Winemaker Notes
The Red Mountain Right-bank Bordeaux inspired blend, “Épinette,” spent 22 months in 75% new French oak after a long maceration and fermentation in both concrete and stainless steel vats. The blend changes each vintage, either being dominated by Merlot or Cabernet Franc, but in 2015 it is driven by Merlot grown in deep, loamy soils found in the heart of our vineyard. Bottled unfined and un filtered.
Blend: 50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Merlot-dominated cuvee is the 2015 Épinette, and it’s blended with 30% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot in 2015. Spending 30 days on skin and aged all in barrel, it’s another rich, structured, tannic 2015 that has a wealth of fruit, notes of plums, chocolate, licorice and scorched earth, with full-bodied weight and power on the palate.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Jeb Dunnuck
A Pomerol look-alike, the 2015 Epinette is mostly Merlot, yet includes 30% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. It’s another rich, mouthfilling effort and offers lots of darker, plummy fruits, chocolate, and scorched earth aromas and flavors. With building tannin and serious structure, it isn’t for those looking for instant gratification and is going to need a solid 3-5 years of bottle age.
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Wine Spectator
Dense and muscular, with a firm core of lively acidity and tannins that are braced by deep currant, mineral and white pepper flavors. Hands off for now. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
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.
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.