Winemaker Notes
Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Rich, dark-fruited red with ripe blackberries, baked cherries and hints of cedar and chocolate. Some tarry nuances, too. Full-bodied with a velvety texture, it’s structured and nicely framed. Lingering and focused. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 6% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Matured for 20 months in 40% new French oak and 10% new American oak, it has pure aromas of blackcurrant, iodine, aniseed and violet. The full-bodied palate offers a concentrated core of perfumed fruit. It's structured by grainy tannins and just enough juicy acidity, and it has a long, nuanced finish.
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Wine Spectator
Precise and well-sculpted, with expressive flavors of currant and blackberry accented by espresso and black olive tones as this builds tension toward medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2032. 3,514 cases made.
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Vinous
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon opens in the glass with a dusty blend of pine shavings , dried violets, lavender and blackberries. This is a juicy effort with silken textures and ripe wild berry fruits that saturate, adding a youthful chewiness toward the close. It leaves a resonance of blackberry and licorice alongside edgy tannins, yet it maintains fantastic freshness throughout.
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.