2004 Merlot
Our 2004 Merlot is full of complex fruit flavors — bright red raspberry and cherry from the Merlot and dark brooding fruit from the Cabernet. This fruit is kept fresh and lively by the wines bright acidity and smooth, rolling tannins. The wine has intensity and concentration with a hint of mineralness. The wine's lively acidity and bright fruit which will pair nicely with rich meals.
The grapes for this wine were handpicked and handsorted to ensure that only the best grapes were used. We fermented the fruit in small open-top containers no taller than they are wide to extract greater flavor and color by having more juice in contact with the grape skins. After gently pressing the wine from the skins the wine aged in small oak barrels for twenty months. During barrel aging we gravity racked the wine off its lees with a siphon. Separate lots were blended and bottled in the summer of 2006
- 82% Merlot
- 18% Cabernet Sauvignon
- 55% Alder Ridge, 45% Red Mountain
This is a smooth blend of Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills Merlot, with a generous (18%) supplement of Cabernet Sauvignon. It's consistent with previous efforts — satiny smooth, glossy and somewhat impenetrable. The tightly wound fruits taste of ripe raspberry, and the bright acidity adds intensity to the toasty, coffee-inflected finish. This is good winemaking, the wine is dense, supple and extracted. ...(90)
More reviews
Paul Gregutt
2004 Murray Cuvee
The 2004 Murray Cuvee is packed with lots of ripe fruit with just a hint of chocolate and almond. It has an extremely smooth palate that just floats over your tongue and lingers in your mouth.
- 61% Merlot
- Alder Ridge
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
- 31% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
- Alder Ridge
- 8% Cabernet Franc
- Alder Ridge
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon
Hightower 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon is a velvety wine with lots of sweet cherry, berry and violet aromas intermingled with notes of leather, cedar and vanilla. The small amount of Cabernet Franc helps to create a spicy, round finish that stays with you for a long time.
The grapes for this wine were handpicked and handsorted to ensure that only the best grapes were used. We fermented the fruit in small open-top containers no taller than they are wide to extract greater flavor and color by having more juice in contact with the grape skins. After gently pressing the wine from the skins the wine aged in small oak barrels for twenty months. During barrel aging we gravity racked the wine off its lees with a siphon. Separate lots were blended and bottled in the spring of 2005.
-
96% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Artz and E. & E. Shaw Vineyards on Red Mountain
- Alder Ridge
- Pepper Bridge
-
4% Cabernet Franc
- Alder Ridge
Hightower's Columbia Valley Cab brings in fruit from Artz and Shaw vineyards on Red Mountain, Alder Ridge in the Horse Heaven Hills, and Pepper Bridge in Walla Walla. Smooth, rich and chocolatey, it falls into a satiny style ... This is well-made and certainly brings the tastes that consumers love right to front and center — sweet fruit and rich chocolate. I like the subtle snap of raspberry that hits you right at the back of the throat. (88)
Paul Gregutt
2003 Pepper Bridge Vineyard Walla Walla Valley Red Wine
The Pepper Bridge Vineyard Red Wine is exactly half Merlot and half Cabernet Sauvignon and is full of typical Walla Walla Valley terroir: berry fruits and with a delicious hint of mint, wrapped with silky tannins with a lovely finish of lingering roses.
- 50% Cabernet Sauvignon
- 50% Merlot
"The 2003 Hightower Red 'Pepper Bridge Vineyard' is a stunningly delicious red with very European styling. The aroma is lovely black cherry and black raspberry. The flavor blends cassis and black cherry with hints of mocha and vanilla. The finish is amazingly fruity yet powerfully long. This is a superb example of Walla Walla Red Wine."
McCarthy & Schiering Newsletter January, 2006
2003 Red Mountain Red Wine
The glorious grapes of Red Mountain were the primary reason for us packing up our household and winery - forklift and all - and moving to Red Mountain. Red Mountain grapes have been our favorite grapes from our first vintage in 1997.
So, finally, we have our first ever 100% Red Mountain wine - our 2003 Red Mountain Red Wine - from E & E Shaw and Artz Vineyards. A Cabernet dominant blend. It aged for 19 long months in oak before it rested an additional 9 months in bottle. It's a beautiful wine, showing the grace and power for which Red Mountain fruit is renowned. Though concentrated & dark, it sustains an elegant mouth-feel throughout the palate.
-
90% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
-
10% Merlot
- Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
"The 2003 Hightower Red Mountain Red is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot from two vineyards on Red Mountain, Artz and E & E Shaw. It has a beautiful aroma of red currant and plum. The oak component is downplayed allowing the wine's pure fruit to show through. On the palate, one immediately tastes layers of complexity. The flavors of plum, currant and cassis jump out. This is a delicious wine from the AVA where Tim and Kelly Hightower will eventually farm their own fruit from a 15-acre vineyard."
McCarthy & Schiering Newsletter May, 2006
2003 Merlot
The 2003 Merlot is mostly Merlot with just a touch of Cabernet Franc (4%), resulting in a beautifully structured, well-integrated, complex little wine full of big, juicy cherries.
-
96% Merlot
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain 32%
- Alder Ridge 32%
- Pepper Bridge 32%
-
4% Cabernet Franc
- Alder Ridge
"Smooth, hard and glossy, with tightly wound fruits dappled with light herbs. The mix of plum, cherry, coffee and earth is perfectly balanced, and the wine shows good density and extract. Grapes are from Red Mountain, Walla Walla and Horse Heaven. Score: 92"
Paul Gregutt, Wine Enthusiast October, 2006
2003 Murray Cuvee
The Murray Cuvee inaugural 2003 vintage is full of dark plum and blackberry aromas with subtle hints of vanilla and a long lingering finish.
- 69% Cabernet Sauvignon
- 31% Merlot
- Alder Ridge (40%)
- Pepper Bridge (30%)
- Red Mountain (30%)
2002 Merlot
Hightower 2002 Merlot's deep ruby color and hints of tobacco wrap around delicious plum and black cherry flavors. The supple tannins provide strong backbone and its lively acidity will partner perfectly with most foods.
-
100% Merlot
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain (46%)
- Alder Ridge (31%)
- Pepper Bridge (23%)
"Floral nose of Lavendar, rose, blackberry jam and herb; clean berry and cherry flavors, mouthwatering acidity...good with food...limited production."
-San Franscisco Chronicle Wine Selections
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Hightower 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon is a big wine with deep rich color and flavor. A decadent, full-bodied wine with hints of chocolate, cherry and blackberry. The wine finishes with soft tannins.
-
93% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
- Alder Ridge
- Pepper Bridge
-
7% Cabernet Franc
- Alder Ridge
"Enticing, complex nose of black/red fruit precedes mouth-filling flavors that lean toward black fruit such as currant, plum and blackberry, mingled with black cherry, vanilla and spice; nicely balanced by firm structure and soft, yet plentiful tannins. Score: 90"
Richard Kinssies & Howard G. Goldberg, The Wine News
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Hightower 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon opens with an exquisite nose of sweet red fruits and blackberries with hints of leather, clove, tobacco, and vanilla. On the palate, this full-bodied wine balances cassis, black cherries, and plum flavors with a powerful, structured and velvet-textured mouth feel, culminating in a long finish.
-
88% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain (35%)
- Alder Ridge (27%)
- Pepper Bridge (26%)
-
4% Merlot
- Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
-
8% Cabernet Franc
- Alder Ridge
2001 Merlot
Exceptional grape sources and care in winemaking made the 2001 Hightower Merlot deliciously aromatic and well balanced. The wine's aromatics exhibit rich blue fruits with notes of smoke and sweet oak. On the palate, the medium bodied, elegant wine offers dark cherry flavors together with soft, elegant tannins akin to coarse silk.
-
88% Merlot
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
- Alder Ridge
- Pepper Bridge
-
6% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alder Ridge
-
6% Cabernet Franc
- Alder Ridge
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Exceptional grape sources and care in winemaking made the 2000 Hightower Cabernet Sauvignon deliciously aromatic and velvet textured. The wine's aromatics exhibit dried cherry, cassis and dark berry fruit with notes of cedar and tobacco. On the palate, the medium bodied, elegant wine offers lush berry and plum flavors together with round, velvety tannins. We produced 570 cases
-
96% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
- Alder Ridge
- Pepper Bridge
-
4% Merlot
- Artz Vineyard on Red Mountain
- Boushey
2000 Merlot
The nose has a complex array of aromas dominated by black plum and berry fruits supported by undertones of spice and vanilla oak. The spice notes are subtle and sweet, not pungent. The mouth feel is silky and well layered with soft tannins. Plum flavors linger on the extended finish. We produced 270 cases
-
90% Merlot
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
- Boushey
-
10% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alder Ridge
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon
Initially, the cool summer of 1999 appeared to be a challenging one for grape growers and winemakers, until late August when the sun warmed the Columbia Valley to near perfect grape ripening conditions. The fine weather held through the end of harvest, ripening the small berried grape clusters perfectly. The cool summer developed intense, rich flavor and color in the grapes while the hot fall ripened the fruit and rounded out the grape tannins. Consequently, the wines of 1999 have greater depth of flavor and complexity than the luscious, ripe wines from the extraordinarily hot 1998 vintage. 1998 was reputed to be the best vintage of the decade in Washington, but we believe that 1999 outshines it. The nose has a complex array of black plum, licorice and caramel. The mouth feel is silky and well layered with soft tannins. Berry flavors linger on the long finish. We produced 425 cases
-
78% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Pepper Bridge
- Artz and Shaw Vineyard on Red Mountain
- Alder Ridge
-
22% Merlot
- Boushey
- Artz Vineyard on Red Mountain
- Pepper Bridge
1998 Cabernet Sauvignon
The extremely warm weather we experienced in 1998 produced a wine that is full of ripe, luscious fruit. The nose has a lovely array of dark cherry, currant, and black pepper; the mouth feel is complex and full bodied with soft, round tannins and a long, engaging finish. We produced 360 cases.
-
75% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Pepper Bridge
- Red Mountain
- Alder Ridge
-
5% Cabernet Franc
- Seven Hills
- Pepper Bridge
-
20% Merlot
- Boushey
- Otis Vineyards
1997 Cabernet Sauvignon
It has a lush nose of chocolate, black cherry and cedar. It is a wine of great structure with a mouth feel of soft, round, full tannins that carry the fruit to a long lingering finish. We produced 220 cases
-
78% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Red Mountain
- Otis Vineyards
-
12% Cabernet Franc
- Seven Hills
- Pepper Bridge
- Stout
-
10% Merlot
- Stout