We been following the Washington wine scene for a long time (we started selling Leonetti for example with the 1987 vintage) and have watched as a number of new labels (Quiceda Creek, Chaleur Estate, Cadence, L’Ecole #41, and the subject of today’s offering Andrew Will) were born and flourished. It wasn’t always easy, and it took a while for much of the wine world outside of Washington to pay attention.
Andrew Will has long been one of our favorites from the northwest and we have done a number of offers over the years, particularly with their Sorella bottling. Owner Chris Camarda was one of the early pioneers at the premium end, opening up shop way back in 1989 and then moving to Vachon Island, the winery’s current location, in 1994. They have always focused on terroir driven wines that expressed the vineyard (rather than a specific varietal) and have honed their craft over the decades. Chris was also pretty bold bottling non-varietal, vineyard-designated wines from a relatively new wine region back then. The whole ‘premium red wine’ thing, a la Opus, was still not widely accepted back then.
A recent tasting with Will Camarda (the ‘Will’ in Andrew Will, Andrew is his cousin) showed these guys are at the top of their game. In truth, however, as much as we have always loved what they do here, we probably haven’t been as active as we could have been because their outstanding vineyard bottlings were ‘priced accordingly’. We can’t blame them because the wines typically are worthy of the fare, impeccably produced with native yeasts and minimal intervention, well reviewed, and muy delicioso. But not everybody can swing at $50-80 wines which lead to more ‘measured’ opportunities from our marketing perspective. That, however, is part of what makes this offering very exciting.
Will returned to the vineyard full time in 2013, and is now winemaker and Sales Director, as well as the guy who might deliver their wine to stores and restaurants in Washington. It’s a family operation that produces about 5500 cases per year. Our aforementioned meeting with Will, besides showing off the ‘usual suspects’, also entailed things we had never seen before from Andrew Will…varietal bottings in black labels with lower prices and a value blend call ‘Involuntary Commitment’. Egads, what madness is this?! Well, as Will explained, they wanted to create bottlings at better price points that might find their way into more people’s hands and create more fans. Remarkably sensible.
To us, it is the perfect move. It’s a classic play on our theme of ‘little wines from top players’ which works in other parts of the world. Why not Washington? Our philosophy is that serious, committed producers have higher standards, and it will show in everything they do. That is definitely the case here. These new wines had the same dark chocolate and savory underpinnings, polished lines and honest, no-nonsense fruit impressions as the ‘big dogs’. The oak influence was understandably less, but it was clear the winery took them seriously.
The first wine we tasted in the lineup was the Involuntary Commitment 2018, a blend of 53% Cabernet Franc, 29.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 17.5% Merlot that spent 11 months in neutral barrels and was bottled unfiltered and unfined.
It made an immediate impression. So many times these days when we taste a value bottling, we pick up residual sugar and/or ‘doctoring’ notes. This tasted like…fine wine. Imagine that! Dark garnet color, elements in the nose of dark fruit, savory herbs, fresh tobacco (likely from the Cab Franc) and sweet earth, the fruit components spoke of cherry and red currant with evident notes of spice. Kind of Bordeaux-like in feel, but better made and with more personality than you will usually find at this kind of price.
Perhaps as telling was, when we finished the lineup with the high scoring Sorella bottling, we went back to retaste the Involuntary Commitment. It held its own. In the ‘blurb’ on the winery tech sheet we were presented it said, “We believe that with such great fruit coming out of our vineyards it would be shame not to spread the wealth.” Amen to that! Here’s a well priced wine you can have on a Wednesday and serve in a decanter on Sunday and it will play both roles. And at PRICE, you don’t have to take it seriously. But you can. A real surprise and striking value.