Coming from the oldest Roussane vines in the state, the 2017 Doyenne Roussanne is scented of fresh yellow apples with a waxy lemon core and soft mineral tones. Clean and correct on the palate, the wine has a rich and full-bodied mouthfeel, along with citrus blossoms and a generous heart of yuzu and apple butter. There is a soft phenolic bitterness that lifts the wine's natural expression on the long, lingering finish. It's a lovely wine. 750 cases produced.

The 2014 Doyenne Roussanne is another solid wine from this estate, which seems to deliver the goods in just about every vintage. Apple blossom, caramelized citrus, white flowers and a hint of brioche all give way to a medium-bodied, elegant, layered and textured white that will pair beautifully with heartier fare over the coming 5-6 years.

One of the top Rhone whites coming out of Washington, Delille's 2013 Doyenne Roussanne (100% Roussanne) is straight up terrific. Giving up tons of minerality in its citrus blossom, crushed rock, white currant and white floral-laced bouquet, this beauty is close to full-bodied, rich and textured, yet always stays balanced, fresh and lively. It has a great finish and keeps you coming back to the glass. It's great now, and while this grape can have an unpredictable evolution, I'm sure it will be an interesting and enjoyable effort in a decade or more. Still, as always, the easy and safe bet with these is to drink them in their first 4-5 years.

Kicking off the estate’s Rhone portfolio, the 2012 Doyenne Roussanne is comprised of 100% Roussanne and was fermented in a combination of French oak and stainless steel before aging in stainless steel. Beautifully fresh and lively, with classic pear, honeycomb, mineral and hints of butter nut, it is a medium-bodied, balanced and fresh white that stays clean and lively on the finish due to ample acidity. There’s a suppleness here that suggests near-term drinking is the safe approach, yet it should still have an interesting evolution over the coming 3-4 years. Drink now-2016. Making their wines in a Woodinville facility and pulling grapes from a number of eastern Washington AVAs, DeLille Cellars was founded in the early nineties and is a reference point estate. The wines are made by Chris Upchurch, with help from Jason Gorski and Louis Skinner in the cellar. They’ve split up the brand into two different labels: Doyenne for all Rhone-styled blends, and Chaleur Estate for their Bordeaux blends and straight Cabernet Sauvignon releases. Both 2010 and 2011 are incredibly strong here, and with regards to the Doyenne releases, represent some of the best wines I’ve tasted from them. Tel. (425) 489-0544; www.delillecellars.com

Latest in a nearly decade-long line-up sourced from Tablas Creek clonal material planted at Ciel du Cheval Vineyard and vinified in older barriques, DeLille’s 2011 Doyenne Roussanne offers a delightful and very varietally typical nose of lime zest, honeysuckle, orange blossom, bee’s wax, and white peach whose fuzz seems to coat the palate as an invigorating adjunct to inner-mouth floral perfume, faint waxiness, and luscious juiciness. A telltale nip of white pepper adds to the stimulation of a vibrantly persistent finish, and the too-frequent tendency with very ripe renditions of this grape toward bitterness or finishing flatness is entirely avoided. This tongue-tingler ought to prove delightfully versatile at table for at least 3-4 years, though in the process it’s likely to take on a honeyed and more richly-textured patina. Winemaker-vineyard manager and self-styled “old world traditionalist” Chris Upchurch has been the guiding spirit of DeLille Cellars since its early-’90s inception, although the ostensibly Old World models followed have evolved significantly in both marketing and winemaking terms. Early-on, DeLille, unsurprisingly, – like so many other U.S. wineries – focused exclusively on a Bordelais vision. That said, Upchurch and his partners had been in business for nearly a decade before they purchased a vineyard: Grand Ciel, adjacent to Ciel du Cheval and Galitzine and managed by the accomplished and (seemingly in Red Mountain at least) ubiquitous Ryan Johnson. DeLille also vinifies and bottles separately the fruit of Harrison Hill’s antique vines (for more about which see my tasting note on the 2009 vintage) and a second estate vineyard project is afoot. The established if misleading name Chaleur Estate was retained for DeLille’s flagship wine crafted from contract fruit (second wine: D2); while the designation Doyenne – utilized from early-on for Syrah – morphed into an officially separate winery for experimental-minded exploration of themes inspired by Southern France. (For database purposes, we at The Wine Advocate / eRobertParker.com treat Doyenne as part of the relevant wines’ descriptions and a DeLille sub-label, which reflects the way those wines are marketed and the spirit in which they were presented to me. Comments on Upchurch’s vinificatory approaches can be found sprinkled though my tasting notes.)