After our four night stay in Mazama, Lynn and I drove over Highway 20 and I-5 to Seattle on Friday, September 12th. The next day, we drove over to Woodinville to visit a few wineries, to be reviewed in the November issue of the Review of Washington Wines.

Our first stop was at Betz Family Winery, where we tasted newly released Rhone-style wines with the new owners, Bridgit and Steve Griessel (Bob Betz is still the winemaker). A new regime of wine selection has taken place, starting with the 2012 vintage, whereby barrels are tasted one by one and 70% are picked for the winery's flagship bottlings, then the best of the rest goes into the Frangin ("little brother") blend and the balance gets sold off. This takes the whole lineup into a new, higher level. The reviews (all 19 to 20/20 points) will be in the November issue.

Next, we drove up Hollywood Hill to Adams Bench, where we saw owners, Tim and Erica Blue. There, we tasted four 2011 Cabernets - "the v," the Stillwater Creek Vineyard, the Mays Discovery, and the Red Willow vineyeards - all superb renditions of the elegant style of the best wines of the vintage.

After Adams Bench, we came back down the hill to Brian Carter Cellars to taste new releases with winemaker and co-owner, Brian Carter. His specialty is creating blends modeled after European ones, but with a "new world" character. We tasted the 2010 "Byzance," a Rhone-style red, the "Corrida," a Tempranillo-based Spanish-style blend, and the "Solesce" ("sun-essence"), a Bordeaux-style red, all to be reviewed in November, along with the 2012 "Oriana" ("golden lady"), a Rhone-style white, and the 2012 "Abracadabra" Red ("a magical red blend").

Then we walked next door to the DeLille Cellars Carriage House tasting room, where we tried two lovely new whites, the 2013 Doyenne Roussanne and 2013 Chaleur Estate Blance, and the stunning 2011 Grand Ciel Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon (19.5+/20 points).

Our last stop was at JM Cellars on "Bramble Bunp," a knoll overlooking the valley floor. There, we tried two tasty 2012 reds, the "Louisa" Merlot and the Columbia Valley Syrah, from the Boushey and Stillwater Creek vineyards. Then it was back down over the other side of the hill, and back to Seattle, then home to Walla Walla the next day.

Next Friday: On the 26th, the November issue of the Review of Washington Wines goes on line, along with the next Review Blog, "Does Wine Style Matter?"