Winemaker Notes
Blend: 54% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 54% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2020 Champoux Vineyard begins with a generous and focused nose with delightful red-fruited notions that sway with fresh, rich and spicy florals. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is spicy yet balanced with a fresh and plush mouthfeel, revealing balance and finesse with elegant oak tones, succulent acidity and lifting tannins. The wine concludes with a long, focused and spicy finish. Just over 3,700 bottles were filled after the wine for 22 months in 30% new French oak barrels.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Champoux Vineyard is 54% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc, and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and has a smoky edge in its black cherry and blackberry fruits as well as scorched earth and background oak-like nuances. These carry to a medium to full-bodied red possessing ripe tannins, good mid-palate depth, and solid length on the finish. While subtle, as with many wines from this site, it appears to have been affected by the smoke during the growing season.
Rating: 90?
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.
"Surely this is Horse Heaven!”
Its wide prairies and rolling expanses led an early pioneer to proclaim that the region looked like “horse heaven,” and as a result, the area was appropriately named. Horse Heaven Hills is in south central Washington state, geographically bound on its northern border by the Yakima River and in the south, by the larger Columbia River.
Its proximity to the Columbia River contributes to a variety of climactic factors that dramatically affect its grapes. In particular, an increase in wind from changes in pressure along the river, which flows from the cool and wet Pacific Ocean, inland to Washington’s hot and arid plains, creates 30% more wind than there would be otherwise. These winds moderate temperatures, protect against mold and rot, reduce the risk of early and late season frosts, diminish canopy size and toughen grape skins.
The vineyards bordering the river are on steep, south-facing, well-exposed slopes, with well-drained, sandy-loam soils. But the soils of the appellation are diverse throughout, ranging from wind-blown sand and loess, Missoula Flood sediment, and rocky basalt. Horse Heaven Hills has an arid continental climate with elevations ranging from 200 to 1,800 feet.
The first vines of the appellation were planted in 1972 in an optimal spot now referred to as the Champoux Vineyard. Today it remains the source of some of Washington’s most desirable and expensive Cabernet Sauvignons. In fact, the appellation as a whole boasts many of Washington’s top scoring wines. Its primary grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Riesling.