DeLille Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
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Parker
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James
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Instantly impressive, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Ciel is broad, focused and fruity, with layers of seductive complexity that continue to waft from the glass. Full-bodied, impressively layered and textured, the Cabernet offers profound pleasure that sings with harmony and unison of world-class wine. Gobs of dusty dark red fruit tones give way to a lively mineral tension before juicy spiced plum and blackberry reduction somersault across the almost unending finish. It’s a fantastic wine that proves Washington Cabernet deserves to be in the private collection of serious collectors worldwide. Just under 3,700 bottles were made after the wine rested for almost two years in 100% new French oak. This is worth seeking out.
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Wine Enthusiast
Decant if you open this glorious beast anytime soon—tannins are at peak grip. Black currants, orange peel, tobacco and cedar aromas announce the wine’s presence. Blackberry preserves on a blueberry scone deep inside a chest of cedar drawers describe the flavors.
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James Suckling
Attractive aromas or black cherries, blackcurrants, crushed walnuts, violets and cedar. Medium- to full-bodied, fleshy and succulent with supple tannins and a polished texture. Vivid blue-fruited finish. Drink or hold.
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DeLille Cellars is a boutique artisan winery located in Woodinville, Washington. Founded in 1992 by Charles and Greg Lill, Jay Soloff, and winemaker Chris Upchurch, DeLille Cellars pioneered Bordeaux-style blends in Washington State (both red and white) - inspiring Robert Parker, in a visit to the original Chateau in Woodinville, to proclaim DeLille Cellars “the Lafite Rothschild of Washington State.”
DeLille Cellars is considered a principal influence in establishing Washington as a premier viticultural region with a strong tradition of quality and excellence over its 25-year history. Today, the winery has a portfolio of over a dozen Bordeaux and Rhône style blends true to the terroir of Washington State.
The winery's passion lies in showcasing the powerful, concentrated and structured fruit of Washington State through the European art of blending - not only through various combinations of Bordeaux and Rhone grape varieties, but also via combining fruit from acclaimed vineyards to
express the unique terroir of the region. DeLille Cellars focuses on the Red Mountain AVA and grape sourcing from Washington's leading Grand Cru vineyards, including Ciel du Cheval, Grand Ciel, Upchurch, Red Willow, Sagemoor, Klipsun, Boushey, DuBrul and Harrison Hill.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
A coveted source of top quality red grapes among premier Washington producers, the Red Mountain AVA is actually the smallest appellation in the state. As its name might suggest, it is actually neither a mountain nor is it composed of red earth. Instead the appellation is an anticline of the Yakima fold belt, a series of geologic folds that define a number of viticultural regions in the surrounding area. It is on the eastern edge of Yakima Valley with slopes facing southwest towards the Yakima River, ideal for the ripening of grapes. The area’s springtime proliferation of cheatgrass, which has a reddish color, actually gives the area the name, "Red" Mountain.
Red Mountain produces some of the most mineral-driven, tannic and age-worthy red wines of Washington and there are a few reasons for this. It is just about the hottest appellation with normal growing season temperatures commonly reaching above 90F. The soil is particularly poor in nutrients and has a high pH, which results in significantly smaller berry sizes compared to varietal norms. The low juice to skin ratio in smaller berries combined with the strong, dry summer winds, leads to higher tannin levels in Red Mountain grapes.
The most common red grape varieties here are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, among others. Limited white varieties are grown, namely Sauvignon blanc.
The reds of the area tend to express dark black and blue fruit, deep concentration, complex textures, high levels of tannins and as previously noted, have good aging capabilities.