Our March 2008 Wine Offerings ---Sold out at the Winery

                                   2005 Vintage Bordeaux Style Wines

2005 has emerged as one of the best vintages in Washington history. The warm yet even ripening period provided top quality material for a successful vintage. Across the board the 2005 wines are plump, ripe and yet have lift and elegance. Both the Clos de Betz and Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille are the longest aging of either wine that we’ve made and should deliver many years of satisfying pleasure. The vintage also provided superb fruit for our first ever reserve style Bordeaux wine, Le Parrain.

2005 Clos de Betz
This is simply the best Clos de Betz we’ve made. Our fine tuning of vineyard sources and cellar techniques to focus on the core of the blend, Merlot’s richness and density, have yielded expected results. Filled with deep black cherry, roasted chocolate and spice, the flavor is succulent, balanced and long finished. Grapes from our blocks in the Horse Heavens, on Red Mountain and in Yakima Valley in nearly equal proportions make up the blend: 56% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec, and 9% Cabernet Franc.

From Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate from our tasting in July, 2007, four months after bottling:
“… opaque purple colored with bright aromas of pain grille, spice box, cranberry, clove, cassis, and black currant… a harmonious, layered wine with tons of flavor, well-concealed tannins, and outstanding length. 92 points”


2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille
Cabernet Sauvignon excelled in 2005; for me that means it developed complexity without getting overripe, cumbersome and chunky. As a result, this is the highest percent Cabernet Sauvignon (84%) we’ve ever blended into the Père de Famille. The 8% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec soften Cabernet’s tannins, but can’t hide its sweet aroma and flavor: black currants, minerals and a structure that gives it both density and lift. Mostly Red Mountain fruit, 63%, with 21% coming from the Horse Heaven Hills and 16% from the Yakima Valley.

From Steve Tanzer in his International Wine Cellar from our tasting in July, 2007, three months after bottling: “…crushed blackberry, licorice, minerals and spices. Wonderfully sweet … subtle cabernet notes of cassis, Belgian chocolate and fresh herbs. This dense, thick wine boasts outstanding structure and dimension, and finishes with terrific persistence. 93+ points


2005 Le Parrain
The 2005 vintage also gave us the fruit to make a first-ever ‘reserve style” wine from Bordeaux varieties. "Reserve" is a term so misused that it has lost credibility, so we don’t refer to this a “reserve bottling” nor do we use the word “reserve” on the label. We simply call this wine “Le Parrain”, French for “godfather”.

Le Parrain is a six barrel blend, unlike any other wine we’ve made. Our two other Bordeaux-variety reds are notably dominated by a single variety, Cabernet Sauvignon for Père de Famille and Merlot for Clos de Betz. And none of our wines has ever had a significant portion of Cabernet Franc. Le Parrain is uncommon in name, character and how it came together.

Several extraordinary barrels stood out during our 2005 blending trials, but these six knit together to create a dense, silky, thick red, with a range of ripe flavors and an extraordinary long finish. The blend is, by chance, one third each from the Red Mountain, the Horse Heaven Hills and Yakima Valley AVAs. At 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 17% Cabernet Franc, it pulls prominent notes from each of the three varieties: opaque color, powerful black and red fruits, spice and chocolate. But it’s the texture that separates this wine: a supple density that fills the mouth with a gratifying completeness.

Le Parrain 2005 will age beautifully, one to two decades, but it is so compelling right now. My recommendation is to hold it at least for a while. However, like the other two 2005 Bordeaux-variety wines, give this one or two hours open if you choose to try it in the short run.

From Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate from our tasting in July, 2007, four months after bottling:
“The 2005 Le Parrain is a great addition to the portfolio. It is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and 17% Cabernet Franc sourced from three vineyards. Opaque purple with superb aromatics including pain grille, plum, blackberry, and black currant, the wine is full-throttle on the palate with huge extract, great depth and concentration, layers of spicy blue and black fruits, licorice, and chocolate. This promising wine requires a decade of cellaring and should provide pleasure through 2045. 96 points” 

 Click here for information on past vintages.