But my point is that I have opened numerous bottles of wine that are strange, unappealing, boring, and/or overblown. Most of the time, my initial observation is proved correct. You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit, ok?

Having said that, and bearing in mind some of my criticism of Washington wines, I would like to say that the WA Syrah I am drinking now has greatly benefited from being open for about 6 hours. There is something about oxygen and wine that I think scientifically we will never completely understand, but our taste buds don’t lie. (Unless you just ate a bunch of Skittles, Oreos, and pickled jalapenos.)

So right now I am finding myself enjoying a 2002 Viento Syrah Cuvee R from the Columbia Valley right here in good ol’ Washington State.* It is very much a Washington wine, with big time fruit and oak, but time has calmed its obtuse ways and intrusive manner. Now I can just drink it. The Viento has that crowd-pleasing aspect to it which, along with the incredible pride locals have about their home-grown wines, is something that I am warming to.

*I have said very nice things about Cadence and Claar. I also like Hightower and Mark Ryan. In fact, I just I just bought two bottles each of 2003 Cadence Ciel du Cheval and 2003 Mark Ryan Long Haul (also from Ciel du Cheval vineyard).