Rating: 95/100 - As reviewed by Wine & Spirits Magazine on 06/09. Chris Camarda's 2006 blend from Champoux includes cabernets sauvignon (57 percent) and franc (35) with a small amount of merlot. Marrying Washington's sunpower and the elegance of one of its best vineyards, this is a quiet wine at the outset, revealing only savory, leafy notes of graphite, juniper and cumin against a background of plum. But the fruit deepens into flavors of cassis, the savory parts becoming meatier and more elemental, the tannins as mouthcoating as they are refined. Then a hint of orange peel lifts the finish. Quite a performance, and destined to be long lived.

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