JB Neufeld, Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, Ciel du Cheval Vineyard, Yakima Valley, WA

When JB Neufeld meets Pessac-Leognan. If you miss the style of the best Bordeaux reds but not their cost, this great Washington Cabernet Sauvignon will be equally pleasing from its value to nuanced elegance.

COUNTRY: United State of America (USA)

STATES: Washington

APPELLATION: (AVA): Red Mountain

REGION: Columbia Valley

SUB-REGION: Yakima Valley

VINEYARD: Ciel du Cheval

VINTAGE: 2019

GRAPES: 80%Cabernet Sauvignon (clone 337), 20% Merlot

SOIL:  Loam on gravel beds that extend 12 feet or more.

PRACTICE: Sustainable

VINIFICATION: aged 17 months in 63% new French oak and 37% neutral French oak barrels. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

STYLE: Still

COLOR: Deep Garnet.

BODY: Full body with very fine tannin and reasonable alcohol.

TASTE: Dry

PRIMARY AROMAS: Bright cherry and raspberry. Mineral Driven, peppery with velvet round feeling

FLAVOR: Round with a great weight and volume. Red fruits light jam, vegetal and mineral, firm but souple tannins very well balanced acidity.

ALCOHOL:  14.9%

SERVICE AND SUGGESTION: Braised beef dishes, duck breast, beef osso bucco, roasted leg of lamb with cumin, tomahawk steak.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: 

JB Neufeld

The winery was created by the husband-and-wife team, Justin and Brooke Neufeld. Justin produced its first vintage in 2008. The winery is the only of its kind in Washington, focusing exclusively on Cabernet Sauvignon within the Yakima Valley AVA. d. The goal of the brand is to not only showcase the diversity of the terroir found in the valley through its vineyard-designate bottlings but to use that diversity to build a more complex and balanced Cabernet Sauvignon by blending sites as well.

The Yakima Valley AVA has the most diverse terroir of all the AVAs in Washington.  All the vineyards are located on south-facing slopes created by a series of ridges that are oriented West to East, which is a geological anomaly unique to eastern Washington.  

JB Neufeld's focus is to preserve not only the qualities of the wine but also the place and time from which they were made. They aim to build a Cabernet Sauvignon that possesses multiple layers of complexity that reveal themselves as the wine opens up in the glass. JB Neufeld achieves this by having a winemaking style that is dedicated, thoughtful, and precise to the terroir of their valley.

ABOUT THE VINEYARDS: Ciel du Cheval

First planted in 1975 on Red Mountain in the Yakima Valley AVA. When the great Spokane Flood formed the Red Mountain region, the Scooteney Channel backed up leaving deposits of gravel and huge stones.

Established in 1975 and for nearly 39 years has been providing grapes to some of the state’s finest wineries, Ciel has a reputation for growing red wines grapes that have intense character and dense but supple tannins. The vineyard has a simple mission: grow grapes that are the best reflection of the unique terroir and give a sense of place. However, like the rest of the vineyards on Red Mountain, the soils at Ciel are extremely homogeneous. As a result, Ciel has been divided into thirty-six separate blocks. Each block is custom farmed to achieve the best results possible. The variety, clonal selection, plant spacing, row orientation, training methods, and irrigation plans are unique to each block. An extensive network of sensors monitors soil moisture and local weather. And plant and soil samples are evaluated for available nutrients. All of this information is analyzed and changes are made. This has allowed a continuous experiment, a slow unveiling of the nature of each block for the last thirty-nine years, leading to a better understanding of the Ciel’s unique terroir. Farming this way requires more resources, but the results are worth it.