2010 Andrew Will Red Champoux Vineyard

Similarly colored, yet a step up in richness and depth, and certainly not aromatically challenged, the 2010 Champoux Vineyard is a superb blend of 42% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc and 26% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged for 21 months in barrel, it possesses gorgeous aromas of black raspberry, creme de cassis, dried flowers, spice box and a dusty pebble minerality on the nose. Medium-bodied, elegant and beautifully balanced, with fresh acidity and moderate tannin, it has upside and should round into form with another 2-3 years of bottle age and have over a decade or more of total longevity. Drink 2015-2022. Made by Chris Camarda from his base on Vashon Island just west of Seattle, Andrew Will Cellars delivers classic, elegant wines that show solid typicity and age-worthy profiles. His 2010s are superb across the board and possess slightly reserved aromatics with firm, pure textures. Downright backwards, especially when compared to his 2009s, they will all benefit from short- term cellaring and, I suspect, these scores will seem a bit low once they flesh out. His 2011s had just been bottled at the time of this tasting, so I opted to review them as barrel samples and give ranges for the scores. They all showed more up-front, perfumed and supple profiles, yet I think they will close down slightly over the coming year as they settle in bottle. Chris believes his 2011s might surpass his 2010s. Tel. (206) 463-9227; www.andrewwill.com