2019
Estate Reserve

For the first time, the Estate Reserve is not technically a Cabernet Sauvignon - staying true to the goal of this wine - crafting each vintage’s very best red wine from our estate vineyards. Tobacco, leather, basalt, fresh soil after a summer rain, cedar, and blackberry. There are so many layers to this wine. Framed to be a touch larger than the Doubleback Cabernet, there is good fruit sweetness, beautiful fine grained tannin, and a sexy and lingering finish. If opening now, decant in the morning to enjoy that night, or cellar this wine through 2043.

The 2019 vintage was a true testament to the strength of our estate vineyards sites and the incredible capacity and will of our production team. It also marked the first vintage with our own farm crew and boy did it pay off! The season started a tad later than in recent years and also had a more “normal” summer – meaning fewer heat spikes and more even ripening. I remember that we had great canopy growth and a large fruit set, as we quickly dropped clusters on the ground in August to achieve optimal ripeness. In September, we saw great balance and retained fantastic energy and acidity in the grapes. Our first pick was Merlot from LeFore on September 27^th. Less than two weeks later, on October 9^th, the real defining moment of the vintage came when a fall frost event wiped out nearly all of eastern Washington and growers rushed to pick their fruit. It was a sleepless couple of nights for me as I wasn’t quite ready to pick our Cabernet and ultimately, chose to wait it out. That decision paid off. It was incredible to see that all of the blocks going into Doubleback remained untouched by the frost event - we let our fruit hang with perfect canopies and finished harvest on October 26^th with Petit Verdot from McQueen. Our new farm team over-performed for their first vintage. I am tremendously proud of what we accomplished as a team and am very grateful for the incredible estates that make up Doubleback.