" We don't sell the wine without touching the vine "
Avennia Sestina Red Blend 2015
No longer available.
| Country: | United States |
| Regions: | Washington Washington (Walla Walla) |
| Winery: | Avennia |
| Grape Type: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Vintage: | 2015 |
| Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
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Avennia Sestina Red Blend is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc.
The Sestina is a poetic form from Medieval France. Just as a contemporary poet can use an old form like the Sestina to express modern ideas, we use the traditional Bordeaux blend to make modern wines that express Washington fruit. Sestina is our vision for an old vine blend where the focus is on structure, balance, and complexity. This wine is designed for the cellar, but is enjoyable now.
Sestina: This wine is a blockbuster, with black currant, black raspberry, saddle leather, freshly tilled earth, vanilla, and violet on the nose. Exceedingly rich and balanced on the palate, with great poise and structure for long aging. The finish echoes with fresh black fruits, minerally touches, and floral notes.
Review:
Made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, the 2020 Sestina immediately commands attention with its impressive volume and precision as it erupts in a symphony of freshness and focus, offering captivating notes of red and purple flowers, graphite, dark cherry and spiced plum skin. Possessing a full-bodied palate, the wine reveals hidden depths, with dusty blackberry and dusty dark plum dancing alongside flavors of spiced cherry compote. Sestina's balanced structure showcases lifting tannins and succulent acidity, culminating in a fine, long finish. This wine was made using native yeast and was fermented 60% in concrete. Aged for 21 months in 50% new French oak, the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered, preserving its purity and earning a resounding "Bravo" for its excellence. It is my top pick from the range. Only 4,656 bottles produced.
-Anthony Mueller (Robert Parker) 96 Points
Gorgeous. This Cabernet-based blend from some of Washington's top vineyards, including Dionysus, Red Willow and Bacchus, is revelatory. Aromatics of violets, petrichor and wet concrete lead into notes of crushed stone, bay leaf and early-season blackberry. The palate is lush, with fleshy blue and black fruits. There is savoury thyme, crushed flint, and cocoa nibs. Winemaker Chris Peterson has captured a showy elegance with this iteration of Sestina that will last for easily a decade.
-Decanter World Wine Awards 95 Points
One of the standouts in the lineup is the 2020 Sestina, a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc from the Dionysus, Red Willow, and Bacchus vineyards. Its deeper purple hue is followed by a medium to full-bodied, seamless, elegant wine offering plenty of spicy currant fruit, notes of dried herbs, loamy earth, and lead pencil, fine tannins, and a great finish.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
Toasted cedar, pine cones, walnuts and cocoa with ripe blackcurrants and cherries....
-James Suckling 93 Points
Avennia Sestina Red Blend is made from 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc.
The Sestina is a poetic form from Medieval France. Just as a contemporary poet can use an old form like the Sestina to express modern ideas, we use the traditional Bordeaux blend to make modern wines that express Washington fruit. Sestina is our vision for an old vine blend where the focus is on structure, balance, and complexity. This wine is designed for the cellar, but is enjoyable now.
Sestina: This wine is a blockbuster, with black currant, black raspberry, saddle leather, freshly tilled earth, vanilla, and violet on the nose. Exceedingly rich and balanced on the palate, with great poise and structure for long aging. The finish echoes with fresh black fruits, minerally touches, and floral notes.
Review:
The 2021 ‘Sestina’ is a gorgeous blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Needing about 30 minutes in the decanter to fully unwind, this yields beautiful black florals that mingle well with wet stone, Black Forest Cake and suggestions of huckleberry with garrigue notes. The palate is soft and refined with a silky texture and beautiful sense of elegance and weight. This is seamless throughout the drinking experience, loaded with black fruit flavors with dark chocolate shavings and suggestions of underbrush. Refined tannins frame this stunning heavyhitter of a Cabernet that is already drinking beautifully now at the three year mark. Savor this beauty now and over the next fifteen to twenty years.
-Owen Bargreen 96 Points
The book end to the Right Bank-inspired Valery, this is the Left Bank-inspired wine which blends 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc. Sourced from old vine Bacchus, Dionysus, Red Willow and DuBrul grapes, it’s given the rock star treatment with 21 months in 50% new French oak. I love the flavors of the well-chosen barrels, which match those spicy/toasty notes to fruit with both power and palate presence. Beautifully structured, powerful yet restrained, with ripe black fruits that trail into powdery tannins, this is a special wine with a long life ahead.
-Paul Gregutt 97 Points
Avennia Sestina Red Blend is made from 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc.
The Sestina is a poetic form from Medieval France. Just as a contemporary poet can use an old form like the Sestina to express modern ideas, we use the traditional Bordeaux blend to make modern wines that express Washington fruit. Sestina is our vision for an old vine blend where the focus is on structure, balance, and complexity. This wine is designed for the cellar, but is enjoyable now.
Sestina: This wine is a blockbuster, with black currant, black raspberry, saddle leather, freshly tilled earth, vanilla, and violet on the nose. Exceedingly rich and balanced on the palate, with great poise and structure for long aging. The finish echoes with fresh black fruits, minerally touches, and floral notes.
Review:
The Bordeaux blend is where winemaker Chris Peterson shows his skillset, and this 2022 version of Sestina, a Left Bank homage, is no different. The Sestina showcases Washington's top sites, including Red Willow, Bacchus, DuBrul and Dionysus. There is a splendid sophistication in the aromatics, with singed violets, chipped flint, dusty berries and dried mint leaves. The palate, still wound tight, luxuriates in red fruits, with strawberries and cherries lifted by piquant blood orange notes. There's a sophisticated dark element of graphite minerals and smoky salinity. Fine tannin, superb structure and a mocha-tinged finish that is kissed with a green peppercorn. This wine shows a brilliant acidity to balance its depth. Classic and concise, exceptional.
-Decanter World Wine Awards 97 Points
The winery’s flagship Bordeaux blend, the 2022 Sestina is a grand vin made from older vines, mostly from grapevines put in the ground in the 1970s and 1980s. It combines 78% Cabernet Sauvignon with 14% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc, sourcing from the likes of Red Willow, Dionysus, DuBrul, and Bacchus. Elegantly full-bodied and concentrated in cassis, dried herb, and oak spice, it shows structure and refined tannins for aging another 15-20 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
The 2022 Sestina entices with a spicy blend of cedar shavings, dried rosemary and crushed black cherries. It displays silken textures and admirable weight offset by tart wild berry fruits and mineral tones. A wave of lavender pastille adds a welcoming confectionery tinge. A coating of fine tannins flexes upon the palate as this tapers off dramatically long with staining of liquid florals and hints of spice. Fantastic.
-Eric Guido (Vinous) 94 Points
Each magnum is signed by the winemaker!
Avennia Sestina Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc.
The story of this wine - The Sestina is an ancient form of poetry from Medieval France. Just as a modern poet can fill this form with new expressions, Avennia uses the traditional Bordeaux blend to express Washington. Sestina is their vision for an old vine, complex blend where all of the components complement each other. This wine is designed for the cellar, so the emphasis is on structure, balance, and complexity.
Winemaker Tasting Notes - “Good deep ruby/garnet color, with aromas of black cherry, fresh black currant, dark mocha, cigar box, and graphite. The palate is lively and dense with mountain berries, mocha, vanilla honey, damp earth, and wildflowers. The finish shows a distinct chalky minerality and beautiful tension. This is a classically balanced and ageworthy Sestina. Drink 2025-2040.” - Chris Peterson, Winemaker
Review:
The Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated release from Peterson, the 2017 Sestina comes from the Red Willow, Bacchus, and Dionysus vineyards. Rocking levels of crème de cassis, sappy herbs, violets, and cedar pencil all flow to a full-bodied, incredibly pure, polished 2017 that offers flawless balance, ripe tannins, and a great, great finish. It's more approachable than normal yet is still going to evolve for 15 to 20 years. The blend is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, all raised 20 months in 50% new French oak.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
With a focused and delineated nose, the 2017 Sestina is bold and complex with aromas of blackberry preserves, spiced plums, dark cherry skins and elegant tones of vanilla, baking spices, baked earth, dried herbs and bitter dark chocolate. Full-bodied, the wine is generous and expressive, showing layers that evolve with intensity, expressing flavors of chocolate dark, fruit compote and elegant oak spices before displaying an inky mid-palate. The wine has a long, drawn-out finish that continues to evolve, revealing many of its secrets with vanilla and cinnamon over graphite with juicy plums and blackberry essence. Wow! Give it a few more years in the cellar before opening.
-Anthony Mueller (Robert Parker) 94 Points
Bright, dark red with ruby tones. Musky aromas of redcurrant, spices, olive and flowers, plus a hint of graphite minerality that Chris Peterson says comes from Bacchus Vineyard. Wonderfully silky, thick and round without being heavy, offering complex flavors of redcurrant, minerals, spices, saddle leather and shoe polish lifted by notes of wild herbs and flowers. There's also a peppery nuance here that does not come across as green. Perhaps a bit more open-knit than the 2016 version was a year ago, but this beauty still has more to show. (Incidentally, Chris Peterson told me that he does not plan to release his 2017 Red Willow Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon until the fall of 2020.) (3.82 pH; all from mature vines, the oldest dating back to 1972; 50% new oak)
-Stephen Tanzer (Vinous) 93 Points
Avennia Valery Red Blend is made from 86% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc
Valery is named for the patron saint of wine in the St. Emilion region that inspired it.
We started with old vine Merlot from a stony block in the heart of the Yakima Valley and added complex, aromatic Cabernet Franc from the Horse Heaven Hills. The result is a balanced, complex wine with the elegance and ethereal perfume that this blend of two of Washington’s best varietals are known for.
The nose on this wine is very perfumed, almost exotic with notes of fresh violets, red plum, winter mint, fresh herbs and crushed limestone qualities. The palate is poised and balanced, with red fruits and mocha powder encapsulated in limestone. The finish lingers delicately, with the Cabernet Franc asserting a light tobacco and herb note, giving depth. A compelling wine that will continue to unwind for 7-10 years in the cellar.
Review:
Brought up in 30% new French oak, the 2016 Valery (70/30 Merlot and Cabernet Franc) offers more black cherry and earthy, herbal notes as well as a medium-bodied, seamless, beautifully balanced style. It too shows a vibrant, fresh, yet concentrated style that has a Bordeaux feel in its weight and texture.
-Jeb Dunnuck 93 Points
Good medium-dark red. Aromas of blueberry, mocha, licorice and violet are a bit darker than those of the 2015 version. Dense and penetrating, with wild flavors of dark berries, licorice and game given lift by rocky minerality and a minty nuance. Chris Peterson slightly acidified his Cabernet Franc from Champoux Vineyard, which he added to the wine for richness. This beauty may yet tighten up in the bottle.- Stephen Tanzer" - Antonio Galloni's Vinous (November 2018), 92+ pts "A blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Valery spins out of the glass with aromas of ripe and juicy plum, sage, dark cherry skin and cocoa with signs of rocky minerality. Medium to full-bodied, there is a beautiful complexity across the mid-palate, showing youthful, dark red fruit with a mineral-driven focus. The wine lingers on the finish, with soft oak spices, healthy fruit expressions and hints of sage. I enjoyed sampling this delicious Merlot blend. This wine will go in my cellar. Only 240 cases were made. - Anthony Mueller
-Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 92 Points
Merlot from old blocks at Boushey Vineyards make up 70% of this wine, with the rest Cabernet Franc from esteemed Champoux Vineyard. Fascinating aromas of ripe red raspberry, earth, green herbs, cigar box and flower are followed by ripe, hedonistic fruit flavors that show the warmth of the vintage. Coffee notes linger on the finish. It's brings unignorable appeal and will have a very long life in front of it. Best after 2023. - SEAN P. SULLIVAN
-Wine Enthusiast 91 Points
Avennia Gravura Red Blend is made from 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc
Gravura is our ode to the Graves AOC of Bordeaux, emphasizing a harmony of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The name is a play on an artisan printing technique, and on the Bordeaux region of Graves, which features similar blends. Featuring more Merlot and with the addition of Red Mountain fruit, this wine is designed to be more generous and voluptuous in style, while still remaining complex and balanced.
Gravura Tasting Notes: Beautiful nose of red and black fruits, some savory leaf notes, mocha, pencil shavings. The palate is elegant and balanced, almost pretty: raspberry, black and red currants, milk chocolate and caressing tannins. Finish medium-long and ethereal.
Review:
Sophisticated aromatics of violets, rose petals, and smoky hints of frankincense and cloves. The palate is well-knit and poised, and will only evolve further. Thought-provoking, with smoky flavours of burning embers, five spice anise and clove, and a complementary collection of blue and black fruits, wild mountain huckleberries and ripe blackberries dusted in mocha powder. The finish goes on seemingly forever, and many wines at five times the price would envy this level of quality and sophistication. It's a red-fruited beauty from a who's who of Washington vineyard sites that includes names like Red Willow, Dionysus, Bacchus, Weinbau, DuBrul, Boushey and the Avennia Estate, formerly known as Taptiel.
-Clive Pursehouse 95 Points
Product Description
Avennia Sestina Red Blend is made from 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc
The Sestina is a poetic form from Medieval France. Just as a contemporary poet can use an old form like the Sestina to express modern ideas, we use the traditional Bordeaux blend to make modern wines that express Washington fruit. Sestina is our vision for an old vine blend where the focus is on structure, balance, and complexity. This wine is designed for the cellar, but is enjoyable now.
Sestina: This wine is a blockbuster, with black currant, black raspberry, saddle leather, freshly tilled earth, vanilla, and violet on the nose. Exceedingly rich and balanced on the palate, with great poise and structure for long aging. The finish echoes with fresh black fruits, minerally touches, and floral notes.
Review:
"The 2015 Sestina is showing very well, offering up a rich, more exuberant bouquet than the 2014 rendition. This emphasizes notes of cassis, black plums, dark chocolate, espresso roast and a subtle framing of new oak. On the palate, it's full-bodied and lavish but controlled, with an ample, more sun-kissed core of fruit and fine-grained structuring tannins. Like the 2014, it's a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. While the 2014 and 2015 are quite different in style, it's hard to choose between them qualitatively. While it needs a few years in the cellar, I suspect the 2015 will hit its peak sooner. - William Kelley"
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue 237, June 29th 2018), 96 pts
Number #93 On Top 100 Cellar Selections From Wine Enthusiast
"The flagship 2015 Sestina checks in as 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc brought up in 60% new French oak. Gorgeous notes of blackcurrants, black cherries, graphite, wet river rock, and leafy herbs all emerge from this beautifully balanced, fresh, classic wine that's still tight and backward. It's not a blockbuster but has building richness and tannin, as well as a great finish. Give bottles 2-3 years and enjoy over the following 10-15."
- Jeb Dunnuck (April 2018), 95+ pts
Winery: Avennia
The Avennia Estate
Our goal is to make wines that evoke clarity: clarity of place, clarity of type, clarity of purpose.
We believe this is best expressed by using the classic French varietals and blends, with methods passed down over generations. We work within this context to allow Washington vineyards and terroirs to distinguish themselves. Terroir is only readily appreciable in a well-formed, harmonious wine. Structure is the backbone from which beauty can radiate.
Avennia is inspired by the Roman name for the city of Avignon, and signifies for us the heart of Old World winemaking. Our wines are designed to tease rather than flaunt; pique interest, not beg for attention. They stand for elegance, delicacy, purity. Our wines are made to enhance conversation, not dominate it, and will be a welcome guest at the table
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Inglenook Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc.
Stunningly deep ruby in color, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon opens with heady aromas of brambly black cherry, vanilla, warm brioche, and crème de cassis. As the wine warms on the palate, notes of red cherry, graphite and fennel emerge, as very polished, refined tannins carry the wine into a long, fragrant finish. Layered flavors, good tension, and a perfect integration of wine and oak interact to create this classic expression of Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon.
Review:
This shows notes of ripe blackberries and blackcurrants with hints of licorice, cloves, walnuts and chocolate. It has full body and a velvety tannin structure. Juicy and vibrant fruit on the palate with a touch of earthiness. Smooth and delicious. Long, fruity finish. Very pure fruit. Try after 2024.
-James Suckling 95 points
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Capitel is a particular expression of Ossian's very old Verdejo vines — some approaching 200 years — grown on the sandy, pre-phylloxera soils of Nieva, a cool, high corner of Segovia south of Valladolid. It is made only in select years from a strict selection of exceptional old-vine fruit, fermented and aged in 600-litre French oak barrels on fine lees.
Color: old gold with greenish reflections. Aromas: surprisingly nuanced and profound. Flavors: fresh, full and finely detailed.
Review:
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-James Suckling 95 Points
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