Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThis reasonably priced wine is arguably one of Mendocino County's best Cabernets, year in and year out. Aromatic, complex, nicely ripe and full in body, it starts with enticing aromas of toasted oak, pencil shavings and cigar box followed by deep layers of black cherry, blueberry, anise and cocoa. Moderate, well-integrated tannins beef up the texture nicely and bode well for mid-term aging. Best from 2026. Editors' Choice
Always Certified Organically Grown – At Paul Dolan vineyards all of our wines are certified organically grown by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), a process that takes a minimum of three years. We believe that soil is a living, life giving system that is sensitive to chemicals and over cultivation. In organic farming, we do not use herbicides such as glyphosate or other synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
All of our wines are vegan; we do not use any animal based fining, a finishing process many wines go through. Like many of the best wines in the world we do add sulfites, never more than 100ppm, less than 1/3 the limit of conventional non-organically grown wines.
Paul Dolan Vineyards wines are the unique expressions of carefully nurtured vineyards in northern California’s Mendocino County. Our winegrowing practices create small lots of elegant wines, while sustaining our environment, the place where we live, and the people who live here.
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.
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.