Telaya Wine Co. 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain, $40
Boise winemaker Earl Sullivan isn’t confident that Idaho’s Snake River Valley can get Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen at 2,800 feet elevation year after year, so he goes to the biggest sure thing in the Northwest — Washington’s Red Mountain. And he’s in on the ground floor of Quintessence Vineyards, one of the region’s most exciting sites for Cab. The Telaya Wine program of 20 months in 100% French barrels produces a theme of sweet oak, enticing plum, Marionberry, white chocolate and baking spices. Mouth-filling plum skin tannins and raspberry acidity mesh for a broadly structured Cab that’s like a fist in a velvet glove. Enjoy now with a nicely marbled ribeye or tuck away in the cellar. It’s among the latest releases from Wine Press Northwest magazine’s 2016 Idaho Winery of the Year.
Rating: Outstanding!
Production: 200 cases
Alcohol: 15.5%
The Rocks District at 3767 acres would be the second smallest AVA in the NW.