Sineann Block One Cab (02 -12) plus some others

Last night, I hosted a vertical of Sineann Block One cabernet's from my cellar. Seven of my friends joined me for this. Block One refers to the Champoux vineyard where this is indeed Block One. Hence, this is old vine cabernet from one of Washington's top vineyards. The wines were opened and allowed to breathe in my cellar for about 2.5 hours before the tasting. While I thought they could use more, it was also good to let them develop on the table. BTW, Sineann has since 2004, used a glass "cork" stopper on its wines.

These wines have retailed for between $60 and $70 over the years IIRC which for the quality seems fair vis-à-vis Bordeaux or Napa. I would not call them values, but they are not over priced either.

Disclaimer - Peter Rossback,, the owner and winemaker has been a friend of mine since we attended Purdue together back in the 1970's. Of course, then Columbia, for us, was not a valley in Washington and "old vines" meant a few months. But I digress...

The wines were consumed non-blind over the course of 3.5 hours. There was, at least for me, clearly a profile that they had in common. More red fruit than purple, some tarragon on the nose. On the palate, that seemed to show up as black licorice. These are wines built for the long haul and probably need a decade or more to really reach full potential. In terms of style, I haven't drunk a lot of Washington Cabs but these profile very much for me like Quilceda Creek in that they are more like Bordeaux in terms of ripeness but more like Napa in terms of winemaking, oak, etc.

A couple of starter whites:

• 2004 Sineann Riesling Medici Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  I liked this more than the group who found it getting old. I love older Rieslings though. Back when Sineann still used corks and the Riesling came from Medici. Deep gold in color. The nose has minerals, honey and slight petrol notes. "Kabinett" style wine. Slightly sweet on the palate though not as sweet as I remember. A tad bitter, but not in a bad way. Certainly should be checked in on as it is mature.

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• 2013 Sineann Riesling 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Columbia Valley

  Screw capped. Light golden in color. The nose has lemons and slight mineral notes. Slightly sweet. Young. Somewhere around "Kabinett" ripeness. The finish turns confectionary lemon which is distracting. No hurry here though.

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The Block One flight. Served as one flight in chronological order, non-blind.

• 2002 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Purpkle in color, but flat. This started off weak and disjointed. With air it really came together. Tart cherries and tarragon on the nose. Medium bodied. Some heat on the finish. Frankly, I expected more until I went back a few times. After about an hour it started to show it stuff. A lighter more red fruit profile Cab.

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• 2003 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 94 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  I spoke with Peter Rosback (winemaker/owner) before the tasting and he thought this would be WOTN. I was surprised as I don't think this was the best vintage IIRC. In any event, it was my #2 and the groups WOTN, although as so often happens, it got no first place votes. Purple in color, slightly flat. The nose has cassis and a bit of milk chocolate. It starts out with some cough syrup notes which go away with air. Soft texture. Cherries with slight chocolate. Complex. With air some menthol shows up on the finish. Probably at peak.

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• 2004 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 94 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Purple in color, looking young. The nose has a nice cassis note with some vanilla/cedar. Also a bit of black licorice. Solid fruit still young. It took some time to show some layering in the glass. Seems younger than 10 years. Never stopped improving.

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• 2005 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Great showing for this wine. The groups #2 WOTN. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cassis and tarragon. Some oak. Noticeably silkier texture. Firm tannins. Cassis and a bit of black licorice. Nice finish. Young and evolving. Needs time, but opened beautifully in the glass.

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• 2006 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 91 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  A bit of a disappointing showing on this one. Perhaps in an off stage. The nose shows a lot of tarragon a some cassis and oak. Nice texture which makes me think there is potential to return to its beauty that it had on release. Lots of tannins. Black licorice. Just not a lot of fruit. It's good, but not at the quality I hoped for.

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• 2007 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cherries, some cassis and tarragon. A bit of vanilla. Really nice texture. Tight fruit but opens in the glass. Cherries and black licorice. Nice finish. Still youthful.

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• 2008 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 95 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  My WOTN and the groups #3, however, the only wine with more than one first place vote (2 first and one second). Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cassis, slight black raspberry, cedar and black licorice. This is ripe fruit on the palate. Not jammy but plenty of cassis and black raspberry with some black licorice. Lovely velvety texture, the best texture of all the wines. Enough acidity to lend balance. Nice finish. I assume there is plenty left to develop here, but a gorgeous Cab right now.

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• 2009 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cherries and some cassis. A bit of cedar. This seems a bit lighter than most and the oak a bit more obvious. It keeps improving in the glass. Probably would be better on its own than in this setting due to its body.

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• 2010 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 93 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Purple, ruby at rim. The nose has cassis, black licorice and some tarragon. Also some cherries. This has a strong acidity that comes across as tart cherry fruit. It unwinds in the glass showing a layered complexity. Food certainly helped this one in addition to air. Just starting to show its potential.

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• 2011 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Champoux Vineyard 87 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

  No Block One was made in 2011 so all the fruit went into this wine. It was easily the last place wine for myself and the group. That said, it did get one first place vote which I understand as it was very distinct from the others. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose is dusty with light cherries. On the palate, this is ok. Medium bodied. Cherries, slight dusty note. A bit flat. Drinkable but not much more. I am not sure where this goes from here, but at this point, there is not much harm in waiting I guess.

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• 2012 Sineann Cabernet Sauvignon Block One 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Purple in color, slight ruby at the rim. The nose has cassis with some black licorice. Probably the biggest nose on the table. It was much tighter on the palate. Ripe fruit. This really improved with air. However, I liked it more than the group. I would hold these for a while (5 to 10+).

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A dessert wine:

• 2008 Sineann Zinfandel Sweet Sydney 85 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  I was shocked when this got poured. Prior vintages were an odd pale reddish color, but this looked barely like a rose. Its ok, but just showed some bit of sweetness and generic strawberries. Nothing to suggest Zinfandel. Others may have liked it a bit better, but 8 of us did not finish the 375 bottle.

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And one more for the road:

• 2011 Sineann Old Vine Zinfandel 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Columbia Valley

  Dale asked about the regular Zins, so I went down to the cellar and grabbed this one. This was so much better than the 2011 Cab and really showed well. The vines date back to the early part of last century and it has that depth to it. Not a black buster Zin, more refined/Bordeaux in style. Good ref fruits, plenty of depth and complexity without being over powering. No hurry on this one.

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This was a lot of fun and very instructional. A great way to sample the winery and the terroir.