Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a regal cabernet with a very buttoned-down feel to the nose and palate. Well-judged fruit ripeness underpins fresh blackcurrant and plum aromas and flavors, as well as handsomely long, sturdy tannins. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is 100% varietal. Aromas of dark roasted coffee, dried herb, exotic spice and plum lead to ripe, velvety fruit and barrel flavors with firm tannins backing it up. Dark chocolate notes linger on the finish. Yum. Best after 2025 with a long life beyond that
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Wine & Spirits
Napa Valley winemaker Randy Dunn makes this wine from the warm Benches Vineyard, overlooking the Columbia River. It’s a rich, powerfully extracted cabernet with an oak-derived smoke component that surrounds the dark, plummy fruit like a thick robe. The flavors are deep and round, the texture seductive; give it some cellar time to let the oak integrate.
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.