2020 Tome Cabernet Sauvignon Red Stake Columbia Valley 750 ml

We’ll be honest: Dubbing every new up-and-coming West Coast wine region “the next Napa” has become somewhat of a wine-industry cliché. 

Yet considering the muscular Cabernets coming out of Washington’s Wahluke Slope and Red Mountain—celebrated sub-appellations of the wider Columbia Valley AVA—we’ll admit that both regions have earned a comparison with the top of California’s class. 

For the 2020 Red Stake Cabernet, Tomé went to both renowned AVAs, combining them in a plush, complex, and well-balanced Cab. Aromas of lilac, violets, chocolate-covered cherry, cassis, and licorice precede a plush and generous palate, where powerful tannins and a gentle swell of acidity carry black fruit and baking spice notes to the finish. 

Much like Northern California, the Columbia Valley contains a wide range of soils, elevations, and exposures that can yield vastly different Cabernet expressions. With a rolling landscape and alluvial soils, framed by peaks and rivers, Wahluke Slope is one of the warmest AVAs in the state, known for concentrated, dark-fruited Cabernets. Farther south, the Red Mountain AVA comprises just over 4,000 acres of hot, windy, high-elevation terrain that delivers power, energy, and formidable tannic structure. 

Robert Tomé discovered his love for wine while working at some of Northern Italy’s finest hotels, restaurants, and private golf clubs. While there, he trained with the Italian Association of Sommeliers, and when he returned to the US, he began a successful importing venture. Yet Washington’s exceptional vineyards were calling, so he sold his company, hired celebrated winemaker Victor Palencia, and started making small-batch wines under his eponymous label. 

Red Stake is his boldest bottle, displaying all the power and grace that make the Columbia Valley—and its top AVAs—a premier Cabernet destination.