Winery - Delille Cellars
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
DeLille Cellars has now made Doyenne a separate brand, and inaugurated the change with a massively thick bottle and an artist label. Despite its top-notch vineyard sources, this Doyenne seems to lack synergy; it’s tight and chewy, with heavy tannins and an abundance of dark, roasted, espresso flavors. At the moment, the chalky tannins threaten to outrun the fruit.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
One of Washington’s best wines in vintage after vintage, the 2001 Chaleur Estate blends four classic Bordeaux grapes in a complex, layered, spicy red wine. Disarmingly soft and approachable, yet layered with mixed red fruits and lovely hints of leaf and herb.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This single-vineyard wine from DeLille is a rare evocation of old- vine, classic Washington fruit. Perfectly ripe, plummy fruit is backed with layers of iron and earth; the fruit has mixed elements of herb and tart red fruits. This is special.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A classic Bordeaux-style blend of Sauvignon Blanc (56%) and Sémillon (44%). Rich, creamy new wood sets up a very lush wine tasting of ripe citrus, Mandarin orange and apricots. Still young, the tannins are edgy and the wine will definitely benefit from another year or two in the bottle.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Powerful, youthful and still a bit raw, the newest release of DeLille’s signature red blend shows a range of fruit from cherry and blackberry to dark notes of raisin and balsamic. It’s still melding together its aggressive barrel toast, showing good structure and balance for long-term aging. Despite its almost 15% alcohol, it is balanced and even.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A rich, golden, toasty, hedonistic wine. Ripe and loaded with gorgeous fruit: sweet citrus, pineapple, grapefruit, peach and stone fruit. As it moves through the palate it’s laced with smoke and toast, while the fruit core expands into marmalade and tupelo honey, and the wine grows unctuous and creamy. Doesn’t taste like a young wine, but it certainly will continue to round out and develop further in the bottle.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Fragrant, tight, spicy, focused. This is pure cranberry and cherry, underscored by a slightly chalky minerality. There’s a great acid base, great concentration and beautifully ripened fruit that captures both the floral elegance and pure fruit power of Washington Syrah. This extremely youthful, tight wine will surely expand and improve over the next few years.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A blend of two thirds Sagemoor old vine Cab; the rest Red Mountain Cab and Syrah. This is dark, toasty, loaded with dark flavors of chocolate and coffee grounds; a succulent and delicious, oak-driven red. If you like smoke, oak and toast barrel flavors riding on top of tangy, spicy red fruit, this is your wine.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
At first this Chaleur Estate seemed closed up tight and lightly herbal, but grudgingly opened with streaks of olive, chalk, coffee grounds. A second bottle was much brighter, layered with plum, cherry, chocolate, herb, and an impression of pepper. Subtle and sleek, this wine is built to age and needs to be decanted.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
The D2 is the second label for the winery’s Chaleur Estate red, and includes juice from many of the state’s top vineyards, about half on Red Mountain. Forward fruit runs to strawberry/raspberry/cherry, with hints of leaf and herb. There is also some subtle oak and just a hint of bacon fat and smoke in the light finish.
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