Arrowood Monte Rosso Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
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Robert
Parker
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard is absolutely spectacular. Some of the older Cabernet vines in Northern California are at this high-elevation site famous for its red soils. The wine was harvested in September over a two-week period and aged 24 months in a combination of French and American oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered this wine is loaded. Full-bodied and dense ruby/purple with notes of cedarwood, the wine is almost Pauillac-like with classic creme de cassis and unsmoked high-quality cigar tobacco, as well as licorice and a touch of subtle oak. It is fully mature, but not going to fall off the edge any time soon. This cuvee of 475 cases should be drunk now and over the next decade. This is an absolute beauty!
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.