Winemaker Notes
#24 wine in VinePair's Top 50 of 2018
A gorgeous bouquet of violets, rose petals, and fresh currant on the nose. The wine is quite lush and round on the attack, featuring lovely blackberry and boysenberry jam, with hints of mocha, toffee, and Saigon cinnamon. Our 2014 vintage is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and rounded out with 10% Cabernet Franc, 7 % Malbec and 6% Petit Verdot all from our rugged, picturesque Brandlin Estate Vineyard on Mount Veeder.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: I have always been a fan of Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignons. The wines are often rich and deep, with excellent structure and firmness. The 2014 Brandlin is a clear example of the best wines from this AVA. TASTING NOTES: This wine comes up with bold berries, some cassis, and jamminess in its aromas and flavors. On the palate, it delivers excellent persistence making it a delicious pairing wine with a grilled ribeye. (Tasted: May 25, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
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Decanter
Lively, green notes on the nose, complemented by a welcome rigidity and lack of flab on the palate. It is robust with firm tannins coated in a core of ripe fruit. Subtle for a mountain wine, with some elegance and persistence.
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.
Centered at the peak for which it is named, Mount Veeder is Napa’s largest sub-AVA. But even though the entire appellation spreads over 16,000 acres, vineyards cover a mere 1,000. Scattered among Douglas firs and bristlecone pines, Mount Veeder vineyards extend south from the upper elevations of the Mayacamas Mountains—the highest point at 2,400 feet—to the border of the Carneros region. Less than 25 wineries produce wine from Mount Veeder fruit.
Winemaking began early in this appellation. In 1864, Captain Stelham Wing presented the first Mount Veeder wine to the Napa County Fair; it came from today’s Wing Canyon Vineyard. Prohibition, of course, halted winemaking and viticulture wasn’t revitalized until the founding of Mayacamas Vineyards in 1951 and Bernstein Vineyards in 1964.
The Bernstein Vineyards was actually home to the first Petit Verdot in California, planted in 1975. Today most of the Petit Verdot in Napa Valley originates from this vineyard.
Rocky volcanic clay and ancient seabed matter dominate Mount Veeder soils—perfect for Bordeaux varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot enjoy spectacular success. These varieties produce wines rich in brambly blackberry and black cherry fruit with herbal and floral aromatics. Structures are moderate to assertive and wines have great staying power.
Chardonnay from Mount Veeder is lush, full and balanced mineral and fresh citrus flavors.