“Cheat-Code” Mountain California Cabernet!
Imagine a unique family-owned vineyard at extreme high-elevation in the Mayacamas Mountains that makes full-throttle Cabernet Sauvignon with real “mountain” panache.
If you're thinking... “Those guys are going to get me to pay three-digits for an unobtanium Mount Veeder Cabernet!” The situation is quite the contrary. It turns out that "we know a guy."
This talented winemaker started his wine career three decades ago at our Elston Avenue store. For the past two decades, Alex Beloz has been crafting serious mountain Cabernet grown at altitude in the Obsidian Ridge Vineyard. His latest releases come from the 2022 vintage. They are knockouts. And they are priced at a fraction of what you'd pay if his rock-strewn property were located a few miles to the south.
Starting at our "friends and family" price of $32.99, these two Mayacamas Mountain estate produced bottlings are serious expressions of rugged Northern California Cabernet Sauvignon, at a price that has been unavailable from Napa Valley for many, many years. Read on for the impressive details, then hit down on the Big Yellow Button to get in on one of the best Cab secrets in California.
2022 Obsidian Ridge Vineyard
Red Hills of Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon
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With vines planted from 2,300 to nearly 2,900 feet, Obsidian Ridge is one of the highest-elevation vineyards in California, towering over the famous plantings on Mount Veeder, Howell Mountain and Spring Mountain.
Coupled with the site's rugged, obsidian rock strewn terrain and large diurnal shifts, it is an audacious and quite ideal place to grow Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
Aged for 15 months in Hungarian oak barrels crafted at their own cooperage in Budapest, this wine has GUTS! While so many Cali Cabs are “pleasant” with jammy, agreeable profiles to please the masses, this is the full-belted scream of a mountain Cabernet. Muscular to the bone, with structure and the vivacity of high tannin and good acidity wrapped with big body and deep, darkly-shaded flavors.
Freshly crushed mountain blackberries lead the way along with boysenberry, graphite, toast, mesquite, mocha and sage notes. Layers of gorgeous tannin and mouthwatering acidity bless this wine with an old school soul that we love. Boasting serious structure, Alex's 2022 Obsidian Ridge Vineyard Cab is a blast to drink now and will evolve gracefully well beyond its tenth birthday.
This is the kind of California Cabernet that won the hearts of the entire wine world fifty years ago. Unlike its compatriots from Napa Valley, however, this one is still priced right.
Median online retail for this gem is $37, and it is one of California's best Cabernet values at that amount. We bring it to you today for even less. If you're looking for great Napa Cabernet at the right price, set your sights a bit to the north and get in on where the real action is these days!
Vin Chicago Price: 32.99
2022 Obsidian Ridge Vineyard "Half Mile"
Red Hills of Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon
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For this premium “Half Mile” bottling, Alex takes everything about Obsidian Ridge Vineyard and cranks it up! Crafted from vines planted on the most savage, steep and rocky parcel of their vineyard, this dramatic wine is even bolder, darker and wilder.
Harvested at 2,640 feet - a full half mile of elevation - this blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petit Verdot and 6% Petite Sirah is aged for 18 months in toasted oak barrels, a full half of which were new. An iron fist in a velvet glove, it presents an opulent core of fruit with an ample, well-enveloped tannin structure.
We've been following this young wine over the past six months and it has really begun to settle in. Give it a bit of air and the more indulgent side of Obsidian Ridge quickly becomes impossible to resist.
Blackberry liqueur and charcoal nuances contribute to a ferrous and forested personality. It's like your Pessac-Leognan was kicked up a few notches! Viscous and vivid, there is gobsmacking intensity here that thrills now, and it is only going to get better over the coming 15 years.
This rare beast goes for $80 at the winery. Think of it as premium Napa with a half-off coupon. Drink a bottle or two now, and lay a few more bottles down to enjoy 3, 5 and 10 years down the road!
Vin Chicago Price: 69.99
