2015 DeLille Metier Red Blend Columbia Valley Washington State 750 ml

Châteauneuf-Style Red From Renowned Vines

Robert Parker’s calling DeLille Cellars the “Lafite-Rothschild of Washington State” says it all—almost. It leaves out that star winemaker Chris Upchurch’s sublime touch extends to his Rhône-style wines, which are well-represented among the jaw-dropping 70+ DeLille wines that have earned 93-97 points from The Wine Advocate. The 2015 DeLille Cellars Métier is a Beaucastel-like blend sourced from three renowned vineyards: the legendary Ciel du Cheval vineyard on Red Mountain, Yakima Valley’s Boushey Vineyard, and the StoneTree Vineyard, which rises to 1,450 feet atop sandy loam and loess on the Wahluke Slope dating back to the famous Ice Age floods that shaped the valley. Wine Advocate called the 2015 Métier a “pleasure-bent beauty,” and Vinous lauded the “really terrific flavor intensity” in their 93-point appraisal. Considering that an Upchurch Cabernet from these sites can easily fetch triple-digits, at $30 per bottle, this is a bargain: a Châteauneuf-style beauty from the same producer and the same provenance.

At DeLille, Chris Upchurch has long been one of the state’s leaders with Bordeaux-style wines. But as the high potential of Rhône varieties in the warm climate and volcanic soils of Washington State became clear, DeLille began dedicating serious resources to their Rhône-style wines. It didn’t take long for Upchurch to make a raft of wines earning 93 points and above.

Much of that success is owed to careful vineyard selection: Upchurch sources from some of Washington’s best decomposed volcanic soils in the high-quality micro-AVA of Red Mountain. Most of the fruit in the 2015 Métier hails from Ciel du Cheval, which was founded in 1972 and is one of Red Mountain’s most iconic vineyards. This is balanced by equal amounts of Rhône varieties from Yakima Valley’s sought-after, higher-elevation Boushey Vineyard and StoneTree Vineyard, one of the top five sites in all of the Columbia Valley. The resulting blend offers a Château de Beaucastel-like assemblage of 38% Grenache, 38% Mourvèdre, 21% Syrah, and a touch of Cinsault.

“Plush, sappy and utterly seamless” is how Vinous describes Chris Upchurch’s homage to the Southern Rhône. This is a gorgeous Washington blend, not only crafted by one of the state’s top winemakers, but also from three of the state’s marquee vineyards.

- Wine Access Wine Team