Ah, Yes, This Checks Out
TASTING NOTES:
2018 cedar + salmon Red Wine Blend, Walla Walla Valley - “Sourced from the southeast corner of Washington State, our Walla Walla Red Wine Blend boasts generous flavors of ripe blackberry, plum and dark cherry. Ripe and juicy notes of black currants, cassis and allspice are balanced with smooth tannins and bright acidity. This full-bodied wine with firm structure leads to a lingering finish.” (AbV 14.7%, pH 3.88)
46% Petit Verdot, 24% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petite Sirah
2021 cedar + salmon Cabernet Sauvignon, Horse Heaven Hills - “Sourced from high, rolling hills, this vintage was born out of a heat wave, cooling just in time for harvest. Aged in 15% new French and 15% new American oak, this Cabernet Sauvignon (with 8% Malbec and 7% Merlot) shows concentrated power. With tobacco washed blackberry, espresso, and Italian herbs, it is well built, with sturdy tannins. Dark chocolate and bacon fat enter mid-way with a toasted cedar finish. A cool spring followed by a record shattering heat event in late June led to a small but strong 2021 vintage. Cooler temperatures in September and October allowed for grapes to hang longer on the vine. Flavor maturity was achieved before sugar ripeness, elevating the wine’s natural acidity. After the grapes were harvested, sorted and fermented, the wine was then aged in 15% new French and 15% new American oak until bottling.” (AbV 14.2%, pH 3.83)
85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 7% Merlot
BARRELS: Not specified.
PAIRS WITH: rich flavors such as young blue cheeses, oven roasted vegetables and wild mushroom ravioli. The firm structure leads itself well to a variety of meat dishes including lamb sliders, barbecued steak or slow-roasted stews
THAT REMINDS ME OF: Horse Heaven Hills
The story goes that in the 1880s a rancher named Sam Hover was showing off this stretch of south-central Washington to a traveler, gesturing at the endless bunchgrass rolling toward the Columbia — grass tall enough that horses could graze belly-deep all winter without needing a barn, hay, or human intervention of any kind. The traveler supposedly looked around and said something like “well, this must be horse heaven.” The name stuck hard enough to end up on a federal map a century later.
I love that this is apparently how a lot of American place names actually happened — not surveyed, not voted on, just some guy saying the obvious thing out loud at the right moment and a committee eventually rubber-stamping it. Somewhere there’s a version of history where the traveler said something clever instead and we’re all drinking wine from the “Bunchgrass Highlands” or “Sam’s Good Idea AVA.” I want a whole atlas of places named this way — Dog Paradise County, Mosquito Nightmare Township, the Reasonably Nice Parking Lot.
And it raises the real question nobody asks about horse heaven: do the horses know? Is there a version of this where a horse, at the end of a long life of being fine, actually fine, gets to the bunchgrass and thinks, ah, yes, this checks out?
ICYMI, you have two choices:
- Worried Summer heat might get to your wine before your wine gets to you? Order from the sale linked here, and we’ll get it to you at a cooler time of year!
- Want it shipped now? Every package during the summer will have protected temp control ground shipping for much of the country that takes longer but will ensure safe delivery. Expect up to two weeks for delivery. Now through the September 12th offer.
