Winemaker Notes
Blend: 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The appellation 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley (98% Cabernet and 2% Petit Verdot) offers attractive notes of blackcurrants, dried tobacco, loamy earth, and chocolate. It's another rich, medium to full-bodied, impeccably made wine from this estate that has an old-school vibe in its acid and tannins. It should have 10-15 years of prime drinking.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Pleasing aromas of green herb, cocoa, coffee and dark fruit are followed by plump fruit flavors with lightly grainy tannin's backing them up. Coffee notes linger on the finish. It’s a surefire crowd-pleaser. Give it a short decant.
-
James Suckling
Plums, herbs and tobacco leaf on the nose with earthy undertones . It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins. Dusty, with rich chocolate and black-fruit notes. Firm finish. A blend of 98% cabernet sauvignon and 2% petit verdot. Try in 2022.
Washington produces so many exciting wines, and that definitely includes Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. With over 10,000 acres under vine, Cabernet Sauvignon is now the most widely-grown varietal in the state. Terrific examples hail from sub-appellations like Red Mountain, Wahluke Slope, Horse Heaven Hills and Walla Walla Valley. One of the fascinations of these Columbia Valley Cabs is that they so often seem to have one foot in the New World and one in the Old. Representing the former are characteristics like the ripe, forward fruit that results from long sunny days during the growing season (up to two hours longer than in much of California). Old World similarities include an undeniable brightness from acidity, as well as notes of herbs, graphite and a dusty, sometimes gravelly minerality.
Whether you’re looking for a budget bottle for everyday enjoyment, or a stellar, world-class wine with tremendous aging potential, Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines can deliver the goods! Among the many fine options are bottles from Columbia Crest, Chateau Ste. Michelle, L’ecole #41, Quilceda Creek and Leonetti.