Winemaker Notes
Over each vintage, the intensity has been kicked up exponentially. This 4th incarnation has more of everything…more depth, more ripe fruit, more pizazz! Nicely balanced with fruit (pomegranate) and oak (showing some smoke). Warning—it's gulpable!
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The real glories here are the red wines, and the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Freakshow (110,000 cases) is a major sleeper in the Cabernet Sauvignon category. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grown in the backwaters of Lodi, and sporting an incredible label that reminds me of the Beatles' Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. In this case it's a true freak show. This delicious, dense purple-colored wine possesses plenty of crème de cassis, licorice, spice box and cedar notes in a medium- to full-bodied, supple, explosively fruity, fruit-bomb style. Drink this delicious Cabernet over the next 5-6 years, although I would not be surprised to see it last even longer in a cold cellar.
Covering the most vine acreage in the state compared to any other red wine variety, Cabernet Sauvignon produces as much wine in California as Merlot and Pinot Noir combined. The state’s diverse terrain and microclimates, as well as the freedom of its winemakers, allow for an incredible range of wine styles from this single grape.
California’s most famous region—and especially for Cabernet Sauvignon—is the acclaimed Napa Valley. While Cabernet is successful throughout the world, rarely has it achieved such merit as it does from the Napa Valley. At this point the two are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other.
Napa’s closest neighbor, Sonoma County, does an impressive job keeping up with Napa’s fame and glory. Alexander Valley, Sonoma Mountain, Moon Mountain and Knights Valley contribute to the lot of some of California’s top-rated Cabernet Sauvignon.
Lake County in California’s North Coast has become a focus for some of Napa’s more respected growers. From the Central Coast come iconic examples of classic California Cabernet; Lodi and the Sierra Foothills are great budget-friendly sources of amicable Cabernets.