Buried Cane Wines Redux

I first wrote about Buried Cane Wines in December. They have redesigned the look of the labels for the current releases. There's an overall theme of woodcut printing, so while some of the nicknames might sound like vineyard terms they are unrelated. A grape vine would not do too well with only a single leaf. (Single leaf refers to an individual print that might be framed, as opposed to a print for a book.) I like the new look, whenever I look at old book illustrations I think about doing all of the tiny little cuts into a block of wood, backwards so that there's a positive impression on the paper. It's an incredible amount of work for something that might simply be in the margin.

In each case, the wines are built from a combination of vineyard sources throughout Washington State.

2009 Buried Cane Single Leaf Riesling
100% Riesling
$12, 12.7% abv.
Stainless steel fermentation
Fruity pear and apple nose, light body, medium sweet. Paul and I had this wine with some bacon-wrapped scallops. I've never paired Riesling with that before, and it was a match made in heaven. Absolutely delicious.

2009 Buried Cane Whiteline No Oak Chardonnay
100% Chardonnay
$14, 13.3% abv.
Stainless steel fermentation
Bright acidity and a light mouthfeel. There's a slight apple aroma to it. It's overall fairly mild and light, so you'd want to serve this with something that's not too strongly flavored, like roast chicken and potatoes or trout. Has anyone settled on a great name for unoaked Chard yet? I've seen words like Virgin and Naked and Unwooded. No Oak gets the idea across pretty simply, but it remains to be seen what catches on in the future as there's more demand for such wines.

2008 Buried Cane Roughout Cabernet Sauvignon
75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Syrah
$14, 13.4% abv.
Blackberry and a touch of coffee, with firm tannins and a full-fruit profile. As it warms and breathes, a green tomato leaf aroma emerges. It's a solid Cabernet Sauvignon at a great price, and is ready to drink now.

2008 Buried Cane Heartwood Red Wine
78% Syrah, 10% Grenache, 7% Mourvedre, 5% Counoise
$25, 14.1% abv.
Rich elements of blueberry, chocolate, and a bit of coffee. A lot of wineries will toss in a cheap red blend in their profile that's made up of the various random grapes around the vineyard, but this "Red Wine" is really quite well blended in a great Rhone style. I loved this one with roasted lamb chops.


Note: These wines were received as samples.