Region: Columbia Valley, Washington

Vintage: 2021

Composition: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec

History: Upon retirement from the NFL in 2007, Drew Bledsoe “doubled back” to his hometown of Walla Walla, Washington, to realize a long-held dream. Drew and his wife, Maura, purchased a piece of property on the southern edge of the Walla Walla Valley AVA and subsequently launched Doubleback as an estate-focused winery to craft America’s best Cabernet Sauvignon in an elegant, true-to-varietal way. Drew had long been planning for this moment during his years playing football, and success came immediately as the very first vintage earned a spot in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 List. Drew hired Josh McDaniels, now CEO & Director of Winemaking, away from Figgins Family Wine Estates, where he had trained for almost a decade under their longtime mentor and friend, Chris Figgins. Josh, also a Walla Walla native, has been named a “Washington Prodigy” and a “Game Changer of Washington Wine” by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. The collaboration between Drew and Josh is a competitive partnership that pushes them to continue the pursuit of perfection in Cabernet Sauvignon every day. Doubleback remains a small, family-owned winery located on the southern edge of Walla Walla, and it is in its new home, completed in 2018. The winery has four estate vineyards, all located in the Walla Walla Valley and all unique to each other. Each vineyard is sustainably certified and farmed by its incredible farming crew, an integral part of the team. The team welcomes its mailing list customers through reservations.

Tasting Notes:

Perfectly ripe plums, blackberry, and memories of walking through a native sagebrush field in Walla Walla on a warm fall day. Rich and concentrated from the warmth of the vintage, the wine has fine grained tannin that builds and evolves, red fruit, subtle hints of graphite and charcoal from great French oak and Italian concrete.