2018 Sage Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

James Suckling: 95

The Story

Secret Door Winery has searched out our favorite parts of the Napa Valley with an eye to work with dedicated grape-growers prepared to produce Cabernet Sauvignon grapes of the highest quality. We don’t own these vineyards. We have the full cooperation of the farming teams to follow our growing protocols and produce the grapes that can make the style of wine that is our vision. Purchasing grapes is not an uncommon practice for wineries in California. With a careful selection of the vineyard site and close cooperation between the grower and the winery there is no difference in quality between purchased grapes and estate grown grapes.

Winemaking

This vineyard is perched high on the hills to the east of St. Helena. It was planted in 1998. There is no current sub-appellation and it carries the “Napa Valley” banner proudly. Sage Ridge Vineyard is actually a series of small plots that run along the ridgelines. It offers a lot of diversity both in soil types and it exposures with plots facing in essentially all directions. Sage Ridge Vineyard is owned by Judy Jordan of J Winery fame. She has committed her team to a major renovation and elevation of this site which will be ongoing for several years. We chose on parcel to begin our adventure at Sage Ridge that is approximately 1.2 acres planted to a selection of Cabernet Sauvignon taken from Martha’s Vineyard. The thin soils and hillside location make the vines work hard to survive and create grapes with great density as well as potentially powerful tannin/structure.

Tasting Notes

2018 was a special growing season at Sage Ridge Vineyard. The resulting wine has both power and balance, it is beginning to show the full complexity that it contains but is many years from being fully mature. It is a mountainside vineyard source and shows that heritage in dramatic, black-fruited aromas tinged with a haunting mountain herb note. A powerhouse - with manners.