Healdsburg Ranches
2011 Coastal Series Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
California
Mission Briefing
The Rancher
Today’s 2011 Healdsburg Ranches Cabernet Sauvignon is the perfect Spring and Summer Cabernet Sauvignon. This light-hearted wine is an approachable and affordable, delectable treat.
2011 Cabs are just beginning to come around and while it may benefit from another year or two of bottle age, today’s wine is ready to drink. With lovely aromatics and a mouthfull of dark fruit and earthy bramble.
Whether you’re looking for a great daily drinker, or you need to stock up on a great party wine, this wine will delight - without breaking the bank.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Light garnet hues with a very slightly opaque core. Ultra-skinny legs fall from mid-way up the glass wall. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Aromas of black cherry soda, sage, plum and dried herb lead to raspberry liquor and strawberry licorice. |
| Taste: | Savory and medium bodied with flavors of plum, dark stewed berry fruit, dried fall leaves and subtle bramble. |
| Finish: | Dark fruits tail off quickly as the wine retains its more savory characteristics for far longer. Softly drying at the edges of the mouth. |
| Pairing: | Serve this lighter-style Cabernet with a variety of hard cheeses and a charcuterie plate. |
What the Winery Says
Tasting Notes
Smooth drinking Cabernet Sauvignon with sweet herbal notes and dark cocoa on the finish.
Wine Specs
Vintage: 2011
Varietal Composition: 75% Cab, 9% Cab Franc, 9% Syrah, 4% Merlot, 3% Other Red Wine
pH: 3.78
TA: 5.8 g/L
Alcohol: 13.75%
About the Winery
The North Coast of California is a patchwork of microclimates suitable for nearly any agricultural pursuit. In the early days of the California wine industry Healdsburg was the center of the North Coast, a small farm town where the ranchers and farmers would come to get the tools, equipment, and supplies needed to maintain their ranches as well as themselves. It was here that they would also buy the local wines, varietally labeled, reasonably priced, and darn good.
Those of us who remember the not-so-old days still recall those local wines; lacking pretense and flash, but possessing a quality that is rare even today. Produced only a handful of decades ago from vineyards all over the North Coast, they were continually present while we were discovering and learning about the wine business in California, and we remember them well.
The wines of Healdsburg Ranches are an homage to these wines. Our hope is that you will taste in them what we tasted back then. Wines true to their variety and place of origin, balanced, smooth, easy to drink, and hard to forget.
Winemaker Virginia Marie Lambrix
While on vacation in South Africa, Virginia Lambrix tasted her first “serious wine.” Captured always by a love of nature and the out-of-doors, she determined it was time to learn about the art of the vineyard – viticulture. Within a year, Virginia was studying horticulture and agronomy in the master’s program at the University of California, Davis, with an emphasis on viticulture and enology. Upon graduation, she worked at the Hendry Ranch in Napa, and for Concha y Toro in Chile.
In 2004, Virginia visited a biodynamic farm in Chile. It was immediately clear to her that the biodynamic principles of respecting nature and nurturing ecology within the vineyard made sense in both a scientific framework and on an intuitive level. She embraced the philosophy and made a point to study and implement its principles at every opportunity. With this knowledge, she returned to work in California for Lynmar and De Loach Vineyards, both of which are in the Russian River Valley.
Working side-by-side with winemakers Hugh Chappelle at Lynmar Estate and Greg La Follette at Deloach Vineyards, Virginia couldn’t help but follow their winemaking with interest and in 2008 she began making wine for Truett Hurst Winery. Bringing her former background in the Russian River Valley to the attention of the Truett Hurst team, she added Russian River Valley wines to the winery’s portfolio.
Today, she oversees winemaking for Truett Hurst wines in Dry Creek Valley, VML Winery in Russian River Valley, as well as the Bradford Mountain and Healdsburg Ranches brands.