Cellar Management

Pick My Next Bottle – 2006 Washington Cabernet Sauvignon

The April Installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on 2006 Washington Cabernet Sauvignon. As I mentioned in the first installment, the purpose of this series is to provide insight into specific wines or producers you may currently have in your cellar. The winning bottle will be opened this Saturday and a Bottle Note will be published next week.

2006 was an exceptional vintage in Washington. The growing conditions were ideal. From my experience the wines are supple and well balanced. The best wines have aged gracefully.

The Contenders:

  • 2006 Leonetti Cabernet Sauvignon – The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon contains 14% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Malbec. Deep crimson-colored, it displays a captivating bouquet of pain grille, tobacco, pencil lead, incense, black currant, and blackberry liqueur. Layered and opulent on the palate, it has tons of succulent black fruit, ripe tannin, impeccable balance, and an exceptionally lengthy finish. It will evolve for another 5-7 years and drink well through 2026. 95 points from the Wine Advocate.
  • 2006 Betz “Père de Famille” Cabernet Sauvignon – The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Pere de Famille is 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Malbec. Opaque purple, the wine has a brooding nose of wood smoke, earth notes, mineral, spice box, black cherry, and blackberry. This is followed by a layered, opulent wine with superb depth and concentration and 6-8 years of aging potential. This promising effort should be at its best from 2015 to 2030. 95 points from the Wine Advocate.
  • 2006 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon – Good deep ruby-red. Cassis, licorice pastille, violet, incense and sexy smoky oak on the nose. Densely packed, intense and sweet but the most backward and primary of these 2006s. Wonderfully full, chocolatey fruit saturates the palate. Quilceda Creek’s flagship bottling has become more of a competition wine lately than this producer’s examples in the ’80s and ’90s, but this very powerful wine boasts greater vibrancy and focus than recent vintages and seems as much Pauillac in character as Napa Valley cult wine. Finishes ripe but classically dry, with terrific medicinal reserve and slowly building tannins that reach the front teeth. A bit youthfully monolithic now, this really demands cellaring. 95 points from Stephen Tanzer.

Which 2006 Washington Cabernet Sauvignon Should I Open?

  • 2006 Leonetti Cabernet Sauvignon (48%, 12 Votes)
  • 2006 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon (28%, 7 Votes)
  • 2006 Betz "Père de Famille" Cabernet Sauvignon (24%, 6 Votes)

Total Voters: 25

Loading ... Loading ...

Thanks for voting! I’d love to see a comment below on why you picked one bottle over another. Also, let me know if you have any suggestions for the May installment of Pick My Next Bottle.

Tagged , ,

6 thoughts on “Pick My Next Bottle – 2006 Washington Cabernet Sauvignon

  1. 2006 Leonetti is my pick. Curious how this wine ages. Should be outstanding at year 13, I’m thinking. Cheers Tom!

  2. All three are winners. I really had a tough time picking…I wound up selecting Leonetti only because it’s been a while since I have had one.

  3. Had the ‘06 QC in San Antonio two weeks ago. It is in a really good drinking spot (suspect they all are though). Love Betz, have that wine in the cellar as well so it would be my second choice as a curious how it’s drinking.

Leave a Comment