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Wine Recommendation
Soos Creek Wine Cellars
2004 Sundance(Columbia Valley)
No one can accuse Soos Creek’s Dave Larsen of impatience. A one-time member of the Boeing Wine Club who graduated to the big leagues, Larsen made his first commercial vintage in 1989, but waited another 15 years to retire from his fulltime work as a financial planner and take on winemaking full time. As he approaches his 18th professional vintage, production of Soos Creek wines – all reds – has reached a grand total of around 1500 cases. “I have no grandiose plans of getting too big,” Larsen explains. “I like being small, doing everything myself.”
At just 175 cases produced, Sundance is a prime example of keeping things small. It is the most accessible and least expensive of the wines made by Soos Creek, a second wine derived from those barrels that do not make it into the other primary blends. That said, Sundance gets the same treatment right up until blending, comes from the same excellent vineyards, and is by no means second rate. This 2004 version is round and lush, a blend of 50% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. It shows appealing black cherry fruit, full and lively, and propped up with bright acids. The oak is generous and chocolatey, lingering through a smooth, silky finish. Unlike the rest of the Soos Creek wines, this one is right there, right now, and should be enjoyed young.
Reviewed March 28, 2007 by Paul Gregutt.
Other reviewed wines from Soos Creek Wine Cellars
 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Ciel du Cheval Vineyard (Red Mountain)Paul Gregutt 3/28/2007 |
The Wine
Winery: Soos Creek Wine Cellars |
The Reviewer
Paul Gregutt
Paul Gregutt values these things in wine above all: typicity, specificity, clarity, elegance, polish, depth and balance. He recognizes that there are genuine flaws in some wines, and it is important to know and identify them. Wines that are too ripe, too oaky or alcoholic to the point where nuance and detail are obliterated are not going to win his praise. Price is a factor in his evaluation of any wine; a good $8 wine is much harder to make than a good $80 wine. |