Trousse Chemise Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley 2018

Anne Sery Martindale has been making serious waves with her Pinots as of late, especially amongst the top restaurants in NYC.

Her wines were already the by-the-glass pour at Chinese Tuxedo, Lure Fishbar, the Mandarin Oriental, Chef Carmellini’s The Dutch, Little Park, and the Westlight among others… And that’s before Super-Somm Rajat Parr tapped Anne to make an exclusive Pinot Noir just for Daniel Boulud’s restaurants.

But the Denis Dubourdieu protege had cut her teeth at the University of Bordeaux and despite all the Pinot success, she still had the itch to make a truly great Bordeaux-styled American wine. Of course, Oregon would be an unlikely home, so she began a hunt that took months to complete finally landing a few hours north in Washington State.

She decided to dip her toes in the Washington water and make a Trousse Chemise Columbia Valley Cabernet the past two years while she made new contacts each vintage.

But in 2018, in her third year, Anne dove head first into the deep end with the help of her mentor, Laurent Montalieu, securing two extremely precious contracts with some of the oldest, most-established vineyards in the state – setting the stage for refined, structured reds reminiscent of her Left Bank origins.

Anne did me the courtesy of extending the terms of the NDA to me so I could know exactly what’s in the bottle, but I obviously can’t tell you. But I can tell you she got the grapes for peanuts and the reason for the owner’s discretion is quite obvious.