Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Four Flags showcases the power and restraint that Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is known for, emphasized by the extra hang time granted by the ideal growing conditions of the vintage. Whiffs of mountain huckleberry, black plum, maraschino cherry, and graphite quickly awaken the olfactory. The palate is dense yet inviting, with flavors of graham cracker, chocolate truffle, and anise alongside chewy tannins. This vintage displays a captivating balance of toasty oak, savory herbal notes, and big fruit flavors that make this special effort sing.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Beautifully aromatic, this Cabernet is sourced from four of the best Red Mountain sites: Grand Ciel, Ciel du Cheval, Upchurch and Klipsun vineyards. This wine was a proposal to take some of the top fruit that goes into the classic Delille wine, D2 and elevate it. Graceful floral notes, dried desert scrub, and eucalyptus pushes elegance to the fore of this wine's aromatic profile. The palate is complex, with ripe red and black currants expressing refinement and class. It is well framed by dried mint, lavender, and a mineral note of crushed granite.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of four vineyard sites, Upchurch, Grand Ciel, Klipsun, and Ciel du Cheval, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Four Flags is 100% varietal and given 20 months in French oak barrel, 76% new. Ripe, fleshy, and full-bodied, it derives richness from black and red berry fruit while uncovering an inherent savory earthiness etched in pencil lead and gravel. This will age well another 10-12 years.
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Vinous
The 2022 Four Flags is deeply expressive, as a whiff of blood orange mixes with crushed blueberries, sweet lavender and a dusting of confectionery spice. It is refined and balanced with silky textures offset by tart red and black fruits, while a cooling wave of acidity maintains freshness. Peppery inner florals resonate as the 2022 finishes long and staining, leaving sweet tannins to frame hints of dark chocolate and balsamic spice.
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Wine Enthusiast
My love for this wine's funky, earthy blackberry tea aroma will not flag. It is joined by aromas of chocolate cake, dark raspberries and a wisp of graphite. Four Flags is full-throttled Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon action, with blackberry, anise and rosehip flavors backed by burly tannins. Four Flags spent 20 months in French oak, 76% new. Give it time to rest, then drink from 2027-2044.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
This composed and balanced red shows blackcurrants, plums, sage and bay leaves on the nose. It’s full-bodied and fruit-forward, with fine, polished tannins. A blend of fruit from Grand Ciel, Ciel du Cheval, Upchurch and Klipsun vineyards. Excellent drinkability already, but better from 2027.
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Wine Spectator
Precise and well-knit, with deep yet stylish flavors of black cherry and blackberry accented with black olive and tomato leaf as this moves toward big but polished tannins. Drink now 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.