Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This blockbuster, backward 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon rivals Girard's Reserve as one of the most powerful, tannic wines of the vintage, but there is more sweetness and a higher level of concentration and ripe fruit in the Laurel Glen offering, making its aging potential less risky. This is a huge, massive, herb, blackcurrant/black-cherry, smoky, chocolatey wine with gobs of fruit, eye-popping extract levels, and mouthsearing tannin. Based on this barrel sample, my best guess for the wine's anticipated maturity is between 2002-2025. Impressive! But patience is definitely required.
Range: 94-96 points
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.
Defined more by altitude than geographical outline, the Sonoma Mountain appellation occupies elevations between 400 and 1,200 feet on the northern and eastern slopes of the actual Sonoma Mountain and is part of the greater Sonoma Valley appellation. The mountain reaches 2,400 feet; its hills separate the cooling winds of Petaluma Gap from the Sonoma Valley.
On a cooler western flank, Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Syrah enjoy a great deal of success. Vineyards on its warmer, eastern side, interspersed with heavily forested areas, tend to include Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and Syrah. Given its complexity of topography and mesoclimates, Sonoma Mountain excels with a wide range of grape varieties.