In January 2014, Billo, our Assistant Winemaker Mark Hoffmeister, and I were finalizing blends for the upcoming bottling of our 2012 vintage. I was barrel sampling Grenache.
Usually when I barrel sample Grenache, I’m thinking of how it will marry with our Syrah. Sometimes, if the quality is high, I’m thinking of bottling it as a varietal wine under our primus inter pares label. I’m never thinking of Cabernet. Well, at least not until that day.
As I tasted a barrel sample of XL Vineyard Grenache, I was thinking this would be great with Cabernet Sauvignon. I told Billo. He agreed. We dropped what we were doing and spent the next two hours trying various blends. We settled on a beautiful blend of 60% Grenache, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Syrah. The grapes came from XL, Upland, Kiona, and Monette’s vineyards. The wine received 95 points from Jeb Dunnuck of Wine Advocate and sold out within 3 months of its release. It was a good reminder to always be open to change; to always be open to opportunities you didn’t foresee.
We made the wine again in 2014 and 2015 with similar results. The wine has become one of our favorites.
Priorat is a wine region in northeastern Spain. It is one of our favorite wine regions. This region makes wines with blends similar to the one we created. In fact, as we were putting the blend together, we were thinking we should pay homage to Priorat in some way. So, we called the wine Tilting at Windmills – a reference to Don Quixote. The label is one of our favorites – it’s covered with 16th century Spanish conquistador helmets. And yes, we know that La Mancha is not in Priorat.
For Winemaker notes, technical details, and reviews, please click on the following vintages:
Clos Rougeard, from the Loire Valley, makes reference point Cabernet Franc. It’s simply out of this world. The Cabernet Franc is not like the Cabernet Franc from St. Emilion in Bordeaux, where it’s blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. There, it has more weight and drinks more like a Cabernet Sauvignon. In Chinon, in the Loire Valley, the Cabernet Franc is lighter, more savory, and more floral. Admittedly, Cabernet Franc from Chinon can be too thin and denuded of its fruit. But in the hands of certain winemakers and viticulturists, the wine can be a quintessential expression of Cabernet Franc. This is what Clos Rougeard does. It’s from where we draw our inspiration.
In 2012 we released our first 100% Cabernet Sauvignon – from the 2009 vintage. The fruit comes from Kiona Vineyards. Kiona Vineyards, planted in 1975, was the first vineyard planted on Red Mountain. It was planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, and Chardonnay. Vast majority of the Cabernet from this planting goes to Kiona Vineyards. We are one of two other wineries that get fruit from this block. Call us lucky. We also get Cab from another block planted in 1992. I used to tell people that our wine is a blend of new and old vines – 1975 and 1992. When Scott Williams, owner of Kiona Vineyards, heard me say this, he told me to stop referring to the 1992 planting as young vines – they are old by WA standards. I’ve since stopped.
In Bordeaux, winemakers are allowed to use up to six red grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Carmenère. Carmenère is rarely used in Bordeaux. The major actors are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. Petit Verdot and Malbec are cast in supporting roles. Petit Verdot provides acid and color to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot-dominated wines. This is why we initially decided to work with Petit Verdot. Our intention was to use it as a supporting actor in our blend called “in Order to form a more perfect Union” (and we do use some of it for that purpose).
In 2009, we made our first in Order to form a more perfect Union. It was the third wine in three years that received a perfect rating from Rand Sealey (Review of Washington Wines). The wine is always a blend of 3-4 different varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot) and multiple vineyards (such as Dionysus, Bacchus, Weinbau, XL, Kiona, DuBrul, Wallula Gap, and Firethorn). Consistently, it ranks among our best wines.
In 2014, we got access to just a little bit (1.5 tons) of Cabernet Sauvignon from Wallula Gap Vineyard. It’s from Block 15, planted to Clone 8 (FYI, almost all Cabernet planted in Washington before 2000 will be Clone 8). This is great Cabernet and we are thrilled to be working with it. The first vintage was released on May 5, 2017 and it is a beauty.
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