Winemaker Notes
While the Brander Vineyard has long been renowned for our Sauvignon Blanc, we are also proud of our distinctive, classically Bordeaux-style Cabernets. This Cabernet is sourced from two lots – our oldest block, planted in 1975, with modest but impressively rich fruit, and the younger Erik’s Block planted in 2008, which has a variety of flavors due to its diverse Cabernet clones. While young, this wine already flaunts wonderful notes of ripe cherries and tart blackberries, with warm spice and cedar notes. With age, this wine will continue to develop its flavor and become ever more intriguing for years to come.
Today it is an integral part of the greater Santa Barbara County wine region, but at one time the village, Los Olivos, was a stop on the Wells Fargo stagecoach line.
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.