Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Père de Famille is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, and 4% Merlot that's mostly from Red Mountain aged 20 months in 70% new French oak. This inky colored effort is packed and stacked, with deep blackberry and currant fruits intermixed with lots of graphite, crushed rock, and minerals as well as smoky, violets aromas and flavors. This full-bodied beauty has gorgeous purity and elegance. It needs 2-4 years of bottle age and will keep for two decades.
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James Suckling
Fantastic aromas of blackberry, violet and blueberry. A medium to full body and tight tannins that remain plush and caressing. A flavorful finish. Needs three or four years to come together. Impressive. Try in 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Unscathed from the warm vintage, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille begins with a lifted, floral essence with dark red fruit aromas that waft with layers of oak spices. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is juicy and round with succulent acidity and lightened with a delicate mineral tension. The wine continues to impress with gobs of fruit layered with a gorgeous and sturdy frame that will remain food-friendly for years. The wine ends with a tannic edge and lingering flavors of dusty cherry skin, black raspberry and violets.
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Wine Spectator
Offers structure and refinement, with currant and spiced tea flavors that build momentum toward broad-shouldered yet polished tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Offers structure and refinement, with currant and spiced tea flavors that build momentum toward broad-shouldered yet polished tannins. Best from 2020 through 2025. 1,111 cases made.
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.