Matthews Cellars’ 2009 Claret is 47% Merlot and 33% Cabernet, along with 9% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, plus 2% Malbec. In addition to Stillwater Creek, fruit comes from 2 Blondes and Pepper Bridge as well as – for the first time in this cellar – Dionysus. (The absence of any fruit from Red Mountain is unusual for a Matthews claret.) Resinous herbs, smoky black tea, moss, peat, citrus oils, and iodine tinge ripe, juicy dark berries in a complex, mineral-accented, athletically lean performance that preserves admirable primary juiciness and finishes with impressive grip. It should prove deliciously versatile for several more 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