2011 Corliss Proprietary Blend
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Tasting notes
Black cherries, savory herbs, earth tones and hints of sweet pipe tobacco emerge as the 2011 Red Wine evolves in the glass. This is plush and fruit-focused, showing a quick onset of grippy tannins. Neatly balanced by vibrant acidity as crisp red fruits cascade throughout, the 2011 finishes with admirable length and concentration, surprisingly so for the cool vintage. Edgy tannins and violet inner florals linger. This is atypical of the vintage, and it has years of remaining cellaring potential.
Critic scores
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Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Eric Guido, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2011 Columbia Valley Red Wine, like the Cabernet Sauvignon, has a serious kick of oak, but manages to hold it together and has just enough fruit to balance things out. Giving up lots of black raspberry, toasted bread, licorice, sweet oak and crushed flower, it’s full-bodied, nicely concentrated on the palate and beautifully textured. Made from mostly Merlot and Cabernet Franc, aged 28 months in new and used French oak, give it a year or two in bottle and drink it through 2026.
(35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 32% Cabernet Franc; aged for 28 months in 65% new French oak, down from 33 months in earlier vintages): Aromas of cassis, blueberry and licorice are lifted by exotic spices. Outstanding energy leavens the sexy sweetness of this sappy, firmly structured midweight, with intense dark fruit flavors lifted by a violet element. Taut and backward like a topnotch young claret, showing a youthfully tight grain. Finishes long and energetic, with firm but sweet tannins and strong graphite minerality. Clearly the finest vintage to date for this bottling, which will not be released until the fall of 2016 and should evolve positively through the 2020s.
A Merlot and Cabernet Franc-dominated blend, the 2011 Corliss, tasted out of barrel, shows the freshness and purity of the vintage. Exhibiting classic Bordeaux-like aromas of red and black fruits, lead pencil and graphite, it falls on the fuller side of medium to full-bodied and carries a silky, refined profile on the palate. Balanced, rich and elegant, with masses of polished tannin framing the finish, it has loads of potential and will have a minimum of 10-12 years of prime drinking. Drinking 2015-2023. Tel.(509) 526-4400; www.corlissestates.com