2012 “Andreas” Wallula Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - Den Hoed Wine Estates
Dried black currant, basil leaf, black licorice liqueur. Wild mulberry, violet oil, extra dark chocolate. Eucalyptus and dried tobacco, star anise and french vanilla. Midnight cherry, dark plum, and creme de cassis envelope cedar and jalapeno with unapologetic ferocity, somehow maintaining a sense of weightlessness despite palpable intensity. Dark floral perfume emerges offsetting espresso roast, nutmeg, and aged Cuban cigar as basalt, crushed gravel, and graphite impart dense black volcanic minerality. Dark, mysterious, and brooding while simultaneously elegant and restrained; extreme youthful and barely showing any signs of development. Medium plus in body, tannin, and acid. This 2012 "Andreas" Wallula Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon by Den Hoed Wine Estates is an outstandingly crafted and brilliantly balanced red from one of Washington's most amazing vineyards.
The dream and life's work of brothers Bill & Andy Den Hoed, the Wallula Vineyard is a magical and treacherous site carved perilously into the steep basalt cliffs of the Columbia River Gorge just south of the city of Kennewick in Washington State. Its finest blocks are planted entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon that thanks to the moderating influence of the river are able to achieve unrivaled developmental complexity. This bottling, crafted by Den Hoed Wine Estates using Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Wallula Vineyard, is an incredible example of the merits of this special site. While quite dense, dark, and ripe this wine is packed with amazing tension and drive, and it is undercut by a level of minerality rarely felt in Cabernet. An unbelievable wine from one of the Washington's most breathtaking vineyards.