Located at the base of the Blue Mountains in Walla Walla (Washington State), Charles Smith opened his first winery, K Vintners, in December of 2001. The first release, 1999 K Syrah from Walla Walla Valley, initiated the style of winemaking that Charles continues today: small lots of single vineyard Syrahs and field blends of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Tempranillo, and Viognier, all of which are hand-picked, fermented with naturally occurring yeasts and basket pressed.
B Leighton Petit Verdot is made from 100 percent Petit Verdot.
Beautiful, lively and focused at first approach. Expressing black cassis, blackberry, brambles and thyme combining with crushed gravel, pencil shavings and floral notes. It is a fantastic expression of Petit Verdot that is rich and velvet on the palate, all at the same time. So much depth and length it seriously takes your breath away.
Review:
Lastly, the 2016 Petit Verdot comes from a higher elevation block and was brought up in 40% new French oak. It has a great bouquet of white pepper, chocolatey dark fruits, tobacco, and a kiss of violets to go with a full-bodied, incredible elegant profile on the palate. You don’t find Petit Verdot with this level of finesse very often, and it has silky tannins, good mid-palate concentration, and a great finish. It’s another stunning wine from Leighton I’d be thrilled to drink over the coming 10-15 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
B Leighton Petit Verdot is made from 100 percent Petit Verdot.
Dark and brooding. Vibrant, beautiful and tantalizes the senses with violets, black cassis, pipe tobacco and forest floor. Elegant, fresh, deep and refined. It continues with black raspberry, ocean breeze, orange zest and a touch of fresh herbs. Need I say more? Drink up, buttercup.
Review:
Bright ruby-red. Inky blackberry, licorice and menthol on the slightly portiike nase. Dense, sweet and surprisingly supple on the plate but,with a touch of inkiness to its broad blackcurrant, blackberry, licorice and graphite flavors. An element of peppery vinosity contrioutes to the impression of firmness, as do the tight tannins. This very long, savory Wine is stil a bit folded in on itself and will quire patience. Inerestingly, Leighton keeps this wine on its skin for "only" 35 days, which is actually less than many of his other red wines under the B. Leighton, K Vintners and Wines of Substance labels. He also destems this, fruit.
-Stephen Tanzer 92+ Points
Lush, dare I say creamy in texture? Black currant, rich, earth, cured meat, cold ash. Dark, delicious, earth bound wine. One of the best “the Rocks” has to offer.
Review:
A great expression of this variety, the 2017 Barbera Jack's Vineyard has a ripe yet savory nose of mulled red and black fruits, dried herbs, flowers, and new leather. Medium-bodied on the palate, with light, polished tannins and beautiful balance, it's another ethereal, elegant version of this cuvée to enjoy over the coming 7-8 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 92 Points
Charles Smith K Vintners Powerline Estate Syrah is made from 100 percent Syrah.
Friendly, approachable and vivacious, yet also dark and mysterious. Black cherry, allspice, black ash, and orange blossom. Thyme and flint with ark fruit, cedar, kelp, black pepper, juniper, crushed rock, and tons of complex floral notes. Fear not, embrace it.
While just bottled a week before this tasting, the 2019 Syrah Powerline Vineyard certainly wasn't showing any worse for it, offering a stunning bouquet of ripe red and black fruits as well as white pepper, sandalwood, tobacco, and new leather. Pure, medium to full-bodied, and vibrant, with supple, polished tannins, this brilliant Syrah is going to keep for 10-12 years, if not longer.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
K Vintners The Creator Red is made from 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Syrah.
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.
Review:
Another wine that was just bottled, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah The Creator is based on 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Syrah. This puppy boasts a ruby/plum hue as well as terrific aromatics of blackcurrants, tobacco, iron, and peppery herbs. It's medium to full-bodied, has good freshness, ripe tannins, and the straight, focused, elegant yet still concentrated style of the vintage front and center.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
Charles Smith Sixto Uncovered Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Not from here, this wine is otherworldly. Apricot, stone, pippin apple, sea breeze, and wildflowers mingle to create this compelling beauty. Sit down and take your time with this wine, to savor the incredible structure, with a long and lingering presence of toasted almonds, apple blossom, and flint. A wonderful journey!.
Review:
What a pretty nose. Lemon peel, fresh white flowers, lavender, crushed sage and wet stone. Medium-to full-bodied with carrying acidity. Extremely articulate and graceful on the palate with bright citrus and a dried-floral note. Impressive depth and length. Salty and tangy on the finish with vibrancy. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 96 Points
K Vintners Rockgarden Syrah is made from 100 percent Syrah.
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.
Review:
Iodine and licorice with crushed-stone and dark-berry character. Full-bodied with chewy tannins that are structured and intense. Flavorful and polished at the end with just a hint of coffee. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 96 Points
K Vintners Syrah Royal City us made from 100 percent Syrah.
Royal City for REAL. Perfume of great complexity. Camphor, black cherry and forest floor. All spice building on the palate. Suave and full of finesse with cured olive and wet earth. This is where elegance reigns supreme. – Winemaker, Charles Smith
Review:
Lots of lavender, cured meats, loamy earthy, and pepper as well as both red and darker fruits emerge from the 2018 Syrah Royal City, easily one of the richest, most powerful Syrahs in the lineup. Full-bodied and concentrated, with loads of meaty, gamey, spicy nuances, this rock star of a Syrah offers loads of pleasure today yet is going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for another 10-15 years in cold cellars. It's a ripe, sexy, yet again, incredibly savory and meaty Syrah that could come from nowhere else!
-James Suckling 98 Points
Lots of lavender, cured meats, loamy earthy, and pepper as well as both red and darker fruits emerge from the 2018 Syrah Royal City, easily one of the richest, most powerful Syrahs in the lineup. Full-bodied and concentrated, with loads of meaty, gamey, spicy nuances, this rock star of a Syrah offers loads of pleasure today yet is going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for another 10-15 years in cold cellars. It's a ripe, sexy, yet again, incredibly savory and meaty Syrah that could come from nowhere else!
-Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
K Vintners The Beautiful Syrah 2018 is made from 97% Syrah, 3% Viognier.
A multi-layered beauty; perfumed, lovely. Super dark rose. Broken, unfiltered cigarette, Amaro. Densely colored with a shimmering red rim. Giving, yet just an inch at a time. One to ponder. One to enjoy.
Review:
The 2018 Syrah The Beautiful Powerline Vineyard comes from a vineyard outside of Walla Walla, in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. It was not destemmed and was brought up in neutral, larger barrels. An exotic nose of ripe blue and black fruits, lavender, sappy flowers, and herbes de Provence-like nuances give way to a medium to full-bodied, richly textured, structured wine with a mouth-filling, layered, meaty style that builds nicely with time in the glass. There's always a sappy, almost herbal edge to this beauty, and it ages beautifully. Feel free to open bottles any time over the coming 15-20 years. It would certainly be hard to pick out in a lineup of top Northern Rhône Syrahs.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
K Vitners The Hidden Syrah is made from 100 percent Syrah.
It is not a secret the magnitude this wine can reach. In this vintage, femininity reigns supreme. Perfume, flowers, cassis. All anchored to sense of place with stone, ancient soil and chanterelles that make this wine a wine of the earth.
Review:
Kirsch, ripe black cherries, roasted herbs, violets, and orange blossom notes all emerge from the 2018 The Hidden Syrah Northridge Vineyard, which is all Syrah brought up in neutral oak. Rich, full-bodied, and beautifully polished, it packs loads of fruit yet stays light on its feet, with no sensation of heaviness. As with all of these Syrahs from Smith, it's going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age.
-Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
Luis XIV Fondillon Oro 50 years NV is made from 100 percent 100% Monastrell (Mourvedre). Only 24 9 liter cases produced.
The wine is produced in the village of Cañada, in the subarea of Alto Vinalopó in the province of Alicante. Made from 100% Monastrell planted on traditional dry land as bush vines, at 550-580 meters above sea leval and enjoying a Mediterranean climate with great marine influence due to the easterly winds.
Fondillon 50 years is mahogany in color with orange tile rim, medium layer and great density. On the nose, it has a very deep aroma of old wood, black tea and carob. In the mouth, it has a sweet entry balanced by a rich high acidity. Its aromas are long, almost eternal and very intense. It tastes like old mahogany, a very old barrel and bygone times.
Bottled in December 2019.
AGEING:
CASK NAME: Saboners.
AGEING: Aged more than 50 years (single barrel).
TYPE OF WOOD: 19th-century American oak barrels
CASK SIZE: 70 “cántaros valencianos” (805 litros).
ANALYSIS:
GLUCOSE AND FRUCTOSE: 34 gr/litre.
VOLATILE ACIDITY: 1.35 gr/l.
ALCOHOL: 16.2º (NO ADDED ALCOHOL).
FREE SULFITES: less than 10 mg/litre.
TOTAL SULFITES: 76 mg/litre.
Review:
Dark mahogany color, candied fruit aromas, fruit liqueur notes, spicy, varnish, acetaldehyde, bakery, complex. Fine solera notes, bitter flavors."
- Penin 2022, 99 pts
"The NV Fondillón Luis XIV has the subtitle Edad Superior a 50 años (over 50 years old), and it's a dark mahogany, bottled from a single barrel that has the specific profile of a very old wine greatly concentrated by age, which tends to make it similar to other very old and concentrated wines, be it a Mediterranean rancio or a very old Moscatel. It has notes of bitter chocolate, coconut and iodine, carob beans (algarroba) and some bittersweet sensations. It's dense and concentrated, and the palate is pungent, with very intense flavors and a bitter twist in the finish. This has 16.3% alcohol, 6.45 grams of acidity and 34 grams of sugar, but it comes through as very dry. The wine is long and extraordinary, but it just doesn't have any Fondillón character after decades of concentration by evaporation. The price is ludicrous. Only 435 half-liter bottles were filled in December 2019. - Luis GUTIERREZ
- Wine Advocate (September 2020), 95 pts
"Fondillón is an extraordinary treasure of Alicante, a rare product, made from late harvest, non-botrytised grapes, unfortified, but with a final alcohol of no less than 16%. Intense, aged, but not sweet (deliciously not more than 45g/l). Fab with cheese or dark chocolate. The wines have to be a minimum of 10 years; this release is more than 25 years. The project is a revival by David Carbonell of Vins del Comtat and two local families. Very limited quantities. - Sarah Jane Evans MW"
- Decanter (December 2021, My top 10 Spanish fine wines of 2021), 95 pts
The wine offers a touch of pear, spice and dried fruit aromas on the nose, and exotic fruit characters. Minerality emerges from the primary rock soils, followed by an elegant and lively finish.
Chicken and pork dishes, good food companion to many dishes.