Winemaker Notes
This wine shows off an intriguing combination of red berries, plums, espresso, and river rocks on the nose. This full-bodied wine is complex, focused, and shows off a impressive balance from fruit coming from one of the warmest vineyards Andrew Will sources fruit from.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard offers up notions of sweet red and black berries, licorice, orange rind and cigar tobacco. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and layered, with a deep core of fruit, firm but fine-grained structuring tannins and a long, rich finish. This is a bit more chunky and foursquare than this year's supremely charming Champoux bottling—as is to be expected from Red Mountain in a hot year—but it displays impressive stuffing and should evolve beautifully in the cellar.
Rating: 95+
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.
As the first recognized wine-growing region in the Pacific Northwest, Yakima Valley is centrally located within Washington’s vast Columbia Valley. The region also includes Washington’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, Otis Vineyard, planted in 1957, and Harrison Hill Vineyard, planted in 1963. Yakima Valley contains three smaller sub-regions: Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, and Snipes Mountain and is ideal for both red and white wine production. In fact, Yakima Valley is Washington’s most diverse region, boasting more than 40 different grape varieties over about one hundred miles.
The cooler parts of the valley are home to almost half of the Chardonnay and Riesling produced in the state! Both are made in a wide range of styles depending on the conditions of the vineyard site.
But its warmer locations yield a large proportion of Washington’s best Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The finest Yakima Valley reds are jam-packed full of red cherry, currant, raspberry or blackberry fruit, as well as cocoa, herb, spice and savory notes, and exhibit a supple texture, great body, focus and length.