Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
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Jeb Dunnuck
One of the finest vintages of this cuvée I’ve tasted, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a thrill a minute with its fabulous bouquet of crème de cassis, charcoal embers, spice, and subtle vanilla oak aromas and flavors. Possessing medium to full body, an incredibly layered, seamless texture, moderate acidity, and present, ripe tannins, it has some upfront charm given its purity of fruit and texture, but deserves 3-4 years of bottle age and is going to keep for two decades. This beauty rivals Ridge’s Monte Bello and is an incredible example of Cabernet Sauvignon grown in this mountain terroi
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Decanter
One of California’s original boutique wineries, Mount Eden Vineyards was founded in 1945 by Paul Masson and Martin Ray. Winemaker Jeffrey Patterson has led this low-yielding estate since 1981, attributing its success to wine-growing, rather than winemaking. Surprisingly the heritage of the winery’s Cabernet Sauvignon vines can be traced back to the 1890s, when viticulturist Emmett Rixford obtained cuttings from Château Margaux in Bordeaux. Stephen Brook: Black fruits nose, with discreet new oak. Surprisingly approachable with a ripe fruit mid-palate. Vibrant, deft and fruity style. Alex Hunt MW: The palate has just the right ratio of gloss to structure; a firm core beautifully fleshed out by fruit. Impeccable harmony here. Stefan Neumann MS: Delicate, earthy aromas lead to a compact core with ripe fruit. Great potential, with great acid to back up the power.
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Wine & Spirits
It’s rare to find a cabernet with such elegance and precision that’s also firmly grounded in the grandeur of the Pacific coast. Jeffrey Patterson grew it on 13 acres of vines he planted in the early 1980s: He propagated the plants from three acres Martin Ray had established on the property in the 1930s, having selected cuttings from La Questa Vineyard, a site Emmett Rixford had planted in the late 19th century, with cuttings he imported from Château Margaux. The third generation of those immigrant vines now prospers on a ridgetop 15 miles from the ocean, where they grow fresh, ripe grapes and sustain a robust community of yeasts to ferment those grapes into this fragrant, bright cherry-scented wine. It’s delicate and brisk, tingling with cool, hunger-inducing juiciness, even as its stature and staying power suggest waiting ten years or more to get the most out of this California original.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: When I tasted the 2014 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon two years ago, I found the wine excellent. Today, the wine is outstanding as it has gained textured and size. TASTING NOTES: This wine is powerful, smooth, and long. Its enticing and bright aromas and flavors stay long and lovely on the palate. Pair it with a grilled Porterhouse steak. (Tasted: August 19, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"This has unusual, kind of soft tannins that are not typical of this wine," Jeffrey Patterson says. "It was an unusual vintage, and tannin structure is not at all hard." The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is made up of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Medium to deep ruby, it has a seductive, layered nose of licorice, loamy soil, warm redcurrant, black cherries, woodsmoke, pencil shavings, dried herbs, cedar and dried flowers with cocoa powder hints. It's medium-bodied and intense in the mouth with layers of ripe fruits, spices and savory notions, framed by soft, grainy tannins and juicy freshness and finishing very long and savory.
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Wine Enthusiast
Black-plum sauce, Chinese five-spice and a hint of black olive linger behind the prominent pine-oil and woodspice aromas on the nose of this bottling from the acclaimed producer. The palate is also very woodyand savory, with oak and pine forest flavors slipping into baked blackberry and dark plum.
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Mount Eden Vineyards is a small historic wine estate perched at 2000 feet overlooking Silicon Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Founded in 1945, it is recognized as one of the original “boutique” California winery properties, focusing on small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mount Eden’s lineage of estate bottled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the longest in California. Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan shale on a cool, exposed mountaintop, these low-yielding estate vineyards have consistently produced world-class wines for over a half-century. In 2007 Mount Eden acquired an additional 55 acre wine estate in the Saratoga foothills, which was christened Domaine Eden.
Mount Eden Vineyards also produces non-estate Chardonnays from the central coast, primarily Edna Valley. They have great success making Chardonnay from the Wolff Vineyard and are continually recognized as making outstanding wines from that region.
Since 1981 Jeffrey Patterson has guided the winemaking and grape growing at Mount Eden. His emphasis is on wine growing rather than winemaking; and an obsession with gentleness and naturalness in the handling of the grapes and wines is his ongoing passion.
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.
A rugged and topographically diverse cool-climate appellation with a rich history, the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA stretches from Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco, to the northern border of Monterey County. Elevations range from 800 feet to upwards of 3,000 and microclimates vary substantially depending on which side of the mountains the vineyards lie; cool ocean winds and fog play an important role here. This can be a challenging region in which to grow grapes, but it is well worth the effort. Santa Cruz Mountains wines are noted for balanced acidity levels, often showing great aging potential. Wine has been made here since the 1800s, most notably from the legendary Ridge Vineyards, whose Monte Bello vineyard garners international admiration.
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are the stars of this region, while Merlot and Zinfandel also perform quite well. Organic and sustainable vineyard practices are becoming increasingly common.