Winemaker Notes
Pair with tri-tip steak hot of the grill or ribeye with a Pittsburgh char.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Chalk Hill’s temperate climate and a warm, even growing season combined to grow this notably sleek (and surprisingly affordable) cabernet. It’s an elegant wine with a cool vibrancy to its floral and earthbound aromas. The tannins are firm at first, softening gradually toward a supple, lush cassis flavor. You can drink this now with steak, or age it another five years 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.
A Sonoma sub-appellation whose boundaries cover the northeastern corner of the Russian River Valley AVA, the Chalk Hill growing area is named after its unique chalky and white, volcanic ash soils. This terrain has proven successful with white varieties, namely Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc.