Vinetown Seattle Wine Blog

I was a little skeptical about Obelisco Estate when I first walked into their new tasting room in the Woodinville warehouse district…everything was so slick and polished and new, and the posters looked very professionally designed.

Something worries me about a warehouse tasting room with professionally designed posters.

But those preconceptions lasted only as long as my glass was empty, for it only took one sip to realize that J. and I had stumbled onto something wonderful and unique.

©2010 Christopher Gronbeck

Obelisco Estate is a relatively new producer in Washington State, although the winemakers are plenty experienced.  They grow about 30 acres of fruit on their Red Mountain estate, and their vineyard is planted quite densely, so the grapes are hand harvested, and yields are low.

Obelisco produced five reds in 2008:  a Syrah, a Malbec, a Merlot, a Cabernet-dominant blend, and their signature Cabernet, which has won more medals than would comfortably fit around the neck of the bottle.

Every one of these wines was simply fantastic.  They were elegant, balanced, and rich but very restrained (hats off to Washington winemakers who have that word in their vocabulary).  There were gorgeous herbaceous flavors in all of their wines, just enough to add dimension without getting in the way.  You could taste the attention these wines received throughout their life, but they didn’t taste in the least like someone excessively meddled with them…it was obvious that the fruit was outstanding from the start, and the winemakers elevated it to even more amazing heights.

So, hearty congrats to Obelisco on their scrumptious wines and their new tasting room, fancy posters and all.  If you haven’t been to Woodinville in a while, Obelisco is reason alone to brave the short trip from Seattle…it’s a heck of a lot closer than Red Mountain.