2017 De Lille Minuit

A blend of 70% Malbec and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Minuit is deep in color with a purple edge and staining tears. Boisterous chocolaty tones with aromas of spiced plum preserves, blackberry essence and rocky minerality waft out of the glass. Full-bodied, the wine is generous, lush and still tight on the palate. This food-friendly wine ends with drying tannins on the long-lingering finish, and my mouth wants another sip or a bite of steak. The wine spent 20 months in French oak, just over 60% first fill, and then spent another year and a half in bottle before release. It’s delicious, just be patient and give it another year or two before opening. 7,500 bottles produced.

The 2017 Minuit (which was reviewed last year under the 2017 Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon label) is a pretty, elegant, medium to full-bodied red that has loads of white pepper, cedar, and violets as well as a core of ripe black (and some blue) fruits. Based on 70% Malbec and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Quintessence and Red Willow Vineyards, aged in 60% new oak, it’s another flawlessly balanced wine from this estate that shows the vintage perfectly. Drink it any time over the coming 15 years or more. 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.