Product Description
“Charles Smith and his team have made another great value Cabernet from Washington – Jeb Dunnuck of Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate has written about the Substance range in general, saying: ‘while they sell for a song, they’re legit.‘ He calls the 2015 Cabernet ‘one of the best values I’ve tasted in a long time,’ and continues ‘It has real elegance and finesse and is a dark fruited, unctuous beauty to drink over the coming 3-4 years.‘ The state of Washington is producing some of the best deals in our Cabernet section year in and year out… 92 points and under $15 from a top-notch producer pretty much sums up why the region is doing so well in the store!” – Glen Knight, Wine House (7/18/17)
Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Appellation: Columbia Valley
Tasting Notes: Rich, dark, unctuous, brooding and deep. Delicious, complex and compelling. Smooth, long and amazing. A wine of true substance.
Food Pairings: Charred burger, mushroom pizza, marinated ribeye steak, braised short ribs.
Vineyards: Goose Ridge, Frenchman Hills and Coyote Canyon
ABOUT WINES OF SUBSTANCE
The original thought was to be a one wine brand, with a single minded vision to produce the best value-priced Cabernet Sauvignon in America. How do you go about this? Traditional winemaking. Natural fermentations. Barrel-aging. Plus, bottling unfiltered and unfined. In essence, making the wines in small batch winemaking integrity, but doing so on a larger scale. The wine is black. The label definitively says, “This is Cabernet Sauvignon.” And also, with the CS, you know who made this wine: Charles Smith. Also, there is single vineyard, single expression, Bordeaux varietals (ex: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) produced in very limited quantities. And not to forget, the single vineyard Loire-style Substance Sauvignon Blanc. This is the newest chapter in the history books of Charles Smith and his wines.
ABOUT CHARLES SMITH
Growing up just outside of Sacramento, California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Charles Smith began craving worldly travel at a young age due to his Welsh mother and French father. As soon as he had the chance, Charles decided to move to Denmark (for a lady friend he met in the states). While in Scandinavia, Charles spent the next nine years managing rock bands and concert tours throughout Europe, including the famed Danish duo, The Ravonettes. Wining and dining while on the road became a catalyst for his passion of wine, which ultimately triggered the career he has today.
In 1999, he moved back to the United States, specifically to the Pacific Northwest, opening a wine shop on Bainbridge Island, just across the Puget Sound from downtown Seattle. On a road trip in late 1999, he passed through the small town of Walla Walla and met a young Frenchman and winemaker. The two men discovered their common passion for great Syrah and Charles was eventually convinced to move to Walla Walla and make his own juice. In 2001, Charles released 330 cases of his first wine, the 1999 K Syrah. The Walla Walla Valley was now his home.
After a devastating freeze in 2004, Charles brought to life a label he had once in a dream: House Wine. Low and behold, the label concept had never been created or trademarked, so Charles launched the legendary brand before selling it to Precept Brands in 2006. That same year, Charles started a second brand, Charles Smith Wines. The brand was themed as “The Modernist Project,” which focuses on the way people generally consume wine today: immediately. The intent was (and still is) to create wines to be enjoyed now, but with true typicity of both the varietal and the vineyard.
A self-taught winemaker, Charles is a true artisan and a pioneer in the wine world. In 2008, K Vintners was recognized by Wine & Spirits magazine as one of the “Best New Wineries of the Last Ten Years,” and as “Winery of the Year” in their annual buying guide. In 2009 Food & Wine magazine awarded Charles “Winemaker of the Year” and in 2010 Seattle Magazine recognized Charles as their “Winemaker of the Year.”
