Greetings from Ross Andrew Winery;

What an exciting (and busy!) time of year to send you this letter. We’re nearing the end of what looks to be another fabulous vintage. The warm days and cold nights we’ve been blessed with this Fall are typical of another classic Washington harvest. Cabernet Sauvignon is showing great depth, concentration and structure while the Merlot has the spice and velvet-like tannins that we hope for. Early signs suggest we may be in for a year similar to 1999, but with more depth. We’ll keep you posted…

2005 brings a very exciting change to Ross Andrew Winery. For the past six years we’ve been in a nomadic phase: crushing in one location, barrel storage in another and releasing in a third. However, on September 1st all that changed. We moved into a small complex just north of the Woodinville city center. It’s a place that we’re very familiar with, a place that will hopefully retain some of the great karma left by Betz Family Winery. While we couldn’t have made it to where we are without the incredible help and support of a few wonderful people, we are thrilled to have a place that we can call our own.

We also have a new web site up and running. We encourage you to visit www.rossandrewwinery.com to see what we’ve been up to.

THE WINES:

I’m excited to announce our release of three very limited wines. First is our flagship Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2002 vintage (a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot). Then we have our Merlot from 2002 and a Syrah-Merlot blend from the 2003 vintage.

2002 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Coming from our fourth vintage, our Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon shows the power that is a true reflection of the 2002 growing season. The great hang-time allowed the fruit to develop intense dark fruit aromas and ripe tannins. Our grape sources for this wine are the extremely well-managed Alder Ridge and Boushey vineyards. The warm-climate at the Alder Ridge vineyard gives us great power to blend with the finesse of the cooler-climate Boushey site. 302 cases produced

In the November/December 2004 issue of International Wine Cellar, Steve Tanzer noted:

[The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot is]…Deep ruby-red. Aromas of black cherry, cocoa powder, musky espresso and smoky oak; a bit blacker in character than the 2001. Then denser, sweeter and larger-scaled, as well as more structured and backward. Again, the wine's boysenberry, plum and chocolate flavors show a rather restrained sweetness. A step up in complexity from the 2001 bottling. Finishes long and firm, with a late hint of woodsmoke…91 points

2002 Merlot

The second wine for this release is our 2002 Merlot. While we never intended to make a straight merlot, the time we spent at the blending table was well worth it. The resulting wine has wonderful ripe plum and orange aromatics from the Alder Ridge vineyard and a finesse of bright red fruits from the Boushey Vineyard. This wine is medium-bodied with great smoothness and length on the palate. 42 Cases produced.

2003 Syrah/Merlot Blend

From our first release we have held our wines in bottle for twelve to eighteen months to allow time for the wine to settle from ‘bottle shock’ and begin its bottle development. By doing so, the wine is ready to drink when we release it and doesn’t require cellar aging (but will certainly benefit from some). We deviated from this path a bit with this wine because it tastes so good right now.

From the 2003 vintage we have a blend of 40% Syrah and 60% Merlot. Having only been in the bottle for six months, I’m very excited by the wines’ bright aromatics. The Merlot for this wine comes from the Alder Ridge and Boushey vineyards, while the syrah is from the Hedges Vineyard on Red Mountain. This wine has a rich red core that continues through to the edges. The lush nose of ripe red fruits is accented by ripe plum, black current and pomegranate. The spicy mouthfeel complements the medium tannin and nice length. The finish rounds out with a hint of bitter chocolate. A great food wine. This is a great wine to consume over the next couple of years. 120 cases produced.

We are excited to be able to offer you these wines and are thrilled that you are interested in trying them. We invite you to join us at the new home of Ross Andrew Winery on Sunday, the 6th of November from 10am to 4pm where you can pick up your wine while tasting some of what we’ve been doing in the cellar.

When: Sunday, November 6th, 2005 from 10am to 4pm
Address: 18512 142nd Ave NE, Woodinville, WA 98072 Tel: 206.369.3615

Thank you and kindest regards,

Ross Mickel, Sheila and Ned Nelson

Current Release - October, 2007 [ html ]

Past Release - August, 2007 [ html ]

Past Release - October, 2006 [ html ]

Past Release - November, 2005 [ html ] [ pdf ]