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, 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
With an impression of richness, without being rich. Orange blossom, lemon zest, honey suckle abound in a focused aroma and palate that continues to deliver with layered complexity and sheer unadulterated pleasure!
Vineyard
The vineyards we work with are farmed using the most up to date sustainable practices.
Art Den Hoed (100%): Made entirely from Art Den Hoed’s vineyard in lower Yakima Valley, this site is unique because it sits at 1300 ft. in elevation, making it one of the cooler vineyards in the area with excellent air drainage. We source from two blocks of Viognier, the older planted in 2000 and the newest planted in 2006.
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TASTING NOTES BY WINEMAKER CHARLES SMITH
Dark brooding spice, cold ash, black plum again echoing the aroma in the mouth. Black fruit, wet stone and assorted olives.
Elegant to be sure.
TASTING NOTES BY WINEMAKER CHARLES SMITH
A floral aroma of black roses, cool sand and crushed gravel. A weight-defying wine that includes dark fruit, cured olives,
tanned leather, molasses, 60’s suede and a slap in the face with a bouquet of violets.
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.
Smooth tlike porcelain and aromas that echo the history of Syrah. Black pepper, forest floor, suede, pipe tobacco, lavender and flavors of the same and more for this earthbound wine.
Dried plum, sarsaparilla, stone on tongue and green olive. Mediun-bodied. Full-flavored. Flowless.
98 Points, Jeb Dunnuck (formerly of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate) (v2015)
“Made from 100% Syrah, the 2015 Syrah Powerline Vineyard is much more backward, brooding, and mineral-laced, with sensational notes of blackcurrants, cassis, crushed rock, and tapenade.
A true powerhouse on the palate, with terrific concentration, building tannin, and a great, great finish, it's a singular, incredible wine that does everything right.
Give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following decade.”
98 points, 2015vintage, Vinous/ Tanzer
“(from vines in a rocky ancient river bed): Saturated ruby-red. Complex musky nose melds blackberry, boysenberry, mocha, crushed rock, licorice and herbs.
Classically dry but smooth and suave, with purple fruit and graphite flavors lifted by black petter and complicated by a saline quality.
Hints of nuts and game contribute an element of wildness. A real essence of Syrah--a bit uncompromising today but with essentially easygoing tannins.”
Gorgeous. Intriguing. Perfumed. Aromas, flavors and mouthfeel are a riot of deliciousness. All
together like a thousand layered confection. Black cherry, lilac, olive tapenade, molasses and
yuzu. Sound delicious? IT IS!
Can you smell density? Well, I can in one whiff of this very heady Syrah. Compact and powerful. It unleashes black and red fruit, broken stone, iodine, hung meat upon the senses. Iron fist in a velvet glove. A wine for the ages.
TASTING NOTES BY WINEMAKER CHARLES SMITH
Black plum, Asian five spice, warm turned river stone and taut with tension. Seamless Syrah that persists with black olive, high-polished black shoe leather and beef jerky that keeps going and never gives in.
Say my name! The Beautiful, that’s right! A sophisticated perfume of Asian spice, camphor, black olive, undergrowth that continues on the palate. Black fruit compote, campfire. Fresh and as long as a Swedish Midsummer night. Did I say beautiful? Yes, I did
Multi-layered Syrah from the ancient soils of Northridge Vineyard. Super focused black cherry,
plum and lavender run riot in the nose. The palate is not to be outdone with black molasses,
velvet smoking jacket, wild mint, black crushed volcanic rock, silky tannins, vibrant energy and a persistence that cotinues the ridiculously long finish.
This wine walks into the room and announces, “I’m Royal City!” From the first whiff there is no doubt, uber complex nose, black olive, cured meat, camphor, forest floor with an ever expanding palate. Long and beguiling, this is Royal City.
95 Points, Wine Enthusiast (v2014)
“Coming from the Royal Slope, which no doubt will deservedly have its own appellation before long, enchanting aromas of ground rock, green olive, green stem, crushed flower and dark fruit lead to a panoply of fruit and savory flavors that shake the senses to the core, with smoked meat notes persisting on the long finish. It’s an intense experience but maintains a sense of balance that is heart stopping. Drink from 2020- 2027.”
98 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (v2013)
“A candidate for the wine of the vintage, the 2013 Syrah Royal City is as expansive, sexy and voluptuous as they get in the vintage, hands down. It’s deep ruby/purple color is followed by incredible notes of wild herbs, lavender, gamey meats, olive paste and sweet dark berry fruits. Full-bodied, relatively forward and charming, it still packs a wealth of material and has building tannin, all suggesting it will drink nicely for 10-15 years.”