Featured Local Business of the Week: Fielding Hills Winery

Washington and the Columbia Cascade Region has become one of the most respected wine areas in the world, growing world class grapes and producing a vast variety of highly rated wines.

Wenatchee's own Fielding Hills Winery (http://www.fieldinghills.com/index.html) stands out among the region's top wineries, consistently producing wines rated 90 or better, with several in the mid 90s. If you're not familiar with wine ratings, here's a high level overview:

95-100 -- Classic; a great wine
90-94 -- Outstanding; superior character and style
80-89 -- Good to very good; wine with special qualities
70-79 -- Average; drinkable wine that may have minor flaws
60-69 -- Below average; drinkable but not recommended
50-59 -- Poor; undrinkable, not recommended

Here's some of our favorite Fielding Hills wines:

* 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (95 rating) Our favorite, prepare to be amazed!
"Dark, tannic and smoky, this has more tobacco flavor than the other two reds in this series. Muscular, dense and tight, it offers cassis, raspberry and sappy, delicious red fruits. This is very young, very tight, but already nuanced with extraordinary notes of leaf and clean herb. It'll be interesting to see where it goes in 5 - 10 years. P.G."

* 2004 Merlot (94 rating) Our very close second favorite. Named in the March 2007 Wine Enthusiast as one of the The Top 45 Merlots In The World!
"Ripe, tangy berries, consistent with the house style- a tight spine of firm tannin and bright acid. There's a good meaty quality in the midpalate and plenty of vanilla. I think there is a lot of compact flavor in hiding, right now its showing a lot of spice (from the 12% syrah blended in?) and vanilla (from the barrel). P.G."

* 2004 Syrah (94 rating)
"This is classic Washington Syrah, the nose explodes the glass, and it has all the marks of what makes Washington the best in the county. It's big, it's loaded with intense spicy notes, and there are plenty of grace notes of meat and smoke and some of the French stuff going on. Young and packed with flavor, hinting at gravel and soy and a bit of earthy funk. PG."

* 2004 Riverbend Red (93 rating)
"Great color, plush aromas and mouth feel. It sets up in the mouth with intense, varied flavors including blackberry, black cherry, black licorice and more. The young berry fruit scents are sensational, wrapped tight, and the oak is gently applied (76% new) and lends a pleasing milk chocolate smoothness to the finish. Keeps its focus thanks to acrobatic balance and simply beautiful fruit."

If you enjoy good red wine, try Fielding Hills and support the local Wenatchee Valley community!