Jolie Bouche syrah places at number 15 on the Wine Spectator's top 100 list.

The List

#7: Efesté 2009 Lola Chardonnay

“FOR MY sixth annual Wine Adviser Top 100 list I have decided to make the competition even tougher by including the wines of Oregon. As in years past, I've searched through a year's worth of tasting notes and selected one wine from each of 100 wineries. I choose the highest-scoring wine of the year for that winery, and every winery gets just a single slot on the list.”
-Paul Gregutt

The List

The Seattleite commemorated their year with a list of their top 10 finest features from 2011. We were surprised and honored to see a familiar article on that list: EFEST?: SOPHISTICATED WINE FROM A PUNK ROCKER.

The List

EFESTE featured in an article detailing the great quality wines being produced in Washington.

”Five Efeste wines rated outstanding or classic in this report, including its Syrah Yakima Valley Jolie Bouche Boushey Vineyard 2008 (95, $36), a sharply defined and beautifully expressive red that packs an enormous range of flavors into a taut, savory jet of deliciousness.

That wine demonstrates what consumers find so great-and potentially so frustrating-about Washington. Each glass delivers all kinds of expressiveness. The price is a steal for a wine with such depth and distinction. But it's not easy to find, as Efeste could only make 385 cases of it. And that is pretty much the situation for all the state's top-rated wines, with most produced in quantities of fewer than 500 cases.“

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Our Big Papa Cab weighs in at number 19 on the Seattle Metropolitan's 2011 Top 100 List.

“Winemaker Brennon Leighton used vines (from the Kiona, Klipsun, Sagemoor, and Weinbau vineyards) averaging 31 years in age to create this dark, glass-staining cab. It’s locked up tightly at present with aromas of mineral, the darkest of fruits, earth, and violets. Let it age: This is a lay-me-down wine if ever there was one.”

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Paul Gregutt examines the old definition of cult wines, and how we might view that idea differently with the rise of the Washington wine market.

“Winemaker Brennon Leighton, who cut his winemaking teeth working in Ste. Michelle’s Eroica Riesling project, sources outstanding fruit for his steely, acidic, exemplary whites and potent, tooth-staining reds. Efeste ¯ has been impressive from the very first (2005) vintage, and continues to show dramatic improvement.”

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"This beautiful wine did indeed blossom in the three years since we first tasted it, becoming even more elegant and full-bodied. In fact, the pretty mouth developed into a gorgeous mouthfeel."

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"This can stand with the best Chardonnays from California – textural, creamy, a delicious mix of lemon custard, meringue, caramel, papaya and toasted coconut."

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"Leighton is used to being called edgy, hip and rebellious — in other words, a rock n’ roll winemaker. These labels are likely generated from his ink, his outspoken personality and the time he spent in the Santa Cruz punk scene. While he doesn’t mind if others categorize him in this manner, it’s not an image that he directly pursues."

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Our Chardonnay, Lola 2009 recently appeared on an episode of Vine Talk featuring Washington Chardonnays. In the end, Lola won the audience tasting.

Episode Clips

This is as good as the best from California—textural, creamy, a delicious mix of lemon custard, meringue, caramel, papaya and toasted coconut. At one quarter the price of comparable bottles, this young wine just seduces from the instant it hits the tongue.

Editors’ Choice. —P.G.

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This new offering from rising star Efest¯e is a wine of amazing grace, polish and depth—a young wine with a dense core of berry fruit flavors, a wrapping of mineral and steel, ripe and tightly wound tannins, and notes of coffee and graphite stacked through the long finish.

Cellar Selection. —P.G.

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Inky black, thick and juicy with a mélange of berry flavors. Laced around the voluptuous fruit are threads of dark chocolate, and the wine seamlessly moves into a finish with even darker notes of toast, char and coffee grounds. For all of its power, it keeps the alcohol in the mid-14% range, with no burn at all.

—P.G.

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Released quite young, this is a wine to decant. It’s big and dark and tannic, tight as a tick, with grainy, textural tannins wrapped heavily around tart blue and purple berries. Though the flavors are pure Syrah, the structure and density are Cabernet-like, and though it’s a guess, the odds are this is a wine to cellar for at least a decade.

Cellar Selection. —P.G.

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Emmy is 70% Mourvèdre and 30% Syrah blend. The fruit expression is pure and powerful, an intense burst of raspberry and cranberry, anchored in mineral and chalk. Only neutral oak was used, so the fruit is framed beautifully by the acids and tannins, and it is so pure and resonant that it is hard to believe that this wine won’t age beautifully for a decade or more.

Cellar Selection. —P.G.

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"The fruit was sourced from the Evergreen vineyard, and shows that winemaker Brennon Leighton is as good as anyone making white wines in Washington. This wine rivals the best from California costing three times as much."

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A blog post in the Washington Wine Report details an interview with our winemaker Brennon Leighton, and gives a concise history and pholosophy of Efeste.

"EFESTE’s current lineup includes a dazzling selection of whites and reds. In terms of the whites, the most attention-getting is the chardonnay. Extraordinarily, this wine did not finish fermentation until the end of July the year after harvest. The 2009 Lola Chardonnay is an exultant expression of the varietal – the best I have had from Washington. It is a wine that will make you forget with a single glass everything that you dislike about Chardonnay"

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An article in the St. Louis Today about a local wine bar/bottle shop turns up a nice review of our Evergreen Riesling:

"The Efeste Riesling, which received 93 points from Wine Enthusiast, is dry but not bone-dry. This is a delicious wine with lots of finesse. It's crisp and snappy, with a refreshing acidity and a relatively low alcohol level of 11.5 percent."

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95 Points: Jolie Bouche - Dick Boushey Syrah 2008

"Focused, sharply defined and beautifully expressive, this packs an enormous range of red berry, pomegranate, tomato leaf and roasted beet flavor into a tight, taught, savory jet of deliciousness. Stylish, balanced and raucous all at the same time. Drink now through 2018."

94 Points: Eleni - Red Willow Syrah 2008

"Lithe, open-textured and beautifully focused to propel its currant, plum, mineral and rich meat flavors across a bed of refined tannins and into a long and blazing finish. Has exuberance, but finishes with balance. Drink now through 2018."

93 Points: Ceidleigh - Red Mountain Syrah 2008

"Earthy undertones add an air of mystery to this juicy, stylish mouthful of raspberry, blackberry, rose petal, soft leather and mature tobacco flavors, beautifully wrapped in fine tannins. Best from 2013 through 2018."

Lola 2009 Chardonnay #1: "Fruit sourced from the Evergreen vineyard once again proves that winemaker Brennon Leighton is as good as anyone making white wines in Washington. This can stand with the best Chardonnays from California..."

Eleni 2008 Syrah #9: "This new offering from rising star Efesté showcases fruit from the original Red Willow planting – the first Syrah planting in Washington state, now almost 25 years old. It’s a wine of amazing grace, polish and depth..."

Read Paul Gregutt's Blog Article

"When first opened, the 2009 Lola had me immediately gushing: 'This is as good as the best from California – textural, creamy, a delicious mix of lemon custard, meringue, caramel, papaya and toasted coconut. At one third the price of comparable bottles, this young wine just seduces from the instant it hits the tongue.'"


Read Paul Gregutt's Blog Article

The Seattleite named our 2007 Big Papa Old Block Cabernet Sauvignon and 2008 Feral Sauvignon Blanc among their "can't-miss" wines of 2011.

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