Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
So saturated, broad and rich, this lavish and indulgent wine is relaxed, with oak spices, ripe plums, baked cherries, mint and cedar. Blended from 50% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 11% cabernet franc, 8% malbec, 7% petit verdot. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.
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Decanter
The Perigee shows the freshness and elegance of the top estate blends from L'ecole in the 2021 vintage. Crafted from the Seven Hills Vineyard and its young, wind-blown loess soils, which L'Ecole has used for their vineyard designate wines since 1993. Profound complexity in the aromatics, with notes of juniper berries, black cardamom and white pepper overlay shy black fruits and a tone of pencil shaving. The palate is coiled and alert. A nice balance between tart red fruits, spice box, pine sap and pomegranate molasses flavours. It is framed with ample structure and finished with a brilliant acidity and crisp wintergreen note.
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Wine Enthusiast
Cabernet Sauvignon leads this blend's charge, opening with aromas of black currants, boysenberries, lavender and sweet fresh-cut hay. Blackcap raspberry and bergamot tea flavors are a perfect cocktail, especially when hints of anise and caramel appear. The Perigee's fine, grainy tannins and citrusy acidity put me in orbit. Enjoy 2024–2039.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
Straightforward and narrowly focused, with compact flavors of blackberry, tobacco and coffee bean that form firm tannins on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Best from 2026 through 2032.
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.