Liberty Lake Wine Cellars scores big with 2020 varietal

Liberty Lake Wine Cellars uncorked a big score recently as Wine Enthusiast magazine gave the local winery’s 2020 carménère a rating of 93 points, which is the top in North America and the second-highest score for the varietal worldwide, according to the winemaker.

The score, which will be published in the June/July edition of Wine Enthusiast, is also among the top nine scores of nearly 1,400 carménère wines reviewed by the publication, which was founded in 1988, owner Mark Lathrop said.

“That was unexpected and very much appreciated,” Lathrop said of the score.

The same 2020 carménère was awarded a 97 score and Best of Class at the regional Savor Northwest Wine Competition in Cannon Beach, Oregon, in March. At the same competition, the winery’s 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon earned a Best of Class win, Lathrop said.

“The 2020 vintage was especially difficult given the logistical problems of dealing with COVID, labor shortages, and the possibility of wildfire smoke affecting the fruit,” Lathrop wrote in a news release, “but we are certainly happy with the results of going forward with harvest.”

He noted that some wineries chose not to pick the 2020 crop because of worries of smoke taint from that summer’s wildfires. Still others chose not to harvest because they didn’t have the available labor because of shutdowns.

“By the time we picked the carménère, everything looked really good,” he said. “A lot of wineries took a pass on what will turn out to be a pretty good vintage.”

According to the news release, carménère is a red wine grape that is commonly associated with wines from Chile in South America. The grapes used in the Liberty Lake Wine Celler’s 2020 carménère came from were planted at the Heart of the Hill vineyard in 2008 by Kiona Vineyards, located in the Red Mountain American Viticultural Area in Benton County.

Liberty Lake Wine Cellers, which opened in 2005, is co-owned by Lathrop Mark and his wife, Sarah, of Coeur d’Alene. Mark Lathrop is the winemaker and Sarah manages the tasting room, wine club and marketing out of the winery at 23110 E. Knox Ave. in Liberty Lake.

All of the winery’s grapes are from grown in the Red Mountain AVA except for sangiovese, which is grown at the newly designated Candy Mountain AVA . It is located south of the Tri-Cities.

The 2020 carménère that earned the high mark will be available to purchase beginning May 19. The winery is open to the public noon-8 p.m. Friday and noon-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.