Winemaker Notes
This supple, complex Cabernet is overflowing with ripe currant, blackberry, chocolate and warm vanilla notes in the nose. On the palate, the wine lingers with a long, supple finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley is a blend of fruit from Champoux, Klipsun, and Ciel du Cheval vineyards. Dark ruby-colored, it sports an enticing nose of spice box, cassis, black currant, incense, and tobacco. Elegant on the palate, it has a smooth texture, excellent depth, and enough ripe tannin to blossom for several more years. Drink it from 2013 to 2023
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.