2008 Grand Reve Collaboration Series II Ciel Du Cheval Vineyard

Grand Reve was founded in Woodinville, near Seattle, in 2004. It was a collaboration between businessman Paul McBride and vineyard manager Ryan Johnson. Johnson had spent a decade managing vineyards in Eastern Washington’s prestigious Red Mountain AVA and he and McBride wanted to focus on Rhone-style varietals. Grand Reve, which means “great dream” in French, was soon winning raves and ratings in the mid-90s from Wine Advocate and other reviews. McBride and his wife Susan have since changed the winery name to Force Majeure, and they’ve hired winemaker Todd Alexander to oversee winemaking. Alexander was previously winemaker at Bryant Family Vineyard in Napa Valley. More recently McBride and Johnson have also started a project they call the “collaboration” series in which guest winemakers make wines from Red Mountain grapes. Jeb Dunnick of Wine Advocate has called Force Majeure “One of my favorite estates in Washington… The focus here is always Red Mountain fruit, with grapes pulled mostly from the crème de la crème Ciel du Cheval vineyard, and increasingly from their estate Force Majeure Vineyard as more and more plots come online.”

Columbia Valley AVA is larger than some states. At 18,000 square miles, or 11 million acres, the appellation covers almost half of Washington State and a small part of Oregon on the south side of the Columbia River. Established in 1984, Columbia Valley contains numerous sub appellations within its boundaries, including Yakima Valley AVA and Walla Walla AVA, both large and important wine districts. Columbia Valley AVA, generally called the Columbia Basin by Pacific Northwesterners, is in the Columbia River Plateau, and the AVA also includes a section of northeastern Oregon. There are dozens of microclimates within this appellation of about 7,000 vineyard acres. Many kinds of grapes are grown in the Columbia Valley, though the principal grapes planted are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Riesling, Syrah, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. Eastern Washington experiences very hot summers and cold winters, and the northern latitude means that Washington vineyards receive several more hours of sun in the summer than California vineyards. Grapes in Washington therefore have time to develop significant tannins and overall ripeness.