Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Firm and focused, with forest floor accents around dense cherry and coffee flavors, gaining momentum against fine tannins as the finish persists. Best from 2018 through 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
Cocoa, coffee, baking spice, vanilla and cherry aromas are followed by a reserved palate, full of chocolate and cherry flavors. Coffee notes persist on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A pure, elegant red, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon (blended with 22% Merlot) possesses outstanding notes of black currants, damp underbrush, sappy herbs and charred earth in a full-bodied, balanced style. There’s a touch of detracting charred oak (which I doubt will ever truly integrate), but this impressive Cabernet will drink nicely for a decade.
Northstar, located in Walla Walla, Washington, aims to make Merlots that can be considered among the world's best, using fruit sourced from one of the world's best regions for the variety: Washington state. Winemaker, David "Merf" Merfeld, blends New World fruit with an old world winemaking style, influenced by Bordeaux's "right bank," to create his highly-acclaimed wines. Northstar produces two Merlot-based wines from the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla AVAs, as well as the Stella Maris red blend and extremely limited production bottlings of the blending component varieties that Merf uses as his "spice box" in creating Northstar's Merlots.
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.