John Bookwalter Winery

Protagonist Red Blend

9.149 ratings
9.18 pro ratings
Red Mountain, Columbia Valley, Oregon/Washington, USA
Red Blend
Game, Baking Spices, Duck, Goose, Potato, Chili & Hot Spicy, White Rice, Exotic Spices, Pasta, Herbs, Beans & Peas, Onion, Chicken, Pork, Venison, Salami & Prosciutto, Pungent Cheese, Soft Cheese, Mushrooms, Tomato-Based, Turkey, Veal, Hard Cheese
Top Notes For
Chris McClellan

Big dark fruit, red fruit, chocolate and spice with excellent tannin and acid...

Big dark fruit, red fruit, chocolate and spice with excellent tannin and acid...

Aug 20th, 2019
Boris Mathiszik

Beautiful blend, 90% cab. Rich and refined. Nice texture. WS 92 points. Good amount of spice on the finish.

Beautiful blend, 90% cab. Rich and refined. Nice texture. WS 92 points. Good amount of spice on the finish.

Aug 24th, 2018
Shawn R

Quaffable

Quaffable

May 6th, 2018
Elyse Imamura

2010 being a cooler vintage in Washington, showing really restrained beautifully fresh red fruit with licorice and dark chocolate. So glad to be selling these wines again after 8 years. Original drawing by John Bookwalter himself!

2010 being a cooler vintage in Washington, showing really restrained beautifully fresh red fruit with licorice and dark chocolate. So glad to be selling these wines again after 8 years. Original drawing by John Bookwalter himself!

May 8th, 2015
Martin Fujishin

Winemaker Fujishin

9.1

Exceptional fruit for its age, soft tannins, and great mid palate structure.

Exceptional fruit for its age, soft tannins, and great mid palate structure.

Mar 8th, 2015
Randy Fillingim

2012 vintage. Still bringing it after 12 years. laying in the wine cellar since purchased. A very good representation of a Washington Cabernet. Still decent fruit, delicious mouth fill. good balance, still between tannins and fruit. 

2012 vintage. Still bringing it after 12 years. laying in the wine cellar since purchased. A very good representation of a Washington Cabernet. Still decent fruit, delicious mouth fill. good balance, still between tannins and fruit. 

Oct 24th, 2024
Ken Venezio

Inky black in the glass with loads of cherry, dark berries and toast. I like the weight of this blend. Very jammy with a nice minerality. I'd definitely recommend and try this again. .

Inky black in the glass with loads of cherry, dark berries and toast. I like the weight of this blend. Very jammy with a nice minerality. I'd definitely recommend and try this again. .

Oct 31st, 2019
TheSkip

Bright and juicy. Very pleasant!

Bright and juicy. Very pleasant!

Oct 21st, 2018
Shan T
9.0

Tasted on October 26, 2018

Tasted on October 26, 2018

Oct 13th, 2018
Frank Lin

Babs loves it. Beautiful aromas. Nice and spicy.

Babs loves it. Beautiful aromas. Nice and spicy.

Sep 7th, 2018