This wine is our 13th vintage from the famed Ciel du Cheval Vineyard on Red Mountain, one of the oldest and most proven vineyards in the Northwest. Each varietal was picked and vinified separately, though blended very early during the winter succeeding harvest. The wine goes back to barrel for an additional year and half before bottling. We believe that this early assemblage allows for the wine to be less a composed wine of its varietal parts and more a singular representation of place. The wine is a deep violet color, transitioning through purple to magenta around the edges. The nose is heavy and brooding, displaying fresh baked blackberry cobbler with hints of earth and spice. The palate is full and opulent, with substantial dusty, chewy tannins well integrated and sufficiently balanced with rich flavors of baked cherry, blue plums, earth and creamy oak. It is delicious now and it will improve substantially in the first few years of cellaring, aging gracefully for at least ten years.