Andrew Will Champoux Vineyard Red 07
Andrew Will Champoux Vineyard Red 07 - A truly epic wine. While the blend changed in 07, the luscious nature of the wine did not. Heady aromas immediately ooze from the glass - crushed red and black fruits intertwine with baking spices and you're hooked. A supple wash of red berries, black cherry, sweet blueberry and ribbon of black currant persuades your palate. With decanting, the bottom notes and finish of the 07 Champoux flourishes and fattens, providing dark chocolate-covered cherry accents that are sensational. The 2007 Champoux is ultra-polished while maintaining the structure that Andrew Will wines are famous for. - Marcus
Tanzer: Bright ruby-red. Medicinal blackberry and violet aromas are accompanied by a slightly decadent quality. Deep, broad and rich, conveying an extremely ripe dried-fruit impression. This is most impressive today on the back half, where it spreads out impressively to coat the palate, and where the big, broad tannins serve to accentuate rather than cut off the wine's fruit. 91 points.
Parker comments, in Parker's Wine Buyers Guide 5th Edition, that "Andrew Will's wines have virtually perfect tannins. They are present but buffered by the loads of dominating sweet fruit. Furthermore, what is amazing about Chris Camarda's wines is that they are concentrated yet grateful. Camarda's (wines) blend power with elegance, concentration with finesse, and supersweet fruit with definition. Chris Camarda is a brilliant winemaker."
Previous Vintage Tasting Notes
The 2006 Andrew Will Champoux Vineyard Red is absolutely classic Champoux. Seductive, pure aromas of ripe blackberries resonate with nuances of cocoa and smoke. At once dense and supple, the first burst of fruit expands and the layers of black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, and cassis unfold. The unstoppable Champoux fruit keeps shining through the finish, while a ribbon of savory blueberry syrup dances with nutmeg, sage leaf, and earth.
Andrew Will wines are a study in integrated oak. The 2006 Champoux shows excellent fruit structure and balance and will evolve over the next decade or more. Having recently tasted a vertical of Will Champoux from 2002 through 2005, I can attest to the rewards of buying Champoux for your cellar.
$59.95/$53.95 price good through October, 2008. Price increase to $64.95/$58.45 begins November 2008.
Parker's Wine Advocate 93 points: "The 2006 Champoux Vineyard, a source of some of Washington’s finest old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon (as well as the principal component of Quilceda Creek’s renowned Cabernet) is purple-colored with an impressive display of smoky black fruits, pencil lead, and earth notes. On the palate, it is intense, rich, and layered with the structure and balance for a decade of evolution. This powerful effort should drink well from 2015 to 2030".
MORE INFORMATION
2005 Vintage Tasting Notes
Andrew Will Champoux Vineyards Red 05 received 94 points from Wine Advocate (Parker) 7/08. They said: "The 2005 Champoux Vineyard is made up of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. Purple-colored, it delivers an alluring perfume of pain grille, spice box, and violets. On the palate, it is layered, intense, and powerful. Its impeccable balance should allow it to evolve for up to a decade and drink well through 2030."
Andrew Will's Champoux Red 05 received 94 Points from Wine Spectator (7-31-08) who said: "Seamless and harmonious, with beautifully articulated, ripe black cherry, cassis, and violet-tinged floral notes that mingle with hints of cedar and dark chocolate as the finish plays out against polished tannins. Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Best from 2009 through 2015." H.S.
One of Avalon's most anticipated releases each year. From some of the oldest vines in Washington comes this powerhouse red. Beautiful black cherry, intense blueberry, and dark cocoa aromas, with pretty violet accents. Taking a sip is like biting into a warm black cherry/black plum gallette, with flavors cascading and expanding. The fine tannins are present but nicely integrated and the balance is perfect. A minute later minerals, earth, and sweetness linger.
2004 Vintage Parker 93 Points The 2004 Champoux Vineyard is 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 22% Merlot, and 9% Petit Verdot. It spent 21 months in 35% new French oak. Less marked by oak and more complex than the Sorella bottling, it has a splendid bouquet of cedar, tobacco, vanilla, leather, cassis, and black currants. This is followed by a concentrated, dense wine with gobs of flavor, a velvety texture, excellent integration of oak, tannin, and acidity, and a seamless, 60+ second finish. It will evolve in the cellar for 5-7 years but is difficult to resist now. Chris Camarda's Andrew Will Cellars began in 1989 and currently produces 4300 cases of predominantly Bordeaux-style blends. They reflect Carmada's interpretation of each vineyard's terroir.
Andrew Will Champoux Red Wine -- Wine Advocate rating 93 points for 03 vintage.
2004 Champoux--44% Cab/22% Merlot/25% Cab Franc/9% Petit Verdot
Wow the nose! Impossibly inviting aromas of sweet black cherry pie with black raspberry, dark chocolate, and hints of baking spice. I just couldn't stop smelling it. The Champoux fruit core is dense, wound up with black and red red fruit in innummerable layers. Supple and silky with powder-fine tannins. The whole wine is wrapped with a delicate Bordeaux-like herbal note that adds complexity like the sizzle of a jazz ride cymbal--it just fits. Give it air, give it time and you'll see why this is one of the finest wines from one of the finest vineyards in the entire Pacific Northwest. - ml
Champoux Vineyard is a customer and Avalon employee favi=orite- it's the same vineyard that Quilceda Creek uses for its 100 point Cabs, and Andrew Will's Chris Camarda creates one of the best wines made from Champoux fruit each year with his blended "Champoux Red".
The 2004 is 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 22% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot, all from the famed Champoux Vineyard.
As Chris Camarda has developed his style of winemaking over the years, he has focused on the primacy of the vineyard over variety. It is now the driving force behind Andrew Will. While the idea of terroir has become almost a hollow marketing tool, it has great attraction for Chris in its purest form.
"I believe that an individual piece of property can form a signature - an identity - and it is that face that is the focus of my winemaking, " "We are trying to let the vineyards reveal themselves. I believe that if Washington is ever to be considered a great wine region we need to establish the characteristics of our geographical areas and the characteristics of each vineyard in those areas."
