Winemaker Notes
#23 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2024
Deep, dark ruby. Expressive bouquet with notes of red and black licorice, tea roses, aged leather, vanilla, and toasty oak. Massive mouthful of dense fruit. The elegant tannins and bright acidity give way to a medium body balanced with freshness, making this vintage of Estate Red wonderfully approachable. A stunningly long and full finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Red Wine showed brilliantly, with pure cassis, plums, dark chocolate, and graphite aromatics to go with a full-bodied, rich, wonderfully pure, elegant profile on the palate. This classic, structured, concentrated red is going to evolve for 25-30 years. The Red Wine is based on a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Merlot, all from the Figgins Estate Vineyard, that spent 22 months in new and once-used barrels.
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James Suckling
Polished and structured with aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants, graphite, black tea leaves and chocolate. Toasted hazelnuts and mocha, too. Full-bodied, firm and focused, with fine-grained tannins. Structured and well-framed, with a long and classy finish. Cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and merlot. Try from 2026.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
...the 2020 Estate Red Wine is Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant, with Merlot and Petit Verdot in the mix. Dark, juicy and dense with a spicy and floral essence, the nose shows power and precision with fantastic oak tones that lift from the glass. Full-bodied and generously layered, the red blend is fresh and juicy but will need additional time. It's tannic and food-friendly but will have no trouble filling its shoes. Your patience will be rewarded with additional years of bottle aging in the cellar.
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Wine Spectator
A wine of dimension and detail that's framed by dynamic structure, with flavors of blackberry, black olive, licorice and dusky spices gathering richness and polish toward big but refined tannins.
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Decanter
From the Figgins estate vineyard in the Northeastern part of the Walla Walla Valley comes a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Petit Verdot that shows a real elegance to match its substantial structure. Lavender and violet aromatics followed on by crushed stone, white pepper, savoury herbs and a touch of wood smoke. The palate is supple and refined. Juicy red and blue berry fruits, bay leaf, graphite and an array of purple florals finish a stunning wine.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.