Last month saw the Washington Wine Commission host the Taste Washington event, which showcased wines from 45 wineries in the region. For the event in Ebisu at the Westin Hotel's Galaxy Ballroom on Jan. 29, wine enthusiasts gathered from all over Tokyo eager to sample wines from a location that, while relatively new to the fine-wine market, is already creating a significant buzz.
Though the flat planes of Washington's wine country have none of the romance of the rolling terrain native to neighboring Oregon, the region's hot summers are ideal for nurturing blockbusting grape varieties such as syrah, merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Low-cost farmland was the catalyst for the huge expansion of the wine industry, with its rapid rate of growth spiking astonishingly during 1999, when a new winery was trademarked every 13 days on average.
Because the growth of the region occurred so recently, vine stocks are relatively young and many vineyards buy their fruit from other Washington grape farmers rather than tend their own fields. Typically the intense fruit flavors of Washington wines will last around eight years, and bottles ought to be drunk no later than this date. Though the land has the potential to produce more sophisticated wine that can mellow pleasantly with age, it has been difficult for winemakers to unlock the soil's hidden possibilities given the youth of the vine stock.