2020 Adelaida "Estate - Viking Vineyard" Adelaida District Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Viking Estate Vineyard has a classic profile, impossibly dark and floral with black currants, earth tones, sage, crushed ashen rocks and the slightest trace of menthol that adds lift. It's seamlessly silky and refined with polished dark red fruits underscored by tactile mineral tones as cocoa comes forward toward the close. The 2020 finishes with dramatic length yet is also incredibly fresh with well-integrated tannins and a licorice, sweet spice flourish. (EG)

Adelaida Estate is one of the most dramatic vineyards in the state. One drive out through the hills of west Paso will immediately demonstrate that this is a uniquely special place to grow grapes. The sheer scale of these dramatic coastal mountains and precipitous hillside plantings is eye-popping. The bright white, calcareous soils full of giant fossilized shells are fascinating to witness first-hand and inform the wines power and lift. The dramatic diurnal swings of temperature in this region (the warmth of the day contrasted by the cool influx of ocean air each night) magnifies the drama of the physical terroir even further, to create wines of almost unfathomable intensity. A terroir like nowhere else on earth. As a bench mark property, and the namesake of the AVA at large, Adeladia Estate has been an icon of this rarified terroir for over 50-years. Their Viking Vineyard Cabernet is a perfect illustration of everything I described above. A dramatic mountainside planting, sitting on a limestone shelf some 1,400-1,600ft in elevation. The vines were planted in 1991 and are high-density spaced creating natural competition between the vines and staggeringly low yields per vine. The wine is bursting with intense blue and black fruit. Lavender, cassis, mulberry, hints of cedar, incense, wild sage and leather. Bold, rich, and powerful, but never lacking in drive or freshness and tactile tannins to give the whole wine impeccable form and length on the palate. A uniquely westside Paso wine, but one that can easily hang with the best-of-the-best cult Cabs from Napa Valley, and more modern expression of Bordeaux. The aging potential is clear to see here, too. Even though the wine can be drunk now, with 5 years in bottle, it obviously still has 15-20 years of drinking ahead of it. At its regular $80 pricing this wine delivers the goods. With our new 50% off Insider's Advantage pricing it's an absolute no-brainer.