Charles smith cabernet 2 buck chuck
The Sixto wines are in part a response to the criticism that Washington has not produced very many great Chardonnays. It seems like Charles Smith is always up to something new and with the sleek Jet City Winery facility the pace of innovation seems to have accelerated. We found ourselves especially intrigued by three relatively new wine labels: Sixto, B.Leighton, and Wines of Substance. The current Charles Smith lineup ranges from the Vino line of “modernist” wines made with Washington-grown Italian grape varieties on up to the iconic and collectible K Vinters single-vineyard wines. There is a lot going on here (and lots of wines to taste at Jet City). Although Constellation Brands has purchased the Charles Smith Wines portfolio that includes Kung Fu Girl Riesling and Boom Boom Syrah, for example, Smith, Leighton and the team are still hands-on involved and will help Constellation scale up production while maintaining quality. It is a good thing that Leighton has a lot of energy, because his workload is pretty fierce. It was a successful move judging by the results. Charles Smith lured Leighton away, first as consultant and then as director of winemaking and viticulture, responsible for a dynamic array of wines. Michelle before moving to rising star boutique Efeste. He was in charge of making the white wines (including some spectacular Eroica bottlings) at Chateau St. Our team found that this is just one example of the extreme attention to detail that is everywhere at Jet City.īrennon Leighton is one of Washington’s most respected winemakers.
I really wanted to cut that labor down so anyone could do any job at any time.” “It’s a pretty male-dominated world on the cellar floor,” Leighton told Adams, “and a lot of that has to do with lots of fairly vigorous, high-labor jobs. One innovation that especially caught my attention was a set of design features that minimized some of the “heavy lifting” aspects of cellar jobs so that women would not be disadvantaged relative to men. The author, Andrew Adams, interviewed Brennon Leighton, director of winemaking, and reported on many of the innovations and special features of the Jet City facility. I became curious about Jet City Winery a year ago when I read an article about it in Wines & Vines that focused on the technical aspects of the winery. Our mission, following up on last week’s column, was to learn what Charles Smith and his team are up to now and where they are headed in the future. The food was great, but that wasn’t why we were there.
Sue and I met up with veteran Wine Economist research assistants Bonnie and Richard a few weeks ago at Sisters and Brothers, a hip little restaurant that makes delicious Nashville hot chicken, fried green tomatoes, and other memorable southern fare just steps from the winery. The cellar is sleek, efficient, and spotlessly clean. The public spaces reflect both the structure’s mid-century roots and Charles Smith’s signature aesthetic, with lots of glass, metal, and recycled wood. Charles Smith’s Jet City Winery is located across the street from historic Boeing Field in Seattle’s gritty but hip Georgetown neighborhood.