2009 Andrew Will Red Champoux Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2009 Champoux Vineyard is more than a little impressive and offers a deep, layered bouquet of leafy herbs, spice, cedar and leather that’s supported by a rich core of fruit. Full-bodied and beautifully textured, with great mid-palate concentration, it can be consumed now and over the coming decade. Drink now-2023. Made by Chris Camarda from his base on Vashon Island just west of Seattle, Andrew Will Cellars delivers classic, elegant wines that show solid typicity and age-worthy profiles. His 2010s are superb across the board and possess slightly reserved aromatics with firm, pure textures. Downright backwards, especially when compared to his 2009s, they will all benefit from short- term cellaring and, I suspect, these scores will seem a bit low once they flesh out. His 2011s had just been bottled at the time of this tasting, so I opted to review them as barrel samples and give ranges for the scores. They all showed more up-front, perfumed and supple profiles, yet I think they will close down slightly over the coming year as they settle in bottle. Chris believes his 2011s might surpass his 2010s. Tel. (206) 463-9227; www.andrewwill.com
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
(43% cabernet sauvignon, 39% cabernet franc, 11% merlot and 7% petit verdot; 40% new oak): Good deep red with ruby highlights. Very ripe black plum dominates the nose. An impressively concentrated Bordeaux blend with thick yet lively flavors of black cherry and redcurrant filling the mouth. This has the ripeness and stuffing to support its substantial dusty, ripe tannins. Plenty of structure here.