CASE PRICE = $99.99 per bottle (add 12+ quantity to your basket)
PRE-ARRIVAL -- WILL SHIP
MID-SEPTEMBER
Notes from the Winery:ABOUT VINEYARD 7 & 8
Vineyard 7 & 8 produces 1,800 cases annually and is located at the top of Spring Mountain. The 40 acre vineyard and winery is owned and managed by the Steffens family along with winemaker Luc Morlet and vineyard manager Pete Richmond with Silverado Farming Company. The vineyards of the estate were established in the early 1980s and are currently planted to ten acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and four acres of Chardonnay. These vineyards, which lie above the fog, bring late ripening, low yields, natural drainage, and infertile volcanic soil. Our onsite winery facility allows us to micromanage the entire process, beginning in the vineyards and ending with the consumer.
Release Date - October 2010
Fruit Source - 100% Estate
The 2007 Growing Season:
An average bud break and another drier than average winter, lead to a slightly below average crop. Mountain fruit benefited from being above heavy fog and from air circulation. The ripening season started with a quick heat spike but finished with mild temperatures which were pleasing to the Cabernets. Wines from the 2007 vintage are concentrated and rich with some youthful tannins.
Varietal Composition - 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Harvest - Hand Picked at physiological ripeness throughout early to mid October 2007.
Fermentation - Double hand sorting, whole berry fermentation, average maceration of 30–45 days.
Cooperage - 18 months in 95% new French Oak from select artisan coopers
Alcohol - 14.8%
Case Production - 600
What Does It Taste Like?“The 2007 “Estate” Cabernet Sauvignon is a new wine that the Steffens Family and I decided to craft to highlight the unique character of the special “Vineyard 7 & 8” terroir. Planted back in the early 1980’s, the mature vines of the estate benefit from white volcanic tuff well drained soil, producing small concentrated clusters and berries. The resulting lots of barrels displayed intensity, complexity, richness and depth. Each vintage, the “Estate” wine is made to represent the best the estate has to offer. Built to age gracefully for several decades, the “Estate” Cabernet is a memory of a very special place. Enjoy
and stay tuned!” —Luc Morlet, Winemaker
Ratings & Reviews"The prodigious 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate looks terrific, with the most structure, minerality, and power of the two Cabernets, but beautiful blueberry and floral notes intermixed with camphor, creme de cassis, licorice, and forest floor. Full-bodied, with terrific texture, sweet tannin, and fabulous length and concentration, this is a wine to drink young or cellar for 25 more years. These are very impressive wines.
None other than the well-known Luc Morlet makes the wines at this winery on Spring Mountain." -Robert Parker (12/2009)
93 Points -
Wine Spectator Magazine:"Dense, firm and rich, with a wonderful core of spicy currant, blackberry, black licorice, mocha and mineral flavors that are intense and focused, ending with an espresso bean flavor. Drink now through 2017. 600 cases made." –JL (6/15/10)
93 Points - Stephen Tanzer's
International Wine Cellar:"($125; the first release for this estate wine, from vines that date back to 1983) Bright medium ruby. Crushed blackberry, licorice and a whiff of blond tobacco on the youthfully medicinal nose. Densely packed and powerful, with concentrated flavors of crushed black fruits, bitter chocolate and cedar. Finishes with strong but smooth tannins that call for at least a five-year moratorium. Estate manager Wesley Steffens noted that this fruit was picked in multiple passes until November 5." - Stephen Tanzer (May/June 2010)
92-94 Points - Stephen Tanzer's
International Wine Cellar:"($125; made from the best estate fruit) Bright ruby-red. Superripe, liqueur-like aromas of plum, blueberry, licorice, black olive and fresh herbs. Sweet, chewy and fruit-driven, with powerful black fruit flavors complemented by cedar and licorice. The serious, building tannins come off as a bit granular today, but I suspect they will meld with the wine's dense fruit by the time the wine is released in late 2010. Incidentally, this was the wine presented to me last year as "7", before the decision was made to offer a flagship wine from all estate vines and a second wine from younger vines and declassified lots." - Stephen Tanzer (May/June 2009)
Rank #36, Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2011, 96 Points & "Cellar Selection" -
Wine Enthusiast Magazine (2008 Vintage):"It’s hard to exaggerate the purity of this wine, which is 100% Cabernet. It startles for the intensity of mountain blackberries and raspberries, and then a firm minerality kicks in, along with the tannins, providing grounding structure. The finish lasts for a full minute. Winemaker Luc Morlet has really hit the jackpot with this dry, spectacularly complex young wine, which will develop for at least a decade." —S.H. (11/1/2011)
94 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2008 Vintage):"The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is opaque ruby/purple, with a wonderful nose of spring flowers, blackberries, blueberries, and cassis. The wine is opulent and rich, with nicely integrated oak, a full-bodied mouthfeel, and a long finish. It is approachable now, even though it is still very young, but should age nicely for 15 or more years. Impressive. Both are impressive Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignons that are pure, rich, full-bodied and authoritative. They are among the top Spring Mountain Cabernets I tasted in this vintage." Robert Parker (Dec 2010)
92+ Points - Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (2008 Vintage): "Bright ruby-red. Medicinal aromas of black cherry, blueberry, minerals, bitter chocolate and licorice; a real essence of Spring Mountain cabernet. Dense, deep and juicy, with lovely inner-mouth perfume to the flavors of black raspberry, dark chocolate and minerals. Finishes with serious mountain tanins and excellent aromatic lift and length. This has filled in nicely since I tasted it last winter from barrel, but will require at least several years of bottle aging and may ultimately merit an even higher score." - Stephen Tanzer (May/June '11)
