2017 Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon, Royal Slope, Columbia Valley, Washington
92 Points, James Suckling
Tasting Notes
“Currants, plums, chocolate orange, dried flowers andsweet tobacco on the nose. It’s medium-to full-bodiedwith silky tannins. Rich, intense and toasty.” -JamesSuckling
A wine for lovers of silky smooth Cabernet! Structured and polished, with black cherry and black tea. Medium weight with refined tannins.
Winemaking Notes
Fermented in 56% concrete tanks and blended after 10 months. This wine is beginning to see more consistent use of a small amount of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. As the Solaksen vineyard (nearly 50% of this wine now) is maturing, the wine is beginning to show volume and texture while displaying more classic dark fruits. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Vineyard Notes
Gård Vintners is 100% estate grown sustainably at Lawrence Vineyards, featuring eight distinct vineyard sites in the Royal Slope AVA and Conner Lee Vineyard in the Columbia Valley AVA. With elevations that range from 930 feet to 1,675 feet and primarily a south-facing slope, Lawrence Vineyards provides a great framework for grape production, while the diversity of each of the locations delivers a high level of complexity to Gård wines. Lawrence Vineyards is certified sustainable by Vinewise.org.
Gård, meaning “farm” in many of the Scandinavian languages, is a tribute to our family’s Scandinavian heritage and farming tradition.
Our mission at Gård is to capture and bottle the unique characteristics of the land we farm. We humbly craft value-driven, award-winning wines from our sustainable estate vineyards to create lasting memories for our customers. Gård Vintners is dedicated to crafting world-class wines from its sustainably farmed estate vineyard on the Royal Slope of Washington’s Columbia Valley AVA. We produce 6,000 cases a year for our wine club, three tasting rooms and select distribution in the northwest and across the country.
Founded in 2006, Gård Vintners is a family-owned and operated estate winery in the heart of Washington’s Columbia Valley AVA, with vineyards on the Royal Slope, wine production in Walla Walla, and tasting rooms in Woodinville, Walla Walla, and Ellensburg. The winery was founded by Josh and Lisa Lawrence, along with Josh’s dad John Lawrence and uncle Sandy Lawrence, who had farmed the Royal Slope for more than 40 years. The winery and estate vineyard is now owned and operated by Josh and his wife, Lisa, who oversees sales and marketing, while Josh oversees the vineyard and other farm and orchard operations. In 2011 Aryn Morell joined the team as winemaker, and winemaking is now managed at M&L Production in Walla Walla, a partnership between Morell and the Lawrences.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, TX, VA, WA, WI
@kitkat34@sillihkram This offer looks to be this $40 bottling on the web site. Still don’t quite understand the 56% concrete tanks in the write-up and on the site along with the Aging 100% New French oak. So the other 44% barrel fermented?
With luck Lisa from @gardwine will fill us in.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2017 Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon - $60 = 23.06%
@Nel250 So sorry, we don’t currently have a license to ship to NJ. Sorry! Depending on your location and travels, sometimes NJ folks will ship to Pennsylvania or NY addresses to make it work.
I don’t drink wine as often as I did pre-COVID (and I didn’t drink a lot then). I drink a lot of unsweetened iced tea and too much Diet Coke these days. We used to open a bottle o’ something a few times a month to sip through the evening. More often than not these days, I intend to open a bottle of wine, then promptly forget about it in the chaos of the evening.
This 2017 Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon is prodding me to return to my old habits.
This Cab had “Be my valentine” written all over it. Or I might have written that on the label in Sharpie after my 2nd glass. Whatever.
I opened the bottle when I got home picking up dinner. The color on this is the deep purple color of a black plum, and it’s very dense. I got a lot of black cherry and red berries on the nose. For reference, I drank this with my Five Guys cheeseburger. It was a beauty topped with grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, and mayo. I also carried it into the evening unaccompanied.
I didn’t have a lot of time to open and let it sit out before dinner, so I poured our first glass through the Vinturi. Even with that, I’d recommend letting this breathe a short time before drinking. My first sips were a bit heady with alcohol. It didn’t smack me as a high-alcohol drink overall, but the first part of the glass had that heat to it.
Once that heat backed down, it got really interesting. The tannins were really well balanced. They weren’t aggressive, but they didn’t back down to a cheese- & mayo-topped cheeseburger. The tannins acted like a trellis that supported a ton of different flavors. Each sip brought something new - sweet cherries, sour cherries, raspberries, blackberries, dark cocoa, a hint of leather, and a barely-ripe red plum that absolutely made my toes curl (yeah baby!). I caught something minerally or a bit earthy a few times, but I can’t put my finger on what that was. There was a whole lot to love in that glass.
An hour and second glass in, and the bright fruit gave way to darker fruits - black cherries, black plums, currants, and a really good smooth black coffee entered the picture. I’m not sure I’d call it “lush”, but it was getting there. The flavors lingered in my throat for a while. It was a beautiful ending to a great bottle.
It is very drinkable now, but I wonder how cellaring a couple bottles for another year or two would impact this? I can see it getting smoother and more even more complex.
So, in the end, I do loves me a Cab, and I love ones that beat me up and take my lunch money. This wine was slicker than that. This Cab slid into my DMs, and I was an hour into the conversation before it occurred to me that it was smooth talking me into investing my life savings into an MLM and a timeshare. I’m seriously considering it.
@fait Such an excellent job, humorous and substantive comments. “The tannins acted like a trellis that supported a ton of different flavors.” is the winemakers objective. Akin to Wellington and Stag’s Leap “Iron fist in a velvet glove “ aspiration.
Anyone from SE MI interested in a split? I have negative storage space right now, so I can’t get a full case for myself. I really enjoyed the two previous Gard offers here, so I would like to get in this offer if I can rope someone else into taking some bottles.
Never had a bad Gård. In fact, I believe they drink well above their price. But, since this is the umpteenth offer, why can’t we get the winemaker here to answer some questions? I know the people that own it participate, but sometimes that is just marketing. It would be nice if someone got nerdy about why, when, how, this came to be.
@rjquillin Because it wouldn’t sway me either way ($$$) so I just throw it out there that it might be more beneficial to sales. Always good to have the owners’ input, but better to have winemaker. That goes across the board.
I actually had a case of their Syrah previously. This is no surprise to me. For a cab, taste less bold than your average California Cab, a lot of berries, not heavily oak. I really enjoyed it at lunch with some grill skirt steak taco.
When first open, just as fait reviewed, lots of alcohol, after opening for 30 min or so, the fruit starts to release.
Overall I think it’s a buy if I have not purchased yesterday’s offering in a case.
Tonight we Popped and Poured the 2016 Grand Klasse Cabernet; the one that was combined with the Syrah in a past offer. It was FABULOUS! Easily outshines $50 and $60 bottles of Napa Cab. How does this offer compare with the Grand Klasse?
From winemaker Matias: It’s a completely different wine from our GK series. Our mainline Cabernet is more approachable - Less oak, shorter aging, more fruit-driven. A wine to consume with or without food and for any occasion. The GK is 100% Cab, whereas the mainline has 10% Cab Franc and 7% Merlot.
I just returned from a Washington Wineries road trip, and stopped at Gard’s tasting room in Ellensburg to try more of their wines as a result of ones I had from Casemates. I met the club director and joined their club. All great wines, and this was a favorite. Great deal.
/giphy new-different-crab
A little more info straight from winery website:
Vineyards: Corfu, Laura Lee, Solaksen & Scarline
Designation: Lawrence Vineyards
Production notes: Fermented in 56% concrete tanks and blended after 10 months. This wine is beginning to see more consistent use of a small amount of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. As the Solaksen vineyard(nearly 50% of this wine now) is maturing the wine is beginning to show volume and texture while displaying more classic dark fruits. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
…annnnnd some Sunday reviews…
Wine Spectacle:
91 Points. Precise and compelling, with delicately layered black cherry, dusky spice and dark tea flavors that finish with refined tannins. Drink now through 2029. 750 cases made. — TF Web Only - 2021
Wine Enthusiast says:
90 Points. Roasted coffee bean and dark chocolate aromas are upfront, with cherry behind. Lighter-styled vanilla and coffee flavors follow, with a pleasing sense of texture and balance. It’s a restrained offering of the variety. The oak plays a prominent part in the show but plays it well. SPS 4/1/21
Vinous chimes in:
91 Points. Medium red-ruby. Black raspberry, blueberry, violet, menthol and black pepper on the expressive nose, plus a whiff of smoky oak. Rich, broad and dry on entry, then very smooth and refined in the middle palate, with its dark berry, menthol and herb flavors conveying classic dryness but plenty of ripe fruit. Finishes with very fine-grained tannins and lovely violet-tinged persistence. Serious, juicy Cabernet with aging potential, but no hard edges even today. I find this a bit suaver than the 2016. (aged for two years in all new French oak).
Drink 2022-2028 – Stephen Tanzer 12/2020
…can’t forget Dr. Owen Bargreen, the Washington Wine Blog:
90 Points. This offers medium-bodied ripe red and dark fruits with shades of graphite and anise on the palate. While not particularly full-bodied, the balance is really good, as you can enjoy this well-structured Cabernet Sauvignon over the next five to seven years. Drink 2020-2025.
2017 Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon, Royal Slope, Columbia Valley, Washington
92 Points, James Suckling
Tasting Notes
Winemaking Notes
Vineyard Notes
Specs
What’s Included
3-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$432/Case at Gard Vintners for 12x 2017 Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon, Royal Slope, Columbia Valley, Washington
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, TX, VA, WA, WI
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Sep 13 - Friday, Sep 17
Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon
3 bottles for $64.99 $21.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2017 Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon
According to Vivino this retails for $14/bottle
@sillihkram yes it was $13+ and it was GÅRD Cabernet (Lawrence vineyard) at 15.5% alc.
A different bottling than this offer, I’m thinking.
@kitkat34 @sillihkram This offer looks to be this $40 bottling on the web site. Still don’t quite understand the 56% concrete tanks in the write-up and on the site along with the Aging 100% New French oak. So the other 44% barrel fermented?
With luck Lisa from @gardwine will fill us in.
@kitkat34 @rjquillin @sillihkram
Correct, this wine is $40 retail. It was fermented in concrete and stainless, then barrel aged. Cheers!
@gardwine @kitkat34 @sillihkram
Good to see you’re up with us, and thanks for the additional info on this.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2017 Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon - $60 = 23.06%
Greetings! Lisa with Gard here. Thanks for checking out our Gård Cab deal. I’ll be checking in and answering questions today. Cheers!
@gardwine Any way to get this to NJ? I really enjoyed your Malbec!
@Nel250 So sorry, we don’t currently have a license to ship to NJ. Sorry! Depending on your location and travels, sometimes NJ folks will ship to Pennsylvania or NY addresses to make it work.
I don’t drink wine as often as I did pre-COVID (and I didn’t drink a lot then). I drink a lot of unsweetened iced tea and too much Diet Coke these days. We used to open a bottle o’ something a few times a month to sip through the evening. More often than not these days, I intend to open a bottle of wine, then promptly forget about it in the chaos of the evening.
This 2017 Gård Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon is prodding me to return to my old habits.
This Cab had “Be my valentine” written all over it. Or I might have written that on the label in Sharpie after my 2nd glass. Whatever.
I opened the bottle when I got home picking up dinner. The color on this is the deep purple color of a black plum, and it’s very dense. I got a lot of black cherry and red berries on the nose. For reference, I drank this with my Five Guys cheeseburger. It was a beauty topped with grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, and mayo. I also carried it into the evening unaccompanied.
I didn’t have a lot of time to open and let it sit out before dinner, so I poured our first glass through the Vinturi. Even with that, I’d recommend letting this breathe a short time before drinking. My first sips were a bit heady with alcohol. It didn’t smack me as a high-alcohol drink overall, but the first part of the glass had that heat to it.
Once that heat backed down, it got really interesting. The tannins were really well balanced. They weren’t aggressive, but they didn’t back down to a cheese- & mayo-topped cheeseburger. The tannins acted like a trellis that supported a ton of different flavors. Each sip brought something new - sweet cherries, sour cherries, raspberries, blackberries, dark cocoa, a hint of leather, and a barely-ripe red plum that absolutely made my toes curl (yeah baby!). I caught something minerally or a bit earthy a few times, but I can’t put my finger on what that was. There was a whole lot to love in that glass.
An hour and second glass in, and the bright fruit gave way to darker fruits - black cherries, black plums, currants, and a really good smooth black coffee entered the picture. I’m not sure I’d call it “lush”, but it was getting there. The flavors lingered in my throat for a while. It was a beautiful ending to a great bottle.
It is very drinkable now, but I wonder how cellaring a couple bottles for another year or two would impact this? I can see it getting smoother and more even more complex.
So, in the end, I do loves me a Cab, and I love ones that beat me up and take my lunch money. This wine was slicker than that. This Cab slid into my DMs, and I was an hour into the conversation before it occurred to me that it was smooth talking me into investing my life savings into an MLM and a timeshare. I’m seriously considering it.
@fait Such an excellent job, humorous and substantive comments. “The tannins acted like a trellis that supported a ton of different flavors.” is the winemakers objective. Akin to Wellington and Stag’s Leap “Iron fist in a velvet glove “ aspiration.
Anyone from SE MI interested in a split? I have negative storage space right now, so I can’t get a full case for myself. I really enjoyed the two previous Gard offers here, so I would like to get in this offer if I can rope someone else into taking some bottles.
@joe139 Oakland County lit up, if that was you, thanks for putting MI on the map
@ttboy23
Yep, that was us. We got a three way split on it
Never had a bad Gård. In fact, I believe they drink well above their price. But, since this is the umpteenth offer, why can’t we get the winemaker here to answer some questions? I know the people that own it participate, but sometimes that is just marketing. It would be nice if someone got nerdy about why, when, how, this came to be.
@KNmeh7 Lisa checked in earlier, why not ping her and ask directly?
@rjquillin Because it wouldn’t sway me either way ($$$) so I just throw it out there that it might be more beneficial to sales. Always good to have the owners’ input, but better to have winemaker. That goes across the board.
@rjquillin Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I am the owner and the grower, but I’ll certainly see if I can engage our winemaker in future offers!
I actually had a case of their Syrah previously. This is no surprise to me. For a cab, taste less bold than your average California Cab, a lot of berries, not heavily oak. I really enjoyed it at lunch with some grill skirt steak taco.
When first open, just as fait reviewed, lots of alcohol, after opening for 30 min or so, the fruit starts to release.
Overall I think it’s a buy if I have not purchased yesterday’s offering in a case.
Tonight we Popped and Poured the 2016 Grand Klasse Cabernet; the one that was combined with the Syrah in a past offer. It was FABULOUS! Easily outshines $50 and $60 bottles of Napa Cab. How does this offer compare with the Grand Klasse?
@gardwine
Lisa, any thoughts from you or your winemaker on this one?
@FritzCat @rjquillin
From winemaker Matias: It’s a completely different wine from our GK series. Our mainline Cabernet is more approachable - Less oak, shorter aging, more fruit-driven. A wine to consume with or without food and for any occasion. The GK is 100% Cab, whereas the mainline has 10% Cab Franc and 7% Merlot.
Heading to Walla Walla and hopefully Gard in a few weeks. Anyone in NE OH interested in a split? @chipgreen @boatman72 @marikar @pjmartin @lornadoonage
@mrn1 You know I’ll play along.
@mrn1 @pjmartin
I am good for 3, thanks
I just returned from a Washington Wineries road trip, and stopped at Gard’s tasting room in Ellensburg to try more of their wines as a result of ones I had from Casemates. I met the club director and joined their club. All great wines, and this was a favorite. Great deal.
/giphy new-different-crab
@salcorn Awesome to hear! Welcome to the club!
DIPLOMAT! RAT-A-TAT! FAT CAT! AWESOME!
Gard usually makes good juice, I’m sure this one hits above the belt as well,
Cheers!
A little more info straight from winery website:
Vineyards: Corfu, Laura Lee, Solaksen & Scarline
Designation: Lawrence Vineyards
Production notes: Fermented in 56% concrete tanks and blended after 10 months. This wine is beginning to see more consistent use of a small amount of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. As the Solaksen vineyard(nearly 50% of this wine now) is maturing the wine is beginning to show volume and texture while displaying more classic dark fruits. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
…annnnnd some Sunday reviews…
Wine Spectacle:
91 Points. Precise and compelling, with delicately layered black cherry, dusky spice and dark tea flavors that finish with refined tannins. Drink now through 2029. 750 cases made. — TF Web Only - 2021
Wine Enthusiast says:
90 Points. Roasted coffee bean and dark chocolate aromas are upfront, with cherry behind. Lighter-styled vanilla and coffee flavors follow, with a pleasing sense of texture and balance. It’s a restrained offering of the variety. The oak plays a prominent part in the show but plays it well. SPS 4/1/21
Vinous chimes in:
91 Points. Medium red-ruby. Black raspberry, blueberry, violet, menthol and black pepper on the expressive nose, plus a whiff of smoky oak. Rich, broad and dry on entry, then very smooth and refined in the middle palate, with its dark berry, menthol and herb flavors conveying classic dryness but plenty of ripe fruit. Finishes with very fine-grained tannins and lovely violet-tinged persistence. Serious, juicy Cabernet with aging potential, but no hard edges even today. I find this a bit suaver than the 2016. (aged for two years in all new French oak).
Drink 2022-2028 – Stephen Tanzer 12/2020
…can’t forget Dr. Owen Bargreen, the Washington Wine Blog:
90 Points. This offers medium-bodied ripe red and dark fruits with shades of graphite and anise on the palate. While not particularly full-bodied, the balance is really good, as you can enjoy this well-structured Cabernet Sauvignon over the next five to seven years. Drink 2020-2025.
all fwiw
/giphy squalid-minor-pleasure
@cduan need a splitter for that purchase if you got a case?
@bunnymasseuse we just got the 3 pack, sorry!
@cduan so did I, JUUUUUST in before the cut!
/giphy ulterior-flimsy-shame