Winemaker Notes
This wine surprised as the winemaker had thought that the 2006 Sorella was an example which couldn't be bested by the 2008 vintage. That is definitely wrong. This wine most clearly shows the vintage as one which stays in the mind and lingers with its sophistication and controlled verve. All the fruit and other components of the wine are showing as one in this mysterious yet gratifying wine.
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Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Impressive for its intensity and elegance, packed with black cherry, cherry, plum and spice flavors, hinting at roasted red pepper and a tarry minerality as the finish glides smoothly over refined tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Best from 2012 through 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Sorella lacks the mind-boggling personality of the great 2007 although it is still an outstanding effort. It displays a bit of heat and lacks the length of its predecessor.
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Wine Enthusiast
This could be labeled Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 80% of the blend. It's all old vine Champoux vineyard fruit, with a beguiling blend of herb, bramble, spice, cedar and chocolate. Smooth and polished, still wound a bit tight, and fairly astringent.
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Wine & Spirits
Camarda's flagship, Sorella is typically composed of mostly old-vine cabernet from Champoux Vineyard; this year, it accounts for 80 percent of the blend and the wine is as powerfully built as his Champoux bottling. It's densely structured, given to earth and soil elements before air brings out dark and dusty fig-like fruit. With more air, that hue turns to plum. The structure should relent with some time in the bottle. When it does, serve this with roast beef.
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.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.