Winemaker Notes
The Red Mountain AVA is wonderfully suited to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon, and Ciel du Cheval Vineyard gets it right every year. This wine is packed with blackberry jam, boysenberry, and black cherry notes. The palate is brimming with black and red fruits and vanilla flavors while an intensely flavored entry leads to a concentrated and well-structured finish.
Blend: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Ciel du Cheval Vineyard impresses with a darkly floral blend of crushed blackberries, grilled herbs and smoke. It's silky smooth yet energetic and spry, with zesty acids that add a cooling lift to its masses of ripe red and blue fruits, while inner spices swirl throughout. This coats the palate in a web of fine-grained tannins while tapering off with a flourish of lavender and mint. The 2019 has a very regal feel and comes off as harmonious from start to finish.
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James Suckling
Aromas of ripe black cherries, nutmeg and blackcurrants. Full-bodied with fine tannins. Charred herbs and whole spice with a hint of vanilla. Plush and polished fruit. Good depth. Best after 2023.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from a great site in the heart of Red Mountain, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Ciel Du Cheval Vineyard is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon along with tiny percentages of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. This ruby/purple-hued effort offers an exotic, floral bouquet of redcurrants, plums, spring flowers, orange blossom, and subtle spicy oak. It's medium-bodied and has a supple, elegant mouthfeel, light tannins, and a great finish. Drink this complex, impressive Cabernet Sauvignon over the coming decade or so.
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.
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.