8 Super Washington Wines Up to 93 Points

Washington state's Columbia Valley is one of the most versatile winegrowing regions in the world. Located east of Seattle, beyond the towering Cascade Range, the Columbia Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) sprawls 11 million acres with more than a dozen subappellations, including Red Mountain and Walla Walla Valley. Today, Columbia Valley offers consumers a broad palette of wines made from grapes such as Chardonnay and Riesling for whites and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Grenache for reds. Our latest Tasting Highlights demonstrates that diversity with a range of newly released wines.

DeLille Cellars was founded in 1992 by partners Chris Upchurch, Jay Soloff and Greg and Charles Lill, and the winery specializes in Bordeaux and Rhône grapes. The winery's dynamic Le Dessein bottling, this lists' top-scoring wine, is a blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah that director of winemaking Jason Gorski and his team harvested from five vineyards, including Boushey and Ciel du Cheval. Individual lots were aged separately for 16 months in neutral oak, creating a wine with structure and personality.

This lineup also includes Top Source's Grenache-Syrah Columbia Valley 2021, a perky red with cherry and black pepper notes. Read on to get our score and full tasting note for this excellent Washington state wine and seven others.

Tasting Highlights' wine reviews are fresh out of the tasting room, offering a sneak peek of our editors' most recent ratings—including scores and full tasting notes—to WineSpectator.com members.

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