Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Rich expressions exuberant blackberry and dark cherry fruit, elegant oak nuances and stylish dark red tones. Full-bodied in the mouth, with youthful yet still rigid tannins, there are plummy tones and a robust fruit core that oozes over the mid-palate with a tannic edge. The wine has finesse and the most prominent structure of the range of Cabernets, ending with a long, sophisticated finish. This wine has an elegance that will reward the patience of a decade in the cellar.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Andrew Will Champoux Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is stylish and persistent on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of black fruit, dried spices, and earth. Enjoy it with BBQ brisket. (Tasted: August 15, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
…Has pretty cassis, tobacco leaf, savory herbs, and chocolate notes as well as medium to full-bodied richness on the palate. It shows the forward, elegant, seamless style of the vintage beautifully. And despite already drinking nicely, it’s going to evolve for 10-15 years on its balance.
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.
"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.