Winemaker Notes
The vibrant deep purple color and bright aromas showcase the concentration of Red Mountain fruit. Red cherry and cassis balance black pepper and oak spice on the nose. A generous and full palate of sage, thyme, and black raspberry fill the mid-palate and gives the wine a lasting and pure finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Made by Chris Up church, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon showed beautifully, with a fruit forward, yet balanced, textured, seamless style that’s a joy to drink. Offering loads of red, blue, and black fruits as well as tobacco, scorched earth, and graphite, this medium to full-bodied, dense purple, flawlessly balanced Cabernet can be drunk today with incredible pleasure or cellared for at least 10-15 years.
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James Suckling
Blackberries, spiced cherries, dried violets, cocoa and peppercorns on the nose. It’s full-bodied with firm, powdery tannins framing a deep core of spiced dark fruit. Balanced and layered. Drink from 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Generous and dark-fruited in the glass, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon opens with robust aromas of blackberry, black raspberry and grilled plums with elements of dried herbs and savory spice tones. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is balanced and has a lush mouthfeel that gives way to gripping tannins that will be food-friendly in youth. It ends with a long, winding finish with lasting flavors of bitter dark chocolate, damson fruit and roasted coffee beans. This still continues to be one of the best buys in all of Washington. Get it now before the price goes up.
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.