2008 Andrew Will Red Ciel du Cheval Vineyard

(a blend of 36% merlot and 32% each cabernet sauvignon and franc): Deep red-ruby. Fresh aromas of dark berries, violet and cocoa powder, with a note of blueberries in cream emerging with air. Lovely sweet, generous berry fruit saturates the palate and carries impressively on the lively, very long finish, which hints at espresso. This broad, youthful wine is at once more structured and more friendly than the Champoux Vineyard offering.

(36% merlot and 32% each cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon) Good deep red-ruby. Musky aromas of currant, smoked meat and coffee. Juicy, spicy and bright, with firm acids giving definition and lift to the soil-driven flavors of currant, black cherry and cocoa powder. Quite primary and tight, and seriously tannic on the back end, where the wine's slightly exotic flavors really saturate the mouth. This boasts superb potential. (Chris Camarda was not ready to show his other 2008 reds, as he did not plan to release them until next spring.) Incidentally, Camarda presented a vertical collection of his Ciel du Cheval Vineyard wine in Seattle in July, and it was clear that he has taken these wines to a higher level beginning with 2006 (and especially 2007), but I also gave high marks to past vintages like '05, '03, '01 and '00. I also raised my score for the 2007 to 93 points, from 92 in Issue 147. These wines, classic and often austere in the early going, demand, and repay, five to seven years of bottle aging.