2010 Echo Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 750 ml

Winemaker Billo Naravane: From Central Square to Echo Ridge

Three years ago, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate published a piece on Washington State’s Cabernet Sauvignons, casting a bright spotlight on the 2010 vintage. It was with this in mind that we booked “Jack Cakebread’s” flight from SFO to the small town of Pasco, Washington. Over the following six hours, as we traipsed the cracked-earth rows of vineyards that are treated to just 7 inches of rainfall per year, we listened to winegrowers explain why The Wine Advocate is so bullish on Washington — and why, in the 2010 vintage, the top estates of Columbia Valley, Walla-Walla Valley, Red Mountain, and Rattlesnake Hills AVAs gave Napa Valley a run for its money.

Winemaker Billo Naravane took an unlikely path to Columbia Valley. Born in India, Billo and his family moved to New Jersey when he was 6. A high school prodigy, Billo’s education continued at MIT, where he earned a BS in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, and then at Stanford, where he earned an MS in Electrical Engineering. To most, it appeared that Billo was living the dream in Silicon Valley. But, after 15 years in high tech, Naravane says, “I’d had enough. I was just burned out.” Determined to trade in his keyboard for the vineyards, he applied and was accepted into UC Davis master’s program for Viticulture and Enology.

Just three years after Billo Naravane moved to the Pacific Northwest, founding Rasa Vineyards and signing on as consulting winemaker at Echo Creek, Columbia Valley was treated to the coolest and wettest growing season on record. As we’d learn during our six-hour stay in Pasco, the biggest challenge for winemakers in the high desert of the Pacific Northwest is tannin management. In the driest growing seasons, where summers are torrid, sugars accumulate too quickly, outpacing the ripening of seeds and skins, often making for concentrated Cabernet Sauvignons that are marred by green tannins. In 2010, Naravane had no such concerns.

The spring of 2010 was unusually cool and rainy, delaying flowering and making for a small fruit set. July and August, often torrid months, were also mild, slowing down the maturation. Sugar levels rose incrementally, in concert with the browning of seeds. Then, in September, in a scene right out of a perfect Silverado Trail script, temperatures climbed.

If you ever make it up to Columbia Valley, don’t miss Echo Ridge. The 89-acre vineyard rests atop an 800-foot bluff overlooking the Umatilla River and the historic small town of Echo, Oregon. The views are stunning: the Blue Mountains to the east, the Horse Heaven Hills to the northwest, and the rolling hills of the surrounding Echo farmland to the west and south. Partially due to the high-elevation perch, partly to the rigor of the viticultural protocol, but mostly to the coolest growing season on record, the Echo Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon was left to hang well into October. At harvest, sugars came in at a Pauillac-like 24-25 Brix. Most importantly, seeds were brown and tannins were ripe. Then Billo Naravane worked his magic.

Robert Parker handed out a record 26 scores between 96 and 100 points to Washington’s 2010s. Vinous posted a 95-point vintage rating, the highest ever for the NYC-based publication. As to Billo Naravane’s 2010 Echo Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Stephen Tanzer at Antonio Galloni’s Vinous came in at 92 points — one of the highest ratings in the last decade for an under-$30 American Cabernet Sauvignon.

$65 on release. $27 this morning. 100 cases. Strict limit of one case per member — and yes, this is a CASE-buy.