The Chronicle Recommends: 2008 Washington reds

Washington wine's best attempt at creating an identity has been to broadcast a spiritual kinship with Bordeaux. That includes ample attempts to draw parallels between the latitude of the two growing areas - though in truth, the state lies more in line with the Loire than Pomerol - as its northerly autumn light and evening chill seem to yield Cabernet (and Merlot, and Cab Franc) that manage both size and finesse.

Our latest panel tasting of wines from the 2008 vintage reaffirmed that.

As years go, aside from a diminished crop size, there was little to complain about in 2008 - more buoyant fruit and lots of freshness. Most of our wines landed north of 14 percent alcohol, but they didn't taste particularly outsize.

This has been Washington's potential in recent years: a mix of weight and grace.

Underscore "potential." In the years after Washington finally achieved a perfect 100-point score (see sfg.ly/hN78ew), the wines became bigger, oakier and sweeter - built for immediate impact.

That has largely subsided. Washington's potential (that word again) appears to be right back on course.

For this latest panel of nearly 40 wines, I was joined by Larry Stone, master sommelier and former wine director of Rubicon, who now runs Evening Land Vineyards; and by Joshua Haberman, wine director of Harris' Restaurant in San Francisco, whose list pays regular homage to the Northwest. Stone, too, is a Washington loyalist, enough that he scouted to buy vineyard land on Red Mountain.

Our top choices were dominated by some of Washington's most esteemed winemakers: Bob Betz of Betz Family, Chris Camarda of Andrew Will, Chris Figgins of Leonetti, Jean-Francois Pellet of Pepper Bridge, Ben Smith of Cadence. This isn't to say there are not great emerging talents out of Washington, but how reassuring to see that when you combine the state's strengths in winemaking, vineyards and grapes, the quality is resilient.

That's especially so because the market for expensive, age-worthy Cabernet is ever more finite - as many a Napan will whisper. While our top bottles from Washington were expensive, they rarely exceeded $70. In that sense, Washington Cabernet seems right-sized, with great options at $15 (though below that, quality has grown grimmer) to drink now, and outstanding bottles at $40 that will reward a half decade in the cellar.

Still, the real potential in Washington seems to be in the harnessing of the other five Bordeaux red grapes. Cadence and Andrew Will, especially, have tapped the full potential of blending, while the Buty Merlot-Cabernet Franc defends the honor of two grapes that have been forced to the back bench.

These are serious, complex wines. Washington may still be struggling to fine-tune that identity (at least one new appellation, Snipes Mountain, has appeared on bottles in advance of any particularly well-defined reputation), but it is doing what it does best.

Its recovery from the excess of success has been joyously quick.