The blend for the 2013 Creative Impulse is 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot. Deep ruby in color with a complex bouquet of cassis, mint, anise, menthol, violet, nutmeg, earth, and gravel.
95 Points - Wine Advocate
Winemaker Notes: Deep ruby in color with a complex bouquet of cassis, mint, anise, menthol, violet, nutmeg, earth, and gravel. Multilayered with exquisite texture and an incredibly long finish. On the palate, notes of black cherry, cassis, black plum, mint, cedar, tobacco, espresso, bittersweet chocolate, incense, gravel, and baking spices. The vibrant, long finish echoes notes of cigar tobacco, cassis, and mint. Elegant tannins, crisp acidity, perfect balance, and high palate concentration suggest significant aging potential. This wine should reach maturity in 10-12 years, and properly cellared, this wine will gracefully evolve for 20+ years.
Fermentation: The wine had a pre-fermentation maceration of 155 hours and a post-fermentation maceration of 55 hours. The wine was fermented with 100% native yeasts and was punched down by hand 2 times each day during macerations and fermentation. All individual wine components, including free run and press fractions, were kept separate until final blending. The wine was racked three times and not fined. The wine was very lightly filtered to capture any remaining lees.
Cooperage: The wine had an elevage of 30 months in French Oak puncheons. The oak profile is 60% new French oak (predominantly from Troncais and Alliers) and 40% neutral French oak.
Cases Produced: 135
Ratings
Comments
95 Points
06/30/2017
This wine is a scintillating blend of 69% Cabernet and 31% Merlot which was sourced from the famed DuBrul Vineyard, managed by the Sheils family. This wine opens with a deep bouquet of black tea, cassis, black raspberry, baking spices and suggestions of coffee grounds. This leads to dense flavors of black cherry, black tea, mocha, crushed as the finish continues to linger on the tongue. The wine has an incredible mouthfeel, texture, viscosity and minerality. It is a true stunner which will cellar gracefully for a decade or more. Drink 2017-2035.
Owen Bargreen, International Wine Report
06/30/2016
The Lafleur of Washington state (despite the differences in the blend), the incredibly elegant, seamless 2013 Creative Impulse Dubrul Vineyard (69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot) comes from Cote Bonneville's estate DuBrul vineyard, which is located on the northern edge of the Yakima Valley AVA. Possessing an incredible perfume of kirsch, black raspberries, forest floor, dried herbs and hints of flowers, this fabulous 2013 is medium to full-bodied, graceful and lightly textured on the palate, yet still carries beautiful intensity and length, with ultra-fine tannin and impeccable balance. It's certainly approachable today, given its overriding sense of elegance, yet it needs significant air to show at its best, and it really deserves 4-5 years of cellaring. It will keep for two decades.
Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate
91+ Points
Nov. 2016
Bright ruby-red. Dark raspberry, mocha, sexy oak spices, bitter chocolate, licorice and a touch of peppery herbs on the nose. Juicy, savory and tightly wound, conveying enticing salinity to its dark currant and black plum flavors, plus spices and bitter chocolate from the Merlot. Finishes firmly tannic but not dry, with excellent length and peppery lift.Drinking Window: 2019 – 2028.
Stephen Tanzer , Vinous Media
