Washington State Blind Vineyard Tasting - Champoux vs. Ciel du Cheval

For this tasting, my ten person group had 6 wines, all from Washington State. 3 each from the Champoux and Ciel du Cheval vineyards.

We tasted in blind pairs, meaning, we knew which winery produced the wine, but didn't know which vineyard the wine came from. After we tried all the wines, we voted on which of each pair we preferred, and totaled the votes to decide which is our favorite vineyard site...Champoux or Ciel du Cheval.

All the wines were opened about 45 minutes before we poured any of them. As we poured in pairs, the last pair was open for over 90 minutes before we tasted it. We took small enough pours so that we were all able to retry all the wines before, during and after dinner.

The Champoux was the overwhelming favorite, with 7 people preferring the Champoux and only 1 preferring the Ciel du Cheval. Not everyone was able to pick a favorite from this pair. The vintage difference may have played a large part in the voting.

• 2007 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon Champoux Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

  So sad..my final bottle of this vintage...Each bottle gave me great enjoyment. This bottle was the WOTN at a tasting/dinner for my wine group.

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• 2005 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  I had this directly alongside a 2007 Januik Cabernet Chamoux. Unfortunately the 2005 Ciel du Cheval suffered in comparison. Maybe it was the vintage difference? It was very good, but I just can't put it in the 90 point territory. It has a syrup-y mouth feel to it.

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The vote was split 4 to 4 on the Andrew Will wines. Not everyone was able to pick a favorite from this pair. The general feeling was that these 2 wines were very similar in quality.

• 2007 Andrew Will Champoux Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

  Still a really good wine, but tonight it fell a little short of outstanding. Had it alongside the 2007 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval. Slightly less acidic than the CdC.

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• 2007 Andrew Will Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  My last bottle. Just a touch short of outstanding. We had in alongside the 2007 Andrew Will Champoux. This was slightly more acidic than the Champoux.

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The Champoux was the favorite, with 6 people preferring the Champoux and 3 preferring the Ciel du Cheval. Not everyone was able to pick a favorite from this pair.

• 2012 Soos Creek Champoux Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

  My second bottle from a case purchased directly from the winery. I think it has improved a bit with age, but I'll leave my numerical score the same. Very enjoyable.

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• 2012 Soos Creek Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 91 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  My 2nd bottle from a case purchased from "Last Bottle", and this was a big improvement. Allowing the bottle to sit and rest after shipping made a huge difference. I really enjoyed it, although I still preferred the Champoux wine from the same vintage. I'm bumping my score up a point to 91. It will be fun to see how this is progressing in another 6 months.

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The winner was the Champoux vineyard. The Januik really threw off the results though, as 7 people preferred the Champoux and ony 1 preferred the Ciel du Cheval. The different vintages for the Januik might have had something to do with that. The Andrew Will was evenly matched with 4 votes for both vineyards. The Soos Creek had 6 votes for Champoux and 3 votes for Ciel du Cheval.