COL SOLARE Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

(Red Mountain, WA) $50

Col Solare is owned by Washington’s Chateau Ste. Michelle and Italy’s Marchesi Antinori. Founded in 1995, Col Solare was one of the state’s first joint-venture wineries, and the wines have evolved to become Washington classics. Richly textured yet sleek, the wines have beautiful aromas and flavors of cassis, violets, tobacco, and exotic spices. There’s also a beguiling velvetiness to them—a character that’s hard to achieve on Red Mountain, a very small region (and the state’s warmest appellation) known for wines with sometimes fierce tannins. The Col Solare vineyard was planted to mirror the Antinori family estate in Tuscany; that is, the vines fan out in a radial pattern (like the rays of the sun) from the winery at the top of the hill. The name Col Solare means “Shining Hill.” (14.5% abv)

95 points KM

Available at EmpireWine.com