2018 Passing Time Cabernet Sauvignon Horse Heaven Hills
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Tasting notes
Coming from Wallula vineyard, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Block 1311 begins poised with an expressive nose that rockets from the glass with intoxicating aromas of dusty black cherry, spiced plum and blackberry compote with well-defined layers of floral and baking spices. Full-bodied and generous, the palate offers a myriad of complex, dark-berried fruit flavors before succulent tannins give way to an evolving mid-palate. The wine somersaults to a long finish, leaving persistent flavors of cedar, cigar spice and bitter dark chocolate. Only 1,500 bottles were made after the wine rested for 21 months in French oak, 80% new. Bravo!
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
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Currants, black raspberries, tobacco, mocha and chocolate orange on the nose. Itâs full-bodied with firm, very fine tannins. Seductively rich and creamy, with lots of ripe forest fruit and sweet spices. Drink or hold.
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Horse Heaven Hills offers a Graves-like style and reminds me of a great vintage of Haut-Bailly with its full-bodied, sexy, weightless style as well as darker currant fruits and notes of tobacco leaf, damp earth, and cedarwood. A wine that pretty much stopped me in my tracks during my tastings, it is already impossible to resist yet is going to cruise for two decades in cold cellars. The blend is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc, from a blend from Discovery, Champoux, and Wallula vineyards, aged 21 months in 80% new French oak. Another estate utilizing the talents of winemaker Chris Peterson, Passing Time is a collaboration between football stars Dan Marino and Damon Huard. They’ve increased the number of wines produced over the past few years and now offer a number of appellation blend Cabernet Sauvignons, which are consistently some of the gems in every vintage.