B-21 Top Recommendation
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From an AVA boasting some of Washington's highest scoring and priciest Cabs, the rich and refined 94 pt. 2020 Canvasback Cabernet Sauvignon is a superb value, offering fresh, fragrant dark fruit hinting of smokey spice and crushed stone balanced by bright acidity and smooth, lush tannins, reflecting the quality of Duckhorn Vineyards at a fraction of its Napa Valley Cabs and bargain priced for Cab lovers to stock up and enjoy over the next decade.
Formed as a partnership with renowned Washington state vineyard manager Dick Boushey, Duckhorn Vineyards founder Dan and Margaret Duckhorn established Canvasback in 2012 to produce a Cabernet Sauvignon in the Red Mountain AVA, located around three hours southeast of Seattle and an hour north of the Oregon border just outside Benton City. Known for producing “Cabernet Sauvignon fruit of the highest quality” according to the Wine Enthusiast, the sloping Red Mountain AVA spans 4,000 acres located on a south, southwest facing granite peak ranging up to around 1,400 feet above sea level in the Yakima Valley, its hot and dry climate described as “one of the few locations in Washington that can promise to bring Cabernet Sauvignon to perfect ripeness in every vintage” by Vinous critic Eric Guido. Situated at around 1,100 feet above sea level, Canvasback’s 20 acre Longwinds vineyard is planted mainly to Cabernet Sauvignon near the top of the mountain in the AVA’s high alkaline sandy loam and gravel soil, the hot, dry 2020 growing season yielding tight grape clusters and smaller berries with reduced yields that produced “concentrated, powerful wines with quality tannins” worthy of aging according to Jeb Dunnuck. A blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller amounts of Merlot and Malbec, former L’Ecole No. 41 winemaker Brian Rudin aged the impressive 94 pt. 2020 Canvasback Cabernet Sauvignon for 18 months in 40% new French oak, yielding plush, savory-spiced fruit with signature Red Mountain minerality and substantial, well-integrated tannins predicting an enjoyable and long-lived evolution ahead.
Delivering “a tremendous value compared to the likes of California and Sonoma” according to Eric Guido of Vinous, the appealing 94 pt. 2020 Canvasback Cabernet Sauvignon reflects a Washington state vintage balancing “elegance and power” according to Decanter’s Clive Pursehouse, a rich and silky Cab built for a decade of pleasurable drinking and a sure bet for Cab lovers seeking a great deal. | 
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