Winemaker Notes
An explosive nose of blackcurrant, wild fig, plum and anise with underlying notes of cocoa, roasted coffee bean and crème brûlée. The wine is silky and concentrated upon entry with dark berry fruits on top of licorice root, wet earth and underbrush. Thick, tarry tannins progressively build in intensity, drawing out the palate out to a long, lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is the finest Cabernet yet from Corliss, a fully-realized wine with power and finesse. From opening scents of figs, berries and roasted coffee, on into a compact, potent midpalate that still seems quite young and fresh, this wine keeps adding layer upon layer as it breathes. Concentrated and perfectly balanced, it will age beautifully for another 15–20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
More perfumed and lively aromatically, yet more firm and backwards on the palate, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon is a knockout 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that spent 30 months in 70% new French oak. Classically styled, with black currants, toasty oak, violets, licorice and background meatiness, it is a full-bodied, structured and age-worthy 2008 that will evolve gracefully for 15+ years. It improves over the evening but should ideally be given another handful of years in the cellar.
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.