It's all about the blends

Bunnell Family Cellar bottled its first vintage in 2004, but the expertise behind the labels has been a force in Washington wines for a long time. Ron Bunnell served as winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle for many years before opening his own boutique winery in Prosser, after stints at other industry giants like Kendall Jackson and Beringer. And the expertise he honed over the years making huge quantities of wines for big corporations translates nicely at his hands-on venture. Bunnell makes around 250 cases of each wine he bottles, for a total production in the neighborhood of 6,000 cases.

You can taste Bunnell Family Cellar wines, along with RiverAerie, their second label, at the tasting room inside the Bunnells’ other venture, the Wine O’Clock Wine Bar, in Prosser’s Vintner’s Village. But I’d recommend instead that you spend a little money for a tasty lunch and a flight of Bunnell’s Rhone blends. Ron’s wife Susan and chef Laurie Kennedy create delightful artisan pizzas, cooked in a wood-fired oven and served up in a lovely dining room or on the patio, where you can enjoy beautiful views of the Horse Heaven Hills. Order a flight of wines to accompany your lunch, then sit back and enjoy some of the only food available in the Village, while making a relaxed comparison between some of Bunnell’s fabulous blends.

I recently spent a lovely summer afternoon there with two of my favorite people. We shared a pizza, and a flight of the Rhone Chorus – three blends, including Lia (50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, Mourvedre and Petite Sirah), á Pic (52% Syrah, 18% Cinsault, 18% Mourvedre, and 12% Grenache), and Vif (60 % Syrah, 30% Mourvedre, and 10% Petit Verdot). Notice any similarities? Overlapping contents create a category for these wines. But don’t be fooled into thinking the similarity between the blends dominates. Each highlights different qualities, ranging from the softness of Lia to the spicy fruits of Vif. My favorite – á Pic, with its rich toasty aromas and flavors of dark fruit and mocha.
 But, as always, the best part of the wines was the discovery, an afternoon spent under warm sunshine, enjoying two of my favorite people, and sipping delicious wines.