Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has an impressive tannin structure and depth. Bold chocolate and dark berries. Assertive yet polished. A class act. Drink or hold.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have known by now that Walla Walla Valley in eastern Washington State has become one of world's Cabernet Sauvignon hot spots. The 2014 Pepper Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon is a major success and an incredible value in the marketplace. TASTING NOTES: This wine is full, yet balanced, and exquisitely built. Its aromas and flavors of bold, ripe fruit, seductive oak nuances, and suggestion of mint make it a prime matching candidate with a juicy grilled ribeye. (Tasted: October 24, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Peppery Bridge's 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon (83% Cabernet Sauvignon, with smaller amounts of Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) is a classic Cabernet that has lots of perfumed herbs, flowers and darker currants and plum fruit. Rich, mouth-filling and beautifully textured, like just about every 2014, it's already drinking nicely, yet it's going to keep for 15+ years.
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.