Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2012 Widowmaker is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that’s all from the estate En Chamberlin vineyard. It’s unquestionably a beautiful wine and offers just a touch of rocks funk in its classic tobacco leaf, currants, cedary spice and earth aromatics. Seamless, elegant and silky on the palate, with good acidity and a fresh, focused character, it’s a dead ringer for a gorgeous St. Julien from Bordeaux.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Matured for 18 months in 30% new French oak, the 2012 The Widowmaker Cabernet Sauvignon is gliding gracefully toward its peak with a deep ruby-garnet color and intense aromas of red and black currants and berries, black olives, licorice, cigar box and dried roses. The medium-bodied palate offers youthful fruit flavors and the first touches of tertiary development. It’s framed by velvety tannins and fresh acidity and has a long, layered finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Brooding aromas of fresh and dried herbs mix with freshly tilled soil, tomato leaf, coffee, mineral and spice box. It’s restrained in style with supple smoke, herb and cherry flavors backed by soft tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Soft and round, with expressive ripe cherry and floral flavors, hinting at mineral and spice as the finish persists.
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.