Displaying an inky core, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Cold Creek Vineyard is oak-tinged on the nose with aromas of smoked plums, blackberry jus and dark cherry skin. Full-bodied, the palate offers notions of dark, dusty fruit expressions compounded by graphite and pencil shavings before driving to a long, complex, food-friendly finish. The Cabernet will be fantastic when paired with fire-roasted meats. The wine rested in a mix of French and American oak barrels, roughly 50% new, for 22 months before being bottled.

From a vineyard initially planted in 1973, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Cold Creek Vineyard rouses from the glass with a tart and dark-fruited core of aromas on the subtly floral and softly herbal nose. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is still tight on the palate, with the fruit remaining slightly tart and across the mid-palate, still a touch rigid with well-structured tannins. It ends with a grippy, lingering finish. Give it a couple of years to come around, or enjoy it now with grilled red meat. 10,600 cases made.

One of Chateau Ste Michelle's flagship bottlings, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Cold Creek Vineyard offers up a deep-pitched bouquet of cassis, black plums and loamy soil. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, with bright acids, juicy fruit and powdery tannins that turn somewhat drying on the finish, depressing my score. I suspect this site may have suffered in the heat this year.

I loved the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Cold Creek Vineyard, and it’s 100% varietal from their estate vineyard in the Columbia Valley. Chocolate, smoked earth, violets, graphite and black and blue fruits all emerge from this beauty and it has plenty of mid-palate depth, good concentration and a great finish.

The inky colored 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Cold Creek Vineyard checks in as 100% Cabernet and saw 22 months in 64% French and American oak. Ripe, sexy, textured and with real density, it gives up lots of chocolate, caramelized plum, vanilla bean, and currant-like aromas and flavors. It has the texture to drink nicely even today, but I’m sure it will keep for at least a decade.