Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lovely fresh thyme, currant and lead pencil. Black berry. Black olive. Pine cone and pine needles. Bay leaf. Medium to full body, with round and firm tannins and not too dry. There is real freshness and depth here. Iron underneath. This needs three to four years of bottle age. Try after 2026.
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Decanter
An exemplary mountain Cabernet Sauvignon from the team at Far Mountain, this wine is sourced from the 50-year-old, dry-farmed vines at Alta Vista Vineyard in Sonoma's Moon Mountain District. The volcanic soils and gnarled head-trained vines make for a dramatic, elegant wine: Pine needles and bay leaf frame wild mountain berries and mineral tones of pencil lead and iron. The palate shows sappy tart blackberries, muddled mint leaves, and graphite streaks across the flavour profile, finishing with fresh chopped herbs and white pepper—a fresh, invigorating Cabernet from Sonoma showing so much respect for the site.
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Vinous
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Fission is a gorgeous wine from Mai Errazuriz and Rodrigo Soto. Ample and deep, the 2021 possesses tons of complexity from the very first taste. Brambly overtones meld into leather, cedar, tobacco and dried herbs. Brooding tannins wrap it all together. The Fission emerges from dry-farmed vines planted on St. George rootstock at Alta Vista Gold Ranch on Moon Mountain. The old-vine field selection is believed to include some Cabernet Franc.
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Wine Spectator
This red offers delicious boysenberry and mulberry pate de fruit flavors laced with violet and licorice notes through the polished, fan-friendly finish. Drink now through 2025. 2,800 cases made.
Far Mountain is based on the belief that some of the greatest potential for wine in California – and anywhere in the world – exists in remote pockets in the mountains of the Sonoma Valley. The growers the winery works with have taken decades of risks in both planting their vineyards and the farming choices they make today. The winery’s work is to channel the drama of these surroundings into wines that dazzle with energy and stand out immediately. Wines that bring a sheer pleasure in their flavors and textures, as well as unfold slowly, with never ending detail and fascination. It is a specific vision, literally chiseled by the landscape.
In 2025, Vinous named Far Mountain an "Emerging Producer to Watch."
"Far Mountain is one of the most exciting new projects in California. Mai Errazuriz and Rodrigo Soto source from top sites in Sonoma Valley and Moon Mountain to craft distinctive wines imbued with strong old-school California influences. Errazuriz most recently was Marketing Director for Paul Hobbs, while Soto was the Estate Director at Quintessa. Both have recently left the stability of those jobs to pursue their own American dream at Far Mountain. Early efforts have shown great promise. Based on what I have tasted thus far, the best is yet to come. Readers who appreciate classically inspired California wines will want to check out Far Mountain while it remains under the radar."
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.