2017 Va Piano Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Black Label Rosebud Vineyard Wahluke Slope

The warmest, driest AVA in Washington, Wahluke Slope is on an alluvial fan of sandy loess in south-central washington, to the north of Red Mountain. It’s gotten a lot of attention from the likes of Charles Smith’s K Vintners, who made a 100-point wine here in 2015. 

Don and Norma Toci first put vines in the ground at Rosebud Vineyard in 1978, the first people in this dusty, windswept corner of the Columbia River Valley to do so. In 2017 those vines were 39 years old—only a handful of vineyards in Washington state are older. Those mature vines really are the key to this wine: Their low yields and even ripening unlock the wine’s pristine black fruit.

Justin Wylie is the fourth-generation Walla Walla native behind the wheel at Va Piano, as the owner and winemaker. Growing up there and having all those connections have been key, but a year abroad in Florence when he was a senior at Gonzaga really awakened him to great wine. He launched Va Piano (Italian for “go slow”) in 2003.

We love the 2017 Va Piano Cabernet’s luxurious nose of boysenberry jam, fresh black cherry, and dark roast espresso. Fresh-cut cedar follows, along with sage, toasted nutmeg, pipe tobacco, subtle vanilla, and Damson plum. It’s full-bodied, with polished, ripe tannins followed by a smooth finish—very much the profile of a $115 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Enjoy—and no need to tell your friends how much you paid.

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

• ABV 14.50%
• 15 mins
• Now – 2035
• % Cabernet Sauvignon
• Serving temperature – 58°
• Cork