Chateau Ste Michelle - 2011 "Im'press'ive" cabernet sauvignon (USA)

Today's wine is a very, very special one. Not found in any stores, I bought this back in August at the Chateau Ste Michelle winery in Woodinville, Washington. It's their 2011 "Im'press'ive," an aged Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington's Columbia Valley. It's a rare bottle - only 743 cases were ever produced...that's fewer than 9000 bottles ever produced in the history of time. And it's also another milestone for me - I believe it's the most expensive bottle of red wine I've ever purchased. It costs $50 per bottle, and the only other wine I've ever bought that was more expensive was a $75 bottle of Taylor Fladgate 20-year aged Port, which is technically a fortified wine and thus I don't count it in my red wine category.

And in fact, I don't mean to brag about the cost - on the contrary. I've never before tried a wine this expensive, and very seldom spend this much, so I'm eager to see what, if anything, sets it apart from the usual $20 bottles of Cote du Rhone I have with dinner. This wine is about double what I would normally spend on a fine bottle, and part of the learning process is checking out wine (and beer and cigars) outside of one's normal price range. As we have discussed often, price is not always an indicator of quality in a wine - as evidenced by some great Trader Joe's blends under the $6 mark. However. knowing CSM's quality, and how much I like their wine, I wanted to see what a winery-only, super-premium offering might look like. So, enter the "Im'press'ive."

It's a Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.4% ABV, and the strange name is due to the idea of a "press cut" - the process of pressing the grapes after fermentation to get the juice. This wine is made from late pressings, which according to the bottle were "amazing." Also, you'll notice the name is a riff on "press" - Impressive.

Both the cork and wine have an interesting aroma. It's not berries, or jam, but sort of a slightly-sour floral aroma. That's something I don't think I've encountered before. This was just after corking, mind you, so I waited about 20 minutes to see what happened (volatizing the esters all the while.) It's warmed up wonderfully, with those sour aromas dying down and giving way to a much more pleasing leather and blackberry aroma, which is very full and projects nicely from the glass. The eye, or the color of the wine, is a colorful ruby color.

The wine has bricked just a little bit - this means the meniscus of the wine has a darker red, almost brown color. Usually a sign of aging. Still, the color is really nice in the glass. OK - the moment has arrived. Time to take a sip.

First impressions are very positive - it's super soft, almost too soft, but after a fraction of a second, the wine comes to life and delivers a deep wave of plum flavors, which develop very nicely into some soft red cherry flavors. All of this happens in a second or so, and as those flavors disappear, I'm left with an unmistakable hint of tannic flavors on the finish, and an aftertaste mostly of red cherries. That aftertaste is present for quite some time, very pleasantly so. Wow, this wine is practically perfect.

What strikes me the most about this is how the wine is able to deliver that strong and delicious taste while also being so soft. Some wines, as they age and get soft, they sometimes lose flavors that one might want to keep. For example, I had a delicious bottle of 2005 Georges DeBoeuf Beaujolais Gran-Cru Chenas back in 2010, and the flavor was almost too soft (which is shame, what a nice bottle of wine that was...) But the Im'press'ive doesn't lose those flavors - the tannins are softened away and the "strength" of the wine muted, but the flavors still there. It really lives up to its name, I can tell you that - an impressive, delicious bottle of wine of which I'd love to be able to afford more. Perhaps next time I'm in Woodinville I'll grab a case as a treat.

By the way, I am also pairing this with a fancy meal I made, recipe courtesy of dear friend Irving Hopkins at Butternut Farm. It's lamb, pan-fried in some Kerrygold butter, with an onion, rosemary, garlic cloves, and pearl barley all added to some simmering mushrooms, oregano, and Italian tomatoes cooked in chicken stock with a splash of Spanish red table wine. I wanted to choose lamb because of the tenderness, and after cooking the stew for 2 full hours, it paired so perfectly with the wine - the lamb was soft, delicious, and tender with the spices not overpowering it at all. A very successful pairing!