Sign of the Times II (Washington wine)

I wrote earlier in the week about the conumdrum faced by allocated, mailing list wineries (and their customers) in Washington state. Now comes another signal that economic conditions are not sparing Washington wineries, this time in the form of a winery that is not fully allocated, but is plenty boutiquey.

Nicholas Cole Cellars is a Walla Walla winery focusing on Bordeaux-style blends from excellent vineyards, and their wines have been roundly praised. And just tonight, I received an offer from one of my e-mail lists selling their 2004 Camille for $28. We stock this wine at Cellar 46. This wine retails for $50. And it sells at $50!

This is a serious wine. Robert Parker scored it 92 points. Gary Vaynerchuk scored it 91+, and he has only reviewed a handful of Washington wines. Paul Gregutt gave it 92 points. Wine Spectator gave it 90 points. It is bloody difficult to make any wine that scores 90+ from multiple critics, and now it’s 5 years old, just coming into its prime, and selling for 56% of full value?!?

That, my friends, is a sign of the times.

I will be picking up some bottles of this. If you would like me to pick up any for you, just shoot me an e-mail (see the Contact section).