Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
With the goal of creating authentic estate-grown wines, Double Canyon was established in the heart of Horse Heaven Hills in 2007. Double Canyon's focus is crafting Cabernet Sauvignon that expresses the individuality of their namesake vineyard and captures the distinct character of Washington State’s best appellations. Double Canyon’s new state-of-the-art winery opened its doors for the 2017 harvest.
Their Story There are few places in the world capable of producing truly remarkable wine. Despite all they’ve learned of viticulture over the centuries, it is still largely the whim of nature and fate of geological events that unfolded long ago that dictate where this rare and special terroir is located. Double Canyon's job then is to seek out parcels of land that present an opportunity to cultivate great wines. In 2007, they did just that, when they founded Double Canyon. From that moment, the focus has been crafting exceptional Washington Cabernet Sauvignon from pedigreed vineyard sites, anchored by their namesake Double Canyon Vineyard in Horse Heaven Hills. For the past 50 years, Horse Heaven Hills has produced some of the most revered fruit in Washington. Their 90-acre Double Canyon Vineyard, named for two ravines that run through the property, was selected for its desirable location and proximity to the Columbia River. Influenced by volcanic activity, ancient glacial deposits, desert soils, and a persistent wind that blows off the river, Double Canyon wines capture the distinctive character of this renowned appellation.
The Winery Double Canyon opened the doors to its new winemaking facility in West Richland, Washington just in time for harvest 2017. When it came to building a home for their wines, they took a studied, philosophical approach. In pursuit of making great Cabernet Sauvignon, they brought together a small team of experts with more than 175 years of combined winemaking and production experience to draw on this depth of knowledge and collaborate on the design of a best-in-class facility. Technologically advanced and designed for top-level craftsmanship, the new Double Canyon winery allows them to control every aspect of winemaking. Armed with new tools to automate processes such as temperature-control and pumps-overs, they'll be able to achieve an even higher level of precision, efficiency and quality.
"Surely this is Horse Heaven!”
Its wide prairies and rolling expanses led an early pioneer to proclaim that the region looked like “horse heaven,” and as a result, the area was appropriately named. Horse Heaven Hills is in south central Washington state, geographically bound on its northern border by the Yakima River and in the south, by the larger Columbia River.
Its proximity to the Columbia River contributes to a variety of climactic factors that dramatically affect its grapes. In particular, an increase in wind from changes in pressure along the river, which flows from the cool and wet Pacific Ocean, inland to Washington’s hot and arid plains, creates 30% more wind than there would be otherwise. These winds moderate temperatures, protect against mold and rot, reduce the risk of early and late season frosts, diminish canopy size and toughen grape skins.
The vineyards bordering the river are on steep, south-facing, well-exposed slopes, with well-drained, sandy-loam soils. But the soils of the appellation are diverse throughout, ranging from wind-blown sand and loess, Missoula Flood sediment, and rocky basalt. Horse Heaven Hills has an arid continental climate with elevations ranging from 200 to 1,800 feet.
The first vines of the appellation were planted in 1972 in an optimal spot now referred to as the Champoux Vineyard. Today it remains the source of some of Washington’s most desirable and expensive Cabernet Sauvignons. In fact, the appellation as a whole boasts many of Washington’s top scoring wines. Its primary grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Riesling.
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.