SIMI! That ultra-popular name was put on the map by the visionary Zelma Long, whose torch is still carried on by a long string of brilliant women winemakers.

Let’s pause for a second. At $50, SIMI’s flagship Landslide Vineyard Cabernet is a stunning bargain. With our unprecedented 50% OFF though, it’s a DROP ALL YOU’RE DOING NOW level of a priority.

Anyway, women winemakers. FIRST LADIES! Where would the wine world be without Heidi Barrett, Helen Turley, or Celia Welch?

Just last year, Wine Enthusiast raved of the legacy “One of best-known winemakers in the world, Long has been an icon of the vine and inspiration to many for decades. This pioneer in the California wine scene was one of the first women to study oenology and viticulture at University of California, Davis, in the late 1960s. Her winemaking career started at Robert Mondavi, where she worked for a decade and rose through the ranks to become the winery’s chief enologist. In 1979, Long was recruited as winemaker for SIMI. During her 18-year tenure, she became president and CEO of the winery, which made her the first woman to assume senior management of a California winery.”

When asked “what is your proudest achievement?” Long’s response was “hiring and mentoring and encouraging young women. Many early women winemakers had worked for me. Diane Kenworthy, who worked with me at SIMI as viticulturist, became the first woman president of the American Society for Enology & Viticulture. Dawnine Dyer became the long-term winemaker at Domaine Chandon. Genevieve Janssens became the first [woman] winemaker of Opus One. And so on…”

If Zelma Long had not taken the helm and steered SIMI to prominence, LVMH, the greatest luxury goods empire on earth, would not have acquired it. It also helped when Robert Parker wrote of the style here as a “classic Cabernet that balances power and richness with elegance and finesse… belongs in the cellar of any California Cabernet Sauvignon admirer.”

Not much has changed with the flagships at SIMI, despite the huge popularity and growth, the attention to detail, the precision winemaking, and that omnipresent “feminine touch” that sets wines touched by ladies apart from the rest.

Deep ruby, with a barely translucent core emanating fiery crimson reflections when swirled. The nose offers up plenty of darker berries, cherry cola, scorched earth, and a hint of sweet Madagascar vanilla. Once sipped, a mediumly endowed body adds black raspberry, spice, dried soils, and graphite into the mix. The rock-solid purity of fruit, as well as impressive balance wrap up with oomph, ripe tannin, and a solid finish. While ready to please with a prime rib dinner, it will drink nicely for a decade, if not longer.

Will go fast!

How can you go wrong with SIMI’s BEST for a mere 25 bucks, from a top Alexander Valley vintage?

95 Points, Double Gold – North Coast Wine Challenge