K Vintners
Charles Smith’s explosion onto the world wine scene has been nothing less than phenomenal. Winemaker Charles Smith managed Rock & Roll bands in Europe for 11 years before moving to Walla Walla and starting K Vintners on a shoestring. While Charles’ wines radiate the excitement of his Rock & Roll roots, they are grounded in serious quality and value. Charles bottles his brands under several labels. Charles Smith Wines are made for the way that most wines are being consumed today - the day that they are purchased - and are equal parts accessible, affordable and top quality. Charles also produces some of the most interesting and highly rated Syrah in America under his original K Vintners label. K Vintners’ wines are made in very small quantities and are crafted to appeal to the most discriminating connoisseurs. In the past 10 years Charles Smith Wines and K Vintners have garnered 66 scores of 95 points and above and over 300 scores of 90 points and above from the leading U.S. wine publications : Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, and Wine Enthusiast.
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| Website | houseofsmith.com/brands/kvintners-wines/ |
|---|---|
| Country | America |
| Region | Washington |
| Appellation | Ancient Lakes, Columbia Valley, Snipes Mountain, Yakima Valley, Royal Slope, Washington State, Walla Walla Valley, Wahluke Slope |
From this Winery
TASTING NOTES BY WINEMAKER CHARLES SMITH
Dark and deep. Rich blackberry, black cherry, creme de cassis, mouth-filling and unctuous. Cracked pepper, amaro, cool ash, dried orange rind and blatantly delicious. More complete than complete.
TASTING NOTES BY WINEMAKER CHARLES SMITH
Oozing with flavor and personality. No shrinking violet here. Yet violets, black tea, and black raspberry rise from the glass to give way to a powerful structure laden with wet earth, nori, crushed rock, black plum, and cold fireplace ash. Exhilarating with every sip – satisfying with every mouthful!
VINTAGE NOTES
The 2019 vintage was on the cooler side as it started slow with later-than-usual bud break and continued on to be fairly moderate throughout the year. Some vineyards had issues with an October freeze a bit earlier than usual, but our high-elevation vineyards have great air drainage which allows us to extend the growing season late into October without freeze. This yielded fantastic ripening and some awesome wines with incredible balance and character. Overall, we are excited about the wine produced in 2019, which has brought us more finesse, incredible flavors and lovely balance.
VINEYARDS
Clifton Hills Vineyard (50%)
Owned and farmed by the Milbrandt family, this vineyard is a vigor-limiting mix of stone strewn sand transitioning over the first two feet of soil to deep glacially deposited gravel. These soils are extremely well drained allowing total control of the canopy.
Northridge Vineyard (50%)
Loamy, fine sand over silica limestone, these ancient soils above the Missoula Flood plain are some of the best to grow fruit. This site is higher elevation and has cooler evenings, which creates later ripening, lots of minerality and concentration. A hidden gem!
WINEMAKING
Varietal Breakdown: 100% Syrah
Appellation: Wahluke Slope
Production: 3.1 tons per acre, native yeast, 100% whole cluster fermentation, 42 days on skins | 17 months barrel-aged on lees in 30% new French oak puncheons
Wine Analysis: 5.3 g/L titratable acidity, 3.95 pH, 14% alcohol, no residual sugar
TASTING NOTES BY WINEMAKER CHARLES SMITH
I am in awe. Where do I start? I am completely fascinated by this wine. It punches way above its weight class. It starts with crushed volcanic rock, black raspberry, mint and fresh ground espresso, then continues on, asking you to explore its complexity with forest floor, black cherry, cedar box, dark soy and crushed fresh grain. This is wonderful. This is grand. This is perfection in a glass!
Exotic aromas rise from the glass. Mango, orange peel and honeysuckle lead the parade to the palate.
Supple, pleasing with depth, elegance and hints of apricot, apple blossom, star anise and a kiss of brioche.
Carry this all the way to the long satysfying finish. This Viognier is a true revelation.
Tasting Notes by Winemaker Charles Smith
All-encompassing. Dense, rich, action packed. Explosive dark cherry, huckleberry, black olive. Ash, grilled herb, wet earth. Great intensity, taut and balanced. This has it all and more!
From the get go, this wine says Tempranillo! From the exhilarating color to its familiar sights and sounds of suede, warm sand, black
plum, a tobacco-filled garden. A deep red brick sturdiness that speaks to its pedigree. Spanish spoken here!
The Boy is a wine unto itself. Individual in every way. Layer upon layer. Seamless with certainty. A masterpiece to be experienced.
Bold, intense and unique, the wine speaks loudly of black raspberry and wild blueberry, Bing cherry, lavender, thyme and sage brush. It lavishes us with sun drenched stone, black licorice, fresh basil, river rock and rose. This is what Walla Walla smells and tastes like on a beautiful summer day.
If blue and black had a flavor, this would be it. Leather, blackberry, blueberry, gravel, coffee and molasses. Dense and concentrated, yet translucent purity. Majestic malbec: generous, delicious, divine.
Absolutely Cabernet Sauvignon in style but co-fermented with Syrah to give seamless balance. Black currant, cedar box, fresh tobacco, and pencil lead. So much finesse and length. Blackberry, fire ash, and a mineral palate that keeps on saying ‘The Creator!’
From the ancient soils of the Wahluke slope, a dark-dense structure goes on forever. Black currant, wild sage, black plum, fresh mushroom, and crushed rock make this serious wine sing with focus while delivering black raspberry, cigar wrapper, black pepper, and wet earth. Broodily serious and rockin’!
The quintessential Royal City. Dark and complex. Black cherry, black currant, black coffee. Cardamon and wet rock. Subtly layered with velvet tension. Thyme, anise, cured meats, and black tea complete things.
