Winemaker Notes
Medium ruby in color, this wine is beautifully aromatic. Juicy red fruit—fresh cherries, strawberries, currant, and a subtle hint of tobacco, black licorice, and pencil shavings. On the palate, this wine may be the most true-to-form Doubleback we have made yet—pure unadulterated elegance, but richness and balance to back it up with an uber long finish. Sandalwood, red rose petal, fine grained tannins—approachable now but will age gracefully for the next two and a half decades. 2016 is proving to be an incredible year in Walla Walla. This will only get better with time, drink now through 2041.
Blend: 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 4% Malbec, 3% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Impressively intense and concentrated with vibrant blackcurrant, pomegranate, red cherry and leather. A classy wine with ripe, integrated tannins and a wonderfully lingering finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Deep purple-colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon offers a beautiful bouquet of crème de cassis, graphite, and spicy wood that develops nicely with additional time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and silky on the palate, with terrific purity, it has building tannins and a great finish, all giving it an accessible yet also age-worthy feel. It will keep for two decades. This cuvée is 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 4% Malbec, and the balance Merlot, brought up in 80% new French oak.
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Wine Spectator
Combines structure with elegance and polish, offering expressive black berry, mocha and thyme accents that take on richness toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2025.
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James Suckling
There’s a very attractive plum and spice feel to the nose with a wealth of ripe dark berries and a thread of chocolate on offer here, as well as hints of spice. Ripe, thicker-grained tannins. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Merlot. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Showing power and elegance on the nose, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon focuses more on aromas of dark fruits and sturdy oak, with a pronounced minerality. The full-bodied palate shows more complexity than the nose leads on, with a bold and tight structure of dense blackberry and cassis tones that make way for a firm tannic grip. The wine lingers on the long finish with nuances of wet river rock, bitter dark chocolate and graphite. Give this one some time in the cellar. 2,744 cases were made. Rating: 91+
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Wine Enthusiast
Dried herbs, cherry jam, graphite and spice lead to ripe, full, fleshy fruit flavors that linger. It comes off as quite ripe but has a pleasing yum factor and a fine sense of acidity. Best after 2026.
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.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.