TN: 2005 Owen Roe Saint Isadore Vineyard Cabernet, Walla Walla, WA

It wasn’t pretty from the get go. Broke the decanter, destroyed the cork and had to shove it in the bottle, then couldn’t get the cork out with retriever. Put a Bailey’s Corker in the bottle to get the bigger pieces of cork and “recanted” the wine in a pitcher. 14.1 ABV. Approachable with black fruits dominating. Tannins and acidity are noticable on the first few sips. It needs to open up. A full 30 minutes in the pitcher and it is still tight. The tannins and acidity are integrating with a spice note in the 30 second finish. The dark fruits are taking over at 45 minutes with lovely long finish, including hints of coffee. It is both enjoyable and unique, an enigma. Probably needs another 5 years, but it will knock your socks off. Red sauce Spaghetti can’t hold it back.

Interesting TN, Randy, thanks. I didn’t realize Owen Roe ever made a wine with Walla Walla fruit, so it’s neat to see this. Come to think of it, I don’t know of any wineries anymore making a single-vineyard wine from St. Isadore. Sorry about the decanter! How did that happen?

EDIT - after doing some digging on the internets, I found this cool little snippet. This was some wine shop that did a tasting of this wine, but the 2006 version. It looks like they decided from that point to make it a Walla Walla AVA wine and not just from St. Isidore, getting the Cab from Seven Hills Vineyard. Here’s what they wrote:

The Merlot and Cabernet Franc are farmed by Adolf Klein at his Saint Isidore Vineyard, located about 6 miles west of Seven Hills. This gorgeous site is bordered to the south by the foothills of the Blue Mountains which serve to channel ferocious wind gusts through the vineyard. The buffeted vines struggle in the hill-top and produce smaller berries with intense flavors.

I suppose that description would explain the tannins you found in a 13-year-old wine!