The 2016 Red Willow Cabernet is a true blockbuster.
Coming from one specific block of 30 year old vines at this iconic vineyard, then strictly barrel selected, this is the essence of powerful, old vine Washington Cabernet. After all of our efforts promoting the idea of the Bordeaux blend, it would take a pretty compelling argument to suspend that idea and make a 100% varietal Cabernet. In 2016 Red Willow provided us with just that. Each time we tasted it in the barrel, the belief grew that this was something special. Something we can't make every year. In the end we were won over, and decided to make a limited amount of this wine. But don't be fooled, as this too is a blend and a selection. Each year as we are tasting the grapes as harvest approaches, we notice that the vines near the bottom of this long, steep west-facing slope, are a little different. The vines at the bottom are in a little richer soil, and get a little more water, so we pick them separately, sometimes even a week or ten days apart, and keep them separate in barrel.
This wine is all from the top of the vineyard, with its lower yield and poorer soils giving more concentration and interest. Then further, nearly every combination of new and used French oak barrels were trialed to find the best blend. It's not enough just to use the four best barrels, but to trial each combination to see how they complement each other. For a wine with this much mass, 100% new French oak was used for the first time at Avennia. It is a wine that needs a little cellaring to start, but should last a very long time.
"The Avennia ‘Red Willow Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon is another sensational bottling from this esteemed Washington winery. Needing about an hour in the decanter to unwind, once aroused this unveils wonderful red bell pepper, creosote, sandalwood and shades of mocha with cassis that all entice on the nose. The palate is silky smooth, delivering polished tannins and good brightness as well as a soft, downright sexy mouthfeel. The texture continues to impress as the seamless quality of the wine really shines. This finishes long with black fruits and minerals. Exciting, energetic and downright delicious in its youth, the ‘Red Willow Vineyard’ Cabaret Sauvignon will provide drinking enjoyment for at least another fifteen years. Drink 2020-2038. -Owen Bargreen"
- Washington Wine Blog, 95 pts
"The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Willow Vineyard is 100% Red Willow Cabernet Sauvignon that will spend roughly 20 months in close to 100% new French oak. Blackcurrants, smoked herbs, chocolate, and graphite notes all give way to a full-bodied, plump, rich, concentrated effort that's going to be better with short-term cellaring and keep for two decades."
- Jeb Dunnuck (April 2018), 94-96 pts
"In the top handful of wines in the vintage, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Willow Vineyard is a tiny-production release that comes from a single parcel in the Red Willow Vineyard in the Yakima Valley. Unfortunately, there are just 100 cases made, but it is a sensational wine. Cassis, graphite, crushed rocks and lead pencil characteristics all emerge from the glass, and this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, first-growth-like purity, fine tannin and a great, great finish. Bravo! - Jeb Dunnuck."
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #231, June 2017), 97 pts
- Jeb Dunnuck (April 2018), 97 pts
"(a selection of four new barrels from a 1985 planting; bottled in June): Bright ruby-red. Explosive aromas of red- and blackcurrant complicated by a leafy Médoc-like quality. Densely packed, saline, classic Cabernet; thick but not hot, even in this very warm vintage. Flavors of cassis, cocoa powder and saline minerality are enlivened by judicious acidification. The 100% new oak does not at all overshadow the wine's fruit. Finishes tactile, savory and long, with substantial broad tannins. Chris Peterson describes this wine as "our chance to make a blockbuster Cabernet."- Stephen Tanzer"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (November 2016), 91 pts
Marty Taucher and Chris Peterson (Seattle Magazine’s 2017 Winemaker of the Year and International Wine Report's 2023 Washington State Winemaker of the Year) got together in 2009, at first only ...
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