In the high desert of eastern Washington, the Columbia Valley ripens Cabernet Sauvignon as fully as almost anywhere, while the cold nights keep the wines fresh — a combination that gives a red of both power and poise. From warm sites like Red Mountain and Walla Walla, it rivals Napa for concentration at a fraction of the fame.
The sandy soils have never harboured phylloxera, so many vines grow on their own roots, and the wines carry a distinctive line of dark fruit, cedar and sage. Barely half a century into its story, Washington Cabernet is one of the New World's most reliable and undervalued structured reds.