The 2008 Mourvedre Coyote Canyon Vineyard is a glass-coating opaque purple color. It sports an inviting nose of underbrush, brier, Asian spices, incense, garrigue, and plum. Dense, ripe, and complex, this lengthy Mourvedre captures the essence of this grape in a big way. James and Poppie Mantone’s Syncline Wine Cellars is on the eastern edge of the beautiful Columbia Gorge, an area better known for outdoor sports (fishing, boating, wind surfing) than wine production. The winery’s new collection is once again outstanding from beginning to end.Tel. (509) 365-4361; www.synclinewine.com

Brilliantly aromatic, this wine beguiles with exotic scents of plum pudding, spice cake, cherry compote, pipe tobacco, red licorice and raspberry jam. All that and more can be tasted—the wine is a riot of fruits and baking spices. This makes the best possible case for Mourvedre as a stand-alone varietal wine here in Washington.——P.G.(12/31/2010)—— 92