Winemaker Notes
Blend: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Verdot.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From one of the great historic vineyards of Northern California, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard, like all of the remaining Cabernet Sauvignons, is aged in 100% new French oak for two years prior to bottling. This is an exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon that can be drunk now or cellared for 25-30 years. Beautiful crème de cassis, cedar wood, forest floor and earthy notes are present in this big, full-throttle, dense Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins are elevated, but fine and well-integrated. The alcohol is 14.8%, and the wine exhibits a classic style that should prove to be uncommonly long-lived and extremely promising. This is a beauty. Rating: 93+ Points.
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Wine Spectator
Well-built, with a structured mix of gravel, cedar, dark berry, black licorice and crème de cassis. Gains depth and finesse, showing a pronounced juiciness before the tannins wrap up, revealing nuances of fresh-turned earth. Drink now through 2022.
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.
Perhaps the most historically significant appellation in Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley is home to both Buena Vista winery, California's oldest commercial winery, and Gundlach Bundschu winery, California's oldest family-run winery.
It is also one of the more geologically and climactically diverse districts. The valley includes and overlaps four distinct Sonoma County sub-appellations, including Carneros, Moon Mountain District, Sonoma Mountain and Bennett Valley. With mountains, benchlands, plains, abundant sunshine and the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific, this appellation can successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and most notably, Zinfandel all thrive here. Ancient Zinfandel vines over 100 years old produce small crops of concentrated, spicy fruit, which in turn make some of the Valley's most unique wines. These can also be made as “field blends” (wines made from a mix of grape varieties grown in the same vineyard) along with Petite Sirah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet.