Winemaker Notes
Dark, vibrant, and very expressive. Fire roasted chilies, fresh violets, blackberry, marjoram, crushed seashells, black fruit compote. Very stylish with an elegant mouth feel and long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From the same site, the 2018 Petit Verdot Olsen Brothers Vineyard offers a rocking nose of cassis and blueberry fruits as well as lots of tobacco, violets, and cedarwood. Full-bodied and beautifully balanced, with integrated oak and silky tannins, it's another stunning wine from this talented winemaker that can be enjoyed any time over the coming 15+ years or so.
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry and almond. Full-bodied with chewy tannins. Lush and rich palate that remains balanced in its intensity. Dark chocolate comes through.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep magenta in color, the 2018 Petit Verdot Olsen Vineyard opens with aromas of graphite, pencil lead, black cherry skin and dark plum before notions of purple flowers dusted with cinnamon sway from the glass. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is balanced with expertly managed tannins and a frame held together by succulent acidity. Concluding with a long, lingering and subtly spiced finish, this Petit Verdot should have no challenges lasting through the end of the decade. The wine rested for 22 months on the lees in 40% new puncheons.
Rating: 90+
One of the original Bordeaux varieties, Petit Verdot has a bold structure, color and aromas, which allow it to make a significant difference in Bordeaux Blends—even in modest amounts. While it isn’t planted in Bordeaux in great quantities anymore, its virtues are increasingly identified elsewhere. Somm Secret—Producing phenomenal single-varietal wines in hot and dry locations in the New World, Petit Verdot also finds a happy home in parts of Spain as well as in in Portugal’s Alentejo where it gracefully blends with the regions' indigenous varieties.
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.