Mark Ryan The Dissident 2020
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Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A fruit bomb that's also well-structured, this generous red offers bold black cherry and raspberry flavors laced with vanilla and toasty spice. Finishes on a zesty, plump note. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot.
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Wine Enthusiast
Cabernet Sauvi- gnon comprises almost three-quarters of this wine and Merlot just under a quarter, with the rest bits of Malbec and Petit Verdot. The aromas pull you into the glass, with notes of mocha, toast, red berries, graphite and spice. Ripe, plush, velvety soft red- and black-fruit flavors follow. Coffee notes linger for a long time on the finish. It’s a winner.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The base Bordeaux blend from this team, the 2020 The Dissident is a terrific wine displaying more red fruits, lead pencil, dried flowers, and spicy notes as well as a medium-bodied, elegant, supple style on the palate. It has a touch of the firmer tannins of the vintage yet brings lots of fruit and character and is clearly an outstanding wine.
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Decanter
Fruit meets spice in this Cabernet dominant blend with plenty of Red Mountain sourcing. Ample Christmas spice, desert sage and ripe spiced plum notes announce the aromas. The palate follows in lockstep with black plum fruits, anise and juicy, ripe fruits throughout.
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Over a decade later, Mark Ryan Winery has grown in size, earned acclaim from wine-lovers and critics alike, and garnered respect from the state's elite producers. The goal, however, remains the same. Make delicious wines that represent the vineyard from which they come, making every vintage better than the last.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
A large and geographically diverse AVA capable of producing a wide variety of wine styles, the Columbia Valley AVA is home to 99% of Washington state’s total vineyard area. A small section of the AVA even extends into northern Oregon!
Because of its size, it is necessarily divided into several distinctive sub-AVAs, including Walla Walla Valley and Yakima Valley—which are both further split into smaller, noteworthy appellations. A region this size will of course have varied microclimates, but on the whole it experiences extreme winters and long, hot, dry summers. Frost is a common risk during winter and spring. The towering Cascade mountain range creates a rain shadow, keeping the valley relatively rain-free throughout the entire year, necessitating irrigation from the Columbia River. The lack of humidity combined with sandy soils allows for vines to be grown on their own rootstock, as phylloxera is not a serious concern.
Red wines make up the majority of production in the Columbia Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety here, where it produces wines with a pleasant balance of dark fruit and herbs. Wines made from Merlot are typically supple, with sweet red fruit and sometimes a hint of chocolate or mint. Syrah tends to be savory and Old-World-leaning, with a wide range of possible fruit flavors and plenty of spice. The most planted white varieties are Chardonnay and Riesling. These range in style from citrus and green apple dominant in cooler sites, to riper, fleshier wines with stone fruit flavors coming from the warmer vineyards.