Gramercy Cellars ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ 2012

About Columbia Valley AVA

Columbia Valley AVA is a large wine region North of Washington State bordering Oregon on the south. The region profits from a lot of hours of sun, but the climate is cooler than for example California in the South. Big, bold grape varieties are planted here, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot. The growing season is long and consistent, providing balanced, concentrated wines.

Columbia Valley is centred around the Columbia River and its tributaries (Red Mountain, Walla Walla and Horse Heaven Hills in Oregon State). The Gramercy Cellars are situated in Walla Walla Columbia Valley.

About Gramercy Cellars

A Manhattan-based sommelier, fully impressed by some Washington State wine, decided to move across the country and start to make his own. He matches minimalist winemaking techniques with extended ageing. Now, these wines are considered some of the best that Washington offers.

Greg Harrington moved to Walla Walla in 2005  and teamed up with Brandon Moss to make a specific kind of old-world-meets-new Rhône and Bordeaux varietals. His goal was to utilize the near-perfect growing conditions near Walla Walla to create some of the best-reviewed wines from the region. The results are intense, yet restrained; elegant, yet earthy.

This kind of balance starts with the vineyards. The Walla Walla and surrounding AVAs offer the perfect climate and soil conditions for the kind of wines they wanted to make. Gramercy farms its grapes from old vines, carefully tended. It owns three estate vineyards and controls several others, to ensure the grapes are grown and picked for the specific profile Gramercy is trying to achieve. Many of its wines are single-vineyard estate wines.

At the winery, the Gramercy team carefully design the fermentation; sometimes in concrete, sometimes in oak, always with patience and minimalism. The result is honest and complex wines that pair well with food and age well.