2013 Matthews Claret named 27th best wine in the world by Wine Spectator

The wine world is awash with competitions, awards and ‘Best Of’ lists, but one honor that every winery covets is to be named to the Wine Spectator’s prestigious annual list of top 100 wines in the world.

It’s a tough task. The magazine’s editors evaluate more than 5,000 wines, tasting all of them blind so they don’t recognize the region, the grape variety and the producer. Moreover, the wines are nominated by the Spectator’s staff rather than submitted by wineries.

At the end of the day, the list only includes the best of the best. We are excited and incredibly honored to say that our 2013 Claret has been named one of the top 100 wines in the world, coming in at No. 27 on the 2016 list.

Only four other Washington wineries made the Spectator’s 2016 list - Cayuse, Reynvaan, Sparkman and Charles Smith. It’s an honor to be included alongside them.

Since its inaugural vintage in 2002, the Claret has become one of our most recognizable wines. Beginning in 2008, we took a comprehensive approach to improving every facet of our winemaking process. It was an arduous process, which we've detailed in length this past year. The 2013 Claret is a result of all these improvements. When you taste it, we hope you find the 2013 Claret will showcase the best of what we love in a Bordeaux-style blend from Washington State.

Each year, the Claret is recognized by our fans as a versatile wine that can be enjoyed with a wide range of food pairings, but composed enough to stand on its own. It’s no wonder that it’s been a staple on the wine lists at some of the nation’s top restaurants as well as a featured wine at our seasonal farm-to-table dinners here at our Creekside Farm in Woodinville, WA.

For the 2013 vintage, our winemaker Aryn Morell (seen above) and his team crafted this blend using the traditional five Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot) from some of Washington’s finest vineyards - Stillwater Creek, Canyons, Bacchus/Dionysus, Blue Mountain, Weinbau, Hedges Estate and Red Mountain Vineyard.

Since the Spectator’s list was published earlier this week, demand for the 2013 Claret has been intensified, and the number of cases we have are dwindling. If you would like to secure some for yourself, the Claret is still available on our online store. All orders with 6 or more bottles will receive free shipping (to the states we are able to support). Judging by how fun (and frantic) the past 72hrs have been, it's tough say how much longer our inventory will last, so... we encourage you to order some quickly.

In closing, we’d like to thank our winemaking crew, led by Aryn, our vineyard partners across Washington State and most of all, our loyal fans, for whom we make our wines for. It's been fun to announce and celebrate this award!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us at Matthews!