Pomum Cellars

I spent a few enjoyable moments speaking with Javier Alfonso, Ponum winemaker & native of Ribuero del Duero.
Ponum is generally only open for March and November releases.
— 2008 Reisling [$ 18]
Not a bit sweet
You can smell the citrus
A bit tart
Smooth, mineral, creamy and dry
— 2007 Tinto [$ 25] from Snipes Canyon
Tempranillo-​dominant with Cab & Merlot
Scents of cherries & a hint of licorice
Smooth, pleasing tannins
Nice acidity
— 2007 Syrah [$ 36] from Columbia Valley
One can detect smoke or cigar box
Plus a floral nose
and a long finish
Will benefit from more time in the cellar
— 2007 Shya Red [$ 38]
Complex due to:
Cabernet Sauv from 3 different vineyards
Merlot from 3 different vineyards
Cabernet Franc from 2 different vineyards
plus Petit Verdot and Malbec
I detected cigar and spice box on the nose;
The tannins are velvet smooth,
The finish is lovely now, but should improve with cellaring;
Bravo…

I’m delighted to be the first person to post Pomum Cellars. As a wine steward and buyer for VinElla of Woodinville, I taste more thah 2,000 wines every year and, believe me, it ain’t as much fun as you’d think. In one day, about six months ago in Seattle, I tasted 422 wines. Folks, it was WORK. And I wound up buying four for the shop. FOUR. And that’s about the average. So, on a Saturday morning, back in May of ’07, I was driving along Woodinville-​Duvall Road when I saw a sign for a winery I had never heard of: Pomum Cellars. I drove past, at first, but came back later out of curiosity. I went to the tasting room — right next door to Chatter Creek Winery in a Woodinville office/​industrial park — and went in. They had two wines; a big, silky Syrah and a blend of all five Bordeaux grapes called «Shya». I tasted the Syrah first and was floored by how inky and delicious it was. But the Shya… Man! I had trouble getting the aromas because of some food in the room, so I took the glass out to the parking lot and spent a good ten minutes smelling and tasting it, telling myself, «No, it’s NOT that good. It can’t possibly be THAT good.» But it was. And, a year later, it’s even better! Folks, Javier Alfonso, Pomum winemaker and son of a long-​time grape-​growing family in Spain’s Ribera del Duero, has crafted one of the top five wines I’ve tasted from Washington in the past two years. With all due respect to the Quilceda Creek 100-​Point Cabs, the best wines I tasted from this state in ’07/’08 were Bob Betz’s «Pere de Famille» and «La Serenne» and… Pomum Shya. It’s THAT good. And, even before I met Javier, I thought Shya tasted very, well, Spanish. It has that beautiful, pure fruit profile, artfully married to incredible terroir notes that you find in the great Spanish wines, and — though it will age beautifully for at least ten years — is amazingly drinkable NOW. I promise you, friends, this is a winery you will eventually count among the top four or five in Washington, and you’d do well to discover it now, while you can still get some of this gorgeous, small-​production juice.