Winemaker Notes
This wine pairs well with tomato-based sauces such as Bolognese and Puttanesca, intensely and richly flavored foods such as grilled meats, braised lamb shanks or pot roast, and strongly flavored cheeses.
Blend: 99% Cabernet, 1% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Supple, focused and distinctive for its core of ripe plum, currant, sage and floral flavors, which mingle effectively and harmoniously on the long, expressive finish. The tannins are nicely shaped. Top Value Pick
-
Wine Enthusiast
The oak (40% new French and American) is up front, with aromas of barrel spices, cocoa and generous amounts of vanilla followed by cherries and blue fruit. This wine is velvety in feel, displaying a mixture of fruit and barrel that carries through the finish. The oak influence is heavy but the appeal is impossible to ignore. Best Buy
Washington produces so many exciting wines, and that definitely includes Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. With over 10,000 acres under vine, Cabernet Sauvignon is now the most widely-grown varietal in the state. Terrific examples hail from sub-appellations like Red Mountain, Wahluke Slope, Horse Heaven Hills and Walla Walla Valley. One of the fascinations of these Columbia Valley Cabs is that they so often seem to have one foot in the New World and one in the Old. Representing the former are characteristics like the ripe, forward fruit that results from long sunny days during the growing season (up to two hours longer than in much of California). Old World similarities include an undeniable brightness from acidity, as well as notes of herbs, graphite and a dusty, sometimes gravelly minerality.
Whether you’re looking for a budget bottle for everyday enjoyment, or a stellar, world-class wine with tremendous aging potential, Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines can deliver the goods! Among the many fine options are bottles from Columbia Crest, Chateau Ste. Michelle, L’ecole #41, Quilceda Creek and Leonetti.