ABOUT: Domaine Magdalena resides in the Red Mountain AVA, a brown hill between Benton City and West Richland in the Yakima Valley of the magnificent 42nd state of Washington. The slopes are mostly south facing, the soil is gravel-sand-loess to dusty sediment that winemakers love. It’s where the best wines in the state come from, and Maggie Hedges and husband Christophe have planted 4 biodynamic acres of Cabernet Sauvignon on this very hill. This mini-plot of vines was planted in 2004 and since 2014 have produced a fine red wine utilizing spontaneous fermentation from native yeast and 20% new oak barrels for 15 months ageing. This is a gentle style of wine, nothing overly extracted, not too tannic, too acidic, or boozy. Just balanced, thoughtfully made wine. Fine-boned and sophisticated. So excited to have a new wine from our state to blab about. TASTE: First, the font and kerning choices for the label of this Magdalena Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon are outstanding. The bottle shape too, oddly, is fantastic, something that rarely making it into the note. It pours nicely. The aromas and flavors are youthful and lifted, blackberries and strawberries, black pepper and black licorice, mint and rose petal, oregano and dusty earth tones. The medium+ tannins are fine and well behaved, and guaranteeing good development. We love what the folks at Magdalena had to say about the character of 2017 – “A warm year for the Red Mountain AVA. The juxtaposition of ph and brix established a wine of softness with a high percentage of fine tannin which replaces acid structure as the main core of angularity. Aged for 15 months in neutral barrels, this wine displays a raw and wild interpretation of Cabernet Sauvignon. Transparency is key to this vintage.” Just over 7000 bottles of this Cabernet were made so best get to it. PAIR: Wisconsin brick cheese, basil and black pepper tofu, brown lentils with roasted eggplant, rosemary roasted potatoes, and walnut and mint pesto.
