Grosgrain Vineyards · Estate Cabernet
2022 Grosgrain Walla Walla Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, USA
A place on your wine list
Matt Austin's first Cabernet from 100 percent estate fruit, grown at 1,400 feet on the Oregon side of Walla Walla. James Suckling 96. Built for a lamb or mushroom list.
Winery SRP $49 per bottle
Trade offer. One-case minimum. Orders are subject to account review.
Why this bottle belongs on the list
Two selling points.
Then the market.
Matt Austin. Punk guitar, tax law, then the cellar.
Matt left a tax desk. Kelly left fashion in Los Angeles. They won a rundown Walla Walla property at auction. He studied enology at the Northwest Wine Academy, then cellarmaster at Dunham Cellars. This 2022 is the first Cabernet they bottled from 100 percent of their own fruit.
Highest vineyard in the AVA. Shallow silt over basalt.
Grosgrain Vineyard sits at 1,400 feet on the Oregon side of Walla Walla, in the SeVein development. Shallow wind-blown loess over cracked volcanic basalt. Brutal wind. Tiny berries, thick skins. Decanter called 2022 the coolest, longest Washington season since 2011.
Professional scores
James Suckling 96 on this vintage.
Named critic scores on this vintage. These are press ratings, not the Wine-Searcher aggregate.
The buyer's perspective
What the guest
hears first.
James Suckling 96: iodine, leather, red fruit, succulent tannins. Staff can sell it in one sentence: first estate Cabernet, highest vineyard in the valley, pour it with lamb.
Winemaker's corner
Northwest Wine Academy · Dunham Cellars · Grosgrain Vineyards
Matt
Austin
Matt used to play punk guitar, then practiced tax law, then hated it. In 2014 he and Kelly left California for the Pacific Northwest. He enrolled at the Northwest Wine Academy in Seattle, worked Woodinville cellars, and took a cellarmaster job at Dunham Cellars that brought them to Walla Walla.
Kelly was a fashion designer in Los Angeles. She designed the barcode-stripe Grosgrain label, a nod to the ribbed fabric that looks like vineyard rows. They won the first five acres at auction. The 80-acre Grosgrain Vineyard on the Oregon side followed.
This bottle is the first Cabernet Sauvignon from 100 percent estate fruit. Matt made it. Kelly designed it. James Suckling put 96 points on the 2022.
The estate
1,400 feet.
Oregon side.
First estate Cabernet.
Grosgrain Vineyard sits on the Oregon side of Walla Walla Valley, in the SeVein development, on a south-facing peak of the Vansycle basalt ridge. It tops out at 1,400 feet, among the higher sites in the AVA.
Old Milton Vineyard, at 785 feet on the Washington side, is the winery, tasting room, and Casa Grosgrain. The Cabernet fruit for this 2022 comes from the high Oregon vineyard: shallow silt over cracked volcanic basalt.
The house farms organically and bottles a wide range of varieties. This page is the 2022 estate Cabernet, 75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 13 percent Merlot, 12 percent Cabernet Franc.
2022 in the glass
Iodine.
Leather.
Red fruit.
James Suckling on the 2022: earthy mineral notes of iodine, leather and red fruit. Medium-bodied. Fresh, crunchy and delicious, with very fine, succulent tannins. Bright red currant, ripe mulberry, cedar box, toasted spice, and a streak of crushed pencil shaving. Not a heavy Washington Cabernet. Serve a little cool.
Menu and service
Built for a serious table.
- Herb roast lamb rack with root vegetables
- Wild mushrooms with thyme
- A Saturday roast that does not need a steakhouse speech
Serve near 60 to 62 F in a Bordeaux glass. The tannins are fine. A short decant if you want the iodine and leather to catch up with the red fruit.
Staff pairing clip
Food52: barbecue lamb, May 2025
The tableside introduction
“This is Grosgrain's first estate Cabernet, Matt Austin, 1,400 feet on the Oregon side of Walla Walla. James Suckling 96. Iodine, leather, red fruit. Pour it with lamb.”
Ready for your team
Put the story to work.
Shelf talker
A concise bottle story for guest-facing displays. No trade price.
Download PDFServer card
The pitch, menu matches, and service notes in a compact format.
Download PDFFull trade sheet
Person, site, tasting, market context, and the case offer.
Download PDFOrder the case
Put Grosgrain on the list.
First estate Cabernet. Highest vineyard in the valley. James Suckling 96. Trade $15 a bottle, $180 the twelve-bottle case, one-case minimum.
Trade offer. One-case minimum. Orders are subject to account review.
