The Lightning Rod – Bonair 2006 Merlot – Rattlesnake Hills

I’ve written about the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail previously, and though Bonair Winery could stand alone as a small to mid-sized family run winery located in Zillah, the owners Gail and Shirley Puryear and Bonair are so intertwined with the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail and the Rattlesnake Hills AVA that it’s almost impossible to think of Bonair without discussing the Rattlesnake Hills WT/AVA and the controversy surrounding it.

That controversy, such as it was/is, occurred mainly before our arrival in Washington in 2008 and revolved around the approval of the Rattlesnake Hills AVA which was finalized in 2006. How I even knew of any such controversy was by reading about the creation of this AVA in Paul Gregutt’s Washington Wine & Wineries, by noticing that some wineries in and around Zillah are not members of the RHWT and don’t use Rattlesnake Hills on their labels, and then via here-say and second or third-hand talk with various people in the wine trade around the Yakima Valley. Since I certainly don’t know all sides of the story though, I’ll just say that the Rattlesnake Hills AVA and its use as designation for wines is still a lightning rod topic and when I’ve asked winery owners in this section of the Yakima Valley about the whys and why nots of the RHWT and using the Rattlesnake Hills AVA label I’ve gotten varied reactions. Sometimes the reaction is defensive, sometimes rather evasive, sometimes almost hostile; but always…there is a reaction.

Bonair Winery, as it exists today, is like many other small to mid-sized wineries in Washington. Bonair produces around 5,000 cases of wine per year and has a full line-up of whites, reds, and roses. Barb and I have been to the tasting room in Zillah probably a half dozen times. During our first trips through the RHWT the Trail group offered a prize/reward to anyone getting 10 or 12 stamps at the various wineries on the Trail Passport. I completed a couple of these Passports myself, and Barb joined me on a few laps too. We collected a set of five of the RHWT large wine goblets. On a trip last spring to Bonair, looking for number 6, we were told the prizes weren’t available anymore. This was a little irritating since we had a just completed card at the time, but such is life, things change and offers expire.

The wine Barb and I have enjoyed several times on the patio at Bonair is Sunset, a wine that according to the data sheet is made from an uncommon varietal conveniently named Sunset. This is semi-sweet patio wine and, out of Bonair’s line-up, is a favorite for sipping on the patio eating tapas, feeding the ducks, and petting Bung, the winery dog (similar to the folks in this photo). We’ve taken a few bottles home, too.

A few months ago, I realized through Sean Sullivan’s WA Wine Report, that Gail, owner and winemaker of Bonair, had started a wine blog entitled The Grumpy Winemaker. Grump, as I like to call the on-line Gail, is a no-holds barred blogger who has opinions about many things, his customers, the wine critics, and wine bloggers among them. Grump maintains that his blog is not associated with Bonair Winery, but just like the distinction between the RHWT and the Rattlesnake Hills AVA is blurred, so is the line between The Grumpy Winemaker and Bonair Winery. The Grumpy Winemaker too might be considered a lightning rod and I’d doubt a course on social media for wineries would endorse this type of blog as the best way to attract attention. Nonetheless, I enjoy Grump’s blogs.

While Barb was away for the pre-wedding hoopla, I decided to revisit Bonair. It was my first trip there since I’d become a blogger and my first trip since reading a lot of Gail’s thoughts as The Grumpy Winemaker. I contemplated doing everything I could to violate Grump’s advice for proper tasting room etiquette, including wearing a Canadian hat. Or announcing my presence as a wine blogger and requesting some special treatment or extra samples. The worst thing I might have done would have been to try to sell my services to Gail as an internet web design expert. That would make Gail really grumpy.

But, I decided to just be my normal self.

Bonair’s tasting room line-up is somewhat unique in that they offer about 4 tiers of wines, a sweet free tier, a dry free tier, and the reserve tier of a chardonnay and dry reds, and a tier of ports. I decided ahead of time to sample the reserve wines this trip. We had skipped these previously since with the RHWT Passport, the “free wine” pours seemed more alluring, there is a $5 fee for sampling the reserves, and we’d found a patio wine we liked.

That hot Saturday in early July, Bonair’s tasting room was fairly crowded which we’ve found is normal. The crowd at Bonair seems to consists of folks who know the Puryears and have been customers for decades, Bonair is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and folks who found it from the RHWT map, some for the first time, some for the umpteenth, like myself. By the way, Bonair’s policy of 4 pours per customer is, I think, one of the smartest things I’ve ever seen on the wine trail. It lets, or forces, people to focus on what they like, reduces their chance of getting too smashed in this tasting room, and limits the amount of free booze the winery gives away in any given day.

So I sampled the reserve line-up. The Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc all seemed too light for my palate. Even the Chardonnay which is barrel fermented didn’t seem to have the depth or body I have come to expect from Washington wines. Since I was spitting and pouring my samples (and paying) and having a nice conversation with my pourer, I asked if I could extend beyond my 4 pours. She agreed and I tried the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Both were very interesting wines, though it took me two sips of the Cab to think so, the tannins of the first sip sucked the moisture out of my mouth.

I asked the pourer her favorite; it was the Merlot, so I bought a bottle to take home. The tasting fee was deducted from the bottle price; I thanked Gail, who had snuck out and was serving another customer, and I made my merry way home.

I drank this wine over two days with my bachelor friend, Frank. The first night we paired with steak and potato. The Merlot starts out lighter than many Washington Merlots but over the course of the meal, the balance and fruit, and floral and subtle spice notes were outstanding. This wine is made for food. The glass or so that made it to day two (Frank is a lightweight), were even better and I think I paired those with a grilled burger.

The RHWT and Rattlesnake Hills AVA may be wrought with controversy and Gail, the Grumpy Winemaker, may be a fairly polarizing figure too, but the bottom line is…

Bonair makes some pretty damn good wines.  See you again soon, Grump.