Archive | Cabernet Franc

2008 Three Rivers Cabernet Franc – Review

By Duane Pemberton Winery website:  http://www.threeriverswinery.com Cabernet Franc – when done well – is still one of my favorite reds and is clearly still way under the “radar” of most wine drinkers and I find that highly unfortunate. This 2008 from Three Rivers winery retails for $39 and offers quite a bit of flavor – [...]

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2008 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cold Creek Cab Franc – Review

By Duane Pemberton Winery website: http://www.ste-michelle.com Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Cold Creek Vineyard produces some of the best fruit in the state of Washington and has long been a hallmark for such varietals as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. It’s a south-facing vineyard that was planted in 1973, making it one of the oldest vineyards [...]

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2009 Va Piano Cab Franc – Review

By Duane Pemberton & Sarah Bagdon Winery website: http://www.vapianovineyards.com Unfortunately, not too many producers make a Cabernet Franc – it’s either because they don’t have access to quality fruit or perhaps worry  that not enough folks would buy it. Thankfully, Justin Wylie of Va Piano Vineyards has neither of those concerns as he has his own [...]

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2008 Basel Cellars Cabernet Franc – Review

By Duane Pemberton Winery website: http://www.baselcellars.com/   Basel Cellars has been an iconic Walla Walla producer of premium wines since it started in 2001 with its noted winemaker, Trey Busch  - in 2006, Justin Basel took over winemaking duties and hasn’t seemed to have missed a beat. There aren’t a ton of wineries in Washington [...]

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A pair of 2005 Willis Hall Reds

Like most small wineries, Willis Hall prides itself on staying as close to the “purity of the fruit” as possible and sources from the best vineyard sites it can get its hands on. Winemaker, John Bell, is extremely passionate about his craft and is always eager to share the wines he produces. Willis Hall has [...]

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Posted in Cabernet Franc, Dolcetto, Reviews, Washington Wines1 Comment

2006 Col Solare

Col Solare is an effort by two partner companies to produce an ultra-premium red wine that uses fruit from the famous Columbia Valley in Washington State. It is headed up by Marchese Piero Antinori who arrived Washington back in 1992 – he met Ted Baseler of Chateau Ste. Michelle and the two hooked up. The [...]

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Posted in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Reviews, Syrah, Washington Wines0 Comments

Review: Hard Row to How – Round-up

When Don and Judy Phelps started this winery a few years ago they drew inspiration from the old brothel that once “served” the local mining community of the greater Lake Chelan area. For those not familiar with the landscape of this beautiful region in Washington State, it is indeed a bit different than Columbia Valley. [...]

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2006 Powers Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and Meritage – Review

Powers Winery in the Richland WA, has been producing wines for longer than most other wineries in the state – its legacy extends back to 1982, which for WA is a decently long time. Started by brothers Greg and Bill Powers, they also produce wine under another label called Badger Mountain. It was also one of [...]

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Posted in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Reviews, Washington Wines0 Comments

2004 Terra Blanca Onyx

I’ve covered Terra Blanca wines before on this site and there’s no doubt that they produce some great wines. In fact, they really are a good QPR (quality-to-price-ratio) winery that has the accolades to back up its efforts. Like most wineries, it too releases a flagship blended wine which is great because we as wine [...]

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Posted in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Reviews, Washington Wines2 Comments

Fidelitas gets jiggy with Optu

There’s little doubting that many in the Wine industry regard Charlie Hoppes as one of the State of Washington’s more premiere winemakers. His passion and know-how are about as good as you can find anywhere. When he first kicked out his original “Optu”, it wasn’t called Optu it has the name of Meritage – and [...]

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Posted in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Reviews, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Washington Wines0 Comments