Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Nuns Canyon Vineyard Proprietary Red comes from the Moon Mountain AVA and is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Cabernet Franc. This was aged, like its predecessor, for 30 months in 100% new French oak. An extraordinary nose of forest floor, white flowers, blueberry and black fruit jumps from the glass of this dense, opaque purple wine. It is full-bodied and rich, but the Cabernet Franc component gives it a wonderful floral dimension and seems to lighten it up as it cascades across the palate. It leaves a big impression, though, and is complex already as well as savory and rich. For a 2013, it has not yet begun to close down. Drink it over the next 15-20 years.
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.
Covering the western slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains, facing the city of Sonoma, Moon Mountain District is one of Sonoma’s newest sub-appellations. Here the well-drained, red volcanic and ash soils produce hauntingly intense red wines, mainly from Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties.