Winemaker Notes
Blend: 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Isthmus is a fragrant, easy-to-drink blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot from the Nuns Canyon Vineyard (89%) and the Hamel Family Ranch Vineyard (11%). Matured for 18 months in 22% new French oak barrels, it has a deep ruby color and a nose that is bursting with Morello cherries, baked blueberries, charcuterie, fried savory herbs and peppercorn—complex yet open for business. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is concentrated and floral with persistent acidity, silty tannins and fragrant violet and graphite nuances on the long finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
With earthy notes of bay leaf, dried herb and crushed rock, this wine is made from estate sites from a variety of Bordeaux grapes. Youthfully grippy and intense, it shows great complexity and length, with firm tannin and plenty of room for aging; enjoy best from 2029–2034.
Cellar Selection -
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Isthmus is 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, with the remainder of Petit Verdot. It offers soft floral aromatics of raspberry leather, violets, and cedar. The palate is fresh with redcurrant, a touch of game, and turned earth, and fine tannins come through on the finish.
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James Suckling
Notes of ripe plums and blackcurrants with walnuts, cardamom, cloves and pine wood. Medium- to full-bodied. A little tight with polished tannins and spiced oak undertones at the end.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and direct, with a fun mix of cassis, plum puree and red currant coulis flavors laced with a lively savory note and a hint of chaparral through the sleek finish. Distinctive. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.