Winemaker Notes
A lavish, yet bold, muscular style; bright acidity delivers an elegant and smooth finish. Beautifully balanced and undeniably distinct. Sourced from Klipsun's newly replanted vineyard blocks.
Blend: 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 7% Syrah, 1% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Soft and supple in red fruit, dusty tannin, and integrated oak, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon is from younger plantings on the estate vineyard, with less new oak than the Altimus. Full-bodied, it shows the warmth of the year in concentrated blackberry and currant, graphite, and cacao nib. It finishes brightly balanced in elegant acidity.
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Vinous
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon is impossible to ignore with its rich bouquet of crushed raspberries, cedar spice box, tobacco and gravel dust. It's soothingly round and silken in feel, with ripe red berry fruits and a slight citrus tinge that adds lovely complexity. Gently tannic and with medium length, the 2022 tapers off with subtle tension and nuances of dark chocolate.
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Wine Spectator
Boldly structured and built for the cellar, this Cabernet offers concentrated black cherry, currant, cedar and dusky spice flavors that build toward broad-shouldered tannins.
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.