2015 Balboa Winery Mith Red Wine Walla Walla Valley 750 ml

It’s hard to find anyone in Walla Walla with a better lay of the land than Tom Glase. 

He’s been making wine in Walla Walla for 25 years, beginning his career at L'Ecole #41 in 1999. Six years later, after learning by doing, he launched Balboa winery on a $40,000 shoestring. He’s got the friendships and know-how that get him the best vineyard sources, since he’s been there for so long. 

If you haven’t heard much about The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA in Milton-Freewater, OR—just across the state line from Walla Walla—you’re going to hear a lot more about them in the coming years. Tom’s 2015 Mith Red Wine is a great way to see what all the fuss is about with these hot basalt cobblestones that radiate heat back up to the grapes at night and give the wines an extra measure of ripeness.

Luminaries Cayuse, Bledsoe, and Reynvaan have all staked a claim here, and their wines sell for two to three times as much. In 2018 Drew Bledsoe, in fact, bought the Eidolon vineyard, one of two sources for this wine. The other is the prestigious Summit View Vineyard, just outside the boundary of The Rocks but one of the highest-altitude vineyards in the Walla Walla AVA.

“Mith” is Tom’s top wine, comprising 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, and 12% Merlot. He made less than 500 cases. It certainly shows the heat of 2015 with notes of balsamico, hot stones, baked plum, and stewed, spicy amarena cherries. It’s round and generous on the palate, with notes of dried cherries, marzipan, prune, and Christmas spices.