Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Vineyard is deep garnet-purple colored and displays alluring chocolate box and licorice scents over a core of crème de cassis, sandalwood, black soil and plum preserves with touches of potpourri and dried herbs. Full-bodied, concentrated and packed to the gills with ripe, rich black fruits, it has a firm, grainy frame and just enough freshness, finishing long and spicy.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Similar to the 2015, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley (93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot) offers a terrific sense of depth and richness yet stays balanced and elegant. Currants, graphite, dried herbs, and earth notes give way to a medium to full-bodied, concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon that has fine, building tannin and a great finish. Like the 2015, it's going to be long-lived.
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.