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The winners of the 2005 Northwest Enological Society judging of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho wines were presented to society members at a formal dinner at the edge of Seattle's Lake Washington. Winemakers rely on awards from this judging and others to know if their wines are meeting popular tastes and to draw the attention of consumers. Photo by Hannelore Sudermann.

Seattle Again

Washington wine today is a tangle of trends. Pinot versus merlot, Riesling back in style, new appellations sprouting across the landscape, and both growers and drinkers wondering what grape they should grow next.

But that's all good news for members of the now three-decade-old Northwest Enological Society, who hosted their latest wine judging in August. They're ever willing to support and sample from Washington's wealth of wines. This year they had bottles from 190 wineries to try, including some from WSU alumni-connected wineries like Alexandria Nicole Cellars, Kiona Vineyards and Winery, Kestrel Vintners, and newcomer Saint Laurent Winery. Among the submissions were muscat, ice wine, and lemberger, as well as the traditional chardonnays and Bordeaux blends.

They met early one morning last August on the 40th floor of the glass-encased Bank of America Building in downtown Seattle. While busloads of people on their way to work poured into the streets below, the attention upstairs focused on the judges silently tasting wines in their cardboard booths. The volunteers in an adjoining room, though busy opening bottles and prepping trays of glasses, did a little sampling of their own.

Sally Hooper picked a glass of Viognier, sipped, and raised her eyebrows. This was one of the perks of dedicating two long days of pouring, washing, and toting, a duty Hooper ('57 Home Ec.) and her husband, Paul ('53 Civ. Engr.), have shared for the past decade. The couple joined the wine society in its second year at the urging of friends, but only 10 years ago got into helping with the judging. "This is a tough job to get. Everyone wants to do it," says Paul Hooper, a retired transportation engineer.

In the other room, the five judges, including a wine writer from the Washington Post and a California winemaker, finished their rounds and then argued through what they thought deserved awards. Snippets of their talk filtered back to the prep room: the merlots were too syrupy, none merited a gold. Later, word came that the Viogniers had some pleasant surprises and the Syrahs were sublime.

That night, the Hoopers and a few hundred of their wine society friends heard the final rulings at Bellevue's Woodmark Hotel. Sitting beneath a white tent, with the waves of Lake Washington chopping behind them, they learned that three of the Syrahs had met the gold standard.

On the edge of his seat, Glenn Nelson made careful notes, limiting his enthusiasm to a smile when one of his favorites made the list. Others weren't so reserved, cheering and clapping at familiar names.

Nelson, who coordinates many of the wine society events during the year, and his wife, Judy, planned their week around this evening. They manage to fit wine into many of their activities, even tying trips to Walla Walla into WSU football weekends. "It just makes sense, doesn't it," says Judy, who was sampling a Cave B merlot during the salad course. "We love wine, we love WSU."

Along with the state's wine industry, the Northwest Enological Society has matured over the past 30 years. Today, the group has chapters throughout the region, the largest being the Seattle Wine Society, which hosted the judging and dinner. The membership still numbers in the hundreds, but now the society competes with a growing number of other wine clubs based out of wine shops, wineries, and even Boeing, proving that Washingtonians have cultivated a real taste for wine. They'll be ready for the growth to come, say industry leaders.

In the past year, pieces about the state's fast-growing wine industry have appeared in the food and travel sections of most major papers and in periodicals such as Town and Country, Time, Men's Health, and Newsweek. The word has long been out that Walla Walla can produce world-class Cabernets, that in the beginning Riesling was king, and that today Washington is the second largest U.S. state in wine-production and grape acreage.

"But we've only scratched the surface," says Baseler. "I figure the state will have 40,000 to 45,000 acres of grapes over the next five years.

"We'll be the same size as Napa," he says. "Then it starts to get serious."

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