2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, Heart of the Hill

Heart of the Hill is like the bookend of our Cabernets coming from the Red Mountain Viticultural Area (AVA) known for consistently producing big, bold, tannic red wines. The Williams family, who owns and farms Heart of the Hill were the first to plant on the Red Mountain. Soon after, many others followed.

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. Given Red Mountain’s propensity toward more tannin anyway, this step is pretty critical.

The focus of Heart of the Hill is a flavor profile that leads with slightly red, bright, and floral. Red currant and huckleberry are rounded out by blueberry and bing cherry. The mouthfeel is lush and mouthwatering. This wine has plenty of structure that is filled in with depth and complexity. An overnight on the counter reveals that it blooms with time, a wonderful indicator of aging potential. 

John Abbott – Winemaker