Corliss Red 2010
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Robert
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Blend: 45% Cabernet Franc, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A big, rich and stacked effort, Corliss’s 2010 Columbia Valley Red Wine (made as a Red Mountain AVA wine in this vintage) has awesome density and concentration to go with ripe notes of cassis, black cherries, smoked earth and crushed rocks. There’s a lot of fruit here (surprising in the vintage), but it shows more and more tannic grip and underlying structure with time in the glass. Seeing 30 months in new and used French oak, it has the texture and polish to drink beautifully today, but I think it will be even better with short-term cellaring, and have upward of two decades of overall longevity.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Enthusiast
This blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot saw 31 months in French oak and another two years in bottle prior to release. There's plenty of detail to the concentrated coffee, cherry, graphite and blackberry aromas and flavors that reflect perfect balance. It's drinking exquisitely now but has a long life in front of it. It will be best from 2020–2026. Cellar Selection
Other Vintages
2012-
Robert
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Wine
Enthusiast
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Robert
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Robert
Parker
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Wine
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Robert
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Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
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Robert
Parker
At Corliss, they exercise the discipline to make the highest quality decisions at each stage of winemaking, from vine to bottle. From sustainable, meticulous viticulture in their Estate Vineyards, to individual berry sorting at harvest, to slow native yeast fermentation in micro-scale custom oak and concrete fermenters. They follow this with extended elevage in barrel, rigorous selection of the best lots for blending, and over two years of additional aging in bottle before the wines are finally labeled and available for your enjoyment.
Their winemaking is the result of teamwork and patience. Michael and Lauri Corliss have, from the beginning, been at the center. They are engrossed in every detail and have guided their winemaking philosophy. They are the barometer of consistency for developing the Corliss style. Surrounding Michael and Lauri is a talented staff of winemaking professionals who collectively work together to create the consistently beautiful vintages of Corliss. Their team is joined by Atelier Melka, which is one of the world’s most highly regarded winemaking consultant teams. Working together, they dedicate their best efforts with every vine, every grape and every bottle.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.