The 2007 Ciel du Cheval is a blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 40% Merlot, and 15 % Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 40% new French oak for 20 months. Medium purple in color, it offers up an enticing nose of pain grille, pencil lead, herbs, olives, violets, cassis, and black currant. Ripe, smooth-textured, and mouth-filling, it has enough structure to evolve for several years. This lengthy effort will offer prime drinking from 2013 to 2027. Andrew Will, located on Vashon Island, a short ferry-ride from Seattle, is where Chris Camarda fashions his blended, Bordeaux-style wines. Without prompting Camarda told me (as he did Lettie Teague in a Wall Street Journal interview) that business has been very difficult, that he is cutting production, and that in the 2008 vintage he has fashioned two varietal wines that can sell within the range that American wine consumers are willing to spend. That said, the current releases of Andrew Will wines from the 2007 vintage are as good as or better than anything Camarda has done before.Tel. (206) 463-9227; www.andrewwill.com

A completely different blend from the winery’s 2006 Ciel, this reflects Chris Camarda’s growing enchantment with Cabernet Franc, which is now 45% of the blend. Most of the rest is Merlot—a Right Bank style. The concept works. It captures the sleek minerality of the site, and puts the fruit into tight, laser-like focus. The wine seems almost crystalline—sharp-edged and reflective, with penetrating angles and offset flavors.——P.G.(8/1/2010)—— 96