Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A step up, the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (87% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Merlot) is straight-up beautiful, with cassis, black raspberry, licorice, graphite and hints of chocolate all emerging from the glass. Full-bodied, layered and pure, with a rocking texture and building tannin, enjoy it over the coming decade or more.
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Wine Enthusiast
The reserve is still tightly wound, but expressive, with firm, focused flavors of cassis fruit, backed with a refreshing minerality. Chewy and stylish, its briary fruits carry through a long, sculpted finish with light accents of herb.
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Wine Spectator
Fleshy, elegant and distinctive, with spicy, coffee-accented black cherry and red berry flavors, gliding easily into a long and expressive finish. The fine tannins should soften with cellaring.
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.