2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, Champoux Vineyard

Champoux Vineyard is one of three Cabernet vineyards that we source from. Each is in its own distinctive region or American Viticultural Area (AVA), with their own distinct characteristics. The Horse Heaven Hills was established in 2005 and sits above the Columbia River. It averages eight inches of rain in a year.

The vintage of 2021 was the first of its kind. It started out as a relatively warm growing season, resulting in an early bud break. The season was moving along with nothing unusual until the end of June, when a heat dome settled in on Washington and Oregon. Temperatures reaching 118°F in some locations, and 115°F on the west side of the Cascade mountains, were unheard of and stifling. In general, when temperatures continue to climb above 100°F, the vines will slow their development to conserve water and energy. Because the vines were further along in their growth cycle when the heat set in, berry and cluster sizes were smaller than usual. While this resulted in a smaller crop, flavor was abundant.

As with all of our red varieties, we sort very carefully by hand on the way in to the destemmer and also on the output side. For the style of wine that we make, it is crucial that as little green stem material as possible remains in the fruit, since, during fermentation, those green and edgy characters can become part of the flavor profile of the wine. We do this process by hand. While we could employ a machine, what fun would that be?! Wonderful camaraderie is had each year on the sorting table.

This Cabernet consistently expresses the aromas and flavors of deep red hinting toward blue characters. Ripe cherries, and ripe red plums are bright influences that make for a luminous wine, with vibrancy and lift, just as with the Merlot from the same vineyard. The fruit is sweet, dense, and mouth-watering. The tannins are fine-grained, not edgy, but prevelant, as with all of the 2021 Cabernets. These will be really fun to follow and enjoy as they age.

John Abbott – Winemaker