2016 Red Wine Bel Canto

Ben Smith told me he adores the brightness and energy of the 2016 vintage. “I reacted better emotionally to the style of the wines, and their brightness makes them show better right out of the gate, even if they’ll need a few years of cellaring,” he told me in July. “The vintage was a relief coming after 2015, as there was less overall heat. In 2015 there were 3,900 degree days on Red Mountain, a record by far. In 2016 it was more like 3,000.” Still, he added, “we’ve seen a disturbing trend in recent years to warmer nighttime temperatures.

Smith is switching from 3-by-8-foot spacing to 3 by 4 by adding alternating rows to protect the fruit against sun damage, get longer hang time and to maximize his property's yield potential. At the same time, he's switching from Double Guyot to Bilateral Cordon, which he says will probably mean fewer shoots per plant and clusters per shoot. "So yields will definitely not double," he told me.

By the way, Smith is still a proponent of using some Petit Verdot in his Bordeaux blends for its combination of ripeness and vibrancy. “It gives the wines more aromatic lift, and pepper and spice notes,” he explained. As I tasted through the Cadence ‘16s, it struck me that these wines stand above the overwhelming majority of Washington Bordeaux blends for their clarity of flavor and suave, slowly building finishes.