Winemaker Notes
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon offers aromas of cherry, blackcurrants, violet, and pencil shavings. Layered in complexity with flavors of sandalwood and caramel, this wine has rich, fine-grained tannins that lead to a long, elegant finish.
Blend: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Spry and classically Cabernet Sauvignon from this Red Mountain estate run by the Antinori family. Violets and iron filings alight from the glass, followed by lively blue fruits and a note of dried lavender. There's a definitive elegance to the tannins in this wine, which is mainly comprised of Quintessence Vineyard at 82%, Col Solare estate at 15% and a touch of wine from the Shaw 32 Vineyard. This wine sees 20 months in all-new French oak.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain (95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc) is deep purple hue and offers a killer nose of pure crème de cassis, spicy oak, graphite, and violets, with a kiss of Pauillac-like lead pencil emerging with time in the glass. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, has polished, elegant tannins, and a great finish that shows more than a little of that classic Red Mountain minerality. Hide bottles for 3-4 years, and it should have 15-20 years of overall longevity. The 2021 comes 82% from the Quintessence Vineyard, 15% from Col Solare, and 3% from the Shaw Vineyard (all on Red Mountain) and spent 20 months in 100% new French oak.
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James Suckling
What a perfumed nose of blackcurrants, blueberries, lavender, sandalwood and charred bark. Full-bodied, polished and velvety in texture, with sturdy tannins that melt into the fruit at the end. Long, firm and classy. 95% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc. 350 cases produced. Try after 2026.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon was blended with 5% Cabernet Franc and matured in 100% new French oak. It has an opaque ruby color and slowly unfurling scents of Luxardo cherries, blueberries, licorice, cigar box and grilled meats. The full-bodied palate offers concentrated, nuanced flavors matched by classy new-oak spices. It’s structured by powerful, grippy tannins and juicy acidity and has a long, polished finish.
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Vinous
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon entices with a rich blend of crushed black cherries, incense, dusty violets, cloves and shavings of cedar forming its complex bouquet. It envelops the palate with ripe red and blue fruits underscored by tactile minerals, while a core of vibrant acidity maintains fantastic freshness. The finish has a classic feel, with sweet tannins framing hints of blackberry and a slight air of mint.
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Wine Enthusiast
A rich cassis aroma sets the tone for this Red Mountain mix of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. Also swirling up from the glass are spicy notes of fennel and ginger. The wine's elegant texture is complemented by fine-grained tannins and a gentle ripple of acidity. Ripe Bing cherries dominate the palate, joined by dollops of mocha, black tea and cedar.
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Wine Spectator
Potent and brooding, with concentrated blackberry and currant flavors laced with dried sage and savory meat tones as this builds tannins toward the grippy finish. Best from 2026 through 2033.
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.
A coveted source of top quality red grapes among premier Washington producers, the Red Mountain AVA is actually the smallest appellation in the state. As its name might suggest, it is actually neither a mountain nor is it composed of red earth. Instead the appellation is an anticline of the Yakima fold belt, a series of geologic folds that define a number of viticultural regions in the surrounding area. It is on the eastern edge of Yakima Valley with slopes facing southwest towards the Yakima River, ideal for the ripening of grapes. The area’s springtime proliferation of cheatgrass, which has a reddish color, actually gives the area the name, "Red" Mountain.
Red Mountain produces some of the most mineral-driven, tannic and age-worthy red wines of Washington and there are a few reasons for this. It is just about the hottest appellation with normal growing season temperatures commonly reaching above 90F. The soil is particularly poor in nutrients and has a high pH, which results in significantly smaller berry sizes compared to varietal norms. The low juice to skin ratio in smaller berries combined with the strong, dry summer winds, leads to higher tannin levels in Red Mountain grapes.
The most common red grape varieties here are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, among others. Limited white varieties are grown, namely Sauvignon blanc.
The reds of the area tend to express dark black and blue fruit, deep concentration, complex textures, high levels of tannins and as previously noted, have good aging capabilities.