I'll have to admit that until recently I had never heard of Lobo Hills, but after tasting the wine...I want to know more. A few weeks ago I had a customer come in and ask me if I carry of these wines. I had never heard of them so I looked them up and emailed the winemaker. He (Tony) got back to me pretty fast and we setup a time for him to come by and taste me. Here is what I got to taste from this very little but promising winery.
2009 Lobo Hills Dry Rieslings, Yakima Valley
This was a wine I was looking forward to trying. To be open and honest, the wine was flat, but it was not the wines fault as the ride over on a BWM moto was to blame. Wine was clear with only a light hint of straw-like color. On the nose it was beautiful with a hint of light wet-rock, honeydew and just a hint of southern tree-fruit. On the palate, very clean and fruit forward yet the hint of fizz was gone, I know this wine is amazing and would love to try it again. I really like it and the price hovering around $12 with only 75 cases made...this is a perfect Riesling.
2009 Lobo Hills Right Bank Red Wine
This is a traditional right bank Bordeaux blend with a blend of 69% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Saugivnon, 5% Petite Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Deep color with notes of dark tree-fruit, hints of fig and a very light mint. The palate was awesome! This really is a great Bordeaux blend and I really think some of the local wineries from Woodinville could learn a lesson from Tony! I love it!
2008 Lobo Hills Fries Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Wahluke Slope
This is the left-bank wine form Lobo Hills, mostly Cab Sauv at 95% and 5% Red Mountain Syrah. Sees 24 months French oak (Vicard & Saury barrels)**side note...I love Vicard barrels! The wine does not seem like a heavy oak-bomb at all. Instead it is very rich with dark fruit showing very well, cherries and hints of vanilla but NOT like an over-extracted piece of shit like others I have tasted. Very well rounded, great structure and silky soft on the finish.
Overall these wines are great and I cannot wait to bring them into the shop. The reds taste like solid red from WA state without the influence from someone who is only making wines for Parker or Spectator. I'm sorry but when you have someone who makes wines like these you just want to tell them not to change and fuck all the other point scoring whores! Wines are all under $20 and I think that is perfect. If he can keep it there for a few more years while keeping production low, he will in fact become a winemaker that people will want to buy from. I truly believe that Tony is the NEW breed of winemakers that are coming out of Washington and yet we still have 100s of wineries that only care about getting points to sell their wines...there is no need here. This is what the people are asking for. Wines that are made well at a good price and that are fucking amazing! Tony...rip them a new asshole! Kudos!
Santo
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