Now that the first issue for 2015 of the Review of Washington Wines is now on line, it's time for me to make some predictions about Washington wines in 2015

More High Quality Wines - Washington wines' cup runneth over. In the year 2014, each issue of the Review of Washington Wines had at least fifty wines. The overall quality of the wines reviewed has increased dramatically and there are more of them as new wineries producing top wines have emerged. Expect this trend to continue through 2015.

More High Quality-Price Ratios - Along with more high quality wines, there are more wines that offer high quality in releation to their prices. Last week's Blog listing of wines scoring 19/20 points for $40 or less included no less than 85 wines. This is another trend that will continue through 2015.

More New Wine Grape Acreage - The big news recently was the Betz Family Winery's purchase of 40 acres in the Sevein development in the South Walla Walla Valley. There is much more acreage available, and expect more investors to take positions there and elsewhere in the state.

Watch for the 2013's - More wines from the 2013 vintage, a "normal" year with near average temperatures and excellent harvesting conditions will be released in 2015. On the basis of my tastings from the barrel and bottle, the 2013's seem to be in between 2011 and 2013 in terms of character. The 2011's, from a cooler year, are more structured and ageworthy, resembling "old world" ones. The 2012's are more fruit forward and tasty, offering early gratification. The 2013's combine both structure and fruit, making them finely balanced, yet ageworthy wines. See "The Renvaan 2013 Syrahs Preview" section of the January issue of the Review of Washington Wines for an indication of how the 2013's are developing.

Wineries to Watch in 2015

Betz Family Winery - In the November issue of the Review, I reported on the winery's 2012 Rhone-style wines, all scoring 19.5 or 20/20 points. This is a dramatic new higher quality level resulting from an increased rigor in barrel selection. Watch for the 2012 "BDX" style wines to be released in 2015.

Buty Winery - With Chris Dowsett in charge as winemaker, Nina Buty's winery by the Walla Walla airport has gone from strength to strength. The 2011's were exceptional and expect the 2012's to be even more so.

Canvasback - The Red Mountain Duckhorn venture was off to an impressive debut with it's 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon (reviewed December, 2014). I tasted 2013's from the barrel with winemaker Brian Rudin a few months ago and found them to be rich and well structured. Watch for the final assemblage to be released later.

Eight Bells - This Ravenna district winery, owned by Tim Bates, Andy Shepherd and Frank Michels, turned out a stellar 2012 Eight Clone Syrah from the Red Willow Vineyard and some fine 2011's (reviewed December, 2014). Watch for more 2012's to be released in 2015.

Flying Trout - Now that Ashley Trout is back at work at the new Tero / Waters / Flying Trout facility on Peppers Bridge Road, look for some tasty new wines in 2015, including some magical Malbecs.

Waters - Watch for some impressive new releases from Jamie Brown as well. Can't wait for the 2012 Loess Vineyard Syrah.

Kevin White Winery - This winery continues to turn out knock-out values. The 2012 "La Fraternité" and "En Hommage" scored 19/20 points for $28. Watch for the 2013's to come out in 2015.

Happy New Year!