Star Lane Vineyard Astral Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
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The 2005 Star Lane Astrale Cabernet Sauvignon shows immense concentration, with huge, lush tannins that frame tightly layered cassis, blackberry, plum, coffee, chocolate, spice, vanilla and smoke flavors. Sporting a suppleness that belies its youth, the wine is drinking beautifully now. but we suspect it will offer collectors many years of pleasure to come.
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
A few issues back, Star Lane's basic Cabernet earned glowing praise, and this, its fancier sibling, does the same. Big, optimally ripened and positively plush on the palate, it delivers a wealth of luscious, curranty fruit with the sweet, vanilla-bean trappings of first-rate oak making it all the more enticing. It is so fruity that its late-arriving tannins come as a surprise reminder that it is still very young, and a better wine will yet await the collector who can exercise five years of patience.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe, plush plum, spice, currant and mineral flavors are fleshy and intense, with wonderfully velvety tannins and a long, lingering finish. Drink now through 2014.
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Wine Enthusiast
This might be the most expensive Cab ever from Santa Barbara County. It’s certainly a serious wine, full-bodied and rich, with the finely ground tannins you find in Napa Valley. The flavors aren’t bad either, all about cassis, cherries, chocolate and cedar. Yet there’s an herbaceousness that calls to mind old-style Santa Ynez Cabs. Seems best now and for a few years.
Founded in 1996, Star Lane Vineyard was birthed from a 250-year vision instigated by the Dierberg family. Ten years into patient exploration for land to sustainably cultivate world class Bordeaux varietals, founders Jim and Mary eschewed the common path and saw unrealized potential in the Happy Canyon area of Santa Barbara County. Now in our second of 10-generation plan, we carry on a legacy of sustaining land through crafting high quality wine.
Since the early 19th century most of the acreage has been grazed to provide beef for local populations. This continues today and Star Lane Vineyard offers a slice of “old California” with ancient oak trees, pines, coastal chaparral, and numerous native plants. The Dierberg family planted east facing slopes in well drained silty-loam soils of various cobble content from magnesium rich serpentine to calcium/silica rich chert. Ranging from 750 to 1500 feet above sea level, it is one of the highest elevation vineyards in all of Santa Barbara County. The natural low vigor of the vines is excellent for developing flavors and depth in the wines while preserving freshness at reasonable potential alcohol levels.
In 2013 President and Winemaker Tyler Thomas joined the team to further drive discovery of the property through wine cultivation. Our focus is on small lot fermentations, minimally handled, to help discover the inherent nature of this varied property. “Great wine is discovered, not made,” Thomas noted, “and the goal of the winery is to serve the vineyard and overall sustainability of the property.”
By leveraging control over all our farming, a state-of-the-art facility, and simple winemaking designed to usher the fruit to the bottle, we produce numerous bottlings of certified sustainable Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Syrah from Star Lane Vineyard.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.