JamesSuckling.com

• By James Suckling
  4/26/2019 (link)

  (Cadence Red Mountain Coda, Red, United States) Subscribe to see review text.

Vinous

• By Stephen Tanzer
  Focus on Washington: The New Normal (Nov 2018), 11/1/2018 (link)

  (Cadence Winery Red Wine Coda Washington Red) Subscribe to see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Coda, 6/7/2018

  (Cadence Coda) Hello friends. A house style is what can set a winery apart in a sea of stand-out Washington wines. The grapes in our corner of the world are proving more beautiful and complex every vintage—and the amount of wineries is growing exponentially—how can winemakers set themselves apart? Ben Smith has mastered this art with Cadence, creating a Red Mountain vineyard-focused bordeaux lineup that is consistent year in and year out. His house style focuses on three components: textural elegance, carefully-tended structure, and finely-tuned balance. This style allows Cadence to hyper focus on creating high-quality, delightfully ageable wines. We’re here today with the newest release of Ben’s best-priced wine, consistently one of Washington’s best deals vintage after vintage.Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld. Originally offered June 7, 2018. Excerpts from the original: Coda is an incredible value, year in and year out—and 2016 is no exception. Ben makes exactly four single-vineyard wines for Cadence, all from Red Mountain. Two come from the estate Cara Mia Vineyard, one from Ciel du Cheval, and one from Tapteil. And that’s it. Ben carefully crafts the blends for those high-end ($45-$60) wines, and then whatever barrels aren’t included during those blending trials end up in Coda. What that means for Coda is that it’s always a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot, always a blend of Cara Mia, Ciel du Cheval, and Tapteil, and always barrels that were raised with the exact same care as the higher-end bottles. This year, Ben said they were ruthless with declassifying juice from the Bel Canto and Camerata bottlings, both sourced from his Estate, Cara Mia. Which means a full 61% of the juice used for Coda this year is from Cadence’s estate vineyard. Coda shows off the strength and power of Red Mountain without punishing the imbiber. It’s elegant, structured, and balanced. You could easily lay this wine down for 5 - 10 years, but given the price, you could also give it a decant and enjoy it sooner. In my mind, Cadence always proves to be one of the best examples of what Red Mountain can achieve. It’s the kind of wine you give to a friend who has never had Washington wine—or never heard of Red Mountain.