Winemaker Notes
In addition to sourcing grapes from three separate estate vineyards we also blend in small amounts of Petit Verdot and Merlot for greater complexity. Look for ripe, fruit-driven flavors loaded with cherries, cassis, boysenberry, sweet chocolate, vanilla and coffee. The palate is rich, concentrated, silky and long. This is a dense wine that pairs well with beef, lamb, BBQ, blue cheese or chocolate.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Estates Cabernet Sauvignon which contains some Petit Verdot and Malbec also spent 14 months in barrel. Medium purple in color, it displays a bouquet of cedar, tobacco, spice box, violets, and black currant. Medium to full-bodied with good volume and intensity, it has plenty of savory black fruits, enough structure to evolve for 1-2 years, and a lengthy fruit-filled finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine has muscle and grip; it’s a densely layered Cabernet, based upon cassis and loam, with firm, muscular tannins. At the moment it does not extend its power into the finish, but rather it seems to stop short. Try giving it extra breathing time.
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.