Winemaker Notes
Very aromatic! Ripe bing cherry, caramel, tobacco leaf, cracked black pepper. Raspberry jam, strawberry-rhubarb, juicy, tangy, nice minerality, and toasted French oak. Medium-bodied structure.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This estate-grown wine is from the certified-organic site farmed by Phil Coturri. Black olive, garrigue, iron and a hint of game fill in the supple, textured core of the palate, with a velvety feel lifted by persistent acidity. This will do well over time; enjoy 2026–2030.
Cellar Selection -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 Laurel Glen Vineyard Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is sassy, bright, and long on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of rich blackberries and earthy notes. Serve it with roast chicken. (Tasted: May 11, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine & Spirits
Farmed by Phil Coturri, who earned organic certification for the vineyard in 2014, Laurel Glen’s vines face east, into the morning sun, creating an elegant cabernet in the 2016 vintage. Its herbal tobacco scents and racy flavors of red and black currants feel youthfully compressed. The earthy tannins combine the richness of black-cherry skins and flourless chocolate cake. Tense for now, this needs several years in the cellar to mellow and evolve; knowing Laurel Glen’s track record, it will likely develop well for a decade or more.
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.