Outrageous Wine Alert!!!

Charles Smith, the elusive and enigmatic maestro of operations at K Vintners in Walla Walla, has just muscled his way onto the global wine stage. Sure, K Vintners for several years now has been a cult wine darling of those in the know about Washington State wines. But recently Charles released three wines that have pushed his winery to a new level. These three wines, named in true Charles Smith fashion, Heart, The Skull and Old Bones are three of the most powerful and highly scored wines in the history of Washington State. The Heart, the Skull and the Old Bones received scores of 97, 98 and 99 points respectively. It can safely be said that K Vintners is now flying in the rarefied atmosphere occupied by the likes of Leonetti, Cayuse and Quilceda Creek.Ten combined cases of these three wines are headed to Chicago this week and HouseRed is going to be lucky enough to get an allocation (few bottles).

2005 Charles Smith Wines “The Skull” Syrah $110

Charles made a whopping 191 cases of this wine and the Syrah fruit comes from a vineyard up on the Royal Slope in the Columbia Valley appellation. Charles has so far refused to reveal its exact location and other winemakers in Walla Walla have started joking about trailing him or hiding a GPS indicator in his car. This wine received 98 points in the latest issue of The Wine Advocate, with a suggested drinking window, gulp, of 2017 - 2035.

tasting notes: "One sip almost blew my head off...HUGE…black hole…leather…gunpowder…like getting shot in the face with a shotgun blast of blackberry buckshot…how many years until opening?”

2005 Charles Smith Wines “Heart” Syrah $110

190 cases of the Heart were made and the fruit is also from up on Royal Slope. In his review of the wine, Dr. Jay Miller wrote, “the 2005 Heart Syrah is whole berry fermented with aging for 24 months in seasoned French barrels. All of Smith’s wines are fermented with native yeasts and bottled without fining or filtration. It gives off a room-filling bouquet of cedar, leather, mineral, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. Opulent, powerful, and layered on the palate, it conceals enough structure to see the wine through another 6-8 years of evolution. It will be at its best from 2015 to 2030. 97 points.”

2005 Charles Smith Wines “Old Bones” Syrah $140 SOLD OUT!!!

Charles only made 105 cases of the Old Bones and to make it Charles took barrels of the Heart and the Skull and blended them together. He then aged the wine in brand new 500 liter puncheons. Dr. Jay Miller awarded this wine 99 points and wrote, “the 2005 Syrah Old Bones is a blend of The Heart and The Skull, but aged in 500-liter barrels. It is more complex, opulent, and totally hedonistic. It will be at its best from 2017 to 2035."