Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is beautifully complete, with a layered, multi-dimensional, elegant profile that's more structured than the Diamond Mountain, yet more seamless and approachable than the Howell Mountain. Crème de cassis, Asian spice, smoked earth, incense and sandalwood note all flow to full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon that has no hard edges, ultra-fine tannin, incredible purity of fruit, and a great finish. As with all these 2014s, it's not about huge richness and opulence and more about purity, nuance and balance. It's a damn near perfect wine that will only get better with 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for three to four decades.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A wine on its own stage, the 2014 Lokoya Mount Veeder Cabernet runs rings around the competition. From start to finish, this wine will impress and its incredible aromas of black fruits, violets, and licorice lead into one of the best balanced and rewarding wines of all. Pair it with a well-marbled New York Strip Steak. (Tasted: October 30, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Usually my favorite in many vintages, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder is the most backward of the 2014s and actually seems to require 4-5 years of bottle age. The wine has the telltale signs of Mt. Veeder – blackberry and blueberry fruit infused with considerable floral nuances. This wine has all that, then hits the palate with a cascade of glycerin, fruit extraction, and layers of blackberry and blueberry fruit. It is full-bodied and opulent, but finishes with some structure and ripe tannin. This is a magnificent wine – full-throttle, extremely pure, and incredibly well-balanced. Give it 5-6 years of bottle age and drink it over the following three decades.
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.
Centered at the peak for which it is named, Mount Veeder is Napa’s largest sub-AVA. But even though the entire appellation spreads over 16,000 acres, vineyards cover a mere 1,000. Scattered among Douglas firs and bristlecone pines, Mount Veeder vineyards extend south from the upper elevations of the Mayacamas Mountains—the highest point at 2,400 feet—to the border of the Carneros region. Less than 25 wineries produce wine from Mount Veeder fruit.
Winemaking began early in this appellation. In 1864, Captain Stelham Wing presented the first Mount Veeder wine to the Napa County Fair; it came from today’s Wing Canyon Vineyard. Prohibition, of course, halted winemaking and viticulture wasn’t revitalized until the founding of Mayacamas Vineyards in 1951 and Bernstein Vineyards in 1964.
The Bernstein Vineyards was actually home to the first Petit Verdot in California, planted in 1975. Today most of the Petit Verdot in Napa Valley originates from this vineyard.
Rocky volcanic clay and ancient seabed matter dominate Mount Veeder soils—perfect for Bordeaux varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot enjoy spectacular success. These varieties produce wines rich in brambly blackberry and black cherry fruit with herbal and floral aromatics. Structures are moderate to assertive and wines have great staying power.
Chardonnay from Mount Veeder is lush, full and balanced mineral and fresh citrus flavors.