The 2022 Matthews Columbia Valley Claret is comprised of several small vineyard parcels within the greater Columbia Valley, with key vineyard sites in Horse Heaven Hills, Red Mountain, and Royal Slope AVA’s as well as the famed Conner Lee vineyard. This wine truly represents the broad flavor and aromatic expressions of a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend from the diverse terroirs of Washington State.
The new winemaking team worked with our vineyard managers to update our viticultural practices, reducing yields (on average) by 30% for each site. These restricted yields created small, concentrated berries. Further vineyard dedication meant we were able to harvest between 3-6 weeks later than previous vintages. This allowed each site to fully develop the proper ripeness and flavor profile we were looking for.
Each vineyard was hand-harvested in the early mornings between late September & late October, culminating on November 1st for our last pick. Upon arriving at the winery, each vineyard parcel was hand-sorted, de-stemmed, and berry-sorted. The grapes were placed in tank and cold soaked for 2 days, before undergoing a 14 day fermentation and an additional 14 days of extended maceration, for a total of 32 days in tank for maximum phenolic extraction and integrated, polished tannins. The wine was cellared for 26 months in new French oak (42%) and used French oak (58%). In the spring of 2023, we selected 198 barrels to be carefully selected and blended. The wine was bottled in June, producing only 4734 cases.
Twelve separate clones were included in the final blend (Cabernet Sauvignon: 191, 8, 2, 4, 31, 21 Merlot: 15, 2, 3 Cabernet Franc: 1, 327 Malbec: 4).
