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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.5 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 75 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by JMFWC on 3/29/2020 & rated 89 points: Drink now, on the downslope. Still has a lot of reductive fruit but didn’t hold in too long in the glass. (1352 views) | | | Tasted by WeinBaum on 10/30/2016 & rated 92 points: I bought this directly from the winery and loved it almost too much not to save. Stored at 56 degrees. But it is even better now, crisp, elegant and balanced. No strong fruit but subtle hints of currant, licorice, rhubarb, berry and cherry. Impressive polish now. Saving my last bottle for next year. (2834 views) | | | Tasted by pedlund on 10/21/2016 & rated 85 points: Very disappointed with this bottle. Heavily extracted fruit up front, barely any secondary flavors, and no finish to speak of. The tannins are just gone from this bottle. (2641 views) | | | Tasted by rfras on 9/18/2016 & rated 90 points: Needed a little time to open. Still has some red fruit flavors, but more muted than I remember. A touch of vanilla on the finish. Drink up if holding. (2635 views) | | | Tasted by hiker_guy on 4/12/2015: slight bricking around the edges
Nose has lots of secondary notes of cinnamon, spice, sweet tobacco
palate is slightly sweet, showing the alc, nice secondary flavors with the sweet tobacco, leather and a decent finish.
This feels like its on the downhill side. Still nice though. (3693 views) | | | Tasted by SeattlePaul on 3/13/2014 & rated 91 points: Holding up well. (3680 views) | | | Tasted by SeattlePaul on 1/6/2014 & rated 91 points: Still holding up really well, balanced fruit and complexity with an acceptable if not super long finish that is reasonable for the price point. (2646 views) | | | Tasted by stormygirl on 9/25/2013 & rated 93 points: This drank beautifully! It has aged well and I would say it could even go longer. Decanted about 2 hours before dinner. Lots of dark fruit, hints of mushroom and leather. Nice finish (2966 views) | | | Tasted by markellen.foodies@gmail.com on 6/25/2013 & rated 94 points: Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs; 6/25/2013-6/26/2013: The wine looks Purple colored. The legs are Slow. It smells like Blackberry, Black currant (cassis), Espresso, and Violet. The body is Medium/Full. The wine has Satin-like texture. The wine finishes Long. Bob R's Red. I have the Chaleur's Red and White, but not the D2. I love their wines, and they are representative of the quality and value East of The Cascades! (3671 views) | | | Tasted by mouton45 on 6/25/2013 & rated 91 points: Brought last-minute to our wine group dinner at Two Chefs when one member had a family emergency and had to drop out. Mostly merlot, with a third cab dollops of cab franc and petit verdot. Rich nose of dark pitted fruit. Very concentrated on the palate. Nice balance between acidity and tannins. This was my only bottle but if I saw it again at a good price, I'd get more (2199 views) | | | Tasted by golfhawk on 5/6/2013 & rated 93 points: A big, rich blend that had many nuances. It went great with the bone in ribeyes but you could enjoy it on its own. I am really looking forward to my last bottle as it is drinking great now with a short decant. (1529 views) | | | Tasted by cwiebe on 2/18/2013 & rated 89 points: I feel like I'm catching this in the middle of its evolution. At this point, it seems pretty hot at this point - it has a heavy booze component, and yet it shows typical Bordeaux development in many ways. The flavor profile is changing from a fruit forward WA blend to a more nuanced blend flavor. But, right now, that's masked by the high booze content. (1651 views) | | | Tasted by Bimbler on 12/22/2012 & rated 90 points: This one didn't seem to be aging quite as gracefully as the 2002s (of which we drank the last in November 2012). It seemed very slightly denser and flatter, or at least seemed to have a little less going on. It was only decanted around 90mins before tasting, but it didn't seem to gain much in nuance over the evening. Nonetheless, a deliciously deep, long and evenly dense, dark jam. (1567 views) | | | Tasted by cwiebe on 11/1/2012 & rated 90 points: Losing some fruit and vigor, but replaced with a nice broad palate with red fruit and spice. (1586 views) | | | Tasted by stormygirl on 7/22/2012 & rated 90 points: This is aging beautifully. Definitely new world style with red fruit front and center. But it's well structured, not jammy, and has a nose of rose and wood. (1882 views) | | | Tasted by Mark on 6/26/2012 & rated 91 points: Drinking well right now, the D2 seems to hold a consistent style over the years. Nose of blackberry, oak, some chocolate. Needed some air time, about 2 hours, before the nose opened up. The remainder drank well the next day. (2082 views) | | | Tasted by IamNotDrinkingAny#@!%Merlot on 1/28/2012 & rated 87 points: A huge, raisiny, balsamic-infused wine. This is either going downhill very quickly, or I am just forgetting what this vintage was like for this wine. Not at all similar to the typically balanced, fresh wines from DeLille, including the D2 (usually).
Having said all that, it's not terrible. Just really really dense and jammy. (2186 views) | | | Tasted by Saul on 1/1/2012 & rated 93 points: djpo said it best. (2176 views) | | | Tasted by WAWINEFAN on 9/3/2011 & rated 91 points: A very nice bottle of wine. Quintessential WA. Spicy nose and well integrated flavors. Smooth finish. We are in the middle of the drinking window and it's drinking very nicely. (2463 views) | | | Tasted by granikmw on 8/16/2011: very disappointing effort: big, alcoholic, not balanced. Tannic and overall, rather coarse, with big fruit attempting to obscure aggressive elements. Also fails to communicate a sense of place. Lacks the elegance I associate with DeLille. (2563 views) | | | Tasted by vinole on 7/30/2011 & rated 91 points: A big, juicy wine, with currant, blackberry, and dark cherry fruit on a fairly full bodied frame. Medium acidity keeps it bright, and the tannins are smooth and mostly resolved at this point. The only downside was I got some heat on the finish which kept it from a 92. A lovely wine drinking well right now that I found needs 30-45 min of decanting to be at its best. (2561 views) | | | Tasted by Saul on 7/2/2011 & rated 93 points: Wow, this 2005 was a knock out, next to other stellar wines. Lovely deep purple color and fantastic blend of fruit and minerals. (2558 views) | | | Tasted by djpo on 5/28/2011 & rated 93 points: A definite star. Consistent cherry, plum, blackberry on nose, taste and strong satisfying finish. Truly seems to be in its prime. (2742 views) | | | Tasted by mikebyron on 4/22/2011 & rated 91 points: drinking right now. got more cherry than I remember. a great steak bottle. (3495 views) | | | Tasted by johnnyo on 4/6/2011 & rated 92 points: This wine is drinking beautifully right now. Midnight purple and rich notes of black currant, blackberries, black cherry, toasted cedar and chalky minerals. Exquisitely balanced with a very pleasant lingering finish. (2913 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| DeLille Cellars Producer website
DRINK NOW OR DRINK LATER?
by Chris Upchurch, Executive Winemaker/Vineyard Manager, Owner/Partner
By far, most questions asked of me always have something to do with the age ability of our wines. We offer the vintage chart below for this very reason, for all the red wines we have ever released. Please note that all of our wines are classically structured and designed to age well. I believe they will all see their tenth birthday and beyond in good health, and I include the white wines as well. Our white wines are not included in the chart because they are at "Drink" status at release. Aging does not make them more drinkable, yet there are interesting characteristics that can only develop in time, especially in the Chaleur Estate Blanc.
2005 DeLille Cellars D2WINEMAKER Tasting Notes:
Gobs and gobs of concentrated black raspberries, plums and deep black cherries intertwine with a violets and pencil snap nose.
The 2005 D2 is super concentrated with layers of plums and cherry pie flavors that are nicely balanced with toasty mocha, and sweet tobacco-oak nuances.
Varietal Blend: 51% Merlot / 38% Cabernet Sauvignon / 8% Cabernet Franc / 3% Petit Verdot
Vineyard Breakdown: 27% Stillwater Merlot /*15% Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon /*11% Ciel du Cheval Merlot /*9% Klipsun Merlot /2% Harrison Hill Merlot /2% Boushey Merlot /*15% Grand Ciel Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon /*6% Klipsun Cabernet Sauvignon /2% Harrison Hill Cabernet Sauvignon /*8% Ciel du Cheval Cabernet Franc /*3% Ciel du Cheval Petite Verdot /*67% Red Mountain AVA
Source:http://www.delillecellars.com/index.cfm?method=pages.showPage&pageid=3078bdc7-98f7-6778-612b-751a27757330Red Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.Washington Washington Wine Commission | Credit to Washingtonwine.org for this article
Washington Wine
Washington State is a premium wine producing region located in the northwest corner of the United States. Although a relatively young wine industry, it is now the nation's second largest wine producer and is ranked among the world's top wine regions. Washington wines are found nationally in all 50 states and internationally in more than 40 countries.
Wineries
With 30,000+ acres planted, the state has ideal geography and conditions for growing premium vinifera wine grapes. Primarily grown on their own root stocks, the vines produce grapes of consistent quality, resulting in strong vintages year after year. While its focus is on Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, the region also produces a wide range of other spectacular whites and reds.
Growers
Winemakers from all over the world have chosen to establish themselves in Washington, where they can create wines reflecting this region's unique characteristics. Their hand-crafted wines are receiving wide acclaim from critics regionally, nationally and internationally for their consistently high quality. Many of them have received scores of 90 and above from the major wine media. Overall this is a higher percentage than other leading wine regions.
Regions
As the state's fourth largest fruit crop, the Washington wine industry is an important contributor to the long-term preservation of Washington agriculture. The industry is committed to sustainable agricultural practices and conservation of water resources.
Washington State is a premium wine producing region located in the northwest corner of the United States. Although a relatively young wine industry, it is now the nation's second largest wine producer and is ranked among the world's top wine regions. Washington wines are found nationally in all 50 states and internationally in more than 40 countries.
Varieties
Washington produces more than 20 wine grape varieties - a ratio of 56 percent white to 44 percent red. As the industry matures and experiments, it finds many grape varieties that thrive throughout Washington's microclimates. There are more than 16,000 vineyard acres of red wine varieties statewide.
History & Vintages
Washington's wine future is limitless. As consumers discover the quality of Washington wines, demand continues to grow nationally and internationally. New acreage and wine varietals are being planted and new wineries are opening at a remarkable pace. Washington State is recognized as a premium viticultural region around the world.
State Facts
Washington's wine industry generates more than $3 billion to the state economy. It employs more than 14,000 people, directly and indirectly, with projections to add nearly 2,000 more jobs by 2006. In terms of tax revenues accrued to the state and federal government, wine grapes are among the highest tax generators of any agricultural crops. Furthermore, Washington wine tourism attracts nearly two million visitors annually contributing to the positive growth of local and regional economies.
Washington State - the perfect climate for wine = ideal growing conditions, quality wines, business innovation, lifestyle, and social responsibility. All are key elements of this world-class wine industry.
Vintages
"2008 and even more so 2010 and 2011 were cool, even cold vintages (think: 2002 in the Barossa) without the extreme ripeness, extract and higher alcohol that had become the norm in the state’s post 1995 world. 2008 was manageable but the duo of 2010/2011 nearly caused a “great depression” in Washington State." - Jon RimmermanColumbia Valley Columbia Cascade Winery Association
The Columbia Valley AVA lies mostly in Washington state, with a small section in Oregon. The Cascade Range forms its western boundary with the Palouse regions bordering the area to the east. To the north, the Okanogan National Forest forms a border with the AVA and Canada. It encompasses the valleys formed by the Columbia River and its tributaries, including the Walla Walla River, the Snake River, and the Yakima River. The Columbia valley stretches between the 46th parallel and 47th parallel which puts it in line with the well known French wine growing regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy. The northern latitude gives the areas two more hours of additional daylight during the summer growing season than wine regions of California receive. The volcanic and sandy loam soil of the valley offers good drainage and is poor in nutrients, ideal in forcing the vine to concentrate its resources into the grape clusters.Columbia Valley Columbia Valley Winery Association |
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