Description: Winemaker's comments - This vintage is by far the best we have gotten from this vineyard. The work that we have done there with trellising, soil, water and clonal selections are now bringing it even with the other vineyards from whom we source. The identity is fully apparent in this vintage. The soft texture and very full mid- palate are apparent. The depth of flavor reveals much about this vintage and those we hope to see in the future from Two Blondes. A lot of the work we have done here has been on an almost row-by-row basis as we sought to increase the root structure of the vines.
Robert Parker: Wine Advocate # 177. Jun 2008. Reviewer : Jay Miller. The 2006 Two Blondes Vineyard is sourced from a vineyard in Yakima Valley owned by Camarda. It is a blend of 43% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 28% Merlot. It offers up aromas of balsam wood, cinnamon, sage, incense, black cherry, and black currant. This is followed by supple, ripe wine with fine-grained tannins, savory flavors, and excellent balance. Dense and concentrated, it will continue to blossom with another 2-3 years of bottle age and offer a drinking window extending from 2011 to 2023.
Andrew Will, located on Vashon Island, a short ferry-ride from Seattle, is where Chris Camarda fashions his blended, Bordeaux-style wines. These 2006s were reviewed in Issue 177 prior to their release along with the 2005s. I retasted the 2006s at the winery in May, 2009 and report on them again because they are the current releases. I was shown the 2007s of these four wines from a vintage Camarda considers “a super year”. In each case, the 2007 is superior to its 2006 counterpart.
Jancis Robinson:
Fresh cassis, with a very slight herbaceous note, which emerged more on the palate. Rich, dense attack though falls away a bit on the finish though there is a fine savoury spice at the end. Wine Spectator: Issue: June 15 2010. - Smooth, polished and distinctive for a floral cast to its red berry, pomegranate and caramel flavors, which linger on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec. Drink now through 2015. 1,513 cases made.
–HSStephen Tanzer: Nov/Dec 08. By Stephen Tanzer. (43% cabernet franc, 29% cabernet sauvignon and 28% merlot) Good bright ruby-red. Musky aromas and flavors of sweet dark berries, truffle and smoke. Quite lush and sweet, but with enticing inner-mouth lift and a bright spicy quality to the fruit flavors. I find this distinctly fresher and suaver than the 2005 bottling. Rich, firmly structured wine with fine tannins to support bottle aging. Chris Camarda has taken his wines to a new level of freshness and consistency with the 2006 vintage, thanks in large part to the installation of new heating and cooling equipment in his winery, and the adoption of closed-top tanks, which has enabled him to make wines with better definition.
Wine Enthusiast/Buying Guide,
91 pts (2006) - "
Bright and spicy and loaded with great, clean, pure fruit flavors. This is exemplary for the ’06 vintage; a wine of lovely purity and focus. Fresh and very spicy, quite bright and loaded with mixed strawberries, plums, tropical and even stone fruits. Definitely the biggest and most complete Two Blondes bottling to date. — P.G. (8/1/2009)Wine&Spirits /100 Top Values of the year,June 2009,
90 pts (2006) - "From Chris Camarda's young Yakima Valley vineyard, this blend of cabernet franc, merlot and cabernet sauvignon leads with woodland blueberry scents, accented by notes of smoke and mint. Its fruit flavors are fairly extracted and generous, with a fine savoury note of coffee on the finish. It needs cellar time to knit, then serve with roast lamb. (1,188 cases)."
Vinification: Matured for 21 months in Taransaud barriques ( 35% new)
