Cadence Winery

Ben Smith and Gaye McNutt founded Cadence Winery in 1998 as a Seattle urban-winery operation focused exclusively on Bordeaux variety reds from Red Mountain. Smith trained as an engineer at Boeing and came to wine through the Boeing Wine Club, eventually serving as the club's head of grape procurement and winning the annual winemaking competition three times, the last time in 1997 just before launching Cadence. McNutt is an attorney and financial analyst, and the two have continued to run the winery together. The Seattle base meant Cadence began as an urban winery sourcing all of its fruit from contracted Red Mountain growers, a model used by a number of west-side Washington producers at the time. The Bordeaux-variety focus was deliberate from the outset, and the early Cadence bottlings established a stylistic identity built around Cabernet Franc presence and restrained, age-worthy structure rather than the riper, more extracted profile common to many early Red Mountain reds.

• Smith and McNutt founded Cadence in 1998 as a Seattle urban winery sourcing Red Mountain fruit
• Smith came to wine through the Boeing Wine Club, serving as its head of grape procurement and winning the club competition three times through 1997
• McNutt is an attorney and financial analyst; the couple continues to run the winery together
• Bordeaux-variety focus from the start, with Cabernet Franc as a defining presence in the house style

Smith and McNutt purchased 10 acres on Red Mountain before the winery itself was founded, holding the land for several years before planting the first vines in 2004. The first Cara Mia harvest came in 2006, and the vineyard is farmed by Dick Boushey, one of Washington's most respected viticulturalists. Cara Mia is planted to the Bordeaux varieties used in the Cadence range, including Cabernet Sauvignon (clones 191 and 8 are used for the single-varietal bottling), Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Over time the estate has grown from a complement to contracted fruit into the source for essentially the entire lineup. The Ciel du Cheval Vineyard bottling, made from Jim Holmes' historic Red Mountain site over a long-standing working relationship, concluded with the 2018 vintage. The final Tapteil Vineyard release came in fall 2023. With those two retirements, Cadence is now functionally an estate-only producer working with a single Red Mountain site under direct management with Boushey.

• Cara Mia Vineyard on Red Mountain (10-acre parcel, 8.5 acres under vine): purchased pre-winery, first planted 2004, first harvest 2006
• Farmed by Dick Boushey; planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (clones 191 and 8 for the varietal bottling), Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot
• Ciel du Cheval Vineyard bottling retired after the 2018 vintage following a long-standing relationship with the Jim Holmes site
• Final Tapteil Vineyard release issued in fall 2023; Cadence is now essentially estate-only from Cara Mia

Cabernet Franc sits at the centre of the Cadence house style; Decanter's Clive Pursehouse has written that no winemaker in Washington State has the deft touch with Cabernet Franc that Ben Smith does. The Bel Canto bottling is built around Merlot and Cabernet Franc in a right-bank profile (the 2022 was 92% Cabernet Franc with a small Merlot component and no Petit Verdot), while Camerata leans into the left-bank register with more Cabernet Sauvignon and, in some recent vintages, more Merlot. Across the lineup the wines tend to show the herb-and-graphite lift of Cabernet Franc on the nose, restrained alcohol relative to many Red Mountain producers, and a tannic structure built for cellaring. The musical naming convention runs through the brand: Cadence itself, Bel Canto, Camerata, and Coda. The stylistic distance from the riper, Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant Red Mountain houses gives Cadence its position as one of the appellation's reference points for varietally expressive, structured Bordeaux blends.

• Cabernet Franc anchors the house style; Decanter has praised Ben Smith's deft touch with the variety
• Bel Canto is the right-bank style (Merlot and Cabernet Franc-led); the 2022 was 92% Cabernet Franc with a Merlot top-up
• Camerata is the left-bank style (Cabernet Sauvignon-led), with blend proportions shifting vintage to vintage
• Musical naming convention across the lineup: Cadence, Bel Canto, Camerata, and Coda

The current Cadence lineup is built almost entirely on Cara Mia estate fruit. Bel Canto is the right-bank-style Bordeaux blend, typically Cabernet Franc and Merlot-led. Camerata is the left-bank-style blend, typically Cabernet Sauvignon-led with proportions shifting by vintage. The Cara Mia Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a single-varietal estate bottling built from Cabernet Sauvignon clones 191 and 8. Coda is the second wine, drawing from barrels not selected for the estate or vineyard-designate bottlings, and has been 100% Cara Mia since 2019. A separate Coda Rose has been released in some recent vintages. Cadence has not made an ongoing Syrah, but a 2023 Coccinelle Bis Vineyard Syrah was produced as a one-off collaboration with Christophe Baron's Walla Walla site after Cadence was named honorary vintners by the Auction of Washington Wines, with proceeds from the Private Barrel Auction directed to charity. Production is small, and distribution runs through the mailing list and a limited specialty wholesale channel.

• Bel Canto: right-bank estate blend, typically Cabernet Franc and Merlot-led
• Camerata: left-bank estate blend, typically Cabernet Sauvignon-led; blend proportions vary year to year
• Cara Mia Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon: single-varietal estate bottling (Cabernet Sauvignon clones 191 and 8); Coda is the 100% Cara Mia second wine since 2019
• One-off 2023 Coccinelle Bis Vineyard Syrah (Christophe Baron, Walla Walla) made for the Auction of Washington Wines Private Barrel Auction (March 2024); small mailing-list-led distribution

Cadence operates squarely inside the Red Mountain AVA, Washington's smallest appellation, sitting at the eastern end of the Yakima Valley inside the broader Columbia Valley. The AVA is known for its warm days, sharp diurnal swings, low rainfall, and calcium-carbonate-rich, well-drained soils, conditions that produce densely structured Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with significant tannic backbone. The neighborhood includes Ciel du Cheval (Jim Holmes), Klipsun, Tapteil, Quintessence, and the estate vineyards of producers such as Hedges Family Estate, Col Solare, and Force Majeure, alongside winery-side operations including Quilceda Creek's Red Mountain fruit programs and Fidelitas. Cadence's transition to working only its own Cara Mia parcel, rather than continuing to buy from neighboring contracted sites, places it among a small group of Red Mountain producers operating from a single estate vineyard under direct farming management. The producer's restrained, Cabernet Franc-leaning house style provides a useful counterpoint to the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant ripeness more typical of the appellation.

• Red Mountain AVA: Washington's smallest appellation, inside the Yakima Valley and the broader Columbia Valley
• Warm days, sharp diurnal swings, low rainfall, and calcium-carbonate-rich soils; densely structured Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc
• Neighboring estates and growers include Ciel du Cheval (Jim Holmes), Klipsun, Tapteil, Quintessence, Hedges Family Estate, Col Solare, Force Majeure, Quilceda Creek, and Fidelitas
• Cadence's restrained, Cabernet Franc-leaning style provides a counterpoint to the riper Cabernet Sauvignon house styles more common to the AVA