Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, December 2012
2008 Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 95 Points
Reviewed by David Schildknecht
Unblended with any other cépage and entirely from the DeLille estate vineyard, the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Ciel (their fifth) was as usual bottled after around 20 months – like the corresponding Harrison Hill and Chaleur – but held even longer before release. There is a hard-to-pin-down sense of meaty, mineral density underlying the sweetly-concentrated dark berry fruit of this seamless, ultra-finely tannic Cabernet, almost as though there were extracts of iron-rich beef liver and chard – not to mention crushed stone and metal filings – in the blend. High-toned evocations of herbal and floral distillates add to the multi-layered, oscillating complexity on a captivating, palate-staining performance, culminating in a positively reverberative finish in which all the stops of the organ are pulled and both feet are pumping the pedals with all their might. To prosaically suggest an admittedly far-from-perfect analogy, this put me in mind of the marriage between a great Pauillac and a Madiran, but with a sense of sheer energy one can seldom derive from either. Pending further experience on my part, I can but go on intuition in suggesting that this is likely to merit at least 15 years of repeated (and rapt) attention.
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Nov/Dec 2011
2008 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 94 Points
Good bright red-ruby. Highly perfumed aromas and flavors of strawberry, spicy oak and rose petal. Suave, silky and floral on the palate, with terrific inner-mouth lift giving the wine a light touch rare for New World cabernet. The win'es compelling perfume carries through to the very long, ripely tannic finish. A beauty.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Closing Date 8-31-10
2007 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 94 Points
The 2007 Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon is a clone of the 2006. At this stage of its development there is little difference between the 2 wines. Most observers believe that 2007 is, on average, a slightly better vintage but time will tell whether they will take on separate identities.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Closing Date 8-31-10
2006 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 94 Points
The 2006 Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon (100% varietal from the DeLille owned Grand Ciel Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA) sports a captivating bouquet of wood smoke, herbs, balsamic, espresso, blackberry, and a hint of chocolate. Elegant on the palate with loads of savory fruit and spice elements, it personifies the phrase of the iron fist in the velvet glove. It will evolve for several more years and easily see its 20th birthday.
Rand Sealey Review of Washington Wines January 2010
www.reviewofwashingtonwines.com
2006 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon, | 19.5/20
This incredible wine offers an intoxicating blackberry, huckleberry and black currant nose with scents of cigar box, rose petals and violets. It is extraordinarily thick and extracted, yet plush on the palate, with the flavors fanning out with graphite, loam, minerals and milk chocolate notes. The fine, multilayered fruits reverberate on the back along with squeezes of currant juice on the ripe, silky tannin finish. Exceedingly delicious, this will last for years to come.
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, NOV/DEC 09
2006 DeLille Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Ciel Red | 94 Points
( 100% cabernet sauvignon) Good deep ruby-red. Blackberry, blueberry, minerals and violet on the precise, vibrant nose. Sharply delineated and refined, with terrific energy and cut to the flavors of dark berries, violet, minerals and bitter chocolate. There's a lightly leafy cabernet nuance and a note of graphite that remind me of a top Medoc wine. A real essence of Washington cabernet, finishing with broad, silky tannins and superb persistence.
Robert Parkers Wine Advocate Closing Date: 10-31-09, Issue 185
2006 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 94 Points
The 2006 Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Red Mountain AVA. A saturated purple color, it has a superb aromatic array of pain grille, pecil lead, cinnamon, allspice, sage, violets, blackberry, and black currant. Full-bodied, youthful and voluptuous on the palate, it has layers of succulent black fruit, chocolate and espresso notes, lots of spice, and an exceptionally long, 60-second finish. It will offer a drinking window extending from 2013-2025.
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Gold - DeLille DeLille Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Red Mountain |
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, November/December 2008
2005 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 93 Points
Good ruby-red. Brambly aromas of currant, spices, herbs and licorice. Sweet, lush and chewy, with terrific ripeness and intensity of fruits and spices. Impressively broad and structured wine that needs aging. This one is wearing its 14.9% alcohol more gracefully today than the Chaleur Estate bottling but I wouldn't bet against the Chaleur wine in the long run.
Erik Liedholm, Head Sommelier, John Howie's Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, Bellevue, WA
"The DeLille Cellars 2005 Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps the finest Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington State I have ever had the pleasure of tasting!"
Jay Miller, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2005 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 95 Points
The 2005 Grand Ciel is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from a new 18 acre estate vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA planted in 2001 adjacent to the renowned Ciel du Cheval vineyard. Purple-colored, it offers a superb aromatic array of cedar, mineral, scorched earth, black cherry, and blackberry. Layered, intense, and long, this opulent wine should be approaching its peak by 2015 and drink well through 2030.-J.M.
Jay Miller, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2004 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 94 Points
The 2004 Grand Ciel is the first vintage of this wine. It offers an equally expressive perfume with notes of spice box, tobacco, and leather. On the palate it is more forward than the 2005 with a bit more of an elegant personality. It should be in its prime from 2012 to 2025. - J.M.
Paul Gregutt, Wine Enthusiast
2004 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 93 Points
This has a broad impact on the palate, spreading across the tongue with full flavors of berry and plum, cherry and hints of smoke. It’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, pure and concentrated. As the wine opens in the glass its flavors become more dense, offering cherry compote, bourbon barrel and crème brulee, annotated with black olive and bouquet garni
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The Jefferson Cup Invitational, 2007
2004 DeLille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | Jefferson Cup Recipient
The Eighth Annual Jefferson Cup Invitational took place on November 29 and November 30, 2007 in Kansas City, Missouri. This year, fifty-one wines were selected as Jefferson Cup honorees; these wines were nominated by the four judging committees to receive Jefferson Cups. Out of those fifty-one honored wines, the judges picked thirteen wines to be awarded these Jefferson Cups.
Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar
2004 Delille Cellars Grand Ciel Cabernet Sauvignon | 91+ Points
Good deep ruby-red. Darker fruit aromas than the Chaleur Estate blend: black- and redcurrant, boysenberry, graphite, minerals and sweet oak. Then deep and penetrating on the palate, with uncanny intensity and structure for a wine from the young vines. There’s a sappy, juicy quality to the dark raspberry, milk chocolate, mineral and tobacco flavors, thanks to excellent aciditiy. Finishes with silky tannins and lingering notes of blueberry and wild herbs. This is amazing for the age of the vines and clearly a vineyard to follow.
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