Winemaker Notes
Pair with braised beef short ribs or dried cherries and Cabernet chutney.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
I am always a fan of this wine with its dusty, red-tile and rust character, which underlines the fruit and ripe tannins. Full-bodied, powerful and tannic, all the way up to the flavorful finish. Give it three or four years to soften.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A 15- to 20-year wine in terms of its aging potential is the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard. A blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot, aged 27 months in a combination of French and American oak, the wine is dense, full-bodied, with notes of dusty, loamy soil interwoven with crème de cassis, blackberry, toasty oak and hints of chocolate and espresso. This is another full-throttle effort (15.2% natural alcohol), richly layered, with moderate tannin. It is accessible now but capable of lasting 25 or more years. Rating: 93+
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Wine Enthusiast
This perennial offering from the producer, the longtime proprietor of this fine vineyard, showcases cassis and chocolate in full-bodied, undulating waves of big, brash flavor. Despite the mountain provenance, the tannins are soft and well integrated, never distracting from the ripeness of the fruit.
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.