From 41% each Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, plus Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Malbec, Matthews Cellars’ 2008 Claret offers a low-toned amalgam of tart-edged mulberry and cassis with deeply toasted and salted nuts. Brooding, firmly tannic, and bittersweet, this both literally and metaphorically dark libation finishes with modest length and should remain worth revisiting for at least a couple of years. Owned since 2007 by Clifton and Diane Otis and under the winemaking direction of Aryn Morell (just like Tenor Wines, whose stylistically very different recent releases were already reviewed as part of issue 203), Woodinville-based Matthews Cellars was founded in 1993 by Matthew Loso, whose name doesn’t appear under “history” on the winery’s web site, but who directed its course until he sold out to the Otises (who were already investors) and their team took over. (Loso still makes wine for several Washington projects, none of which I have yet sampled). Morell, a chemical engineer by background, says he bleeds his red ferments routinely and may add water but has never acidulated any Matthews wine. While most of them are multi-sourced and all carry the Columbia Valley appellation, principal supplier vineyards have characteristically included Hedges and Klipsun on Red Mountain and Lawrence and Stillwater on the Royal Slope, though others had been tapped for some of the more recent bottlings I tasted. And while three-quarters of Matthews Cellars releases are sold winery-direct, they have a broad network of distributors. Tel. (425) 487-9810