L’Ecole No. 41 ‘Perigee’ Seven Hills Vineyard Red Blend 2018 – 750ml Winebow

95pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2018 Perigee Estate Seven Hills Vineyard reveals a Cabernet-driven style offering beautiful cassis fruits as well as tobacco leaf, wet stone, spring flowers, and freshly sharpened pencils. These all carry over to the palate, where the wine is medium to full-bodied and has a focused, concentrated, elegant texture, lots of ripe tannins, and a great finish. Young and unevolved at this stage (not unexpected), it will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and have 20+ years of prime drinking. It’s a beautiful, classic Bordeaux blend from Washington that does everything right. The blend is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% each of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot and Malbec, all brought up in 40% new French oak.
Rating: 95+

94pts Wine & Spirits

Working on the first vintages of Perigree, Marty Clubb and his winemaking team learned to craft a winery statement through the lens of a single vineyard, and, for me, the wine has become iconic, a definitive expression of Walla Walla’s terroir. In 2018, it doesn’t disappoint: The first three words in my notes are tobacco, sundried tomato and plum, words which describe great wines of Seven Hills, and a great many Walla Walla reds, the coolness of herb bathed in dark red fruit, warm, dense, tannic, powerful, classic, winking at France, glancing at California, wholly its own self.

94pts James Suckling

Notes of blackberries and dark plums with cedar and earthy undertones. It’s full-bodied with firm tannins. Full and juicy with structure and good balance. Long, supple finish.

93pts Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

The 2018 Perigee Seven Hills Vineyard Estate is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot and 9% Malbec. The nose is instantly impressive with elements of French oak and baking spices that waft with dusty and juicy dark fruit tones. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is silky, displaying fine-grained tannins with a juicy essence of black raspberry, dark cherry and bitter dark chocolate before showcasing flavors of vanilla bean and blackberry skin. It ends with a long-lingering finish that continues to evolve with persistence in the mouth. It’s an absolutely delightful wine that delivers well for the price. It was fermented in small French barrels, 40% new, and allowed to rest for 22 months before bottling.

92pts Wine Spectator

Appealing for its focus and structure, this blend offers handsome blackberry, lead pencil and black tea flavors that build tension toward medium-grained tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.

91pts Wine Enthusiast

Reserved aromas of licorice, plum, chocolate, cherry and spice are followed by enveloping dark-fruit flavors. It brings a lot of midpalate density that ups the appeal.

90pts Decanter

Ripe nose of red fruit, dark plum, with baking spices and menthol notes. Deep, concentrated palate with luscious taste. Some luxury here. Blend : 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc.

Winemaker Notes

Perigee epitomizes this Estate vineyard’s distinctive cedar and dark fruit, framed by a structured elegance. It explodes with aromas of spiced blackberry and boysenberry, tobacco and licorice, lifted by floral notes of violets and Provençal herbs. Velvety on the palate, it concludes with a complex and silky finish.

Blend: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot, 9% Malbec