2015 Epinette

A Pomerol look-alike, the 2015 Epinette is mostly Merlot, yet includes 30% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. It’s another rich, mouthfilling effort and offers lots of darker, plummy fruits, chocolate, and scorched earth aromas and flavors. With building tannin and serious structure, it isn’t for those looking for instant gratification and is going to need a solid 3-5 years of bottle age. Now focusing almost exclusively on their Red Mountain estate vineyards, Force Majeure is making some of the most compelling wines in Washington State, as well as in the United States. Winemaker Todd Alexander (previously at Bryant Family in Napa Valley) came on board in 2014 and today the wines show another level of purity and finesse, all while not sacrificing depth of fruit or texture. Both the 2015s and 2016 are terrific wines, with a small edge going to the 2016s. Trust me, these are gorgeous wines you need to try.

The Merlot-dominated cuvee is the 2015 Épinette, and it’s blended with 30% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot in 2015. Spending 30 days on skin and aged all in barrel, it’s another rich, structured, tannic 2015 that has a wealth of fruit, notes of plums, chocolate, licorice and scorched earth, with full-bodied weight and power on the palate.