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Wine Recommendation
Basel Cellars Estate Winery
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon(Columbia Valley)
As is often done in Walla Walla, this blend includes a significant (16 percent) proportion of Syrah. The grapes come from both Walla Walla and Yakima Valley vineyards; hence the Columbia Valley designation.
It’s dense and almost jet black in the Basel style, powerfully scented with rich black cherry, loganberry and cedar. A mix of French and American oak works well here, and the fruit is ripe enough (much of it comes from the outstanding Lewis vineyard in the Rattlesnake Hills) that it can take a good lashing of wood. It’s a young, sappy, delicious wine that tastes like a berry pie with cedary tobacco and cigar nuances. As it evolves in the glass it continues to open, now showing pretty floral tones, now tart blueberry and wild cherry fruit, cascading into a lightly chocolatey finish.
Reviewed August 2, 2006 by Paul Gregutt.
Other reviewed wines from Basel Cellars Estate Winery
The Wine
Winery: Basel Cellars Estate Winery |
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. |