Winemaker Notes
Notes of spicy black pepper and concentrated black and blue fruits. The wine is full bodied and dense with flavors of ripe blueberries, black plum and baking spices and boasts a long lingering finish of leather, black cherry and toasty oak.
A slight sweetness from the oak allows this wine to pair well with steaks and covered demi glaze or huckleberry reduction sauce.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Polished and lively, with sleek black cherry, espresso and graphite tones that pick up speed toward the finish. Drink now through 2028
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James Suckling
Notes of blackberry, blueberry, spiced plum, licorice and vanilla. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, smooth tannins. Juicy and creamy on the palate with fruity character. Drink now.
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Wine Enthusiast
The aromas offer notes of fresh green herbs, black currant, licorice and plentiful barrel spice. The cherry and green pepper flavors are soft and plump, like those of many wines from the vintage, showing elegance through the middle and plenty of balance
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.