2017 Joleté Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Summit View Vineyard Walla Walla Valley Washington State

In a room full of some of Washington’s top wines, Tom swirled, sniffed, then sipped one final Cabernet. The wine was so good—by far the best Cabernet he’d had all day—that he was sure he’d found his man. “If this is what you can do for less than $30,” Tom said to the winemaker he’d met on his way out. “Then what would you think about collaborating?”

That chance meeting between Joleté’s Tom Mortimer and winemaker Brett Isenhower led directly to one of the top American Cabernet deals we’ve offered all year: the 2017 Joleté Cabernet Sauvignon Summit View Vineyard. It’s a rare (just 496 cases made) single-vineyard Cabernet from one of the top sites in Washington, a Wine Enthusiast Editors’ Choice that also earned 92 points from Wine & Spirits magazine, which placed it in their upcoming Best U.S. Cabernet edition. 

Single-vineyard Cabernet can rarely be found for this price in Walla Walla, and the stellar quality that has made Joleté a Wine Access favorite shines through in this classic. Showing a vivid ruby hue, it bursts with cassis, cloves, and pepper on the nose. Beautiful red fruit is layered on palate entry, with licorice, black olive tapenade, and baker’s chocolate seasoning. With a kola nut-laced finish and hints of minerals, tar, and smoky cedar, this is a spectacular Cabernet pickup, from one of the producers that’s becoming synonymous with incredible red wine value.

The morning of the fateful meeting, Tom left his Willamette Valley home and headed to a primeur-style tasting in Washington, hoping to find a fruit source so he could add a Walla Walla Cabernet to his lineup of stellar Joleté and Le Cadeau Pinots. But three quarters of the way through the tasting, Tom was about ready to hit the road—after trying dozens of barrel samples from prime Washington sources, he was, by and large, underwhelmed.

Just when he was heading toward the door, Tom crossed paths with a late-arriving winemaker, who was on his way in with a few bottles of Cabernet. The guy introduced himself as Brett from Isenhower Cellars, and asked Tom if he wanted to taste. Tom figured one last wine couldn’t hurt, stuck his car keys back in his pocket, grabbed a new glass, and followed the winemaker to his nearby table.

That was the beginning of the partnership between the two men, and with Brett aboard, the fruit source fell into place: He held a long-term contract at one of the top vineyards in Walla Walla. Located just above the famed Seven Hills Vineyard on the Oregon side of Walla Walla Valley, Summit View sits at 1200 feet of elevation, has ideal Cabernet soil of silt loam atop a base of fractured basalt, and is within a stone’s throw of vineyard sources for some of Washington’s most revered wines, like Betz, Doubleback, and Leonetti.

Summit View is also planted with Cabernet clone 191, which is known for producing a richer, plusher Cabernet. Brett, working in tandem with Joleté’s Burgundy-based consultant Pierre Millemann, rounds the wine out further with 18 months in French oak. Since Brett believes that Cabernet is even more sensitive to oak than Pinot Noir (the higher alcohol draws out more of the wood flavor), he uses a light touch: The Cabernet is aged in the same top-tier, fine-grain Burgundy barrels that Joleté uses for its Pinots, and only 20% of them are new.

The result is a gorgeous red that shows what one of our top Pinot producers and member favorites can do with Cabernet from a top site. Cheers to those who claim our small allocation.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.50%
• 30 mins
• Drink Up
• 86% Cabernet Sauvignon12% Merlot2% Petit Verdot
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork