2019 Nelms Road Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Saturday!  This morning started out busy as a group of us met at church to prep for cooking Easter breakfast for 85 members of the choir and worship team, so after that things were much more relaxed.  I did a bit of yard work, bought some groceries and now I'm ready for a relaxing dinner.  To accompany that, I've opened a bottle of wine from one of the first wineries I every visited in Walla Walla, Woodward Canyon, and this from their second label.  The 2019 Nelms Road Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of  Cabernet Sauvignon(76%), Merlot (14%), Petit Verdot (7%), Malbec (2%) and Cabernet Franc (1%) sourced from the Woodward Canyon Estate Vineyard, Champoux, Sagemoor, Weinbau and Wallula Vinyards.  So, let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a deep inky black at the center with bright garnet along the edges, as you might expect from a nice Cabernet.  A gentle swirl of the glass reveals aromas of ripe black fruit, vanilla bean, tobacco and a bit of earthy graphite.  The first sip opens the curtain on the complexity of this wine, as you are at first greeted with some ripe blackberry, cherry and plum, before transitioning to some earthy mineral notes and subdued spice notes midpalate.  The tannins are expertly structured to create a very old world mouthfeel and profile, supporting a long, smooth dry finish that lingers on the palate.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it punches way above its weight class for a $25 everyday wine.  This wine would pair well with steaks, lamb or barbecue, but would also be an ideal weeknight sipper.  The winery suggests pairing this wine with a French brasserie style onglet steak au poivre, so I am taking a somewhat tangential tack and enjoying this with a classic steak and tots for dinner, a rare grilled bone-in Angus ribeye along with some tater tots and maple bacon roasted giant Brussels sprouts that were on sale at my local market today.  Cheers!