Winemaker Notes
Blend: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Caberent Franc, 7% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mountain Estate Vineyard is a powerful wine with tons of mountain character. Ash, graphite, dried flower, iron and host of savory notes all run through the Mountain Estate Cabernet. Swaths of tannin wrap around this brooding, virile Sonoma Cabernet. The 2018 is going to need at least a few years to soften. For readers who want to know what Sonoma Cabernet is all about, this is a great place to start. In this vintage, the has a fairly high amount of Franc (13%), which really seems to add aromatic lift as well as energy. This is one of the great values in high-end, artisan California Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Blackcurrants, tobacco, and chocolate as well as some oak emerge from the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mountain Estate Vineyard, which is medium to full-bodied and has a round, expansive texture, ripe, chewy tannins, and a good finish. It doesn't have the purity or precision of the Wedding Vineyard, but it’s a seriously good mouthful of Sonoma Cabernet.
While Sonoma County is acclaimed—and rightfully so—for its Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and Zinfandels, it also produces exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon. Of the region’s 18 American Viticultural Areas, only a handful produce top-notch Cabernet Sauvignon. These appellations include Alexander Valley, Knights Valley, Sonoma Valley and Dry Creek Valley. Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignons made in these appellations can offer a complex array of aromas and flavors. Fruit notes such as blackberry, blackcurrant, cassis, black cherry and raspberry often are accompanied by hints of graphite, dusty earth, cigar box, toast and vanilla. The varietal has a rich history in Sonoma, and some of these Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet-based blends rival the best from Napa Valley.