Fielding Hills Winery Winery Wines Vineyards History Ratings Ordering Where to Buy Weblinks Newsletter /Events
Ratings Page
2006 Vintage (You can look at the
winemaker notes here and see some
tasting notes done by third party wine connoisseurs.)
2005 Vintage
2004 Vintage
2003 Vintage
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
2002 Merlot
2002 Syrah
2001 RiverBend Red
2000 Red Table Wine
2001 Merlot
2000 Merlot
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 Vintage Reviews and Ratings-
7/15/10 The Washington Wine Report blog has just posted a very nice article about our winery. The link is HERE
Exciting news. For
more info go to the Seattle Wine
Awards website.
May 13, 2010
Greetings!
On behalf of our esteemed 2010 Seattle Wine Awards Tasting Panel, please allow
me to extend this letter of
Congratulations!
It is our privilege to bestow this great honor of professional
consensus and recognize you for crafting truly exceptional Washington wine.
|
Double Gold |
2007 |
Fielding Hills Winery |
Cabernet Sauvignon — Riverbend Vineyard |
Riverbend Vineyard |
|
Double Gold |
2007 |
Fielding Hills Winery |
Merlot — Riverbend Vineyard |
Wahluke Slope |
|
Double Gold |
2007 |
Fielding Hills Winery |
Cabernet Franc — Riverbend Vineyard |
Wahluke Slope |
|
Gold |
2007 |
Fielding Hills Winery |
"Tribute" — Riverbend Vineyard |
Wahluke Slope |
|
Silver |
2007 |
Fielding Hills Winery |
Syrah — Riverbend Vineyard |
Wahluke Slope |
"Wine Peeps" has done another review/blog on our 2007 Syrah. Check it out HERE. Once on their site you can search for other reviews of our wines.
2007 Tribute- Score: 89 Notes: Dark and distinctive for an herbal streak that runs through the medium-weight dark berry and smoke flavors, lingering on the ripe finish. Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Drink now. 197 cases made. –HS
2007 Merlot- Score: 91 Notes: Supple, round and distinctive for its mint-infused cherry and blackberry flavors, beautifully polished in texture, with lovely floral accents on the finish. Drink now through 2014. 172 cases made. –HS
2007 Cabernet Franc- Score: 88 Notes: Supple, earthy and generous with its cherry and tobacco flavors, lingering on the spicy finish. Drink now through 2013. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 134 cases made. –HS
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Score: 91 Notes: Firm and smoky, this is packed with dark berry, cherry and mint flavors, finishing with density, but without a lot of weight, lingering impressively. Best from 2011 through 2017. 189 cases made. –HS
2007 Syrah- Score: 90 Notes: Firm in texture, with juicy, fleshy cherry, spice and tar flavors that sail easily over the slightly grippy tannins. Best from 2011 through 2015. 184 cases made. –HS
Wine Enthusiast 2007 Vintage scores are out!
95- 2007 Fielding Hills Cabernet Sauvignon; Notes: This is a spicy take on Cabernet, with some of the pepper and smoked meat character of Syrah coming through, despite the fairly small amount in the blend. The concentration of cassis and black cherry fruit is astonishing, matched with ripe tannins that hint at black olive. Despite the somewhat heavier oak influence, it is the fruit that stands front and center. - P. G. rated #39 in the world for
releases during 2009 (full list here); also
rated #6 in Wash. State releases.
93- 2007 Fielding Hills Syrah Notes: The Fielding Hills Syrah remains one of my favorites in a state loaded with great Syrahs, fruit-powered with spicy purple fruits, annotated with scents of game, anise, smoke and moist earth. The black and purple fruits dominate, as expressive and ripe as any Syrah in the state. It’s still young, a bit oaky, and relatively high in alcohol. Give it some bottle age and all the complexity will come into focus. - P. G.
93- 2007 Fielding Hills Merlot Notes: Succulent, liquorous, dense and tart—this is superb Washington Merlot. It is bursting with blueberry and black cherry fruit flavors, and has the highest percentage of Merlot ever for Fielding Hills. This wine is beautifully structured but big; give it plenty of breathing time, or cellar it for a few more years. - P.G.
91- 2007 Fielding Hills Tribute Red; Notes: This Tribute is all estate-grown. The bouquet immediately grabs you with a rich mix of smoke, jam, brioche, and new oak, much in keeping with past vintages. About three quarters of the oak is new, and mostly American. It’s a bit more broadly open right now than some of the other new releases. It displays the usual lush fruit flavors from this exceptional vineyard. - P. G.
90- 2007 Fielding Hills Cabernet Franc; Notes: Like the winery’s Merlot, it’s quite liquorous at the moment, but also full of ripe fruits—raspberry, blueberry, boysenberry. As it opens in the glass the varietal flavors begin to emerge, with hints of coffee and light herb. - P. G.
2006 Vintage Fielding Hills Ratings
Web link to a recent (9/14/09) article on a blind tasting of several California and Washington Syrahs. Link is HERE
(tasting notes can be found on the spec sheets located
on the Wines page)
92 Fielding Hills
2006 Riverbend Vineyard Tribute Red (Wahluke Slope); $32.
Tribute is 41%
Syrah, 30% Merlot and 27% Cabernet Sauvignon , all estate grown.
The bouquet opens immediately into a fascinating complexity.
What wafts up from the glass is a heady mix of incense, smoke, jam,
toast, iron and herb– you can spend a pleasant 10 or 15 minutes just
counting all the threads.
Spicy, loaded with raspberry and strawberry fruit, gentle acids and silky
tannins, this glides comfortably into a tangy finish. –P.G.
91 Fielding Hills 2006 Riverbend
Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Wahluke Slope); $38.
In the blend are small portions of 6%
Syrah, 3% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc– winemaker Mike Wade is a meticulous
blender– and the nuanced character is immediately apparent.
Seductive scents mix black cherry, nutmeg and toffee, leading into
rich red and black fruits, licorice and smoke. Just a hint of earth and herb
highlight the lightly tannic finish.—P. G.
90 Fielding Hills 2006 Riverbend
Vineyard Merlot (Wahluke Slope); $36.
Included in the blend is 11% Cabernet
Sauvignon and 9% Syrah, all estate-grown.
It shows both the broadness and the depth of Washington Merlot,
mixing plumy fruit with streaks of tobacco and licorice.
There’s a suggestion of earth and a savory aspect to the finish,
which exits smoothly and softly, with a last kick of cinnamon. –P. G.
94 Fielding Hills 2006 Riverbend Vineyard Syrah (Wahluke Slope); $40. Bold and forward, this estate-grown Syrah fairly explodes with scents of game, cured meat and smoke. The black cherry and cassis fruit forms a dense and sappy core; as the wine skips across the tongue nuances of tobacco, sweet leather, chocolate and spices come into play. It just keeps on going, adding caramel and peppery chocolate through an evolving and satisfying finish. Editor’s Choice. -P. G.
92 Fielding Hills 2006 Riverbend Vineyard Cabernet Franc (Wahluke Slope); $30
Fielding Hills
The ratings below are from the 11/12/08 Insider Edition of WS. The 06 Cab was a "Hot Buy"!
Fielding HillsFielding Hills
Washington CEO magazine rates Washington State wines in their April 2008 edition. See page 56 here.
2005 Vintage:
Wine Spectator
Wine Enthusiast (will be in the May 2008 edition)
93 Editors Choice Fielding Hills 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
93
Editors Choice
Fielding Hills
2005 Merlot
92
Fielding Hills
2005
Syrah
91
Fielding Hills
2005
Riverbend Red
89
Fielding Hills
2005
Cabernet Franc
Paul Gregutt Blog 4/20/08... very nice comments as he rates verticals of our Cab and Merlot
2004 Vintage:
Perhaps our best showing ever in a blind tasting were the
results in the Seattle Wine Awards 2007 Grand Awards of Excellence. Our
2004 Merlot, Syrah, and RiverBend Red all earned Gold Medals. You can
click here to see the page of the summary
of the awards. I highlighted our Gold medals in yellow. An extraordinary
lineup of judges, and over 450 wines submitted. We were very pleased to
recieve 3 golds. You can also go to www.seattlewineawards.com
for more information. The press release for these awards went out at the
end of May. We are surprise there has been so little press!
March 2007 edition of Wine Enthusiast features Fielding Hills
2004 Merlot in their cover story article about the top 45 Merlots of the world!
This article includes an amazing picture of several bottles of wine, with ours
front and center! What fun.
February 2007 Wine Spectator edition has the
following ratings:
FHW 2004 Cab Sav ranks #3 in Seattle Times top 100 Washington State wines of 2006. Click Here for article.
95 points CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Dark, tannic and smoky, this has more tobacco flavor than the other two reds in
this series. Muscular, dense and
tight, it offers cassis, raspberry and sappy, delicious red fruits.
This is very young, very tight, but already nuanced with extraordinary
notes of leaf and clean herb. It’ll
be interesting to see where it goes in 5 – 10 years.
P.G.
93 points RIVERBEND RED
Great color, plush aromas and mouth feel. It
sets up in the mouth with intense, varied flavors including blackberry, black
cherry, black licorice and more. The
young berry fruit scents are sensational, wrapped tight, and the oak is gently
applied (76% new) and lends a pleasing milk chocolate smoothness to the finish.
Keeps its focus thanks to acrobatic balance and simply beautiful fruit.
Ripe, tangy berries, consistent with the house style- a tight spine of firm
tannin and bright acid. There's a
good meaty quality in the midpalate and plenty of vanilla.
I think there is a lot of compact flavor in hiding, right now its showing
a lot of spice (from the 12% syrah blended in?) and vanilla (from the barrel).
P.G.
This is classic Washington Syrah, the nose explodes the glass, and it has all
the marks of what makes
This is a lighter, more approachable than the other Fielding reds, with
strawberry and cherry fruit and good acidity.
Though it does not quite carry the weight of the others, it has wonderful
balance, and it is perhaps the most approachable of the new releases, drinking
beautifully, with a satiny smooth finish that slides across the palate.
Absolutely seamless and poised. P.G.
11/29/06 Wine Spectator Online Edition:
Fielding
Hills
Syrah Wahluke Slope 2004
93 points | $32 | 176 cases made | Red
Fielding Hills, a modestly sized winery on the remote
Wahluke Slope of
wines like this. A blast of black cherry and
roasted game bird flavors wrap themselves in a warm
almost cuddly as it
lingers effortlessly. Drink now
through 2014. – H.S
(From the Seattle Times 10/18/06 Wine Advisor, Paul Gregutt) Fielding
Hills 2004 RiverBend Red; $28. How to pick one, when all of the new
Fielding Hills releases are so beautifully crafted? Try this red blend; it has
great color, plush aromas and mouthfeel and sets up in the mouth with intense,
varied flavors including blackberry, black cherry, black licorice. The young
berry fruit scents are sensational, wrapped tight and the oak is gently applied
and lends a pleasing milk-chocolate smoothness to the finish. Acrobatic balance
and gorgeous fruit.
Ratings
from soon to be released Wine Enthusiast Magazine "Best of the Year
Edition" to go on sale December 2006:
95
Fielding Hills 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Wahluke Slope $30
94 Fielding Hills 2004 Syrah Columbia Valley (WA) $32
94 Fielding Hills 2004 Merlot Wahluke Slope $32
93 Fielding Hills 2004 RiverBend Red Blend Wahluke Slope $28
91 Fielding Hills 2004 Cabernet Franc Wahluke Slope $28
2003 Vintage
Washington CEO magazine (February 2007 edition) has article on "Wine Speaks the Language of Love", by Christina Kelly. She writes about our 2003 Syrah and says: "A classic Washington state syrah with big aromas, spice, smoke, blackberry, and cherry flavors. Perfect for a sensual evening." To see the full article click HERE.
WINE ENTHUSIAST
MAGAZINE
Dear Mike,
Congratulations! The following wine has been selected as one of
Wine Enthusiast Magazine Top 100 Wines for 2005.
Wine Enthusiast will be publishing the ranking, rating and review in our Best of
Year Issue in the "Top 100" section, in the front of the book.
This issue is on-sale December 9.
Rank:
#99 Editors Choice 95
Fielding Hills 2003 Merlot Columbia Valley (WA) $28.00
Click here for the link to the entire list of 100... be sure to check out #99!
Fielding Hills 2003 Cabernet Franc; $26. Loaded with currant, cherry, cinnamon, chalk, earth, tobacco, graphite, butter, toast smoke, coffee.
Top Ten list from Paul Gregutt's 10/30/05 article in Seattle Times- (complete article here)
Fielding Hills 2003 Merlot; $28. A brilliant effort from this emerging superstar winery. The vibrant fruit is polished to a fine luster with perfectly applied oak "seasoning" that adds toast, butter, coconut, cedar and smoke, lifted with scents of tobacco, citrus and leaf.
All In The Family:
Fielding Hills at Waterfront Seafood Grill (Seattle Times 10/30/2005) Complete article is here
Fielding Hills Winery, located in the Wenatchee area, makes about 800 cases a year of red wines from grapes grown at their RiverBend Vineyards in Mattawa. Owners Mike and Karen Wade are primarily apple and cherry growers. Karen, who manages the marketing while Mike handles the vineyard and winemaking, modestly calls the winery "a small, glorified hobby."
Nonetheless, their first few vintages have impressed a number of critics, myself included, with their balance, clarity, definition and complexity. The Wades release all the wines at the same time. When the first group was ready to be introduced, in the summer of 2002, they decided, Karen explains, to have a dinner. "We actually had wine in the bottle, and it was drinkable! We wanted to celebrate getting 'on the map,' so to speak."
The annual dinner has become so successful that this year, for the first time, they hosted a second event in Seattle. The menu planning is straightforward; "Mike," says Karen, "likes things smart yet simple." Fruit and cheese with a bit of bubbly for the reception/welcome; a salad course with the merlot (Mike likes iceberg lettuce); a palate-cleansing sorbet (a family tradition); a beef course with the two main reds; and a dessert, preferably chocolate, to accompany the two newest wines, a syrah and a cabernet franc.
Waterfront was chosen as the Seattle venue because, says Karen, it is the only restaurant in town carrying Fielding Hills on its wine list. Though it's not one of the wine dinners initiated by the restaurant, it fits the same general mold, and offers its guests the pleasures of tasting new, hard-to-find wines, served in a classy, comfortable yet informal atmosphere, with the owners and winemakers right at hand.
Unlike a large tasting event, such as Taste Washington, these casual dinners provide an extended opportunity to meet and talk with winery owners, who eagerly want every guest to feel like a close friend, not a customer. "Sometimes during the menu planning the chef just rolls his eyes," says Karen, "but for us it's more about celebrating the release of the vintage than a true gourmet pairing of the food and the wine." Gourmet you can find in many places, but a genuine welcome and a chance to dine like a member of the family, well, that's special.
From Paul Gregutt's article in the October 5, 2005 edition of
the Seattle Times: (see full article HERE)
Fielding Hills
This
red-wine specialist has just released its fourth vintage, and as I tasted
through these five wines I completely ran out of superlatives. I don't believe I
have ever given such rave reviews to an entire lineup of wines from a young
winery. A good place to start is with the 2003 Merlot ($28), a brilliant,
polished, beautifully nuanced wine that may be as good as any
The
winery's cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, syrah and RiverBend red releases
(all $26-$30) follow suit; spectacular wines. The RiverBend vineyard fruit plays
a big part in their success, but owner/winemaker Mike Wade is equally important.
He has a natural gift for crafting elegant, expressive wines.
The editors at Wine Enthusiast have rated and reviewed the following wines and will be in the buying guide of the December 15th issue: 95 Editors Choice Fielding Hills 2003 Merlot Columbia Valley (WA) $28 94 Editors Choice Fielding Hills 2003 Cabernet Franc Columbia Valley (WA) $26 94 Editors Choice Fielding Hills 2003 Syrah Columbia Valley (WA) $32 93 Editors Choice Fielding Hills 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley (WA) $30 93 Editors Choice Fielding Hills 2003 RiverBend Red Red Blend Columbia Valley (WA) $28
Article from the Seattle Times 3/9/2005: Page D4 headline:
Selection of obscure rising stars
We were one of 10 wineries highlighted by wine writer Paul Gregutt. To
see the entire article go to:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/wineadviser/2002201080_winecol09.html
Fielding Hills 2002 Syrah
Fielding Hills is headquartered in an orchard in East Wenatchee, on a spectacular site overlooking the river. The first wines were made in 2000, with grapes from the Riverbend vineyard in Mattawa, which winery owners Mike and Karen Wade planted in 1998. Total production is limited to a few hundred cases and the focus is on red wines: merlot, cabernet, syrah and a blend of the three called Riverbend Red.I first found these wines on a trip through Columbia Cascade country last summer. In several subsequent tastings, I have been extremely impressed by the balance, clarity, definition and complexity they show. Any of the Fielding Hills wines would be a great candidate for a rising-star tasting, but the syrah seems like a great choice because there are so many excellent syrahs made in Washington, yet this one really stands out.
The fruit is young and spicy, with good peppery character, and there is plenty of new oak, but not so much that the natural expression of the grape is buried.
Wines may be purchased directly by calling 509-884-2221.
2002 Vintages
The editors at Wine Enthusiast
have rated and reviewed the following wines.
Wine Enthusiast will be publishing the ratings and reviews in the buying
guide of the June 2005 issue.
91 Fielding Hills 2002 Merlot Columbia Valley (WA) $28
90 Fielding Hills 2002 Riverbend Red Red Blend Columbia Valley (WA) $28
90 Fielding Hills 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley (WA) $28
88 Fielding Hills 2002 Syrah Columbia Valley (WA)
Wine Spectator Tasting notes and ratings of the
2002 vintage releases:
2002
Merlot: “Polished,
generous style offers a lively core of blackberry and cherry fruit wrapped with
firm tannins and a touch of olive as the flavors linger. Drink now through 2008.
50 cases made.”
2002 Syrah: “Crisp and appealing for its pretty berry and peppery oak flavors, nicely melded on the lithe, harmonious finish. Drink now.”
2001 Vintages
Excerpt from the7/17/03 Wine Spectator Weekly:
We submitted our 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon to the Los Angeles County Fair Wine Competition and in June of 2003 we were awarded a SILVER MEDAL for our wine in the limited production (less than 2,500 cases produced) 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon category. You can use this link to jump to the LA County Fair competition web site. Click here to see the category results. Being a proud producer, Mike is still struggling with not receiving a Gold rating!
February 5, 2003; Wine Press Northwest Bob Woehler had these comments:
The Winter 2002 edition of Wine Press Northwest rated of all 3 of our 2000 wines:
Wine Spectator; October 15, 2002
"Outstanding; superior character and style"
Wow, I have in my hands the October 15, 2002 edition of the Wine Spectator. On page 137 are the entries for Washington State Cabernet Sauvignons. Listed is our 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon rating a 91 points! (For those of you who cannot believe this you can click here to see a portion of page 137.)
95-100 -- Classic; a great wine
90-94 -- Outstanding; superior character and style
80-89 -- Good to very good; wine with special qualities
70-79 -- Average; drinkable wine that may have minor flaws
60-69 -- Below average; drinkable but not recommended
50-59 -- Poor; undrinkable, not recommended
For complete information about W/S ratings you can jump to their web site and explanation by clicking HERE