Linked Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (scuffed labels) 2007
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Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
True to the vineyard, this wine is made with 100% estate Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a robust wine that showcases the balance of power and elegance. A first glance at the deep, dark ruby color fringed with mahogany suggests a wine of great character and complexity. The nose is redolent of intense, concentrated red and black fruit with hints of chocolate and tobacco, finely-framed by delicate oak. Each sip reveals a new flavor dimension; black currant, blueberry, dark Bing cherry and
plum mingle with tobacco, leather, cocoa, black pepper, and allspice. Supple tannins dance around balanced acidity to give a silken finish that goes on and on.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a thoroughly modern Cabernet. It could come from the Napa Valley floor, and is not particularly representative of Knights Valley. But it is flashy, with massively ripe blackberry, red currant, oak flavors, with oak providing a rich jacket of toast.
Other Vintages
2010-
Robert
Parker
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Wine
Enthusiast
Occupying a very interesting intersection between the valleys, and sitting just above the fogline, the property is a study in juxtaposition. Volcanic and loamy soils. Marine and mountain air. Wildlands and orderly vineyards. It is home to deer, wild turkeys and hawks, as well as three generations of Links.
Ken Link bought this property with the hope of creating a family legacy. So far, it’s working. His daughter Jessica was in college at the time he bought it. Realizing that no one in the family had any idea how to plant or manage a vineyard, let alone make wine, Jessica switched her major at Sonoma State to Wine Business. Ken and Jessica quickly enrolled in every viticulture class they could find, researched the characteristics of their special corner of Knight’s Valley and consulted experts in vine selection and planting. The west-facing slope with a view of the approaching fog from the Pacific turned out to be a perfect site for Cabernet. Planted in 2000, Linked Vineyards began to take shape.
A few years later, Jessica fell in love with Drew Johnson, a vineyard manager at Beringer. They were married under the spreading oaks and majestic madrones on the property. Now part of the Link family, Drew’s knowledgeable and steady hand has guided the development of the vineyard into one that is growing world-class fruit. Drew oftentimes goes to the vineyard as the sun is rising, before heading off to work. On weekends, Jessica and their kids, Nick and Shelby, join him to help tend the vines and share rides on the pooper scooper, spreading compost and manure in the vineyard.
After years of these family outings, the vines had matured and the grapes were showing the quality they wanted to produce their own wine in 2007. With a stroke of luck, Jessica and Drew connected with Luc Morlet, consulting winemaker at Peter Michael (an icon of Knight’s Valley Cabernet,) who was looking for grapes for his own family label, Morlet Family Vineyards. He was a perfect match for what they wanted to do, and was excited to make the wine. While the vineyard encompasses 16 acres, Drew and Luc identified a small 3 acre section in Shelby’s Block to pick the grapes for the Linked Vineyards Cabernet. This small plot is the steepest hill in the vineyard and is characterized by rocky volcanic soils that stress the vines, resulting in fewer but more intensely flavored grapes.
While the Linked Vineyards name clearly has ties to the family name, it means much more. It represents all the links that created the wine; the unique site, the family, the winemaker and all the friends who pitch in and support them. Jessica and Drew hand number each bottle, and record who acquires each one. So, you will always have a link to Linked Vineyards, and they to you.
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.
A small and picturesque valley separating Napa Valley on its south border and Alexander Valley to its north, Knights Valley excels in similar varieties as the two aforementioned appellations, namely red Bordeaux varieties and blends, as well as Sauvignon blanc. Originally established by Beringer Vineyards, today several outstanding producers claim acreage here. The circadian cooling effects of the nearby Pacific Ocean create a nighttime respite for vineyards during the hot growing season.