2016 Estate Lemberger - Kiona Vineyards & Winery

Wild raspberry, fragrant sagebrush, tart huckleberry. Ripe strawberry, crushed lavender, spiced pomegranate puree. Start anise and thorny briar, dried violet and potpourri. Red plum, dark cherry, and brambleberry battle ferociously with eucalyptus, tumbleweed, and fennel in an attack brimming with bright natural fruit and intense herbal aromatics. A captivating floral note of dehydrated flowers provides further high-toned subtleties before cumin, mustard seed, and cinnamon burst in bringing intriguing exotic spice. Earthy tones in the form of sandy soil littered with unkempt brush emerge with time to continue the theme of rugged herb-driven complexity. Exceptionally unique, characterful, and terroir expressive while managing to balance brightness with surprising depth and gusto. Medium plus in body with medium tannin and acidity. This 2016 Estate Lemberger by Kiona Vineyards & Winery is an esoteric and unconventional yet extremely delicious red from Washington's Red Mountain.

Lemberger, or Blaufränkisch as it is more commonly know, is a unique red wine grape commonly grown throughout Central Europe. Its typical flavor profile contains lifted aromatics like those of Pinot Noir and a spicy feral character similar to Syrah, and it regularly produces wines of notable nuance and complexity. This bottling, crafted by Kiona using Lemberger sourced from their estate vineyards in Red Mountain, proves that this rather obscure old world grape has unrealized potential in Washington. While decidedly more rich and robust than most European Lemberger-based wines this contains similarly incredible spiced herbal underpinnings that coarse throughout its pure and concentrated fruit. It is surprisingly structured and dark in color which is likely due to the harsh Red Mountain terroir from which it came. This is a distinct and exciting wine that we thorough enjoyed experiencing.