Winemaker Notes
This 2021 J. Lohr Signature Cabernet Sauvignon is big in structure, with aromas of cassis and conifer forest and persistent ripe, red fruit flavors on the palate. Its long, layered finish is a result of its extended aging in the finest French oak cooperage.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This top-shelf bottling for this veteran producer always impresses. Dark in the glass, this vintage begins with aromas of cassis and violet on the lush, intensely ripe nose that achieves remarkable harmony. The mouthcoating palate is wrapped in thick tannins that frame the dark-chocolate fudge, chai spice and coffee-cream flavors. Drink now–2037.
Cellar Selection -
Vinous
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Signature is youthfully coiled as a bouquet of mentholated herbs, flowery undergrowth, pipe tobacco and musky black currants forms in the glass. This washes across the palate, silky and serene, almost fleshy in feel. Tart red berry fruits nicely firm it up, and the onset of fine tannins toward the close as violet inner florals resonate throughout. The 2021 tapers off classically dry and structured, leaving a saturation of primary concentration to linger under an air or sweet lavender.
For more than fifty years and through two generations, the Lohr family and their team have been leaders in the California wine industry. Founder Jerry Lohr and his three children Steve, Cynthia, and Lawrence oversee one of the country's most successful and trusted fine wine labels. With first plantings in Monterey in 1972 and then in Paso Robles in 1986, the team helped write the book on sustainable winegrowing on the Central Coast.
Today, J. Lohr farms more than 4,000 acres of estate vineyards in Monterey's Arroyo Seco and Santa Lucia Highlands appellations, Paso Robles, and St. Helena in the Napa Valley. They produce eight tiers of award-winning releases: J. Lohr Signature Cabernet Sauvignon, J. Lohr Cuvée Series, J. Lohr Vineyard Series, J. Lohr Gesture, J. Lohr Pure Paso Proprietary Red Wine, J. Lohr Estates, J. Lohr Monterey Roots, and ARIEL Vineyards.
J. Lohr is a Certified California Sustainable Vineyard and Winery and was honored with the 2020 Green Medal Leader Award in recognition of the company's decades-long commitment to sustainability.
As Paso Robles, California has soared in number of wineries and gained in popularity, Cabernet Sauvignon has firmly taken root as the region’s number one varietal. Alone, it accounts for just over 40% of plantings and is grown throughout both the western and eastern sides of the appellation. Though viticulture here dates back to the 18th century, Cabernet Sauvignon didn’t emerge as a significant grape here until the 1970’s. But since then it has definitely made up for lost time.
Legendary winemaker and consultant Andre Tchelistcheff first recognized Paso’s potential with Cabernet Sauvignon in the early 1960’s. The calcareous soil and dramatic diurnal temperature changes of Paso’s westside particularly intrigued him. Today modern winemaking techniques and focused experimentation with various clones, rootstocks and vineyard strategies optimize the region's ideal combination of soil and climate to deliver the best fruit possible.
The results are evident in the glass. Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon can be mesmerizing, with rich aromas and flavors of blackberry, cassis, black cherry, graphite, toasty oak, vanilla and spice. The structure, balance and unbridled opulence of these wines impress from first sip to last. Not surprisingly, Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignons have steadily grown in reputation, not just in the U.S., but around the world.