Dessert wines are a specialty of Kiona. The 2009 Chenin Blanc Ice Wine offers up alluring aromas of melon and tropical fruits. This sets the stage for a very sweet, bracing elixir that offers considerable complexity and a few years of aging potential. It is a great value in sweet dessert wine. Kiona Vineyards and Winery has been producing wine since 1980 (and growing grapes for considerably longer than that). It has long been a puzzle because its grapes are in great demand but Kiona itself has had difficulty taking advantage of their superior farming. Over the past 1-2 years it appears that significant improvements have been made.Tel. (509) 588-6746; www.kionawine.com

The 2008 Chenin Blanc Ice Wine is a winner (as usual). Lovely aromas of melon and tropical fruits are followed by a very sweet, bracing elixir that offers considerable complexity and a few years of aging potential. It is one of the great values in sweet dessert wine. Kiona Vineyards and Winery has been producing wine since 1980 (and growing grapes for considerably longer than that). It has long been a puzzle because its grapes are in great demand, but Kiona itself has had difficulty taking advantage of their superior farming. The winery interestingly has always done its best work with sweeter wines (Riesling and Chenin Blanc).www.kionawine.com

The 2007 Ice Wine is a Chenin Blanc-Riesling blend with 20% residual sugar. The aromatics are quite heavenly with notes of peach, tangerine, mango, and kiwi. On the palate the wine is smooth textured, racy, and nicely balanced. It should evolve for quite some time given the acid backbone. It is also a fabulous value in sweet wine.Virtually everyone that I talked to with any knowledge of the subject states that Kiona Vineyards and Winery grows superb fruit at their Red Mountain estate. However, for whatever reason, they have not been able to translate that into the bottle with any consistency despite the roster of past customers including such notables as Leonetti, Quilceda Creek, and Woodward Canyon. While I was unable to recommend any of Kiona’s red wines, several of the whites were good values and one was exceptional.www.kionawine.com