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2016 Leonetti Cellar Walla Walla Reserve Red

Not Currently In Auction

Latest Sale Price

February 8, 2026 - $155

Estimate

RATINGS

99Jeb Dunnuck

...offers sensational notes of crème de cassis, graphite, crushed rocks, smoke tobacco, and perfectly integrated oak. These all flow to a ripe, powerful, yet seamless and incredibly elegant wine that has nothing out of place, building tannins, awesome purity of fruit, and a massive finish...made in a more elegant style...

97James Suckling

Beautifully stylish, this is a complex...attractive, barrel-derived charcuterie, built around precisely ripe blackcurrants, red plums and dark cherries, as well as cedary-tobacco nuances and dark chocolate. So classic. The palate has a succulent, smooth and astutely groomed texture with tannins that are so nicely worked and deliver length with elegance. Black-cherry, blood-plum and dark-chocolate flavors abound.

96The Wine Advocate

...the king of the range with expressive, bold fruit that demonstrates finesse and power, with crème de cassis, blackberry skin and dark cherry jus that connects with a spiced core and oaky essence on the nose. Full-bodied on the palate, the wine bursts with flavor teeming with tension and ripe tannins... Lush and round, it ends with a long, thought-provoking finish with impeccable balance.

96Stephen Tanzer

...vibrant scents and flavors of blackberry, cassis, boysenberry, licorice and violet. Incredibly silky and concentrated on the palate, with terrific mineral lift intensifying the wine's fruit. The remarkably long, slowly building finish features noble tannins.

95Wine Spectator

Graceful, polished and dynamic, with layered blackberry, toasty allspice and espresso flavors that take on richness toward refined tannins.

94Wine Enthusiast

...aromas reveal notes of coffee, star anise, black cherry, plum and spice. Plump, saturated, palate-coating fruit flavors follow with highly structured acidity and tannins backing it up.

94CellarTracker

PRODUCER

Leonetti Cellar

Leonetti Cellar was the first winery in Washington State to produce wines that earned acclaim from out-of-state collectors. Founded in 1977 by Gary Figgins, who still runs the winery with his wife and son, the Walla Walla Valley winery today includes 214 acres of vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Though Figgins had no formal training in winemaking when he and his wife started making wine in the 1970s, Figgins comes from a family of Italian immigrants who homesteaded in the Walla Walla Valley in the early 20th century. His grandparents served him diluted wine when he was a child, and his interest in winemaking was piqued in the 1970s when he visited Napa Valley. Leonetti’s signature wines are big, lush Cabs and Merlots and Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that “no one on earth makes Cabernets and Merlots with quite the same panache as Gary Figgins…They are sexy, lush and boisterous.”

REGION

United States, Washington, Walla Walla Valley

Walla Walla Valley AVA likes to call itself the Napa Valley of Washington, and given the concentration of well-reviewed wineries in the appellation, the comparison is understandable. The Walla Walla appellation is comprised of 340,000 acres, of which 1,200 acres are vineyards. Walla Walla is located in the southeastern corner of Washington and it extends slightly into northeastern Oregon. It is named after the Walla Walla River Valley, and the city of Walla Walla is the commercial center of Washington’s wine industry. The city was founded in the 1840s by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a trading post, but as early as the 1850s farmers were planting grapes for winemaking. Prohibition shuttered winemaking in the early 20th century, but a winemaking renaissance started in the 1970s when Leonetti Cellars, still one of the state’s most acclaimed wineries, started producing acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon. Walla Walla’s AVA status was awarded in 1984 and today there are more than 100 wineries. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most frequently planted grape, followed by Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese Chardonnay and Viognier.

VINTAGE

2016 Leonetti Cellar Walla Walla Reserve Red