Tranche Cellars Blue Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
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Robert
Parker
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Blue Mountain Estate Vineyard – which spent 30 months in new and used French oak – has lots of plum, tobacco leaf, mint and spring flower notes to go with a ripe, rounded, voluptuous feel on the palate. Despite the wealth of fruit, there’s sound underlying structure and it has solid mid-palate density as well. It’s drinking nicely today, albeit in young, textured style, but I suspect it will evolve nicely for 15 years.
Throughout our Estate Vineyards, we cultivate a diverse collection of some of the world’s most interesting grape varietals. We practice only sustainable viticulture, meticulously hand farming each block, producing very low yields of intense fruit.
The grapes native to France’s Rhone Valley are destined to our "Slice of Pape" program, our homage to the wines of the Southern Rhone Valley. Slice of Pape, Slice of Pape Blanc, and Pink Pape (our dry rosé) are each blends from these traditional varietals and reflect our best effort to articulate these classic styles in the New World.
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.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.