Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Still doing great after 11 years. This could easily go another 2-3 years I think. Dark purple with faint hints of oxidation starting to show up. Plum, cherry, cola, tobacco, notes of coco, cassis, and blackberry on the palate. A hint of vegetal greenness on the nose, but otherwise plum and floral notes on the nose followed by tobacco and pepper.

At 13 years old this is surprisingly tight still. There is some oxidation but the wine is still dense with dark, brooding fruit (black cherry, blackberry, currants), luscious tannins, and wonderful baking spice and tobacco notes. Yum!!

Holy cow!!! 2009 knocks it out of the park! Big, plummy, strong notes of leather and coco, chewy tannins give way to pepper and tobacco on the finish. Yum!

On the nose; perfumed, floral, spiced fruits of; blackberries, black raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries, raspberries & hues of blue fruits. Dark, rich soils, anise and dark fresh foral bouquet. The body is M and the tannins M+. Spices flow before the wine reveals the ripe, fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, strawberries and hues of blueberries. Loads of dark spices, dark chocolate, mocha powder, crushed rocks, dry stones, loamy soils, leather, dry brush and bright violets. The acidity is nice and the balanced finish is long, elegant and turns slightly dry on the very backend. Photos of; their signage as you approach, David March (Winemaker), a feather with hand painted artwork of their bottle in great detail and the pond on the front grounds. Producer history and notes...Garrison Creek Cellars is a project of Walla Walla natives Michael Murr and his childhood friend Dave March. While Michael Murr lives on the east coast, Dave March is both Winemaker and Winery Manager in Walla Walla. Garrison Creek Cellars has 300 acres situated along the Washington/Oregon border on the fringes of Walla Walla, but on the Washington side. David March (Winemaker) studied nuclear medicine and was a department head at the local hospital before joining the Garrison Creek Cellars partnership. Garrison Creek Cellars is a boutique winery making only about 1000 cases each year. They make; Malbec, Cabernet, Syrah, Tempranillo, Merlot and a little Zinfandel. Some of these are under 100 cases total production. Garrison Creek Cellars sits on the famous Les Collines vineyard. They sell about 97% of the fruit in their vineyard. They choose to keep their wines in small production and are also slow to arrive to market as they will not release anything before it's time...something I respect. When a winery releases their new reds, most are generally not ready to drink. They need to bottle age! Garrison Creek releases their wines when they are a little closer to being ready to drink when they arrive or are picked up.

Lucious ripe blackberry, a little hot, medium ling finish ( wish it lingered a little longer), and tannins are still pretty potent. Yum!

Beautiful label! Had this one for several years now in our cellar and as we are planning to go back to Walla Walla and visit Garrison Creek, this be a good opportunity to taste the 2015 Cab. And… hmmm, a bit disappointed. A bit off balance with strong stringent, Rhubarb like flavors and slight green undernotes. Finish also a little unsettling. By no means a bad wine but had expected more.

Needs more time, in the bottle and to open

Merry Christmas

One of my favorite, smooth and delicious.

Very balanced wine. Uplifting, fresh aroma of cool cherry. Medium body, lots of plum, very fine grained tannins fully incorporated in the wine. To me it was lacking a bit of complexity and punch on the finish.