Winemaker Notes
This 2019 Vintage Reserve consists of layers that unfold in every swirl, sniff and sip. Upon first impressions, youll find rich aromas of baking chocolate, violet, purple sage and pencil shavings that highlight its complex flavor profile. With flavors of spiced plum, dried lavender, vanilla beans and toasted star anise, this wine leans more powerful and thick on the palate. While delicious at any time you choose to enjoy it, our Vintage Reserve has the finesse to age 20+ years.
Blend: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 6% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From vines planted in 2003 at Gundlach Bundschu’s La Paz Estate, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Reserve is the current release of this cuvée. It was blended with 9% Cabernet Franc and 6% Malbec. The nose is bursting with detailed aromas of dark cherries and plums, camphor, rooibos tea and well-integrated new oak spice from its 18-month maturation in 70% new French oak. The full-bodied palate is powerfully styled with concentrated, perfumed flavors, luxurious, powdery tannins, lively acidity and a long, dynamic finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This powerful, intense and firmly textured wine waves the flag for great Sonoma-grown Cabernet. It wraps fine-grained tannins around just-ripe black fruit flavors and tempting oak accents of cinnamon, char and clove. Not overly ripe, the wine shows great balance and should expect a long life. Best from 2028–2038.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
Richly fruited, with a broad, caressing wave of mulberry and blackberry preserves rolling through slowly, laced with black licorice and violet notes and coated with a warm, toasty edge on the finish, where an echo of warm earth keeps this honest. Drink now through 2035. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.
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.