Cabernet Sauvignon
Scherrer Vineyard, 2017

Winemaker's Notes

As those who are familiar with our style of Cabernet Sauvignon, we aim for balance, nuance and age-worthiness. The 2017 vintage gave a nice plushness to enjoy at the very early stage of life along with some darker fruits on the back side of the palate. Drink it young, drink it old, either way, it will give great pleasure.

This can be used as a standard for the descriptor ‘cassis.’ 100% Cabernet Sauvignon seems to work very well on this site. My late dad’s idea to plant this over 30 years ago, it has withstood the test of time and has yielded many classic, age-worthy wines. There’s still red fruits and spicy, herbal tones and some black fruits lurking, but the subtle depth of this wine is like a limousine driver who doesn’t push any pedal hard enough or swing the wheel abruptly enough to make the passengers feel like they are moving at all.

The winemaking for this has evolved from a slightly traditional gestalt to more of a Burgundian approach of no racking at all until bottling after three years in barrel. It suits the fruit well and I think the wines are better for it as we don’t squander the material’s long term oxygen appetite by handling in the open air. Those of us with grey hair may not appreciate the value of collecting young wines with tremendous life-expectancy at this point in life. But, I’m an optimist with deep wells (or springs) of hope. “The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Scherrer Vineyard is a gorgeous Alexander Valley wine. Dark wild cherry, menthol, licorice, chocolate, leather and dried herbs fill out the layers. Dark and brooding, the Scherrer Cabernet has so much going on. It’s another fabulous showing from Fred Scherrer. Give the tannins a few years to soften. 94 pts. Antonio Galloni.”