DeLille D2 Estate Red 2018
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Wine Spectator
Opens with rich and polished black cherry and red currant flavors that are laced with hints of mineral and green olive, taking on structure toward broad-shouldered tannins on the finish. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best after 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
A blend of 67% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, this wine is full of polish and class. The aromas are charming, with notes of black cherry, dark raspberry, flowers and bittersweet chocolate. There's impressive structure and balance to the red and black fruit flavors.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 DeLille Cellars D2 Columbia Valley Red Wine is an excellent testament to Route D2 running through the vineyards of Bordeaux. TASTING NOTES: This wine brings red fruit, savory spices, and dried earth to the fore. Pair it with a grilled ribeye topped with minced shallots. (Tasted: February 23, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
Named after the famed D2 road that runs from Bordeaux up through the Médoc, the 2018 D2 checks in as 67% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It has a classy, medium-bodied style offering fine, elegant tannins, a balanced, charming texture, and classic notes of currants, violets, lead pencil, and tobacco. Reminding me of a top Cru Bourgeois, it should keep for a decade.
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James Suckling
Black plums, baked blueberries, mocha and toffee on the nose. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, polished tannins. Ripe with bright acidity and a firm, tannic finish. 67% merlot, 28% cabernet sauvignon, 3% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot. Drink or hold.
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DeLille Cellars is a boutique artisan winery located in Woodinville, Washington. Founded in 1992 by Charles and Greg Lill, Jay Soloff, and winemaker Chris Upchurch, DeLille Cellars pioneered Bordeaux-style blends in Washington State (both red and white) - inspiring Robert Parker, in a visit to the original Chateau in Woodinville, to proclaim DeLille Cellars “the Lafite Rothschild of Washington State.”
DeLille Cellars is considered a principal influence in establishing Washington as a premier viticultural region with a strong tradition of quality and excellence over its 25-year history. Today, the winery has a portfolio of over a dozen Bordeaux and Rhône style blends true to the terroir of Washington State.
The winery's passion lies in showcasing the powerful, concentrated and structured fruit of Washington State through the European art of blending - not only through various combinations of Bordeaux and Rhone grape varieties, but also via combining fruit from acclaimed vineyards to
express the unique terroir of the region. DeLille Cellars focuses on the Red Mountain AVA and grape sourcing from Washington's leading Grand Cru vineyards, including Ciel du Cheval, Grand Ciel, Upchurch, Red Willow, Sagemoor, Klipsun, Boushey, DuBrul and Harrison Hill.
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.