Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another smoking 2010 from this team, the 2010 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic wine from this estate. Lavishly oaked, with gorgeous chocolate, currants, licorice and tobacco leaf on the nose, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness and depth, yet never seems heavy, cumbersome or over the top. In fact, it integrates its oak with time in the glass and shows more and more freshness and elegance. Like the Red Wine release, give it a few years and enjoy bottles through 2030.
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Wine Enthusiast
The 2010 vintage wines from Washington can be unforgiving on release but this wine—already a full five years old—is an exception. It shows a compelling assortment of jammy red and black fruit along with milk chocolate and barrel spices. The flavors convey both power and finesse with a spot-on sense of balance and a long finish that kicks it up a notch. It's drinking beautifully now but has a long life in front of it. Best from 2020 to 2027. Cellar Selection
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.