Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
- Vinous
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Aromas of pine forest, black currant, sage, and vanilla abound. The flavors are saturated with blackberry and currant, complexed with difficult to describe earth notes. The structure is firm, as to be expected of the current forty-year-old, dry-farmed vines, yet balanced. The soft tannins complement the power of the wine.
Blend: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is going to need a number of years to come around. The only question is how many. In 2017, the Mount Eden Cabernet is shockingly opulent. Inky black fruit, bittersweet chocolate, spice, leather and incense are all dialed up in this super-sized Cabernet. Even so, there is plenty of structure lurking beneath. I can't wait to see how this ages.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
A brilliant, youthful, unevolved wine that will give Ridge's Monte Bello a run for its money, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon reveals a deep ruby/purple hue to go with a wonderful perfume of blackcurrants, blueberries, lead pencil, vanilla bean, exotic flowers, tobacco, and bouquet garni. Needing plenty of air to show at its best, it's medium to full-bodied on the palate and has a concentrated, powerful style, ripe tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish.
Rating: 97+
-
Wine Spectator
This has a zesty set of loganberry, raspberry and sweet bay leaf notes mixed together, along with flashes of violet, mesquite and anise. There's a good tug of warm gravel running underneath and nice energy throughout. Should mellow nicely with cellaring.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is firm and well-built. TASTING NOTES: This wine excels with aromas and flavors of black fruit, chalk, and a touch of oak. Enjoy it with grilled ribeye. (Tasted: October 19, 2022, Los Gatos, CA)
-
Wine Enthusiast
Balanced aromas of redwood and pine give depth to the asphalt and leather elements on the nose of this bottling. The American oak seems prominent on the dense, leathery palate, where dark and dried fruits play along with sandalwood and mahogany flavors.
-
Wine & Spirits
This is a staunch mountain wine that needs a day of air to come out of its shell. It’s all hard edges at first, not so much about fruit, though the fruit is present; not inviting, but it leaves room for you to come inside. As the wine begins to relax, it feels like an old-fashioned cabernet with woodland flavors of mountain fruit and savory wild mushrooms. Powerful in its youthful structure, it needs a decade in the cellar for that structure to evolve.
Other Vintages
2018-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Journal
The Somm - Decanter
-
Wong
Wilfred -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spirits
Wine & - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Wong
Wilfred -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Wong
Wilfred - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Parker
Robert
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
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.