2012 Matthews Estate Claret Columbia Valley 750 ml

#1 Sommelier in America's Favorite: 93pt Matthews Claret

Michael Madrigale first honed his palate at Burgundy Wine Company on West 26th Street, before landing a cellar job at Domaine de l’Arlot in Nuits-Saint-Georges. Years later, Madrigale was recruited by chef Daniel Boulud, who recognized Michael’s talent for matching unusual wines with Boulud’s classic French cuisine and entrusted the wine lists at Bar Boulud and Boulud Sud to the young sommelier.

In 2012, when Wine Enthusiast named Michael Madrigale the #1 Sommelier in America, many in Manhattan wondered what took the magazine so long.

One evening in July 2015, we took seats in our favorite booth at Bar Boulud. At 6 p.m., the place was already packed. We then did as we always do chez Boulud and ordered Daniel’s signature dish, a 16-ounce roasted lamb T-Bone. For the wine pairing, we did what we never do in Manhattan: “Let Michael pick it,” we told our waiter. While most of the somms in town love to run up a tab, Madrigale, who grew up modestly, prefers to surprise his clientele with bargains.

It wasn’t like Madrigale had a shortage of Cabernets from which to choose. The list at Bar Boulud is filled with carefully selected “Petits Châteaux” Bordeaux, great Cabernet Francs from Chinon and Saumur-Champigny, a couple sensibly priced entries from Happy Canyon and Sonoma Mountain.

But, as is nearly always the case at 64th and Broadway, Madrigale had a joker up his sleeve on that summer night, steering us far away from the Médoc and the Loire, 3,600 miles across the Atlantic and 3,000 more across the country to the cracked earth of Washington’s Columbia Valley.

“There are just two Washington State Cabernets on our list,” the waiter explained as he clipped the capsule. “Both are made by Aryn Morrell. This is Michael’s favorite, the 2012 Matthews Claret.”

As always, the #1 Sommelier in America made no mistake.

In 2005, enologist Aryn Morell left Napa Valley after consultancy stints at Stags Leap, Phelps, Quintessa, Chappellet, and Vineyard 29. Matthews Estate, understanding the depth of Morrell’s Napa Valley education, recruited Aryn aggressively. As head winemaker at Matthews, it wouldn’t be long before Morrell would apply his Silverado Trail playbook to Columbia Valley.

“When I came back to Washington, I realized that we were 20 years behind Napa,” Aryn told us during a six-hour visit, after we hopped a small plane from San Francisco to Pasco. From Morrell’s vantage point, most Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignons were being picked before the fruit was physiologically ripe. “The math is simple. Washington wineries want ripe fruit, but they’re not in a position to pay for it. So growers push the envelope on yields, and then harvest early to maximize yields. I went to the owners of Matthews and told them that if we were going to produce Cabernet Sauvignon that competes with Napa Valley, we had to pay by the acre, not by the ton. Only then would interests be aligned with the growers. The owners agreed.”

Six years after Aryn Morrell returned to his home state, he enjoyed what many believe to be the finest vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon ever in Washington, earning 94 points from The Wine Advocate. The 2012 growing season, while exceedingly dry, was also unusually mild. Morrell played his Napa Valley cards close the vest, allowing the fruit to hang (as did Leonetti, Woodward Canyon, and Betz), finally harvesting ultra-ripe Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, even as acids and tannins remained firm.

The 2012 Matthews Claret is saturated purple to the rim. Explosive aromatically, infused with notes of blackberry and black cherry, licorice, and graphite. Rich, dense, weighty, and compact, silken in texture, filled with black-fruit preserves, violets, and black raspberry, finishing with Napa-like pliancy, length, and muscle. Wine Spectator suggested this Aryn Morrell blockbuster will age gracefully into 2022. Based on the way the 2012 Claret stood up to Daniel Boulud’s T-Bone, Parker will get no argument from WineAccess.

$40 from the winery. $29 today for one of the highest-rated Cabernet bargains on the market today. Shipping included on 4.