Emerging winemaker Mark Lathrop continues to delight consumers who swing off Interstate 90 east of Spokane, Wash., and the four barrels of this Meritage-style red off Red Mountain provide another delicious reason why. His base of Cabernet Sauvignon (34%) and Merlot (25%) hails from young Redpath Vineyard while the Cab Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot were pulled off Scooteney Flats. Each barrel was fresh oak, a selection of French, Slovakian and American forests, and the 20 months of settling explains the dense nose of toasted cherry wood, black cherry and blueberry with soy sauce wafting in the background. On the heavy palate, it furthers a theme of cherry and bittersweet chocolate that finishes with blueberry skin tannins and a cherry vanilla finish. It ranks among the most textured and hedonistic reds produced in the Inland Northwest, and it serves as snapshot of Lathrop’s program.
Rating: Excellent
Production: 100 cases
Alcohol: 14%
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