Substance Vineyard Collection Jack's Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
2017 was a fantastic year for making wine with a cool spring and a fair amount of rain. Washington had an ideal spring for heathy vines. The moderate temperatures during summer were perfect for small clusters and yet delayed veraison into the fall where we had a consistent ripening season that allowed us to hang the fruit for perfect tannin and flavor without losing acidity or acquiring too much alcohol. Overall it was a vintage to remember
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The base 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is brilliant, and as Cabernet Sauvignon goes, it’s a value that’s hard to beat! Classic black and blue fruits, damp earth, violets, and tobacco notes all emerge from this medium to full-bodied effort that stays pure, impeccably balanced, and vibrant on the palate. It’s the real deal, and if it was from Napa, it would sell for 3-4 times the price.
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James Suckling
I like the toffee and spice. Hints of chocolate. Plums, too. Medium-bodied and flavorful. Hints of spices.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Jack’s Vineyard opens to an expressive, dark-fruited nose of blackberries, currant, cassis and subtle dusty florals. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is clean and correct with a balanced mid-palate and a bright and juicy finish.
Other Vintages
2018-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
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Suckling -
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
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James
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Wine
Enthusiast
The original thought was to be a one wine brand, with a single minded vision to produce the best value-priced Cabernet Sauvignon in America. How do you go about this? Traditional winemaking. Natural fermentations. Barrel-aging. Plus, bottling unfiltered and unfined. In essence, making the wines in small batch winemaking integrity, but doing so on a larger scale. The wine is black. The label definitively says, "This is Cabernet Sauvignon." With the CS, you know who made this wine: Charles Smith. There is also the single vineyard, single expression, Bordeaux varietals (ex: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) produced in very limited quantities. Let's not to forget, the single vineyard Loire-style Substance Sauvignon Blanc. Wines of Substance illustrates Charles’ philosophy of producing exceptional wines to be enjoyed by everyone around the globe.
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.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.