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Saint Laurent Lucky Red 2004

Named after the patron saint of the poor, Saint Laurent Winery is making exceptional wines at very reasonable prices. Located in Malaga, Washington just miles from Wenatchee, Saint Laurent sources their fruit from the Mattawa Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope and from their Malaga Estate Vineyard. The Lucky Red, their red table wine, boasts a lot of complexity for a wine at this price point. With limited distribution on all their wines, you may need to ask your local wine shop to order a few bottles. However, you won’t be disappointed. Make haste. The prices won’t stay this low for too long.

Wines:

Score

Name

Notes

$

*

Saint Laurent Lucky Red 2004

A little earthiness. Blackberry. Black currant. Strawberry. A super nose. Less compelling on the taste but still very good. A medium-bodied wine that trails off after a quick start but then lingers. A nice finish. An excellent value. 47% Cabernet; 32% Syrah; 21% Merlot.

$15

Cadence 2005 Releases

Among the new wines I most look forward to sampling each year are Cadence’s excellent assortment of wines sourced from Red Mountain. Given the anticipation around Washington’s 2005 vintage – a year that boasted simply perfect growing conditions – this year the expectations were even higher. Again, the Ben Smith’s wines do not disappoint. Showing great depth and structure with silky tannins, these wines largely exceed their excellent counterparts from the 2004 vintage. Also included in this tasting was a preview of wines from the new “Cara Mia” vineyard. Also located on Red Mountain, this vineyard, planted in 2004, is named after Ben and Gaye’s daughter Cara. How good could grapes from a two year old vineyard be? So good that Ben has decided to use them for his two flagship wines – the Bel Canto and Camerata. While the Camerata did not seem quite as strong as in prior years, the 2006 Bel Canto from Cara Mia is a stand-out – a tribute to Ben’s exceptional winemaking skills and the hard work of the entire staff to get this vineyard started. Expect these wines to be released in November 2008.


Wines:


Score

Name

Notes

$

*

Cadence Klipsun 2005

Blueberry. Light spices. Dark, sweet fruit. A good, thick, full wine on the palate with a long finish. As with last year’s, color seems a little more mature than one would expect. 82% Merlot; 18% Cabernet.


$40

*

Cadence Taptiel 2005

Black licorice. Some chocolate. Still fairly light on the nose. Gripping tannins. Still a very young wine but will be excellent given more time. 50% Cabernet; 30% Merlot; 20% Cab Franc.


$45

*

Cadence Camerata 2005

Dried fruits. Tobacco. A powerful nose. Again, a very gripping wine. 100% Ciel du Cheval Petit Verdot.


$55

*

Cadence Ciel du Cheval 2005

Floral. Plush. Hints of chocolate. Very light spice. Not as tannic or as deep as the others. More refined and easier to drink now. 51% Cabernet; 24% Cab Franc. 19% Merlot. 6% Petit Verdot.


$40

**

Cadence Bel Canto 2005

A beautiful nose. Dark fruit. Black licorice. Tobacco. Lots of structure. Some mineral notes. An excellent, although still very young, wine.


$55

+

Cadence Camerata 2006 Barrel Sample

Licorice. Not as tightly structured as the 2005’s. A little more up front on the palate with less on the mid-palate. For a first release from this vineyard, still a very good wine. 93% Cabernet. 7% Cab Franc.


NA

**

Cadence Bel Canto 2006 Barrel Sample

Licorice. Some chocolate. Tobacco. Great body and structure. 55% Cab Franc. 45% Merlot.

NA

Wine Rating System

All wines are rated as follows:

**

An exceptional wine. Buy it now and either tell all your friends about it or keep it very, very secret, depending on your personality and availability.

*

An excellent wine. Convince a friend to buy some and share it with you.

+

A good wine. Worth drinking. If it represents a particular value I will list it as Recommended.

.

A decent wine. Drink it if you must.

-

A flawed wine. Refuse this wine if served.


This is a deliberate departure from the popular, but somewhat harmful, 100 point system. For you addicts out there, the (rough) correspondence to the 100 point system is: ** (92-100); * (89-91); + (86-88); . (80-85); - (< 79).

Walla Walla Vintners 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Sagemoor Vineyard

Score

Name

Notes

$

**

Walla Walla Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon Sagemoor Vineyard 2004

Coffee. Chocolate. Cherry. Another excellent wine that has improved with some age. 76% Cabernet; 16% Merlot; 8% Cab Franc.

$40