Winemaker Notes
The 2015 Crown Point Cabernet Sauvignon is a sophisticated and elegant expression of the estate. Hallmark aromas of savory spices, ripe blackberry, black plum, and dried violets lead to a refined mouthfeel. This wine’s sense-of-place is expressed on the palate through a tightly woven core of black currant, graphite, and cigar box notes framed by polished tannins. The finish is rich, long, powerful and yet harmonious. Drink with confidence now through decades to come.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This winery is focused on setting a new benchmark for what Cabernet Sauvignon from Santa Barbara can be, and this bottling is its best yet. Beautifully layered aromas of black cherry, baking spice, star anise and crushed slate lead into a roasted palate of black plum and chai spices, with acid that carries into the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 100% varietal 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon was brought up in all new barrels as well, and it too as integrated its oak beautifully since I tasted it from barrel last year. It’s inky colored and has a sensationally pure bouquet of crème de cassis, graphite, toasted spices, and crushed rocks. Possessing a touch of St. Julien in its minerality and pure Cabernet Sauvignon character, this rich, full-bodied beauty has a stacked mid-palate, sweet tannin, and a great finish. It’s a brilliant wine and up with some of the best Cabernet Sauvignons to come from this region.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) is showing some maturity, with aromas of tobacco leaves, dried herbs and graphite accenting mint chocolate and licorice. The palate is savory, with rich, earthy flavors, grainy tannins and a long, mineral-driven finish.
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.
On the eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley, the rolling hills of the tiny Happy Canyon AVA produce top quality reds from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and whites from Sauvignon blanc. The region’s low-nutrient soil grows smaller vines and in turn, higher quality wine grapes.