We were fortuate to have two special occasions in the last two weeks, so we opened a special bottle of red wine to celebrate on each evening.

Both were 2010 Cabernet Sauvignons from Red Mountain: Force Majeure Collaboration Series and Obelisco Estate Electrum.

These are two stellar Washington wines that both have the WOW factor!

Force Majeure 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Collaboration Series, Force Majeure Vineyard, Red Mountain

This Red Mountain beauty is 100% Cab Sauv created by rockstar winemaker, Chris Gorman. This is one big, intense, complex, bold, inky red that exemplifies the terroir, the attributes of our favorite grape and the stamp of Chris Gorman.

We’ve been fans of Chris’s red wines for a few years now, but this one takes the prize — an amazing, heaven-in-a-glass special-occasion wine.

Force Majeure is French for “superior force” and was chosen to describe “the relentless, powerful elements of Nature that form the terroir of our vineyards.” The Wine Advocate recently scored all of the Force Majeure Collaboration Series red wines from the 2010 and 2011 vintages between 94 and 97 points.

2010 Obelisco Estate Electrum, Obelisco Estate Vineyard, Red Mountain

We’ve applauded Obelisco’s Electrum since we first met winemaker Doug Long a few years ago. But this vintage is our favorite, probably because the estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 7.5% Merlot and 2.5% Malbec to round out the rich flavors.

The 2010 is almost black in color, full-bodied, lush, velvety and simply exceptional. Not surprisingly, Electrum wins Double Golds every year at the Seattle Wine Awards and sells out quickly.

In case you’re wondering, Electrum is an alloy of gold, silver and other trace metals, carefully layered at the top of a Pharoah’s obelisk to reflect the sun.

These two show-stopper reds are our recommendations for your next special occasion … or just because you can!

Cheers!