Friday Find June 3, 2011

Each Friday we highlight a wine from the Northwest that we think is a real "find." By find we might mean that it's a steal, as all of these wines we'll feature weekly are under $20. We might also mean "Hey, you really need to go find this" and it might be a wine that we feel not enough people know about. In any case, with the weekend pending we're hoping to help you "find" a wine to kickoff the weekend right. We'll tell you a little bit about the wine and try to help you track it down here in the Northwest.

This week's Friday Find is not so much a specific wine, and in many ways it's a bittersweet bargain. As has been reported widely and has become common knowledge for those who follow Washington wine closely, Olsen Estates decided to close their winemaking doors this winter. This is a terrible loss to wine consumers in many ways as there will not be vintages beyond 2009 from this Yakima Valley winery. That's the bitter part. The Olsen Estate label was churning out some phenomenal wines and several excellent varietals. The wines from Olsen Estate have been absolutely fantastic. The sweet part, is in the short term, consumers can stockpile amazing wines that they have no business getting hold of for very modest price points.

Many of the Olsen Estates wines are showing up under $20 and all of them are excellent. I was able to find the Cote de Rougeaux for $19 and the Cote de Blanc for $11. The fantastic Syrah that they make, named one of the best by Seattle magazine was already priced at under $20 before the close out deals.

Olsen Estates has long been growing some of the most sought after fruit being used in Washington wine. Icons of Washington wine Dick and Larry Olsen were looking to retire and some of their children saw wine production as a way to grow the family's business. With the economic recession the timing could not have been worse and the label and beautiful facility in Prosser failed to be financially viable. There's a great article about it here on Wine Press Northwest.

The wines will be available for sometime through Seattle area Vinum distribution so if you don't see them in your favorite wine retailer, inquire about them. You might find some amazing bargains.

Posted in: Friday Find