Winemaker Notes
Remarkably polished, this Grand Ciel Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon shows pure blueberry and cassis aromas, with sweet chocolate and oak toast notes adding even more interest. Explosive on the nose and wonderfully concentrated, this vintage shows remarkable restraint on the palate with balance throughout. The 2017 vintage of this esteemed cuvee offers opulence and elegance in such effortless harmony that it defies appropriate description.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The top Cabernet from Red Mountain, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Ciel comes from the Grand Ciel Vineyard and spent 20 months in new French oak. Blue fruits, graphite, leafy tobacco, lead pencil, and a kiss of meaty, iron-like notes give way to a medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced Cabernet with ultra-fine yet building tannins, a round, layered mouthfeel, plenty of mid-palate depth, and a great finish. This classic, flawlessly balanced Red Mountain Cabernet will benefit from 2-4 years (or more) of bottle age and keep for three decades. It's one of those wines that builds with time in the glass. Rating: 96+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Rich, round and ripe, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Ciel bursts from the glass with focus, finesse and precision. Aromas of juicy cherry, black plum and chocolate ganache explode out of the glass with cinnamon and nutmeg nuances. Silky-smooth and medium to full-bodied, the wine remains luxurious on the palate with a velvety mouthfeel, revealing layers of complexity with gobs of dark red and black fruit flavors, as the impeccably balanced mid-palate sashays with grace and finesse. The juicy Cabernet summersaults to a a long, winding and ever-evolving finish with a lasting impression of crunchy plum skin that persists for more than a minute. Run, don't walk to put some of this in your wine cellar. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Grand Ciel vineyard was fermented in stainless steel, then rested in all new French oak for 20 months before being bottled and left to age for another year and a half prior to release. Absolutely stunning!
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Wine & Spirits
One variety, one clone, one vineyard is how DeLille describes this wine. A driving force of dark fruit and evergreen savor, it leads with aromas of pint frond and a whiff of menthol, woodsy and fresh. The fl avors are dark, the texture massive but with polish, and with a succulence for steak.
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Wine Spectator
Expressive and handsomely structured, with multilayered black berry, crushed rock and savory spice flavors that gather tension and richness toward medium-grained tannins.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon shows a power that stays long into the wine's finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine brings aromas and flavors of black fruit and licorice to the fore. Pair it with a well-marbled, T-Bone steak topped with diced shallots. (Tasted: November 2, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
A firm, linear red with medium body, fine tannins and a medium finish. Currant and walnut with a slightly lifted edge at the end. A little short and tight now. Try after 2023.
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.