Andrew Will Cellars
Ciel du Cheval
Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot
Vashon, WA
2004
14.6%
$33.88 at Whole Foods, Austin, TX
Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Meat, mango, a little olive
Body: Medium to full
Front: Olive
Middle: Blueberry, plum
Back: Oak, cinnamony spice
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
I promised to do more Washington wines, and so I have. I see a case of this in my future. It's going to slow down the pace of my wine experimentation, but I will happily take blogging obscurity as the price of 12 bottles of this wine.
It is extraordinary. Complexly layered, fascinating in its flavors, beautiful in color and odor. With roasted chicken paprika and spinach salad, it showed all kinds of interesting synergies, even a chocolatey flavor at one point. As it opens up, the tastes shift, the fruit ripens, the spices bake, the compost crumbles, the metaphors ferment.
