Andrew Januik Stone Cairn Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
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Winemaker Notes
Obelisco, Quintessence and Ciel du Cheval are all considered to be among the best vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA. These particular vineyards always express the terroir of Red Mountain especially well. The rich soils, dependable air drainage, and limited rainfall result in highly concentrated berries with dense skins, rich inky color, and daring complexity.
Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 2% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Stone Cairn (93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc) has classic Red Mountain minerality and savory earth notes as well as red and blue fruits, high toned violets, and graphite. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and elegant, with fine tannins, it has class as well as the potential to keep for 15+ years.
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James Suckling
Some vanilla and pastry-like notes sit across ripe dark cherries and berries here. The palate has very plush, smooth and deeply flavored style with a fresh black-fruit finish that holds up well. Good concentration. A blend of 93% cabernet sauvignon, 5% merlot and 2% malbec. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Initially locked up aromas of dried thyme and other assorted herbs open to reveal notes of pitch black cherry, coffee and barrel spice. The palate is quite ripe but manages to maintain balance through the sweet pit fruit flavors.
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At the age of twenty six, Andrew was able to say that he'd spent more than half of his life working in the business and knew it would one day be his career, so it was no surprise when he suggested the possibility of creating his own wine to the people closest to him. During his time off and on during school years, he worked fulltime pending his college graduation, harnessing the opportunity to learn and understand all the broader points, and all the finer intricacies, of the wine industry through two of the more experienced and impassioned winemakers in the industry, Mike Januik and Scott Moeller.
It was in 2011 when he would finally start his own wine label, Andrew Januik.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
A coveted source of top quality red grapes among premier Washington producers, the Red Mountain AVA is actually the smallest appellation in the state. As its name might suggest, it is actually neither a mountain nor is it composed of red earth. Instead the appellation is an anticline of the Yakima fold belt, a series of geologic folds that define a number of viticultural regions in the surrounding area. It is on the eastern edge of Yakima Valley with slopes facing southwest towards the Yakima River, ideal for the ripening of grapes. The area’s springtime proliferation of cheatgrass, which has a reddish color, actually gives the area the name, "Red" Mountain.
Red Mountain produces some of the most mineral-driven, tannic and age-worthy red wines of Washington and there are a few reasons for this. It is just about the hottest appellation with normal growing season temperatures commonly reaching above 90F. The soil is particularly poor in nutrients and has a high pH, which results in significantly smaller berry sizes compared to varietal norms. The low juice to skin ratio in smaller berries combined with the strong, dry summer winds, leads to higher tannin levels in Red Mountain grapes.
The most common red grape varieties here are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, among others. Limited white varieties are grown, namely Sauvignon blanc.
The reds of the area tend to express dark black and blue fruit, deep concentration, complex textures, high levels of tannins and as previously noted, have good aging capabilities.