Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling, Washington State USA 2017 (from £13.75, Vinvm) California so dominates the American wine scene – around 90% of production – that it’s hard for other states to get a glass in edgeways. But there’s wine made in all 50 states, and much of it is of considerably more than academic interest. The most successful in getting their wines to customers outside their area are the two states above California. Both are relatively young industries: at the end of the 1960s there were just five commercial wineries in Oregon and two in Washington State; today there are around 700 and 800 respectively. Stylistically, they’ve gone in different directions, although both have a nice line in riesling whites, among them Washington’s totally tropical Kung Fu riesling, with its spicy noodle-loving mix of off dry exotic fruit and kick of tangy acidity.
Soter Planet Oregon Pinot Noir, Oregon USA 2016 (from £23, The Wine Society) Oregon’s recent rise to attention has been built around two factors: a homespun, small-producer, vaguely counter-cultural vibe, and the quality of its pinot noir, which thrives in its relatively cool marginal climate. Both could be seen as an antidote to the lifestyle glossiness and big-shouldered wines of California, but Oregon’s pinot-producers have tended to take their inspiration from further afield, in Burgundy. Indeed, one of the leading producers is Burgundy’s Drouhin family, who have been making such finely tuned and silky wines such as Domaine Drouhin Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2015 (from £34.50, Oxford Wine) for 20 years now, alongside locals such as Tony and Michelle Soter, the biodynamic farmers behind the lithe and limber, red-fruited Planet Oregon.
Gramercy Cellars Syrah, Washington State USA 2014 (£33.10, Stannary Wine) If Oregon’s starting point was Burgundy, Washington State’s red inspiration was initially Bordeaux, with the first wave of star producers in the 1990s and 2000s making their name with merlot, cabernet sauvignon and combinations thereof. The best have a distinctive purity of fruit. In a region that tends to the expensive, Hedges CMS 2015 (£17, Roberson Wine), a blend of cabernet, merlot and syrah, is probably the best value example of this Washington-meets-Bordeaux style. Recently, however, Washington’s take on the Rhône Valley’s syrah and grenache has impressed me. Look for Amavi Cellars, Mark Ryan, French émigré Christophe Baron’s labels Cayuse, Bionic Frog and No Girls, and the range of deep, savoury syrahs made by Master Sommelier Greg Harrington at Gramercy Cellars.
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