Tasting Notes
This enticing and deeply colored red wine shows a complex nose of baking spice, black olive, and lead pencil integrated beautifully with aromas of ripe black fruits. In the mouth the wine is rich and elegant, showing subtle notes of herb and bright blackberries. Integrated tannins enhance the texture and give proportion; the finish is complex, generous, and long. While this wine can be enjoyed now it will benefit greatly from additional cellaring and, with proper storage, should develop for ten years or more.
Ratings
94+ POINTS- Jeb Dunnuck: The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series checks in as 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 1% each of Petit Verdot and Merlot, aged in 58% new French oak. Rock star notes of pure cassis and spiced red plums are intermixed with lots of cedar pencil, leafy herbs, chocolate, and spring flower aromas on the nose. These all carry over to the palate, where the wine is full-bodied, concentrated, and structured, with ripe, polished yet building tannins that emerge on the finish. As with the other 2017s here, the cellar will be your friend, and it's going to reward 4-5 years of bottle age. It's going to have 25+ years of longevity. 93 POINTS- WA Wine Blog: One of the iconic Cabernet wines made in Washington state, it was an incredible experience last summer to taste through all of the vintages (minus one) of this glorious wine. The new, 2017 edition is a gorgeous new wine that has a long life ahead of it. Layers of toasty oak mingle with Black Forest Cake, black tea, and exotic spices on this expressive nose. The palate is full-bodied and wonderfully textured. Creme de cassis, anise, wild blackberry cobbler, and shades of milk chocolate all come together on the palate. With great length and weight, the 2017 ‘Artist Series’ Cabernet Sauvignon will cellar well for decades to come. Drink 2020-2035. 92 POINTS- Wine Advocate: The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series (Artist Series #26) is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc and 1% of each Petit Verdot and Merlot. The wine has a generous nose of dark red and black fruit, with dusty cherry, black raspberry, blackberry compote, currant, and cassis with aromas of generous oak tones that are not overdone, lifting the dusty floral aromas out of the glass. Full-bodied, the wine opens to a soft chocolaty expression with components of wilted flowers, black tea, and dried savory herbs before showing a robust frame held together by buttressing tannins. The wine ends with a long, complex finish that continues to evolve in the mouth. The wine underwent a slow spontaneous fermentation in the barrel lasting up to six months and then spent 21 months in oak barrels, 58% new. Just over 16,000 bottles were produced. Another successful bottling from Woodward Canyon. Bravo! 91 POINTS- James Suckling: A soft, fruity red with currant, chocolate, and coffee character. Full-bodied, creamy, and velvety. Flavorful finish. 85% cabernet sauvignon, 13% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot, and 1% merlot. Drink now. 90+ POINTS- Stephen Tanzer: Bright ruby-red. Slightly medicinal scents of cassis, blueberry, licorice, bitter chocolate, and menthol. Concentrated, brooding, and still a bit youthfully simple, with its black fruit flavors currently overshadowed by a medicinal menthol and licorice quality. This needs time to evolve and express itself. Tooth-coating tannins are substantial but reasonably well buffered and not dry, with an element of peppery herbs keeping the finish quite brisk. Not sweet right now but boasts plenty of underlying dark fruits to ensure a positive evolution in the bottle.
