Winemaker Notes
A beautiful violet wine with generous aromas of blackberry and cocoa. The textured layers show flavors ranging from huckleberry to pepper. The finish is long and brimming with bright acidity and fine tannins.
Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Stone Cairn pulls me close to take in its perfumed mix of dried flowers, black currants and crushed stone. It washes across the palate with ease, silky and refined, with a tension-building mix of mineral-laced black fruits and inner herbal tones that give way to grippy tannins toward the close. While structured, the 2019 finishes remarkably fresh, leaving nuances of cocoa and violet inner florals to linger on. The Stone Cairn is a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% Merlot from the Red Mountain AVA. It's packed full of potential. Rating:94+
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Jeb Dunnuck
Based on 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Merlot, the 2019 Stone Cairn has a lifted, pretty, medium to full-bodied style as well as notes of ripe cassis, orange blossom, candied violets, and chocolate. Round, lush and sexy on the palate, this pleasure-bent Cabernet is ideal for drinking over the coming 8-10 years. Best After 2022
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James Suckling
Ripe red cherry, sweet tobacco and vanilla on the nose. Full-bodied with silky tannins. Linear, steady and fruity. Good intensity, with notes of cedar mixed with ground spice. Fresh acidity.
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.