Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is developing beautifully, unfurling in the glass with aromas of cassis, tobacco, bay laurel, dark chocolate and rich soil. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, multidimensional and concentrated, with wonderful savory depth, fine grained but firm tannins and a long, taut and tangy finish. While this is firmly shut down today, its potential for the future is fully evident: expect it to begin to come into its own around its tenth birthday.
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Wine Enthusiast
There's an unparalleled woody intensity on the nose of this offering, with cigar box, myrrh, incense and bay leaf decorating the black peppercorn, herb-laced salt, dark chocolate and black plum aromas. The palate's leathery flavors are woven into fine-grained tannins, revealing flashes of elderberry, violet and gravel. Drink 2019–2033.
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Decanter
California estates do not come more classical that this one, founded in 1945 south of San Francisco, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. There's lovely savouriness and grip to these wines, and this is rounded and aromatic with fresh, juicy plum on nose and palate. The firm structure crunches pleasantly, while a vein of freshness backs up the fruit. Gentle smoke and dried tobacco play on the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate checks in as a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc that spent 32 months in 60% new French oak. Its inky purple/violet color is followed by a terrific perfumed of crème de cassis, spring flowers, licorice and hints of vanilla spice. Medium to full-bodied, silky and elegant on the palate, with chalky tannin, nicely integrated acidity and a great finish, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age and will keep for two decades or more.
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Wine Spectator
Firmly built, with structure, focus and density, this offers a mix of taut dark berry, graphite, loamy earth, crushed rock and dried herb. A wine apart from the pack. Best from 2021 through 2035.
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Mount Eden Vineyards is a small historic wine estate perched at 2000 feet overlooking Silicon Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Founded in 1945, it is recognized as one of the original “boutique” California winery properties, focusing on small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mount Eden’s lineage of estate bottled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the longest in California. Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan shale on a cool, exposed mountaintop, these low-yielding estate vineyards have consistently produced world-class wines for over a half-century. In 2007 Mount Eden acquired an additional 55 acre wine estate in the Saratoga foothills, which was christened Domaine Eden.
Mount Eden Vineyards also produces non-estate Chardonnays from the central coast, primarily Edna Valley. They have great success making Chardonnay from the Wolff Vineyard and are continually recognized as making outstanding wines from that region.
Since 1981 Jeffrey Patterson has guided the winemaking and grape growing at Mount Eden. His emphasis is on wine growing rather than winemaking; and an obsession with gentleness and naturalness in the handling of the grapes and wines is his ongoing passion.
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 rugged and topographically diverse cool-climate appellation with a rich history, the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA stretches from Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco, to the northern border of Monterey County. Elevations range from 800 feet to upwards of 3,000 and microclimates vary substantially depending on which side of the mountains the vineyards lie; cool ocean winds and fog play an important role here. This can be a challenging region in which to grow grapes, but it is well worth the effort. Santa Cruz Mountains wines are noted for balanced acidity levels, often showing great aging potential. Wine has been made here since the 1800s, most notably from the legendary Ridge Vineyards, whose Monte Bello vineyard garners international admiration.
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are the stars of this region, while Merlot and Zinfandel also perform quite well. Organic and sustainable vineyard practices are becoming increasingly common.