I have been on a Washington State soap box for ten years now, touting the quality to price ratio of their wines.  When guests come in to my ABC for advice, they love to share with me the details of their exciting vacation to "Wine Country". My response is always the same: "So how was the weather in Seattle and Walla Walla?" They look at me like I am delusional and respond "Seattle? I was talking about Napa Valley or Sonoma in California." I always get a pair of listening ears when I come back with "Napa Valley and Sonoma? Do they make wine there too?" I love vacationing in Napa Valley and Somona and doing wine tastings etc. I also recognize that the #1 wine on last year's Top 100 List from Wine Spectator was the 2007 Saxum James Barry Vineyard Syrah from Paso Robles, California. I've had the wine and it is spectacular. I also shelled out $80 for this high scoring effort. I really believe that when it comes to the grape Syrah/Shiraz that even better than the French, no one does it better than Washington State.

Stop accusing me of having dementia. There are over 700 wineries in Washington State, 36,000 acres of vineyards producing 14 million cases of wines per year, only 2nd to the state of California. By the way, I know you still think I have more than one screw loose , but I am not the only crazy person here. Jason Smith, the beverage director of The Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas has recently just removed a huge amount of California wines off of the hotel's wine list (especially Syrah) and replaced them with Syrahs from Washington State. He was also quoted in the Dec 15th issue of Wine Spectator saying "I would take a Washington Syrah in most cases over anything from the Northern Rhone Valley of France." That's a pretty bold statement considering the big bold Syrahs from areas like Crozes Hermitage and Cornas in the Northern Rhone.

 Enter stage left, Dave and Cecile Larsen from Soos Creek Winery in Kent, Washington. They operate a small family winery since 1989. They are mostly known for their Bordeaux red blends. 2007 was their first 100% Syrah debut. The grapes are sourced from the three best vineyards for Syrah in the state: the Boushey vineyard, the Riverbend and the Lewis. Cecile said that her husband Dave is so busy during the fall season in the vineyards that he looks like a comet. Hence the name of the wine: Commander Comet.  The perfume of this wine after 30 minutes of breathing, is like grandma's homemade blueberry pie. On the palate, silky lush black and blue fruits just glide across the tongue finishing with a slight pepper spice and a hint of licorice. It is just such an easy wine to drink with a lot of finesse and ripe, sweet fruit. The retail price on this great wine is $21.99. So many of my guests are Syrah/Shiraz fans and they always say, "Larry, I want you to pick me out an O.K everyday Syrah but nothing that breaks the bank." My guests and I agree that at $21.99, but drinks like $50-$60, the 2007 Soos Creek Commander Comet is waaaaaay more than just an "O.K-Syrah, Syrah"

 Larry Baker is the wine consultant at our Pembroke Pines store. You can tap in to more of his wine musings on his personal website, www.larrythewineguy.net.