Winemaker Notes
Juicy bone-in grilled rib eye steak, blue cheese topped burgers, beef stew, steak tacos, or just about any red meat dish or hearty cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A tiny-production, 100% varietal wine from a tiny ½-acre site in heart of Kenwood, next to Chateau St. Jean, this is a wow wine, melding flavors of baked plum, moist earth, mocha and blackberry. It has a lively richness that's both lush and expansive, with a soft, firm tannin structure and lengthy finish.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2013 Doren Cabernet Sauvignon is a massive, yet controlled on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows lovely richness on the palate. Its aromas and flavors ripe fruit, oak, and savory spices are pleasing and bright. Pair it with a tender, slow-roasted brisket. (Tasted: April 23, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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.