2019 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
A premier wine for Watermill and a showcase for the quality of Bordeaux varietals in the Walla Walla Valley. Watermill Cabernet Sauvignon is a proprietary blend of fruit from Watermills estate vineyards which is aged in the finest French oak for a period of 16 months. This is our flagship distribution wine and one that will cellar for 15 years or more.
90pts - Wine Spectator
This wine has a leaner more mineral tone on the nose then prior vintages. Hints of toasted French oak, marionberry, vanilla, baking spice, and wet notebook paper dominate with underpinnings of perfectly cured meat. The palate is full of, plums, black raspberries and graham cracker. Dusty tannin dominates the finish but provides the roadmap for wine that will blossom over the next 10 years.
All Watermill wines are hand-picked late in seasons for maximum ripeness. They are then gently pressed in small volumes and undergo inoculated fermentation in 1 to 1.5 ton small lot fermenters. The wine sits on the skins for more than two weeks where it undergoes additional maceration through punch downs and pump overs for color and tannin integration before being transferred to barrel. All reds age for between 12 and 16 months in a combination of new and neutral medium toast French and American oak before bottling.
| Vintage | 2019 |
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Alcohol | 14.80% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
"Score: 90 Polished and supple, with lively red currant and black tea flavors that glide along toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2023. 675 cases made."
—Tim FIsh, Wine Spectator, November 15, 2019
"2017 Watermill Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley ($35)
This shows a deep ruby color and rich aromas of blackberry, cherry, plum, crushed roses, pipe tobacco, cedar and incense. The medium full-bodied flavors are generous, yet focused and varietally direct, with notes of licorice, bittersweet chocolate and gravel and silt minerals. The back picks up roasted berries and walnuts, mocha, toffee and graphite followed by a satisfying slightly grainy tannin finish. 18.5/20 points."
-Rand Sealey, Review of Washington Wines (August 2019)
