Langley’s Ott & Murphy Wines topped the list of Whidbey Island winners at the Seattle Wine Awards this month.

Ott & Murphy took a total of eight awards, which included three of the coveted double gold awards for wines created from eastern Washington Rhone grapes.

“Washington has an ideal climate for growing these grapes,” said Ott & Murphy manager Bob Thurmond.

“We have the benefit of having the varietals, why wouldn’t we make really great wines?”

The Seattle Wine Awards is the largest yearly evaluation of Washington state wines. A panel of local, national and international wine professionals gather in April to taste wines in a single-blind format in which grape variety or style is known, but not price or producer.

Among the approximately 1,300 wine entries submitted to the prestigious Seattle Wine Awards, Ott & Murphy scored high, winning three double gold medals for their 2010 syrah, 2012 marsanne and 2012 roussanne.

“We see Ott & Murphy’s as a regional standard-bearer for the exceptional wine grapes being grown in eastern Washington,” said managing winemaker David Ott.

Ott & Murphy wines are created in small case runs, and include white and red Rhone style blends, as well as a variety of other whites and reds.

Other winners included Whidbey Island Winery with four awards, Spoiled Dog Winery with two awards and Blooms Winery with one award. All four wineries are on South Whidbey.

“People love them,” said Spoiled Dog Winery owner Karen Krug of her two award-winning wines.

Spoiled Dog won gold for its 2012 Deception cabernet franc and merlot blend, and silver for its 2012 Malbec.

Krug said that people “either love them or hate” about the malbec because of its smoky complexity. The Deception blend is a smooth, drinkable wine that “is both sweet but not sweet,” Krug said.

Wines that earn recognition in the Seattle Wine Awards must achieve professional consensus in order to receive an award. These honors are of the highest recognition a winery can earn in the state of Washington.