Tasting Notes

Release Date: Fall 2022

The nature of high-altitude, cool, coastal Bordeaux blends is refreshingly different. Lower alcohols and more soil-driven flavors with good acidity are what we deliver, with our constant theme, longevity, always present.

In 2018, although technically a drought year, the harvest started in late September and ran until mid-October. Cool temperatures prevailed, allowing for a relaxed pace. All fermentations were natural, with no additions. After two years in barrel, it was bottled unfined and unfiltered

This Cabernet is very expressive on the nose with scents of brown spice, plum, cherry and of course, black currant. Relatively restrained tannins on the palate with flavors of currant, sage, and mint, powerful yet with beautiful restraint.

Expect many years of development in the bottle.

 

Production

1,306

Tech Notes

Yield: 1.3 tons per acre

Harvest: September 25th-October 10th

Numbers @ Harvest: 23.4° Brix, 3.30 pH, 6.0 grams acidity

Cepage: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc & 2% Petit Verdot

Barrel Regimen: 50 % French Bordeaux & 50% American; 50 % new, 50% 2-years-old; aged 24 months in barrel, native ferments

Bottling: July 2020; no fining or filtration

Alcohol: 14%

Reviews

94 points Wine Enthusiast Magazine  - November 2022

Cellar Selection

Mushroomy aromas of stewed shiitake and dark mahogany meet with crisp fruit on the nose of this complex bottling. Very dry tannins frame the sip in a serious veil, as flavors of sandalwood, graphite and dried dark fruit converge. This wine will last a long time. Drink 2024–2042.—M.K.

94 points Wine & Spirits Magazine  - December 2022

Top 100 Wines of 2023

If, like me, you believe plants make a difference, the cabernet vines at Mount Eden have a pedigree that’s worth noting. Jeffrey Patterson, now the proprietor of the estate, planted these vines in the 1980s, from a selection he propagated using cuttings from the vines at Mount Eden that had been planted in the 1940s by Martin Ray. Ray, in turn, had sourced his original cuttings from La Questa, a vineyard planted in the 1890s by Emmett Rixford, using cuttings from Château Margaux. Sensitively farmed in a hospitable New World terroir, those immigrant vines have thrived at Mount Eden, producing a classical, herb-scented cabernet in 2018, its blue-fruit clarity layered with earthen tannins. Gracious, supple and approachable, even as complexity lays in wait, this wine has a firm grip that sustains its lasting flavors without a hint of excess. —J.G.

93 points Wine Spectator  - November 2022

Burly and tightly wound, with a racy, taut structure, this has a rock-solid core of damson plum, mulberry and loganberry fruit along with mouthwatering savory, cassis bush and sage accents. The long finish ripples with a note of warm gravel, giving this a decidedly old-school feel. Will be a lot of fun to watch this age in the cellar. Best from 2024 through 2038. —J.M.