Winemaker Notes
The wine opens with a luxurious yummy blue-black/red fruit aroma, which manages to be floral and peppery, bright and lively, fetching and intriguing all at once. On the palate the wine is packed with fruit. While medium weight the wine has a creamy lush mid-palate that is surprisingly full-bodied and mouth filling. Pleasantly grippy at the finish, this wine is built for the long run but as it stands now would be the perfect accompaniment for steak night.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Grapes grown on untilled soils in a steep, dry-farmed mountain vineyard create a plush blend of 81.9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17.7% Cab Franc with a small portion of Merlot. Aged 18 months in (65% new) French oak, it shows black-peppered dark plum, green bell pepper, sage, and mint, amounting to a spice box of flavor: Midway, blue fruit emerges with creamy vibrancy and finishes with intensity,
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James Suckling
A staunch defender of the restrained, elegant style of Napa reds made in the 1970s, yet with a little more body and ripeness than wines from that era. Tasty, tangy black cherries and blackberries with accents of bay leaves, black olives, cedar and star anise. Firm tannins, good acidity and the potential for aging.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Marked on the nose by subtle herb and floral notes, the cherry-scented 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is medium to full-bodied in the mouth, framed by firm tannins that promise a long evolution. Thankfully, the tannins are ripe and silky on the finish, where that dusty quality is joined by attractive hints of licorice. It's a classic Spring Mountain Cab. Rating: 93+
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Jeb Dunnuck
This cuvee always has a Bordeaux like vibe, and the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District is no exception, revealing a semi-opaque ruby hue as well as classic Cabernet notes of darker currants, cedar pencil, green tobacco, and damp earth. Reminding me of the estate's 2016, it has a very classic, medium-bodied, balanced profile, ripe and integrated tannins, and outstanding length. It picks up more floral and rose petal notes with time in the glass and is just a classy, old-school styled beauty that grows on your with time in the glass.
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Wine Spectator
Lighter-bodied than your typical Napa Cab, this offers expressive notes of mulled red currant, morello cherry, sweet bay and sassafras backed by hints of chalk and blood orange zest on the angular finish. Drink now through 2031. 1,652 cases made.
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.
Above the town of St. Helena on the eastern slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains sits the Spring Mountain District.
A dynamic region, its vineyards, cut by numerous springs and streams, vary in elevation, slope and aspect. Soils differ throughout with over 20 distinct types inside of the 8,600 acres that define the appellation. Within that area, only about 1,000 are planted to vineyards. Predominantly farmed by small, independent producers, the region currently has just over 30 wineries.
During the growing season, late afternoon Pacific Ocean breezes reach the Spring Mountain vineyards, which sit at between 400 and 1,200 feet. Daytime temperatures during mid summer and early fall remain slightly cooler than those of the valley floor.
Spring Mountain soils—volcanic matter and sedimentary rock—create intense but balanced reds with lush and delicate tannins. The area excels with Bordeaux varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot and in some cooler spots, Chardonnay.