2015 L'Ecole No. 41 Apogee

Happy Friday!  I have to admit, the past couple weeks it's felt like I've been packing two weeks of work and other activities into every week, and this week is not different.  So, I guess it's time to relax a bit with a nice bottle of wine, and tonight it's a good one.  From a recent wine club shipment from a winery that I first visited way back in the early 2000s, the 2015 L'Ecole No. 41 Apogee.  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (25%), Malbec (10%) and Cabernet Franc (5%) all from the Pepper Bridge Vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley. So let's see how this one stacks up!

The wine is a deep, inky purple in the glass, with bright ruby along the edges, a not to the heavy Cabernet and Merlot in the blend.  The nose is full of ripe fruit, black cherry, blackberry and currant intermingled with earthy aromas of leather and basalt.  The taste is wonderfully fruit forward with a rush of tart cherry, currant and cassis that gives way to some notes of green grass and Asian spice midpalate.  The tannins are well structured and nicely integrated to form the foundation for the long, smooth and very dry finish that lingers on.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's another great Bordeaux style blend from Walla Walla, but it's clearly a second place finisher to my favorite blend, the Perigee. This wine is ideal for big steaks, lamb, or hearty fall dishes, and tonight I am enjoying this with a wonderful Costco dinner I picked up on the drive back from Detroit today - a rare prime filet mignon, big ol' baked potato with sour cream and scallions and some grilled asparagus.  Cheers!