2021 Matthews Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 6pk 6x750ml

Matthews Winery sits at the intersection of legacy and ambition. Founded in 1992, purchased by the Otis family in 2008, and now owned by the fifth-generation agricultural Mercer family — whose roots in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills date back to 1886 — it's a Columbia Valley producer with staying power. In 2021, they made the kind of hire that makes collectors pay attention: the Quilceda Creek winemaking triumvirate of Alex Stewart, Jesse Schmidt, and Hal Iverson. This 2021 Cabernet is their first vintage together, and it's a statement of intent.

The Columbia Valley's long, consistent growing season produces wines with complexity and balance baked in by geography. For this vintage, harvest dates moved a full month later — from late September to late October — and yields were cropped down by 30% to increase concentration. The fruit came from seven appellations and fifteen vineyards across Royal Slope, Red Mountain, and Horse Heaven Hills. Fermentation stretched to a two-day cold soak, fourteen days on the skins, and another fourteen days of maceration — double the old protocol. Then nineteen months in French oak, 25% new. The result is a Cabernet blended with 15% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec that punches well above $32.

In the glass: aromas of black cherry, herb, flower, and chocolate. Plump dark fruit on the palate, beautifully proportioned, with tannins that give a gentle squeeze and a texture Wine Spectator called "plenty of richness." The balance is spot-on — not all flash, just complete from front to back. Owen Bargreen scored it 94 points. Wine Spectator and James Suckling both landed at 92. The kind of scores you see on Cabs twice the price.

$32 for a 92–94 point Columbia Valley Cabernet from the team behind Quilceda Creek. The math is the close.