Winemaker Notes
Blend: 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 DuBrul Vineyard offers a lifted and dusty nose that sways with oak spices and a frame of ripe red fruit. Firm and grippy, this full-bodied red blend offers a focused and round drinking experience and reveals subtle hints of pencil shavings and graphite. The mid-palate bursts with succulent acidity and should remain food-friendly for 10 to 13 years more.
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Wine Enthusiast
Just about two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one-third Merlot, this delivers complex aromas of blackberry, raspberry, earth, licorice and barrel spice. There's a mesmerizing sense of freshness, richness and concentration to the fruit and earth flavors along with a purity that commands attention. Just a baby now, it has decades in front of it. It will be best from 2020 to 2026.Cellar Selection
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Wine Spectator
Crisp, focused and broad enough to support a rich array of black currant, plum and licorice flavors, weaving in an undertone of smoky roasted red pepper as the open-textured finish lingers against polished tannins. Persists impressively. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2020.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
As the first recognized wine-growing region in the Pacific Northwest, Yakima Valley is centrally located within Washington’s vast Columbia Valley. The region also includes Washington’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, Otis Vineyard, planted in 1957, and Harrison Hill Vineyard, planted in 1963. Yakima Valley contains three smaller sub-regions: Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, and Snipes Mountain and is ideal for both red and white wine production. In fact, Yakima Valley is Washington’s most diverse region, boasting more than 40 different grape varieties over about one hundred miles.
The cooler parts of the valley are home to almost half of the Chardonnay and Riesling produced in the state! Both are made in a wide range of styles depending on the conditions of the vineyard site.
But its warmer locations yield a large proportion of Washington’s best Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The finest Yakima Valley reds are jam-packed full of red cherry, currant, raspberry or blackberry fruit, as well as cocoa, herb, spice and savory notes, and exhibit a supple texture, great body, focus and length.