2020 Gård Cabernet Sauvignon, Lawrence Estate Wines, Royal Slope, Columbia Valley
The Wine
Brambleberry, violets, orange peel, cloves, and black currant. Swirling brings forth ripe black fruits, cinnamon, toast, baking spice, fig, and dried herbs. The mouthfeel is full, smooth, and slightly lush with great tension mid-palate. Flavors evolve from red and dark cherry, blackberry, licorice, and coffee, to sweet tobacco, minerality, and wood, with firm tannins and a lingering finish. Drink now or for the next 10 years.
The Vineyard
Gård Vintners wines are 100% estate-grown sustainably at Lawrence Vineyards, featuring 14 distinct vineyard sites. With elevations that range from 870 feet to 1,675 feet and primarily south-facing slopes, Lawrence Vineyards provide a great framework for grape production, while the diversity of each of the locations delivers a high level of complexity to Gård wines. Lawrence Vineyards is certified sustainable.
The Winery
Gård, meaning “farm” in many of the Scandinavian languages, is a tribute to our family’s Scandinavian heritage and farming tradition. Founded in 2006, Gård Vintners is a family-owned and operated estate winery in the heart of Washington’s Royal Slope, VA, with vineyards on the Royal Slope, wine production in Prosser, tasting rooms in Ellensburg, Walla Walla, and Woodinville, and Gård Public House restaurant in Royal City.
Gård, meaning “farm” in many of the Scandinavian languages, is a tribute to our family’s Scandinavian heritage and farming tradition.
Our mission at Gård is to capture and bottle the unique characteristics of the land we farm. We humbly craft value-driven, award-winning wines from our sustainable estate vineyards to create lasting memories for our customers. Gård Vintners is dedicated to crafting world-class wines from its sustainably farmed estate vineyard on the Royal Slope of Washington’s Columbia Valley AVA. We produce 6,000 cases a year for our wine club, three tasting rooms, and select distribution in the northwest and across the country.
Founded in 2006, Gård Vintners is a family-owned and operated estate winery in the heart of Washington’s Columbia Valley AVA, with vineyards on the Royal Slope, wine production in Walla Walla, and tasting rooms in Woodinville, Walla Walla, and Ellensburg.
The winery was founded by Josh and Lisa Lawrence, along with Josh’s dad, John Lawrence, and uncle Sandy Lawrence, who had farmed the Royal Slope for more than 40 years. The winery and estate vineyard is now owned and operated by Josh and his wife, Lisa, who oversees sales and marketing, while Josh oversees the vineyard and other farm and orchard operations.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI
Excited to be reporting for duty again.
Gård is familiar around these parts but never had the chance to try any so we were happy to receive this bottle, and it was excellent. Just a beautiful wine from start to finish you can tell it is well crafted and not mass produced.
Nice deep dark red color and a wonderful nose. Red fruits black cherry cassis currant etc. Did not detect alcohol at all. A little bit of oak and spices. Sublime flavor. Just a pleasure to drink, luscious and full bodied, dark fruit, more of a berry with good tannins, cigar box (aka cedar and tobacco). KT says it’s “dusty”. Acid level was a little low for us but not bad. Kind of in between food wine/sipping wine. It did need some air to get going but it developed quick and lasted long.
This would definitely stay nicely asleep in the cellar.
Have this with some meat, grilled lamb, ribs, a steak of course. Winter dishes- beef stew, French cassoulet, a holiday prime rib. Or enjoy it by itself or maybe with a piece of cheese and some nuts. Would also be a great gift.
Mountain wines are always more interesting than valley wines with better complexity, minerality and just more nature in the bottle. Yes- terroir. One word to explain it all… iykyk, look it up if you don’t.
Also this is a deal. I mean ~$20 a bottle this should be $35+
Thanks for the early Christmas present and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2020 Gård Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - $40 = 14.81%
@kaolis so was the Grand Klasse considered the “better” one? I had some from a previous year; enjoyed; I think there are a few still around.
They are in a house 2500 mi away. Oh well, I’ll get there eventually.
@kaolis@pmarin
And I thought I had some remote storage!
But if I include unshipped at 'tso, it’s 2668 miles by G-map driving or 2355 straight line. So, pretty close
TL;DR: This cab is bone dry, silky smooth, and absolutely delicious.
Per usual, I used a De Long tasting note sheet as a framework to form the following notes.
Color depth: Dark
Color hue: Red
Clarity: Cloudy/opaque
Aroma intensity: Aromatic
Development: Some age
Aromas: Dark fruit, oak, white pepper, and something herbal I can’t pinpoint.
Dry/Sweet: Bone dry
Body: Full-bodied
Acidity: Fresh, but also smooth.
Tannins: Medium and round.
Balance: Good (great honestly)
Flavor intensity: Flavorful
Flavors: Black cherry, currant, oak, some minerality, and a wonderful dusty/chalky texture.
Finish: Long
Style: Traditional
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Misc notes:
The wine is great on its own, but it also paired well with steak, chocolate, and blue stilton. The bottle was left on the kitchen counter overnight, uncorked, at room temp. Tasting it again after 16 hours since removing the cork, the oak has mellowed a bit and allowed more of the fruit to come forward. The wine is also softer, but not flabby by any means.
Conclusion:
This is a well crafted wine with depth and complexity. It’s plenty enjoyable after giving it some time to breathe, but it’s still young (especially for a cab) and I think it has the structure to improve for quite some time.
Many thanks to Gard, Terry, @winedavid49 , and the entire Casemates crew for all the work they do. It’s much appreciated, and I’m always grateful for the opportunity to be a Lab Rat. Cheers!!!
For anyone interested, here’s a link to the wine tasting note form that can be downloaded for free.
@kawichris650
curious about your Clarity: Cloudy/opaque
comment.
Without knowledge of any filtration this may have undergone, likely just fine particle suspension from shipping that will settle as normal for unfiltered wines?
@rjquillin Opaque is the best term because the wine is truly that dark and you can’t see through it. I honestly wouldn’t consider the wine cloudy (I didn’t detect sediment) but for those that might be playing along and referring to the tasting note form, cloudy seemed like the best fit amongst the three specific options.
@kawichris650
I see, not much of a spectrum offered to choose among. Could be brilliantly clear, just so highly pigmented it’s difficult to assess. Opaque it is
The Syrah single block mixed case I purchased a few months back was utterly disappointing. First time a Gard purchase has been regretted by me. Flat, heavy, with no acidity
@losthighwayz Whoa! This is shocking to hear…I’ve been drinking Gard wines since they’ve been making them and have NEVER had a bad bottle. Also, in my experience the older they get the better they are.
I haven’t opened my case of said Syrah…sounds as if I need to crack one open.
Can anyone else comment on their experience with this case?
@Allieroon@losthighwayz@Winedavid49
Summer Hold listings are locked so all past and future comments and tasting notes will appear consolidated in the main offer thread, and not dispersed between the two.
Comments can be found and posted in the Gård Single Vineyard Syrahs thread
@Allieroon I’d be interested to read your thoughts once you crack one open. I’ve had two bottles and both were so flat that I purchased acid on Amazon to try to make them drinkable.
@Allieroon@losthighwayz
I already finished 10 of the 12 of mine, no issues, all were very delicious, this was the one with like 4 different types/locations right?
@Allieroon@kray05 yes from June offer. I’m going to a wine dinner with a few friends tonight. I’ll taking one these to get feedback. Will get back with notes tomorrow
2020 Gård Cabernet Sauvignon, Lawrence Estate Wines, Royal Slope, Columbia Valley
The Wine
The Vineyard
The Winery
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not all wines for sale on winery website, $600/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Dec 15 - Wednesday, Dec 17
2020 Gård Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
4 bottles for $89.99 $22.50/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $229.99 $19.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Excited to be reporting for duty again.
Gård is familiar around these parts but never had the chance to try any so we were happy to receive this bottle, and it was excellent. Just a beautiful wine from start to finish you can tell it is well crafted and not mass produced.
Nice deep dark red color and a wonderful nose. Red fruits black cherry cassis currant etc. Did not detect alcohol at all. A little bit of oak and spices. Sublime flavor. Just a pleasure to drink, luscious and full bodied, dark fruit, more of a berry with good tannins, cigar box (aka cedar and tobacco). KT says it’s “dusty”. Acid level was a little low for us but not bad. Kind of in between food wine/sipping wine. It did need some air to get going but it developed quick and lasted long.
This would definitely stay nicely asleep in the cellar.
Have this with some meat, grilled lamb, ribs, a steak of course. Winter dishes- beef stew, French cassoulet, a holiday prime rib. Or enjoy it by itself or maybe with a piece of cheese and some nuts. Would also be a great gift.
Mountain wines are always more interesting than valley wines with better complexity, minerality and just more nature in the bottle. Yes- terroir. One word to explain it all… iykyk, look it up if you don’t.
Also this is a deal. I mean ~$20 a bottle this should be $35+
Thanks for the early Christmas present and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2020 Gård Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - $40 = 14.81%
I’m full up on wine, but greatly enjoyed the 2019. Anyone in CMH interested in a split?
Wine Spectator 91 points
@marymbowers Different wine I believe, that was the $28 “The Don” bottling. Unless there is another Spectator review hiding somewhere for this wine.
This was a part of a mixed offer with a more expensive wine at the same price Dec '24 discussion/ratttage here
@kaolis so was the Grand Klasse considered the “better” one? I had some from a previous year; enjoyed; I think there are a few still around.
They are in a house 2500 mi away. Oh well, I’ll get there eventually.
@kaolis @pmarin
And I thought I had some remote storage!
But if I include unshipped at 'tso, it’s 2668 miles by G-map driving or 2355 straight line. So, pretty close
@pmarin @rjquillin geezus my spots are only 1300 miles apart…ha!
TL;DR: This cab is bone dry, silky smooth, and absolutely delicious.
Per usual, I used a De Long tasting note sheet as a framework to form the following notes.
Color depth: Dark
Color hue: Red
Clarity: Cloudy/opaque
Aroma intensity: Aromatic
Development: Some age
Aromas: Dark fruit, oak, white pepper, and something herbal I can’t pinpoint.
Dry/Sweet: Bone dry
Body: Full-bodied
Acidity: Fresh, but also smooth.
Tannins: Medium and round.
Balance: Good (great honestly)
Flavor intensity: Flavorful
Flavors: Black cherry, currant, oak, some minerality, and a wonderful dusty/chalky texture.
Finish: Long
Style: Traditional
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Misc notes:
The wine is great on its own, but it also paired well with steak, chocolate, and blue stilton. The bottle was left on the kitchen counter overnight, uncorked, at room temp. Tasting it again after 16 hours since removing the cork, the oak has mellowed a bit and allowed more of the fruit to come forward. The wine is also softer, but not flabby by any means.
Conclusion:
This is a well crafted wine with depth and complexity. It’s plenty enjoyable after giving it some time to breathe, but it’s still young (especially for a cab) and I think it has the structure to improve for quite some time.
Many thanks to Gard, Terry, @winedavid49 , and the entire Casemates crew for all the work they do. It’s much appreciated, and I’m always grateful for the opportunity to be a Lab Rat. Cheers!!!
For anyone interested, here’s a link to the wine tasting note form that can be downloaded for free.
https://www.delongwine.com/products/wine-tasting-note-form
@kawichris650
curious about your
Clarity: Cloudy/opaque
comment.
Without knowledge of any filtration this may have undergone, likely just fine particle suspension from shipping that will settle as normal for unfiltered wines?
@rjquillin Opaque is the best term because the wine is truly that dark and you can’t see through it. I honestly wouldn’t consider the wine cloudy (I didn’t detect sediment) but for those that might be playing along and referring to the tasting note form, cloudy seemed like the best fit amongst the three specific options.
@kawichris650
I see, not much of a spectrum offered to choose among. Could be brilliantly clear, just so highly pigmented it’s difficult to assess. Opaque it is
@kawichris650 Thanks for the tasting card link. Im going to try it.
Nice wine glasses!
The Syrah single block mixed case I purchased a few months back was utterly disappointing. First time a Gard purchase has been regretted by me. Flat, heavy, with no acidity
@losthighwayz Whoa! This is shocking to hear…I’ve been drinking Gard wines since they’ve been making them and have NEVER had a bad bottle. Also, in my experience the older they get the better they are.
I haven’t opened my case of said Syrah…sounds as if I need to crack one open.
Can anyone else comment on their experience with this case?
@losthighwayz @rjquillin @winedavid49
Anyone know why the blog forum was locked for the mixed case Gard Syrah purchase…
“This topic was locked Mon, Jun 30th 2025 at 12:15am ET by rjquillin”
@Allieroon @losthighwayz @Winedavid49
Summer Hold listings are locked so all past and future comments and tasting notes will appear consolidated in the main offer thread, and not dispersed between the two.
Comments can be found and posted in the Gård Single Vineyard Syrahs thread
@Allieroon @losthighwayz
above, @kaolis provided a link to the prior offer where this was included and discussion/ratttage notes can be found.
@Allieroon I’d be interested to read your thoughts once you crack one open. I’ve had two bottles and both were so flat that I purchased acid on Amazon to try to make them drinkable.
@Allieroon @losthighwayz
I already finished 10 of the 12 of mine, no issues, all were very delicious, this was the one with like 4 different types/locations right?
@Allieroon @losthighwayz let me go back and check to see which one of the 4 I liked the least
@Allieroon same here. This was the first time
@Allieroon @kray05 yes from June offer. I’m going to a wine dinner with a few friends tonight. I’ll taking one these to get feedback. Will get back with notes tomorrow
@Allieroon @kray05 I’m posting an update in the other thread
/giphy important-moldy-powder
Gard is an auto buy now. Really enjoy their cabs. The winery is only 2 hours from home. One of these days I’ll make it for wine and dinner.
In for 4, no room - blaming it on the Rat’s
haggard-likely-chameleon
@ttboy23 so late but would you want to split or just pick this up for me? No Indiana shipping.
/giphy implicit-wakeful-pastry
