Winemaker Notes
This vintage of the Illusionist is loaded with blue and black fruits, and is complimented with aromas of cedar, smoke, and spice, all of which is backed by sweet oak notes. It is immediately approachable, with fine grained and silky tannins, but will age beautifully for at least another two decades.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Modern ripe and packed with dark plums. The palate delivers a smooth and rather deep-set fruit presence. The long, flavor-soaked tannins carry impressive freshness. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot, the 2014 The Illusionist is a gorgeously pure, elegant beauty that offers terrific notes of cassis, leafy herbs, earth and lead pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, with terrific fruit intensity, polished tannin and a great finish, give bottles a year in the cellar and enjoy over the following 7-8 years. It's slightly more streamlined than I remember from barrel, but I like its length, and if it fills out with bottle age, it should get closer to that barrel score.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine Spectator
Plush and generous, with expressive black cherry and mocha-espresso aromas and rich, layered blackberry and savory licorice flavors that linger toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
Dried herb, black cherry, dark fruit, coffee and spice aromas are followed by a palate that brings a sense of refinement for such a warm vintage. Best after 2020.
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.