Trothe Cabernet 2018

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a mix of blocks in the Andrews Family Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. It has a perfumed, exotic bouquet of bright blue fruits, minty herbs, tobacco, and lead pencil shavings. These carry to a medium to full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with good overall balance, plenty of building, firmer tannins, and outstanding length. Its tannins will need to be watched, but this will benefit from a solid 2-4 years of bottle age and, I suspect, have 15-20 years of overall longevity.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is open-knit with dark red and black fruit aromas that sway with juicy dark plum and spiced cherries. With delicate mineral tension, the Cabernet offers open and attractive fruit expressions while the condition slowly slips. Full-bodied, the wine is almost overripe with a slightly smudged note, leading to big, bold and juicy fruit expressions, and it ends with an instantly pleasing and succulent finish. Drink over the next decade. The wine rested for 22 months in 83% new French oak. Only 1,752 bottles produced.

Only five barrels of 2018 were made for the brand’s inaugural release. Opting for a style that accents fresh and savory rather than ripe opulence, aromatics of smoke mingle with dried violets and hints of darker blue-fruit elements of boysenberry and blackberry. The palate is lush yet lively and fresh. Flavors of coffee beans, dried thyme and sage give way to a plush core of fresh blue and red fruits; pomegranate, mountain huckleberry and crushed stone lead into a finish that delivers fresh minerality.