Winemaker Notes
Elegant yet powerful, the 2018 Vintage Reserve reveals itself with layers of cassis, wet earth balanced by fine-grained tannins. Freshness and opulence interplay to create tension and complexity in the glass, with dark chocolate, peat moss, boysenberry, juniper and fennel.
This is a true expression of place and precise winemaking from Gundlach Bundschu's hillside vineyards in their cool maritime climate. That it is such a special wine is apropos, given it commemorates the 160th vintage after their ancestors found this place.
Blend: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Malbec, 3% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Vintage Reserve 160th Anniversary is a limited production, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon selected from the highest elevation parcel on the estate. This is another tour de force in Sonoma Cabernet. Its dense purple hue is followed by a sensational nose of blackberry and crème de cassis, licorice, crushed stone, and graphite, full-bodied richness, a deep, layered mid-palate, and mouth-coating (or mouth-numbing?) levels of tannins and extract. It needs to be forgotten for 5-7 years and will be another 30-year wine.
Rating: 95+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Vintage Reserve is a blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Malbec, 3% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. Youthful touches of cedar and vanilla give way to blackcurrant, mint chocolate, thyme, leather and charcuterie on the nose. The full-bodied palate offers powerful, dark fruit framed by grainy tannins and refreshing acidity, and it has a long, latent finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Leading with 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, this blends in small adds of Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. With generous oak and tannin, it opens in beef bouillon, clove, sage and blue fruit, with an intensity of tannin and hearty earthiness.
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.
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.