Washington's ageworthy reds

Owner and CEO of Valdemar Estates, Jesús Martínez Bujanda, and winemaker and viticulturist, Devyani Gupta, stand in their newly acquired V2 vineyard, purchased from Betz Family Winery in November 2022. Photo courtesy of Valdemar Family Estates.

In Washington, the silver lining to the overall decline in demand for wine is an increase in attention to quality, spawning a new generation of wineries focused on carefully farmed, long-lived reds. Above, Valdemar Estates' owner Jesús Martínez Bujanda and winemaker/viticulturist Devyani Gupta stand in their newly acquired V2 vineyard (photo courtesy of Valdemar Estates).

Washington State is given heaps of credit for good-quality, commercial-production wines which, due to economies of scale, relatively reasonable land prices and precise technical winemaking, are some of the better-value wines on offer in the US. However, the state is rarely given its due for...