Winemaker Notes
Blend: 65% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Franc, 8% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
This Merlot-based blend is a part of the Matthews tradition. Wildly fruity aromatics with whole berries, destemmed aromas driven by red berries, mountain blueberries, and a touch of green peppercorn and mocha dust. A streak of graphite underlines red berries, early season blackberries and a savoury herbal character that mingles complexity with fresh ripe fruits.
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Wine Spectator
A handsome blend, structured and polished, with expressive black cherry flavors accented by tarragon, mocha espresso and toasty spices that sail toward refined tannins. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Drink now through 2031.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Based on 65% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Malbec, the 2021 Columbia Valley Cuvee offers up lots of red plum and almost blue-like fruits as well as some classic Merlot chocolate, leafy herb, and smoky nuances. It's medium to full-bodied, ripe, fleshy, and pleasure-bent, with tons to love. Drink bottles over the coming decade.
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James Suckling
This Bordeaux-style blend of 65% merlot, 27% cabernet franc and 8% malbec is fragrant with floral and dark-fruit tones, backed by vibrant acidity, moderate tannins and ripe, focused plum and black-cherry flavors.
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Vinous
The 2021 Cuvée Columbia Valley is simply stunning, displaying a zesty bouquet of crushed black cherries and raspberries, complemented by hints of sage and cocoa. This is refined and sleek in style, with a rush of red and blue fruits underscored by saline minerals. An air of inner violet florals slowly forms. The 2021 finishes long, with a staining of liquid florals and gentle, round tannins that slowly fade through the lightly-structured finale. This is a blend of 65% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Franc and 8% Malbec, refined in 40% new oak.
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Wine Enthusiast
The sweet aroma of a Santa Rosa plum unites on the cuvée's nose with boysenberries and a chalky calcium note. Ripe Bing cherries are muddled together with flavors like chocolate ganache and a cedar-like bit of Sichuan peppercorns. The wine's soft acidity is currently eclipsed by a massive tannic structure.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 65% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Franc and 8% Malbec, the 2021 Columbia Valley Cuvée opens to a dusty, red-fruited profile with hints of a softly herbal essence. The wine has a fresh and still tannic character that will mellow over time, maintaining its food-friendly nature for years. Dense and spicy, the wine exhibits a chewy mid-palate with considerable weight. Since its inception years ago, this bottling has consistently grown in quality over the vintages, and the 2021 Cuvée lives up to expectations with its juicy, plummy and softly volatile finish.
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.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.