Winemaker Notes
Loving this wine and the 2022 vintage in Walla Walla. Showing off cassis, blackberry, dark chocolate, and dried figs. The growing season was long in the valley, finishing at the beginning of November! The mouthfeel is ultra silky with such a pretty structure and fined grained, glycerol finish - I can’t say enough about how the wine “feels”. There is the perfect amount of oak and tannin on this wine with flavors like plum and raspberry shining through.
Blend: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, 3% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Deeply structured yet polished, with expressive flavors of blackberry and cherry highlighted by herbs de Provence and flint tones as this builds toward refined yet broad-shouldered tannins.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A pretty bouquet of currant and cassis lead to an elegant palate of full-bodied suppleness, with the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon ultimately quite pretty and well-balanced in style. Supple tannins integrate well to the point of melting while the oak remains supportive in the background.
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.