I really enjoyed last week’s media preview at El Gaucho of their tasting of Washington wine event, in a Sam-I-Am kinda way. (note: It was A taste of Washington, not to be confused with THE Taste of Washington.) Twelve of Washington’s best known wineries, including Cadence, Owen Sullivan, and Matthews Cellars, exhibited a few of their wares to a sell out crowd, and those of us freeloaders who got to sneak in prior to the throngs.Mark McNeilly, of Mark Ryan Winery, is best known for his big boy blends from the Red Mountain AVA, Long Haul and Dead Horse. But he showed his softer side with two downright pretty Viogniers. One was all crisp pear and blossoms, having seen only stainless steel. The other showed softer, richer fruit, more like mango salsa, from have mellowed out in oak for a spell. Some of the best Washington whites I’ve tasted lately are from winemakers who claimed to have been “just messing around.” Maybe more Washington winemakers should take whites less seriously.St. Michelle’s Ethos 2005 Chardonnay – Having just come from a 2005 Burgundy preview before tasting this wine (go ahead and hate on me, but it’s my job), I give this Chard high markes for balance and finesse because it could easily have fit in with some of the fruitier cru Burgundies of the same vintage–baked apple, great acidity, and a lingering taste that was the perfect mix of both.Oh yeah, there was a lot of red wine, too. L’Ecole #41’s 2004 Ferguson’s Reserve is a tribute to the orginal founders of the winery. On a par with their Apogee and Perigee blends, it had a very cool fresh blueberry aroma and liqueur-like intensity, while still being medium bodied. Woodward Canyon’s 2003 Estate Red is an ever changing blend, always Cab and Merlot dominated, that represents the best of their fruit for any given year, and how. Get in on the ground floor with their Nelm’s Road Merlot and Cab, a second label of the utmost value for Washington reds.The 2004 Sorella from Andrew Will was awesome–intensity and a layering of flavors that’s only going to get better if you can hide a bottle and wait a few years. The Sorella is made with Cabernet from vines that are 35 years old, that’s ancient history in Washington, but perfect grape-bearing age for any class act Cabs in the rest of the world. This Sorella, as other WA wines made from older vines, shows what our state can do and is something to aspire to. But it also reminded me of my beef with some Washington wines and makes me all the pissier about $40 bottles of sterile-tasting Merlot from pre-pube fruit. (and thus this post ends, much like a night of me drinking, on a instigative note)