2017 Four Flags Cabernet Sauvignon

Made from a blend of the four vineyards on Red Mountain—the Ciel du Cheval, Grand Ciel, Klipsun and Upchurch vineyards—the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Four Flags has an even balance of mineral tension, freshness of fruit and elegant baking spices on the nose. Trying the other bottles of the range side by side, I can see the identity of the Four Flags, as each vineyard imparts flavors into the wine, like completing a puzzle to discover and display an image. Medium to full-bodied, the wine expresses blackberry skin, dusty red cherry, savory dried spices and elements of baked earth, with firm tannins across the mid-palate and ending with expressions of dried currants and crushed rocks. Almost 19,000 bottles produced. Give it another year or two before opening.

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Four Flags comes from four separate vineyards on Red Mountain and is brought up mostly in new French oak. Its deep purple hue is followed by rock star notes of crème de cassis, toasted spices, lead pencil, crushed, and savory herbs. It’s beautiful on the palate as well and offers medium to full-bodied richness, impeccable balance, and a great finish. It will ideally be given 2-4 years of bottle age and will have two decades of overall longevity. What I would consider a Washington State First Growth, Delille Cellars produces both incredible quality as well as quantity, pulling from vineyards throughout the state of Washington. This is always one of my favorite tastings in Washington, and given that they pull from sites throughout the state, it’s a great way to learn about a given vintage. The winemaking team has been headed up by Jason Gorski for a number of years now and they continue to fashion a classic, balanced style of wine that has plenty of fruit as well as balanced, age-worthy profiles. They excel with both their Bordeaux varieties and their Rhones. Looking at the 2017s reviewed here, these show the more elegant, streamlined style of the vintage nicely and have plenty of site-specific characters. I think these check in behind the 2016s, but they are certainly terrific wines. The 2018, most of which were tasted from barrel, also have plenty of elegance and purity, and I think will be in the same ballpark, if not a step up over the 2017s. Either way, these are terrific wines across the board, and you can’t go wrong here. In addition to the reds, which get all the attention, don’t miss the whites from this estate. They’re unquestionably up with the best of the state.

Very attractive nose – a note of sweet plums and developing cassis and blackberry. Wonderfully sculpted chalky tannins support a ripe fruit core of cassis and clove spice. A cooling sensation and excellent texture here, well-judged alcohol and a long, clean finish. (AC)