Leonetti Reserve 2017
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine - Vinous
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Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Leonetti Reserve is a richly colored ruby to the rim. Bolder than the Cabernet bottling, this flagship wine boasts a brilliant bouquet of baking spices, rising dough, and brambleberry pie. Cabernet Sauvignon forms the wonderful foundation and aromatics of this wine. Petit Verdot makes up almost a third of this blend and contributes a phenomenal duet of power and elegance. I often describe Petit Verdot as “the rails” upon which the other varietals rest because of the linear way it strikes the palate. Malbec brings laser-like focus and breadth to the overall fruit profile.
Blend: 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Petit Verdot, 10% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I had two off bottles of the 2017 Reserve, both showing huge volatile acidity, yet I had two great bottles as well, which are represented by this note. A blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Petit Verdot, and 10% Malbec, all aged 22 months in new barrels (as well as some neutral oval botti), it reveals a stunning bouquet of lead pencil shavings, toasty oak, incense, and dried tobacco, and it’s complex, nuanced, and layered aromatically. There’s not a hard edge to be found in this deep purple-hued effort, which offers the essence of blackberry liqueur fruits as well as full-bodied richness, beautiful concentration, and an opulent, expansive, yet precise mouthfeel. Made in a more elegant style than the 2015 and not far off the magical 2016, it’s going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and should have 3-4 decades of overall longevity. Rating: 97+
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James Suckling
A beautiful, very tight red with currants, dark chocolate, black tea and roasted sea weed. Full body and tight, muscular tannins. It is really tightly wound. A beautiful follow up to the 2016. A blend of 58% cabernet sauvignon, 32% petit verdot and 10% malbec. Give it two to three years to open up. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Petit Verdot and 10% Malbec, the 2017 Walla Walla Reserve flirts with perfection. The nose explodes with layers and complexity, offering a frame of elegant spices, picture-perfect ripe fruit essence, dark cherry, black raspberry, spiced plum and redcurrant before subtle hints of tar and purple flowers start to seduce the nose. Full-bodied, showing impeccable weight and balance on the palate, the generously structured wine offers a succulent fruit frame supported by lifting tannins and energetic acidity that continue to unpack across the mid-palate. Driving the finish are long, layered and complex expressions that offer nonstop pleasure, proverbially ending with a spectacular firework display of flavor. Boom! Rating: 97+
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Wine Enthusiast
Cabernet Sauvignon makes up 58% of this wine, followed by an impressive 32% Petit Verdot and 10% Malbec. The aromas pull you into the glass, with notes of dark cherry, coffee, flower, plum, graphite and bittersweet chocolate, showing a pleasing sense of complexity. The flavors are supple, textured and richly flavorful. Everything is in perfect proportion, with spot-on balance. It drinks beautifully now, with an open texture, but has the acid and tannin structure for the long haul. Best from 2030–2037.
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Vinous
Sweet herbal tones, tobacco, dark earth and dried black cherries form a dramatic bouquet as the 2017 smolders up from the glass. This is pure elegance on the palate, verging on opulence, yet with a core of tart black fruits and savory herbal tones to balance. Brisk acidity brings a nearly juicy feel toward the close. The 2017 folds in upon itself through the finish, balsamic and tarry, yet somehow maintains a lovely freshness as sweet tannins linger on. The 2017, an extremely warm vintage, contains 32% Petit Verdot, the largest amount ever included in the Reserve, balanced by 58% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Malbec.
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Wine Spectator
Grace meets a dynamic structure, with black cherry, allspice and licorice flavors that take on polished and richness toward medium-grained tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2030.
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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.