2008 Mount Eden Estate Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon (1.5L)

SKU #1115475 93 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Mount Eden’s 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate comes across as silky, perfumed and impeccably balanced. Dark red berries, flowers, mint and spices flesh out in this gracious, medium-bodied wine. The Estate is all about subtlety and class. Sweet floral notes reappear to frame the exquisite finish. The blend is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2028. Mount Eden is one of the United States’ great heritage estates. The Chardonnays and Pinots have a track record for aging spectacularly well. As outstanding as the Chardonnays and Pinots can be, I was also pretty surprised by the quality of the Cabernet Sauvignons. Winemaker and proprietor Jeffrey Patterson favors indigenous fermentations for all his wines, which are also bottled with no fining or filtration. The top Chardonnay bottling, the Estate, spends a year in barrel and six months in steel, as do so many of the top whites in Burgundy these days. The Pinots are made with anywhere from 20-50% stem inclusion, which can make the wines hard to understand when young. If I am looking for an aged bottle of California Chardonnay or Pinot, Mount Eden is always at or near the top of my list. (8/ 2012)

93 points Wine & Spirits

Tightly built, focused on tart, woodland cherry flavor, this finds a fresh balance between juicy and firm. Oak adds richness to the tannins, tilting the balance in their direction, but the fruit has a cool persistence that isn’t about to give up. If you like coastal cabernet (what else would you call a Médocain blend?), this is a Pacific red that belongs in your cellar. (1,218 cases) (10/ 2012)

90 points Wine Enthusiast

*Cellar Selection* Tough and tannic, this is made in a more aggressive style than many of today’s Cabernets. There’s a rich, intense core of blackberry jam that suggests superbly ripe fruit, and the oak is well integrated. Those tannins make it hard to appreciate at this time. Your best bet is to cellar the wine for a good eight years. (12/ 2012)

90 points Wine Spectator

Rustic, dense, chewy and tannic, but also deeply concentrated, so be patient with the potent currant, crushed rock and cedar flavors. Best to let this sleep for a few years, or at least give it a good decant. Best from 2015 through 2028. 1,218 cases made. (10/ 2012)