Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Still seeming to need time to open up and stretch its legs, this wine offers high-toned aromas of graphite, caramel, vanilla and plum. It's full and plush in feel with tart fruit flavors and a finish that glides. Editors' Choice.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The outstanding 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon (there’s 5% each of Cabernet Franc and Merlot) gives up lots of leafy herbs, tobacco, cassis and sweet black cherries in a full-bodied, rich, rounded, sexy style that carries notable purity and balance. It will keep for at least a decade.
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.