With a bold and perfumed nose, the 2017 The Albatross offers seductive notes of luscious red and black fruits macerating with cinnamon and vanilla followed by a chocolaty essence with floral nuances. Full-bodied and generous, with 15.2% alcohol on the label, the palate offers gobs of sweet fruit and delicious oak, with velvety, fine-grained tannins on the mid-palate. The wine lingers on the persistent finish with notes of potpourri, bitter dark chocolate and crème de cassis. Only 1,500 bottles were made after the wine rested in 100% new Taransaud French oak.

Barrel fermented and aged for 21 months in 100% new French oak barrels, the 2016 The Albatross boasts a bold, vibrant and dense core of black fruit tones, blackberry essence, dark plum and dusty cherry skin, swaying out of the glass with impressions of spice and elegant oak tones. Full-bodied, the palate is chewy with a spicy line through to the mid-palate, showing a balanced structure with power and finesse. Lingering with a long and thoughtful finish, a bold blackberry jus flavor weighs on the palate with persistence and pleasure. Only 150 cases were made. It’s simply delicious.

The 2014 The Albatross is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was barrel-fermented and aged all in new French oak. Cassis, smoked earth, charcoal and minerality all flow from this sexy, gorgeously pure and concentrated beauty from Chris Gorman. It has tons of fruit, but don't let that fool you. It has building tannin and is a serious wine that's going to drink well for upwards of two decades.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon The Albatross Reserve offers up focused aromas and flavors of dark fruit, tar, licorice, dusty soil and big minerality to go with a full-bodied, focused and tight feel on the palate. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Petit Verdot that spent 22 months in 100% new French oak, it’s a serious and age-worthy wine that requires 3 to 4 years of cellaring, and will have 15-20 years of overall longevity. Winemaker Chris Gorman continues to fashion rock star, full-throttle wines that stay balanced and drinkable. Also, don’t miss his Collaboration Series release at Force Majeure. Tel. (206) 351-0719; www.gormanwinery.com

From Cabernet Sauvignon with around 20-30% Petit Verdot (the stats he handed me often deviate, albeit ultimately insignificantly, from those on his web site) all from Red Mountain (which, he opines, “is the only place in Washington where this much power can be achieved”), Gorman’s 2009 Albatross saturates the palate with a meld of blackberry preserves, huckleberry, black olive, medicinal herbal-mineral extracts, crushed stone, machine oil and steel shavings. The term “industrial strength” leaps to my mind, which I suppose could also apply to certain heavy metal sounds. There is an odd juxtaposition here of a seemingly relatively polished mid-palate impression – perhaps just because so viscous and saturating? – followed by a raspy reverb of tannin in the finish. Certainly not for the faint of heart or enticing in this taster of the second sip though naturally I took several out of professional duty this is still one of the more persistent and complex wines I tasted from Gorman on the occasion of our first meeting. With a background in sales and marketing, there’s little question that Chris Gorman’s high profile and reputation in the Washington wine community are partly due to his talents in those areas (his web site, for example, is a think to behold), but it’s obvious in conversation with this decade-long winemaker (since 2007 full-time) that the fewer than 3,000 cases he turns out each year reflect imagination, innovation, and determination. The results, though, simply don’t impress me to the extent they have so many of my and his colleagues. Gorman’s frequent rock ‘n roll points of reference are certainly apt (and I harbor no prejudice against that musical genre) but there is an abundance of tannic fuzz and feedback to nearly all of the eight reds I tasted with him that I thought tended to muddle or muddy their themes, and that left my palate rather ragged and numb. No doubt some will suggest it was that way beforehand By reading attentively and perhaps even between the lines of my tasting notes, hopefully those who will be more enthusiastic than I was about these powerful, tannic wines will recognize that fact. Tel. (206) 351-0719