2010 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Easter!  It's been an absolutely beautiful Easter in northern Indiana, with sunny skies, flowers blooming and birds singing and a temperature in the low 70s, a perfect day!  So to celebrate I've decided to open a bottle (technically a half bottle) of 2010 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon.  For those unfamiliar, the artist series was started with the 1992 vintage with a painting by a Northwest artist that will then be featured on the label for that year's vintage.  The 2010 is the 19th edition of the artist series and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (84%), Merlot (7%), Cabernet Franc (5%) and Petit Verdot (4%) with grapes sourced from a variety of great Washington vineyards including Champoux (55%), Woodward Canyon Estate (24%), Sagemoor (17%) and Weinbau (4%).

The wine itself is a lovely deep, inky purple at the center that melds into a bright ruby along the edges.  The nose just seems to grab you by the collar and really let's you know that you're about to sip something truly sublime, with rich black fruit notes, leather and cedar all dancing in your mind.  The taste is wonderfully complex, with some bright fruit at the outset, blackberry, cassis that transitions effortlessly to some warm spice notes of black pepper and dried herbs.  The finish is divine, as the tannins are nicely structured and integrated to support a wonderfully complex finish that seems to last forever.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's just a great example of some of the best Cabernets being produced in the Columbia Valley today, but it's definitely a special occasion sort of wine as this half bottle was $26 even with the 10% case discount, but still worth every penny!  Later I might pair this with some dinner, but for now I'm just enjoying this glass out on the deck as the sun is just starting to settle in the west.  A perfect end to a beautiful day!