Force Majeure is a Washington/Oregon wine estate, specializing in Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon as well as other

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

and Rhone-inspired blends. The brand was founded in 2004 (originally as "Grand Reve Vintners"), and beginning with that vintage began the "Collaboration Series" of wines made by some of Washington's top winemakers, using fruit from Red Mountain's Ciel du Cheval vineyard. Since 2014, the wines have been made by acclaimed winemaker Todd Alexander, who moved from the Napa Valley to the Pacific Northwest at that time. The brand labels also changed in 2014, to signify the winemaking change and the use of their estate vineyards for the wines, going forward. Todd Alexander continues to craft these limited production wines to this day. Force Majeure wines have received critical acclaim from influential wine critic Robert Parker's publication ''

The Wine Advocate ''The Wine Advocate'', fully known as ''Robert Parker's Wine Advocate'' and informally abbreviated ''TWA'' or ''WA ''or more recently as ''RP'', is a bimonthly wine publication based in the United States featuring the consumer advice of wine criti ...

''. Currently, Force Majeure holds the highest score ever given to a Washington Cabernet Sauvignon by the ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...

'' (97 points). Force Majeure purchased land for an estate vineyard within Washington's famed Red Mountain AVA, and initially developed the site in 2006–2007. In June 2014, winemaker Todd Alexander of famous Napa Valley cult winery

Bryant Family Vineyard Bryant Family Vineyard is a California wine estate in the Napa Valley, founded by businessman Donald L. Bryant Jr. and his ex-wife, Barbara Bryant. Known for their 100% Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon wines grown on their Pritchard ...

became the estate Winemaker for Force Majeure, as they discontinued the Collaboration Series to focus on the estate vineyard and winemaking.

Vineyards

Force Majeure holds a 40-acre site in Washington state's Red Mountain AVA, about half of which is planted to vines. Development started in 2006, and is ongoing. Force Majeure's Red Mountain vineyard was the first hillside vineyard of its kind in Washington state, planted with gobelet-trained Syrah as found in the northern Rhône. The hillside is steep, and rises in elevation from 950 to 1230 feet, on a piece of land that includes 9 distinct soil types due in part to the

Missoula Floods The Missoula floods (also known as the Spokane floods or the Bretz floods or Bretz's floods) were cataclysmic glacial lake outburst floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the las ...

. The soils are diverse and well drained, ranging from deep Warden to very rocky Kiona soils. Calcium carbonate, a chief component of limestone, is present in much of the vineyard. Varietals grown include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot,

Petit Verdot Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, ...

, Syrah, Grenache,

Cinsault Cinsaut or Cinsault ( ) is a red wine grape whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former French colonies of Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco. It is often blended with grapes such as Grenache and C ...

Counoise Counoise is a dark-skinned wine grape grown primarily in the Rhône valley region of France. Counoise is also grown in California, New Jersey, and Washington. Counoise adds a peppery note and good acidity to a blended red wine, but does not have ...

and

Mourvèdre Mourvèdre (also known as Mataro or Monastrell) is a red wine grape variety grown in many regions around the world including the Rhône and Provence regions of France, the Valencia and Jumilla and Yecla '' denominaciones de origen'' (DOs) of S ...

. Due to the diversity of the soils in the vineyard, vine aspect, exposure and other factors, Force Majeure employs a diverse set of vine training systems, varietals and clonal selections.
In 2018, Force Majeure acquired two additional vineyards, both on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley. At the same time, they also built a new winemaking facility and added a by-appointment tasting salon. The Walla Walla Valley vineyard that is adjacent to the winery was planted in the late 1990s to Syrah, Cabernet and a small parcel of Merlot. The first vintage of Cabernet from this site, the 2018 (made by Todd Alexander), received 100 points from wine writer Jeb Dunnuck , url=http://www.jebdunnuck.com and was the second 100-point wine for this winery and winemaker. The Washington Wine Report has called Force Majeure Vineyard one of Washington's "most compelling (vineyard) sites", and Jeb Dunnuck of Robert Parker's Wine Advocate has named it as "one of the top estates in Washington." Harvey Steiman of

magazine has written that Force Majeure has "established itself in the top tier of Washington wineries."

Production

Current wines in the estate lineup include:
Parvata – a Mourvèdre-dominant Rhône varietal blend
Syrah
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet France
Grenache
Épinette – a blend of predominantly Merlot and Cabernet Franc
Viognier

References

External links

Force Majeure official site
{{Oregon wine Wineries in Washington (state) Wineries in Oregon Companies based in Woodinville, Washington