Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Dark ruby in color, the 2017 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard is dark-fruited with juicy black plum, blackberry essence and dark cherry with hints of currants and cassis. Soft aromas of red flowers and pencil shavings waft with a dusty tension. Medium to full-bodied, the wine shows precision with an elegant frame and sturdy tannins, ending with a long-lingering, mineral finish with high-tone red fruits of dark, dusty cherry skin and red plum skin. This will drink fantastically for the next decade, but it won't do you wrong if you open a bottle tomorrow. Bravo!
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Jeb Dunnuck
Ratcheting up the intensity, the 2017 Ciel Du Cheval offers a vibrant, exotic bouquet of flowers, orange blossom, tobacco, and assorted red and black fruits. It’s beautifully balanced, medium to full-bodied, and has a perfumed, lifted, complex style that’s going to evolve for 15 years or more.
Rating: 93+ -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard is explosive and packed on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers fully charged aromas and flavors of black fruits, oaky notes, and licorice. Serve it with a savory oxtail pho. (Tasted: August 15, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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.