Blanc, followed by two personal favorites, the 2007 Roussanne Ciel du Cheval and the 2007 Sirocco Blanc Boushey Vineyard, which is a blend of Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Picpoul and Roussanne.  The latest Vin Rosé Ciel du Cheval is a burst of gorgeous magenta, dry, with great raspberry and strawberry fruit, balanced with a little minerality.

The stellar lineup of reds included the single varietal Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah bottlings, with the blackberry-tar-black pepper Non Sequitur blend of Counoise, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault, as well as the raspberry-blackberry-black pepper-licorice-leather flavors of the 2005 Sirocco blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Counoise.  The six Syrahs were a magnificent group that included the 2007 Yakima, the 2005 Ciel du Cheval, the 2005 Boushey Grande Cote, the 2005 Amerique; the lovely 2000 Ciel du Cheval described previously, and the achingly complex 2004 Cuvée Orleans, with flavors of blackberry, leather, molasses, chocolate and tar.

Although Seattle Cellars carries many of these wines, the personal take-home for the day was the 2006 Viña Salida Tempranillo, whose grapes are sourced from Phil Cline's Two Coyote Vineyard in Yakima Valley.  Viña Salida is a relatively new project by Doug McCrea, enabling his expression of Spanish varietals.  This Tempranillo is fuller-bodied and smoother than the typical Spanish versions, and was all strawberries dipped in dark chocolate, with hints of plum and clove.  It is currently only available through the winery, but I am looking forward with interest to future releases from this label, as well as his unparalleled team of stars under the McCrea Cellars label.