Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
Iconic? Yes. A great value? You bet. Charles Smith’s nod to the Old World, Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is abundant with fruit: blueberry pie, ripe black cherries and plums orbit lighter notes of vanilla and violets ’round the bowl of the glass. On the palate, it’s textbook Washington Cabernet, abundantly laden in mouth-filling fruit, […]
Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
It begins with a pulse. Blackberries. Like Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, softly, softly roasted black cherries and blackcurrants emerge, followed by lilting notes of graphite, sandalwood, forest and pain grille. On the palate, rippling layers of opulent dark fruit that glide across a textural landscape of well-integrated, supple tannins. The 2005 […]
Col Solare Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
2014 marked Col Solare’s 20th vintage, giving the winery ample reason to celebrate the enduring partnership between Chateau Ste. Michelle and Marchesi Antinori. A warmer, riper vintage than 2013, this memorable Red Mountain Cabernet is all about power and sinewy concentration, with black cherry, cassis, blackcurrant, dark chocolate shavings and espresso rippling across this wine’s […]
Col Solare Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
An auspicious collaboration between Chateau Ste. Michelle and Marchesi Antinori, Col Solare is one of the preeminent wineries in Washington State’s Red Mountain AVA. The 2013 Cabernet is elegantly robed in layers of black cherry and blackcurrant, crushed lavender, violets, sweet tobacco, and pencil shavings. It’s sumptuous yet precise, offering acidic lift and polished, supple […]
Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
It’s an odd thing to taste Pacific Northwest wines halfway around the world at a wine show in Romania—but then, life is full of interesting surprises and it was even more fun to see how our domestic wines are received in Europe. Château Ste. Michelle is one of Washington’s State’s founding wineries, it’s also the […]
Spring Valley Vineyard Katherine Corkrum Cabernet Franc 2013
The 2013 Spring Valley Vineyard Katherine Corkrum offers more complexity than I tend to find in Washington State Cabernet Franc. It’s a wellspring of mulberries and pie cherries neatly hemmed in by dried orange peel, baking spices and subtle, dusty earthiness. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied, with velvety tannins and delightfully spice and white-pepper-laden finish […]
Spring Valley Vineyard Frederick 2013
A Bordeaux-style blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, the 2013 Spring Valley Vineyard Frederic offers sumptuous fruit on the nose and palate. Twenty months in new French oak has further graced it with a balanced, well-integrated toast profile of vanilla and pencil shavings lending structure to […]
Spring Valley Vineyard Nina Lee 2012
Co-fermented with 1% Viognier, Spring Valley Vineyard’s 2012 Nina Lee Syrah opens with a lilting topnote of dried violet that floats above weightier aromas of blackberry cobbler and black cherry. The wine’s namesake, a nod to the family’s enduring history in Walla Walla, Nina Lee was the wife of Frederick Corkrum. After meeting following her […]
Spring Valley Vineyard Sharilee Petit Verdot 2012
Aged 19 months in 100% neutral oak, the 2012 Spring Valley Vineyard Sharilee Petit Verdot is within it’s drinking window, the nose a confluence of fleshy plum and ripe blackberries underscored by spice and a subtle top note of wild fennel. On the palate, the structure is particularly lovely—velvety tannins frame out a plush, black-fruited […]
Waters Loess Vineyard Syrah 2012
Co-fermented with 4% Viognier, Waters 2012 Loess Syrah is crafted from fruit sourced from Leonetti Cellars estate vineyard. Earth, Italian plum, and blackberry reduction weave through seductive notes of brûléed turbinado sugar, earth, and charcuterie. It’s a sumptuous, well structured wine, framed in moderate toast with enough acidic lift to maintain balance. A meandering, lengthy […]