Winemaker Notes
Blend: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Intriguing scents focus upon chamomile and Mediterranean herbs, while the fruit flavors are wild and brambly. Cherry candy and red licorice play broadly across the palate, lingering through a beautifully balanced and extended finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Just coming out of the cocoon phase between youth and maturity, the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille is currently oak-dominated on the nose with elements of chocolate-covered espresso beans, dusty cherry skin and wilted red flowers. Medium to full-bodied, the mid-palate shows layers of bright acidity and lingering tannins that will deliver better in a few years, and it should drink gracefully for more than a decade. Rating: 93+
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Wine Spectator
Soft, velvety and medium-weight, with pretty currant fruit weaving through the smoky, licorice-accented finish. Deft and persistent.
Washington produces so many exciting wines, and that definitely includes Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. With over 10,000 acres under vine, Cabernet Sauvignon is now the most widely-grown varietal in the state. Terrific examples hail from sub-appellations like Red Mountain, Wahluke Slope, Horse Heaven Hills and Walla Walla Valley. One of the fascinations of these Columbia Valley Cabs is that they so often seem to have one foot in the New World and one in the Old. Representing the former are characteristics like the ripe, forward fruit that results from long sunny days during the growing season (up to two hours longer than in much of California). Old World similarities include an undeniable brightness from acidity, as well as notes of herbs, graphite and a dusty, sometimes gravelly minerality.
Whether you’re looking for a budget bottle for everyday enjoyment, or a stellar, world-class wine with tremendous aging potential, Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines can deliver the goods! Among the many fine options are bottles from Columbia Crest, Chateau Ste. Michelle, L’ecole #41, Quilceda Creek and Leonetti.