Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon
wine resplendent with dark, mocha, berry and sandalwood spicy aromas and a medium to full-bodied palette that followed the nose well with a hint of green pepper into a long finish. At $25. bottle, it certainly did not disappoint, it fell about 2/3 up the scale and was one of only 3 wines which did not fall apart in the glass after 3 hours. If in the area, stop in and see Lou and his family at the winery. He is proud to note that everyone who works there is named Facelli, so you're sure to talk to someone who knows exactly what is going on! He may even bring out the accordion if you ask nicely!
The two other wines which held up over three plus hours in the glass were both 1995s - one from a brand new producer and the other a 10 year old. The new kid on the block is situated on Washington's Red Mountain and their investment of time, money and dedication bodes well for things to come. Terra Blanca 1995 Cabernet was showing warm briary jammy cassis and classic cabernet flavors that followed through to a medium to full finish. The wine showed notes of cedar and classic Bordeaux and landed about 9/10 of the way up the scale. They are a winery to watch as they will be growing into their new 1000 barrel cave over the next 4-5 years. The other great show was put on by Powers "Mercer Ranch" 1995. I was more of an outsider on preferring this wine, but it had notes of dark berry and tobacco and heavier fruit on the palette with that almost candy richness to the cabernet flavors. The remarkable aspect of this wine was that it changed the least sitting in the glass. Powers started as an organic winery under the Badger Mountain label and branched off into more mainstream wines with the Powers wines. Both facilities are under the same roof at a place on Badger Mountain, operated by a family named Powers, yet they really hit their stride when they hired a consultant by the name of Rob Griffin.
Rob Griffin has produced wine for most of Washington's big wineries and has been able to foster his own label as well as help a number of his viniferati counterparts with their operations. We tasted the Barnard-Griffin 1996 Cabernet and it was definitely one of the
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