Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Another testament to the majestic 2007 vintage, not to mention the talents of Jean-François Pellet, this elegant cabernet is in every way a classic: complex scents of mushroom and tomato skin adorn a fruit palette of deep black cherry and plum. That mélange carries over beautifully into the flavors, but the real story here is the wine's gorgeous texture—so supple it's as if the tannins have been ground to a mouthcoating fineness, lending the wine uncanny elegance and length. Drinking beautifully now, it will reward a decade's cellaring.
-
Wine Enthusiast
This nicely captures the structural strengths of the ’07 vintage. It's a muscular wine, with excellent depth and polish. In the mouth it displays exceptional Cabernet/Bordeaux character, in the context of bright Washington fruit. Vivid and aromatic, with a lifted palate that blends and matches dark cassis fruit and mixed herbs with hints of the 50% new oak. Age this for decades.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon contains 10% Merlot, with the rest Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. It was aged for 21 months in 52% new French oak. Deep purple in color, it exhibits an attractive perfume of cedar, Asian spices, mineral, incense, and black currant. Medium-bodied on the palate with excellent volume, concentration, and balance, it has the stuffing to evolve for 3-4 years. This lengthy effort will be at its best from 2013 to 2027.
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.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.