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July 2008 Washington Wine Club
2005 Bergevin Lane Vineyards, Intuition Reserve, Columbia
Valley
For the third consecutive vintage, we've been able to offer this
wine, always a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cab
Franc, to Washington Wine Club members. This year's edition features lighter tannins
surrounding a core of wonderful dark fruits, with additional layers of cedar, cigar
box, mint, and dark chocolate. Vibrant, youthful, and racy now, it will develop increasing
complexity over the next two to three years. Decant it and enjoy it with pork tenderloin.
At $55, there's none left, but you can sample the whole lineup of Bergevin Lane wines
when our friends Annette Bergevin and Amber Lane join us at the Thursday night tasting
on August 21.
2004 Dumas Station, Cabernet Sauvignon
When Pete Thorson from Minnick Hills Vineyard stopped by the shop
a few months ago with a couple of Cabernets from a previously unknown winery just north
of Walla Walla, Jan and I were not expecting very much. Until we tasted the wines! Jay &
Doug Minnick are longtime vineyard managers well known for producing some lovely white
wine grapes. After some years of working with some of Walla Walla's top winemakers, they
finally released their first commercial Cabernet from the 2003 vintage. It was good,
but this second release is absolutely outstanding, dark and spicy, with wonderful
flavors of currants, plums and cherries - if Bear's wife Bridgett is impressed, you
know it's got to be good. It's a true rarity, a 2004 Walla Walla Cabernet, only possible
because the somewhat higher elevation of the vineyard allowed the grapes to avoid the
infamous freeze of January 2004. We have a bit left at $28, but don't wait too long;
the price will go up to $32 when the wine is placed on "library" status next month.
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