Winemaker Notes
This Cabernet Sauvignon captures the essence of the year with its radiant fruit and bouquet of vanilla bean, baking spices, and fresh tobacco leaf. The flavors are bright and focused with gorgeous layers of confit plum, blackberry jam and hibiscus. This expansive Cabernet Sauvignon finishes with flavors of smoked cherry wood and smooth integrated tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Inky purple-black in color, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt Veeder gives up notes of black currant pastilles, baked blackberries and mulberries with hints of mocha, underbrush and smoked meat. Full-bodied and completely packed with wonderful earth, fruit and savory layers, it has a rock-solid foundation of ripe tannins and refreshing acid, finishing with great purity.
Rating: 95(+?)
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Vinous
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, screams with Veeder character. Dark red fruit, iron, white pepper, mint, pomegranate and blood orange infuse the palate with layers of saline-infused notes. This potent mountain, ample Cabernet Sauvignon is drinking exceptionally well today and has the pedigree to develop well for another decade, maybe more.
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James Suckling
Lots of blackcurrant and rose petal character with hints of stems. Full body, firm and silky tannins and a flavorful finish. A solid wine with a future. Give it two to four years to soften. Try in 2020.
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Decanter
Dark roast coffee aromas, with ripe black fruit and tobacco notes. Palate shows more crunchy fruit, there is very good acidity to give structure. Drinking Window 2019 - 2032
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.