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Figgins Walla Walla Valley Estate Red 2011

Figgins Walla Walla Valley Estate Red 2011

While the exquisite 2010 Figgins Estate Red merited points well above 95, and the 2012 showed off its pedigree and sumptuous velvety elegance, the 2011 vintage is a good effort in one of the more difficult recent vintages in Walla Walla Valley. As expected, the profile is lighter and leaner on the nose and palate. […]

Canvasback Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Canvasback Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Canvasback is Duckhorn Vineyards latest project in Washington State. The winery has partnered with legendary Washington vineyard manager Dick Boushey in sourcing some of Red Mountain’s best fruit, certainly, the results speak for themselves. Seductive aromas of blackcurrant, cassis, blueberry pie, and anise slowly unfurl. In the mouth, even distribution of fine tannins and sweet […]

DeLille Cellars D2 2014

DeLille Cellars D2 2014

In the high church of classic Washington State wine, DeLille’s 2014 D2 is an exceptional vintage, but one should to point out, it’s always a consistent performer thanks to the efforts of talented winemaker, Chris Upchurch. The nose is a pure array of red and black fruit—black cherries, crushed raspberries, plums, vanilla bean, and spice […]

Walla Walla Vintners Vottavo 2012

Walla Walla Vintners Vottavo 2012

Walla Walla Vintners shows of svelte new packaging with the release of this wine—the 2012 Vottavo is a blend of 47% Sangiovese, 32% Merlot, and 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, all from Walla Walla’s Cut Bank Estate Vineyard. Intensely perfumed and infused with sandalwood, exotic spices, black cherries, and plums. The palate is plush, yet elegant, thanks […]

Va Piano Les Collines Vineyard Syrah 2014

Va Piano Les Collines Vineyard Syrah 2014

Another epic wine Jay shared at a recent Vivino meetup in Seattle. Va Piano’s 2014 Les Collines Vineyard Syrah is the proverbial iron fist in the velvet glove. It’s classic for Les Collines fruit, offering up caliginous tones of steeped blackberries, espresso, char, tilth and bay leaf. The palate is as earth-bound as the nose, […]

DeLille Cellars Four Flags Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

DeLille Cellars Four Flags Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

The more I taste Red Mountain fruit, the more enamored I am with it. That said, DeLille Cellars’ 2014 Four Flags Cabernet Sauvignon is blended from four distinct parcels within the AVA, 42% from Grand Ciel, 31% Upchurch, 19% Ciel du Cheval, and 8% from Klipsun. As it slowly unspools, layered aromas of blackberry, black […]

Long Shadows Feather Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Long Shadows Feather Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

From acclaimed Napa Valley winemaker, Randy Dunn, the 2014 Long Shadows Feather shows its pedigree with a range breathtaking of aromas—cassis, black currant, pencil lead, incense, lanolin, and lavender. In the mouth, it’s sumptuous without being showy, acid is focused on the tip of the tongue, leading into a sculpted framework of fine yet abundant […]

Experience Oregon & Washington Wine Country Aboard a Replica Coastal Steamer

UnCruise Adventures

Join Me for a 7-Night Wine-Themed Cruise on the Columbia, Snake & Willamette Rivers Evidence of the ice age floods is easy to spot — 15,000 years later, the results are as profound as they are delicious. Lifting a glass of glinting ruby-hued wine, it’s impossible not to appreciate the lasting effects ancient geology had […]

Cayuse Vineyards Armada Vineyard Syrah 2007

Cayuse Vineyards Armada Vineyard Syrah 2007

From last night’s Vivino meetup, this bottle, the 2007 Cayuse Armada Vineyard Syrah is a dead ringer for a Northern Rhône. Waves of bacon fat, black tea and savory tones dominate the profile of this full-bodied, intense cult wine. At this stage in its development, fruit is no longer the central player, rather it plays […]

Washington State’s Founding Winery Turns 50

Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon 50th Anniversary Special Bottling 2015

On the cusp of Chateau Ste. Michelle’s 50th anniversary, there is a palpable hum of excitement in the air. One can feel it coursing throughout the winery’s newly expanded visitor center. On the afternoon we visit, it is packed with garrulous patrons, looking relaxed and newly-tanned as they milled around sections still cordoned off by […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com