A Tasting of Old and Recent Soos Creek Wines

A visit from Dave Larsen let me look back at some favorite bottles and vintages

I've been a fan of Dave Larsen's Soos Creek wines for many years. Writing in the Seattle Times (4/20/2005) I summarized the winery's history up to that point this way:

"No one can accuse Soos Creek’s Dave Larsen of impatience. Yet another member of the Boeing Wine Club who graduated to the big leagues, Larsen made his first commercial vintage in 1989, but waited another 15 years to retire from his fulltime work as a financial planner and take on winemaking full time.

Now he has time to oversee construction of a new winery building at his home in south King county, run the Sequim to Port Angeles marathon, and ramp up production of his five wines all the way to 1000 cases. “I have no grandiose plans of getting too big,” he explains. “I like being small, doing everything myself.”

Soos Creek makes only red wines, easily spotted on local retail shelves by their distinctive label graphic of a horse outlined in thick black ink [designed by the legendary xxxx}. Larsen was smart enough to line up impeccable vineyard sources early in the game, and draws his fruit from the Ciel du Cheval (Red Mountain), Champoux (Horse Heaven Hills) and Charbonneau vineyards. He remembers seeking out that fruit “because Woodward Canyon, Leonetti and Quilceda Creek were doing great things with it.” At the time, he wondered why more people weren’t doing the same thing.

Now they are, and such exceptional grapes are hard to come by. The current lineup of Soos Creek wines includes two standout single vineyard reds. The 2002 Soos Creek “Champoux Vineyard” Red ($33) is a broad bruiser of a wine, friendly as a lap dog and loaded with black cherry fruit, cocoa and toast. The 2002 “Ciel du Cheval” Cabernet Sauvignon ($38) is even better, with earthy scents of barn and fur wedded to licorice, black cherry and cassis, then finished with vanilla and bitter chocolate. Larsen kindly opened a ’95 Soos Creek cabernet when I asked how well these wines cellared. Three days later, when I finished the last of it, it was still smooth, plummy and detailed with evolved fruit, spice and floral components."

Last week Dave Larsen and his friend Rick Hollingsworth paid me a visit and we tasted a stunning vertical of Soos Creek wines dating all the way back to 1999. What struck me as I read the post from 18 years ago is how little has changed. Ciel du Cheval and  Champoux are still the choice vineyards. The wines still age beautifully, open slowly and benefit from what seem to be reductive winemaking choices.

I reviewed the 2018s about a year ago and found them as good as ever. I'm republishing those notes with scores this time around. Note the prices – they've barely budged in the past two decades. As with the vertical of library wines Dave brought last week, the Red Mountain wines were the best of the best for me.

Soos Creek 2018 Sundance Red

It's rare to find a $25 red blend made with grapes from vineyards of the order of Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun and Elephant Mountain. But here it is! Roughly 60/40 Merlot/Cabernet, juicy and fragrant, a bit leathery and chewy but loaded with cassis and black cherry fruit. Make this your go-to bbq wine. 200 cases; 14.1%; $25 90/100

Soos Creek 2018 Artist Series #18 Red

This 60/40 Cab Franc/Cab Sauv blend is sourced from the Dineen, Ciel du Cheval, Klipsun and Elephant Mountain vineyards. Dave Larsen's long experience sourcing from these vineyards makes such exceptional quality at this price possible. A streak of vanilla runs down the spine, with sturdy black cherry, black olive, coffee grounds and brown stem flavors layering on through the finish. 125 cases; 14.1%; $30 91/100

Soos Creek 2018 Terrible Beauty Cabernet Sauvignon

This is pure Cabernet from four top-tier vineyards. Nothing terrible here! This is a beautifully-rendered wine with firm tannins, roasted black cherry flavors, a touch of cut tobacco, mocha and an elegant, lightly buttery, layered, lingering finish. 125 cases; 14.1%; $30 92/100

Soos Creek 2018 Elephant Mountain Vineyard Red

This vineyard is set in the nested Rattlesnake Hills AVA at the higher south-facing slopes of the Yakima Valley. The blend is 75%Cabernet Sauvignon/25% Merlot with lush cherry fruit flavors streaked with cut tobacco. The tannins are ripe and proportionate, keeping the fruit forward. The fact that this was still drinking well after being open for three days suggests that this will cellar nicely over the next decade. 100 cases; 14.1%; $3092/100

Soos Creek 2018 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red

This single vineyard Bordeaux blend is two thirds Cabernet, one third Merlot. When first opened the tannins may seem drying and tend to overtake the classic fruit flavors at the core. Aerate aggressively (always a good plan with young Cabs). The flavors favor black fruits, leafy tobacco, graphite and gravel, with good density and length. This was tasted over three days with improvement every day. It will cellar well for at least a decade. 150 cases; 14.1%; $40 93/100

Soos Creek 2018 Red Mountain Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

This pure Cabernet is sourced from two of the pioneering vineyards on Red Mountain—Klipsun and Ciel du Cheval. Already a joy to drink this clearly has the muscle and stuffing to age and develop further complexity. Loganberry, black cherry, cassis, a whiff of smoke, a touch of tobacco and hints of graphite all lead through the extended finish. 125 cases; 14.1%; $50 93/100

My notes on the library wines are sketchy and I did not assign numbers to them. I post them as written. My favorite overall was the 2009 Ciel du Cheval. The comparisons between similar vintages and blends from Champoux and Ciel du Cheval were also highlights of the tasting. The 2004 Soleil was from magnum and as you might expect lasted into the next couple of days. Mrs. G and a dinner guest finally polished it off with lip-smacking enthusiasm.

1999 ­– small berries. Lush aromas. Intense fruit still. Champoux vineyard. Lovely old wine. Lots of life left. Gets spicy as it breathes.

DL:  The fruit component softened over time as the vines aged. More plush when double decanted. Harmonious. It's still got fruit. Only thing missing is some aftertaste and length.

2004 Soleil 44%CS/6%CF Champoux and 42/8 Ciel. Also lovely aromatics, beautiful integration, new oak seems stronger. Darker and more tannic but smooth, powerful finish. Coffee and tobacco show barrel impact now softened and well integrated. Starting to fade on day three.

DL:  The only Ciel/Champoux blend I've done. I wasn't originally happy with them individually so I tried blending them. It was a big hit at Taste WA on a panel with Leonetti and Quilceda Creek and Kiona.

2008 Champoux (Bdx blend) - Classic WA Cab/BDX blend. 77/17/6 CS/CF/M. Good stuff, tannins are starting to dominate, dark fruits and savory notes. May be close to a peak.

DL:  I love this wine. I always have. This is killer. This got 1st place ahead of 2008 Quilceda in a top WA Cab blind tasting.

2008 Ciel (Bdx blend) 76/15/9 CS/CF/M. Almost black in the center. '82 and '94 blocks. Supple, smooth, all still in proportion. Tannins are fine-grained, you feel them in the finish. This should go a long way still.

2009 Champoux 87/8/5 This is the most youthful so far. Generous but lighter fruit, still a bit grapey, with those rather aggressive tannins that have a shade of green. Drinks well but seems to have a bit of a small hole in the middle. Better on second day, more blue fruits, hole has closed up.

2009 Ciel du Cheval 56/22/22 Getting really dark here. Classic WA Bdx blend. Powerful, dark, layered, my favorite so far. Layers of savory herb, earth, black fruits, coffee. Still great on day two. Just a classic start to finish.

DL:  More of a Bdx blend. Cab alone was too tannic. I wasn't fining with egg whites. Added CF/M to soften it maybe.

2010 Champoux 84/10/6 CS/M/CF Less concentration, more acid, a bit green and starting to crack up.

2010 Ciel 59/33/8 CS/CF/M The consistency of style across all these vintages and different blends is very impressive. This is the most subtle so far, with delicate layers of tea, tobacco, pie fruits, lovely lemony acids.  Really a nice wine. But didn't hold up as well on the second day.

2011 Ciel 42/33/25 CS/M/CF Plenty of acid, still on the lean side. Improved on second day. Spice, plum, light pastry flavors. Nice bottle from a tough vintage.

A most enjoyable tasting adventure. If you somehow don't know about Soos Creek, it remains one of the best under-the-radar bargains for top tier Washington reds. Note that the 2019 vintage is currently listed for sale. Not yet reviewed by me.

https://www.sooscreekwine.com