2005 Chateau Rollat Cabernet Sauvignon Edouard de Rollat

• By Stephen Tanzer
  November/December 2007, IWC Issue #135, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Chateau Rollat Cabernet Sauvignon Edouard de Rollat Walla Walla Valley) Login and sign up and see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  10/6/2009, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (EDOUARD Rollat Cabernet) Edouard Dear Friends, As is usually the case when we offer a wine, many of you send in requests for the sibling or higher/lower end wine from the same producer that we did not include. That was definitely the case here - we received as many requests for Rollat's 2005 "Edouard" bottling as we did for the regular Cabernet. Here you go - directly from the source with perfect provenance. Chëteau Rollat has some of the finest potential in Washington State - they are one of Walla Walla's most exciting new entrants. Their wine has that extra special something missing from the overwhelming majority of examples. This wine would make for a very interesting blind entrant in a 2005 Bordeaux or 2005 Napa retrospective a decade from now. Having said that, I enjoyed this wine a few weeks ago over a 6-10 hour period and it is also quite enjoyable today (but it should blossom with age over the next 8-15 years). As a reminder, the original offer for the regular Cabernet "Rollat" is below. 2005 Chateau Rollat Cabernet Sauvignon "Edouard" Walla Walla Valley EXTREMELY LIMITED at this price. Thank you - - Jon Rimmerman ******************************* (original Rollat offer for the basic bottling) Rollat Dear Friends, Those of you that know Stephen Tanzer (personally) know that he is a great guy, affable and down to earth - he gets excited about many things but he rarely gets excited enough that it's impossible to curb his enthusiasm (sorry LD). He's excited about Rollat. Chateau Rollat, with only a few vintages behind them, personify what Washington State has been inching toward for decades: A modern St Estephe and/or Pauillac in the New World. Quilceda Creek flirted with this style (pre-1994) but abandoned it in favor of a more accessible, sweeter framework that made it easier to enjoy their wines in youth (and increase their point scores). In some ways, Rollat is the Osoyoos-Larose of the US but, where Osoyoos focuses on St. Julien, this entity is squarely in the northern sector of Pauillac and the slice of land that abuts the border of Pauillac and Cos d' Estournel. Why is this not surprising? Christian LeSommer, the consulting winemaker and psychological partner of Rollat was the driving force behind Latour for many years (yes, that Latour) - prior to that he was the assistant winemaker at Yquem. In other words Rollat comes with a beefy pedigree but it is not the typical LVMH or corporate venture - it is a small entity, in the hands of two men - LeSommer and owner Bowen Lindgren (who has a wine-related family tree dating back more than a century), and that is what makes this exciting for me. From the top 2005 vintage, this wine has cool but ripe tannins, mineral infused blue fruit and an uncanny resemblance to something like a satiny Pichon-Lalande jr wrapped in a silky red core of Washington State fruit. It has style and a certain joie de vivre coated sheen that makes it easy to drink today but it will also age. I'm not going to say its Latour (it isn't, far from it actually) but they are on to something with a purpose and it certainly gives the domestic market a new reason to celebrate - they've kept the price within reason as well: Paul Gregutt (who knows Washington Cabernet as well as anyone): "The first releases of Chateau Rollat (ROLL-ah) are just out and dazzling. The mid-level wine, a 2005 'Rollat' Cabernet Sauvignon ($38), presents supple, ripe and sweet fruit on a bed of fine tannins. The word that kept cropping up as I tasted the wine was "polished." It has a sophisticated finesse that moves the beautiful fruit flavors into a more elegant dimension than all but a handful of Washington wines." This is the last of the 2005 that is available to us under $30. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue: 2005 Chateau Rollat Cabernet Sauvignon "Rollat" Walla Walla Valley - SOLD OUT Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA WA9980

Washington Wine Report

• By Sean Sullivan
  1/20/2009, (See more on Washington Wine Report...) ***** points

  (Chateau Rollat Edouard de Rollat Walla Walla Valley) A superb nose with cinnamon, spice, chocolate, and black pepper. A pleasing earthiness on the taste with a good structure and finish. Overall a very impressive effort. 75% Cabernet; 20% Merlot; 5% Cab Franc. Seven Hills and Pepper Bridge vineyards. 14.2% alcohol.