2013 Cadaretta Cabernet Sauvignon

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Virtuous Cycle (+Sodo Club Experience UPDATE), 2/4/2018

  (Cadaretta Cabernet Sauvignon) Sodo Club Experience UPDATE: We’re collaborating with our neighboring wineries/tasting rooms for a very cool weekend we’re calling the Sodo Club Experience. From Feb 15-17, Full Pull list members will have club member privileges at all participating wineries: Den Hoed, Kerloo, Latta, Nine Hats, Rotie, Sleight of Hand, Structure, and Waters. That means (depending on the winery) some/all of: waived tasting fees; discounts on purchased wines; access to club-only bottlings. All you have to do is show up to our warehouse, get a Full Pull wristband, and then venture forth to our neighbors. As you’d expect, it’s going to be a busy weekend, so if you intend to pick up wine as well, please do schedule a pickup so we’re ready for you. ---- Hello friends. The Full Pull Virtuous Cycle strikes again. Okay, so the FPVC for newbies: You folks buy Washington wines from Full Pull, try them, love them, talk about them, post about them, and oftentimes visit those wineries, where you frequently mention to winemakers that it was Full Pull where you were first introduced to their winery. All of that activity strengthens our relationships with wineries, because they see that, in addition to the sales they get from Full Pull, they’re also getting a sizeable fringe marketing benefit. And then those wineries *want* to work with us even more, to offer us special deals and special wines. Which only makes our list members happier, and then the great wheel turns, and turns again. Essentially, our list members have a growing reputation as a set of serious influencers when it comes to Washington wine. So when a winery has news to share, one way to cut through the clutter of a crowded field is to offer our list members a special deal. That’s what we have today. Cadaretta has a pair of compelling stories to tell, and we love telling stories. To sweeten the deal, they’ve offered us a serious (and time-limited) discount on their flagship Cabernet:[Pricing note: This wine’s release price is $45, and I’ve never seen it discounted below about $40. As you can see, the current low price available nationally is $39.99. Our TPU today shaves a considerable amount off that.] [Logistics note: We get one shot at placing an order with this pricing. Reorders will need to be more in the $40-$45 range. Our plan is to place our offer on Monday morning, so please try to make all order requests by the end of the day on Sunday. We’ll try to build in a small buffer for latecomers and maybe some reorders, but no promises on that front.] The reason for our special pricing today is to celebrate Cadaretta’s hiring of Peter Devison. Peter – who spent the past few years making a series of crystalline whites and polished reds for Efeste – recently packed up his family and moved to Walla Walla to take over the reins at Cadaretta from Kendall Mix. I still vividly remember the first time I encountered Peter’s winemaking. Sometime in summer 2010, I sampled the 2009 Substance Sauvignon Blanc. It was this rippin’-acid, grassy, old-world style SB, the first SB with that style I had tasted from Washington. I must have asked Jamie Brown or Greg Harrington or Sean Boyd (all three were involved with Substance at the time) who made the wine, and it turned out they had purchased the juice from Precept, and called out this young guy Peter Devison making crazy-interesting wines despite Precept’s more corporate setting. I’ve followed Peter’s career ever since, and his winemaking has only gotten better. It’s going to be fascinating to see his direction with Cadaretta’s flagship white, the SBS (a white BDX blend we have offered numerous times previously). He’ll also have wide latitude on both the vineyard and winemaking side of Southwind Vineyard, Cadaretta’s breathtaking estate site in the Walla Walla Valley. And that’s the other compelling story about today’s wine. Southwind is very much Walla Walla Valley 2.0. If you zoom out a bit on the vineyard’s Everyvine page, you’ll see that the vineyard’s closest neighbors are L’Ecole’s Estate Ferguson Vineyard, and Abeja’s Estate Heather Hill Vineyard. The filet of the neighborhood to be sure. This part of the valley is fascinating because it mixes soil types: more traditional Walla Walla loess at low and medium elevations, but then above about 1250 feet, it’s just thin topsoil over fractured basalt. The Missoula floods never reached this high, so this is ancient soil with high mineral content. It’s still early days for this part of the valley, but the initial indications have been extremely promising, and I suspect that in another decade or two, these wineries who have established estate sites in this part of the valley are going to feel very pleased about that decision. As Southwind has matured, its grapes have comprised a higher and higher proportion of Cadaretta’s Cabernet Sauvignon, with the 2013 reaching a full 30% of the blend. The remainder comes from other sites in both the Walla Walla Valley and on Red Mountain. Listed alc is 14.8%, and this kicks off with a lovely Cabernet nose: crème de cassis and high-cacao chocolate complicated by dusty/earthy notes and lifted by violet florals. On the palate, this is the best kind of four-corners Washington Cab, hitting notes of fruit and earth and barrel and herbal/savory, that last in the form of an alluring mix of beetroot and star anise. This is a deft mix of Red Mountain power and Southwind structure and mineral-driven elegance. The entire package hangs together beautifully, offering intensity and character to spare. This recently earned Great Northwest Wine’s highest rating. Great Northwest Wine: “The Middleton family’s remarkable Southwind Vineyard in the southern portion of the Walla Walla Valley forms much of the base of Cadaretta’s flagship wine, which Kendall Mix polished what Brian Rudin [made] at their Artifex production facility in Walla Walla. The 22 months in French oak presents sweet aromas of a cordial cherry, cocoa powder and Red Vines licorice. It’s bright and juicy with cherry and red currant flavors as smooth tannins grow with power. And yet, they show restraint at the finish of dried thyme. The warmth of this vintage and growing maturity of Southwind helped Cadaretta to more than double its production of this wine over the 2012 vintage. Rating: Outstanding.”

RJonWine.com

• By Richard Jennings
  6/17/2017, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 92 points

  (Cadaretta Cabernet Sauvignon) Saturated very dark red violet color; savory, tart black currant, blackberry, mocha nose; tasty, tight, black currant, mocha, with firm, sweet tannins and good balancing acidity; needs 3 years; long finish (14.8% alcohol; long natural cork)