Winemaker Notes
Ferguson’s favor profile is distinctly influenced by its volcanic basalt soil. This massive wine offers complex aromas of espresso, tobacco, and dark mineral-laced fruit. Layers of wild blackberries and dusty tannins integrate with favors of flint and graphite on the palate. Concentrated natural acidity leads to a robust and lingering finish.
Blend: 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 6% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
I love the fragrant black-raspberry and violet notes that pull you into this concentrated yet elegant red. Great tannin structure and freshness that could wake the dead. The finish is super long, focussed and minerally. A blend of 62 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 26 per cent merlot, six per cent cabernet franc and six per cent malbec. From organically grown grapes.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Incorporating the most Cabernet Sauvignon of the three top tier releases, the 2016 Estate Ferguson Ferguson Vineyard is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Malbec, all aged in 50% new barrels. It's a full-bodied, powerful wine that has a distinct salinity and a marine-like note in its red and black fruits, spice, crushed rocks, and cedar aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, concentrated, and structured, it nevertheless has the charming, balanced, layered style of the vintage front and center. It too has good acidity and is going to benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age.
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Wine & Spirits
A blend of cabernet, merlot, malbec and cabernet franc, this feels as firm and vertical as an edifice—or the basalt bedrock upon which Ferguson Vineyard is planted, in the hilltop Sevein project. It starts out shy and reserved, combining modest vanilla-oak scents with warm plums and a distant leafiness. As it takes on air, the flavors start to crowd the glass, compressed and powerful. This is years from its peak, built to last two decades or more.
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Wine Enthusiast
Cabernet Sauvignon (62%) and Merlot (26%) make up the majority of this wine, with the rest equal parts Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The aromas of bittersweet chocolate, herb, dusty earth, graphite, vanilla and cherry show delineation and appeal on the nose. The palate brings a mouthful of restrained fruit flavors, with firm, puckering tannins backing them up. A mouthwatering finish displays a mix of red and black fruit. Best after 2023, with a long life beyond that.
Cellar Selection -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Ferguson Vineyard is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot and 6% each of Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Beginning with dark blackberry tones with slightly tart red plum on the nose, the wine has aromas of dusty bell pepper and cherry blossom in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a tannic grip upfront with tart red fruit flavors that sway with notions of oak and finesse before lingering with a focused and complex finish. Give this one more year in bottle before popping. It’s a lovely wine and will last for a decade, on.
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.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.