Vineyards: Champoux, Dubrul, Sagemoor, Woodward Canyon Estate and Charbonneau Vineyards
Vintage Specific Characteristics: The 2006 vintage was fabulous for “Artist Series”! We achieved perfect ripening with physiological maturity achieved through shoot thinning, leaf stripping, and green harvesting and generally improved cultural practices throughout the vineyards. All fruit was in by the third week of October.
This Cabernet Sauvignon was fermented in very small stainless steel tanks and was punched down or pumped over twice a day. Aging in predominantly new French Chateaux barrels has produced a well proportioned, complex and generous red wine.
Production Notes and General Characteristics: The “Artist Series” Cabernet Sauvignon is produced from some of the finest and most highly regarded properties in Washington State. These vineyards produce fantastic wines in their own right. In blend, they produce extraordinary wine.
This wine has a generous nose of spicy oak and cedar integrated with ripe black fruits and cherry. A sweet, rich mouth feel begins with cassis and ripe black berry leading towards chocolate and mocha. The finish is complex, generous and long. While this wine can be enjoyed now it will definitely benefit from additional cellaring and with proper storage should develop for eight years or more.
About the artist: 2006 "Artist Series" #15, "San Gemanimo Rd", 14" x 16", oil on aluminum panel, 2008, Berkley, CA
Tyrell is generally influenced by the 17th Century Dutch approach to landscape, and at the same time, has been playing with the suggestion of the etching plate created by her oil-on-aluminum technique. The scenes come from imagination. Though many of the titles are the names of actual places (exits seen from the highway), they are meant to suggest a brief, possible encounter with an unknown place.
Reflecting on our subjective experience of the external environment, she explores the territory of her general impressions, memories and imaginings of places passed. As is the case with many painters, much attention and interest are focused on the phenomenon of light. In 2005 she purchased some aluminum panels and immediately discovered that the aluminum provided a wonderful drawing environment. The metal shining through the paint suggested etching plates, and the work itself had an etching-like quality. The surface of the metal provides one big challenge: each painting must be in one sitting. Once the paint has dried, wet paint cannot be added. If it is, the wet paint will remove the dry paint.
"March, 2009. "Soft and generous, an open-textured Cabernet brimming with black cherry and currant flavors, lingering impressively, with a sweet coffee note adding interest. Drink now through 2016.'
Reviewer: Wine Spectator Online
Reviewer Publication: Wine Spectator Online
Review: 92 points
"Gold Medal (exceptional), World Wine Championship, February 2009. "Aromas of mocha, brown rice, and and roasted pecans follow through on a soft, supple entry to a fruity medium-to-full body with black raspberry pie and peppery spice notes. Finishes with a tangy, lively and somewhat hot peppery mineral dust accented fade. A great choice for steak fajitas.'
Reviewer: Tastings
Reviewer Publication: Tastings
Review: Silver
"San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, 2009."
Reviewer: San Francisco Chronicle
Reviewer Publication: San Francisco Chronicle
Review: 91 points
"Predominately Sagemoor vineyard, along with some Champoux and estate grapes, inclucing some old vine fruit and 13% Syrah. Somehow, the Artist Series Cabernet has an open softness that seems more like Merlot; it's lush and approachable, sleek and liquorous, dotted with malted milk/chocolate highlights around deep back cherry fruit. The aromas are lovely, though at first taste it sags a bit in the late going; the fruit falls off and chocolaty notes take over. The tannins have a little green tea flavor"
Reviewer: Paul Gregutt
Reviewer Publication: Wine Enthusiast
Review: Recommended
"Plenty of brown spice, oak and earth notes mingle with full aromas of black cherries and plums. On the palate tastes of cassis, blackberry, and plum are rich and layered with notes of mocha, earth and coffee. Toasty barrel notes persist as an accent, and the finish is long, warm, and fruity."
Reviewer: Northwest Palate
Reviewer Publication: Northwest Palate
Review: Outstanding
"Rick Small launched this line in 1992, and it long has been among the most prized Cabs in the Northwest. Grapes from Champoux, DuBrul, Sagemoor, Woodward Canyon Estate and Charbonneau vineyards get his blueprint approach of new French oak barrels that produce aromas of blackberries and cherries, Graham cracker crust and roasted hot red peppers. It's a mouth-coating drink of more blackberries and cherries amid a balanced structure, trailed by orange oil and tobacco in the finish."
Reviewer: Wine Press Northwest
Reviewer Publication: Wine Press Northwest
Review: 93 points
"The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Syrah (the first time Syrah has been used as a component in this wine) sourced from a who’s who of eastern Washington Vineyards. A glass-coating purple color, its nose offers up scents of violets, spice box, incense, black currant, and a hint of blueberry. More forward than the Estate cuvee as well as more complex, on the palate it is dense, layered, savory, and concentrated. It will benefit from an additional 4-6 years of cellaring and offer prime drinking from 2014 to 2030.
Woodward Canyon remains under the leadership of pioneering vigneron Rick Smalls. He has relinquished some of the winemaking duties but remains deeply involved in the estate’s viticulture. The top cuvees are built to last (a 1984 Cabernet from a challenging vintage tasted on the day of my visit was in fine form) and reward extended cellaring."
Reviewer: Jay Miller
Reviewer Publication: The Wine Advocate
Review: Bronze.
"Decanter World Wine Awards, October 2009 Dense nose. Fresh, bright, juicy and concentrated. Excellent fruit and firm structure. Long."
Reviewer: Decanter
Reviewer Publication: Decanter
Review: Excellent
"When Rick Small launched his "Artist Series" Cab, it showcased Canoe Ridge Vineyards. Other grapes have crept into the blend over the years, often the finest in the state. This includes some of his favorites, including Champoux, DuBrul, Charbonneau, Sagemoor and Woodward Canyon. The wine is a winner with aromas of cherries, vanilla and chocolate, followed by hedonistic flavors of black cherries, oak and lingering chocolate. Fall, 2009."
Lowden, Washington 99360
