Winemaker Notes
Dark fruit with hints of blackberry cobbler, graphite, and sandalwood. Mostly grown on warmer sites of the Walla Walla Valley including our estate, Bob Healy Vineyard. Beautiful tannins that are lush and have a strong core that broadens out last minute to an ultra-long finish. A really pleasing and luxurious wine.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Ripe blue and blackberry notes with floral quality, minty cherries and elegant oak spices undertones. Chocolatey texture on the palate, dense and concentrated, rounded. Dense core of dark plummy fruit supported by a refreshing acidity.
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James Suckling
Aromas of red and dark berries, nutmeg, spice box and wet stones. Medium- to full-bodied and firm with compact, polished tannins and a chocolatey texture. Ripe and fruity finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 7% Malbec and 6% Petit Verdot. The nose bursts with bright red confectionery fruit aromas and succulent, plump cherry tones with dusty florals. Medium to full-bodied, the wine shines with purity and freshness on the palate and ends with a spicy, food-friendly finish. It's a fantastic wine that spent 18 months in 45% new French barrels.
Barrel Sample: 92+ -
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon is based on 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and small percentages of Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot from a handful of sites in the Walla Walla Valley. Exhibiting a deep purple hue as well as a perfumed nose of plums, cigar, sweet spice, and savory tobacco, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, an elegant, narrow mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and outstanding length. Tight, backward and a touch austere at the moment, give bottles a few years, and it should evolve nicely over the following decade. Rating: 90+
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.