Moniker Mendocino Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 Front Label
Moniker Mendocino Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 Front Label

Winemaker Notes

Moniker Cabernet Sauvignon is an elegant wine showcasing three clones – 4,337 and 191 – from Ukiah Valley’s finest southwestern exposed sites. From maceration to fermentation, we worked to preserve the wine’s tannic backbone: cold soaking the grapes for two days, pumping over the cap, and briefly leaving some of the lots on the skins for greater extraction. We chose a Languedoc yeast strain prized for delivering optimum fore-mouth volume while retaining varietally correct flavors, then blended in a touch of Petite Verdot for power. French oak’s unique propensity to gather complex flavors over time harmonizes with the secondary tones this Cabernet Sauvignon will develop with age.

Professional Ratings

  • 94
    Scents of earth-laden blackberry are a nod to nature. The juicy black-fruited bramble is seasoned with extra white pepper and still remains lithe on the tongue. The Thornhill family, producers of this slate-y beauty with dry, dusty bittersweet chocolate tannins, has created a powerfully balanced and well-structured wine.
Moniker

Moniker

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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.

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Mendocino

California

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A large and diverse appellation within California’s North Coast AVA, Mendocino is home to several smaller sub-regions—most notably the Anderson Valley. This scenic region, with rolling hills covered in redwood forests as well as vineyards, is one of the world’s top producers of certified organically-grown grapes. Due to wide geographical and climatic variation, a vast array of wine styles can be found here.

SWS397242_2012 Item# 151923