Winemaker Notes
Blend: 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 4% Petite Sirah
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
From the Margarita Vineyard at the relatively cool, marine-influenced southern edge of Paso Robles, this wine is named for a ridge of pale, sandy soil mixed with prehistoric oyster shells, the intact specimens often the size of salad plates. Mike Sinor and Stewart Cameron based the blend on merlot from that Oyster Ridge formation, cabernet from shale and sedimentary soils, and a touch of malbec and petite sirah. It’s a wine that channels Paso’s abundant sunlight toward precision and purity rather than richness and concentration. The tannins give a firm impression of chalk that supports the sunny, mouthwatering drive of the fruit, which turns floral and airy as it absorbs oxygen. Its bright, compact structure is poised to gain complexity with another eight or ten years in bottle. Still, it’s already pretty, and could be decanted for a dry-aged New York strip.
-
Wine Enthusiast
The top-level bottling from the ambitious, sprawling property originally planted by the Mondavis, this vintage-varying blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 4% Petite Sirah and 4% Malbec offers licorice, German chocolate cake, blackberry jam, violet extract and night jasmine on the detailed nose. It’s visceral once sipped, with thick jammy blueberry and plum fruits, bloody meats, leather, dark chocolate and coffee grinds.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.