Mantra
2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
California: Alexander Valley
Mission Briefing
Infinite Bliss
Each Saturday we showcase a premium or ultra-premium wine. Always at a great price. Today’s 2007 Mantra Alexander Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon fits this profile just perfectly.
This delicious wine, which hails from the coveted 2007 California vintage (to which Robert Parker bestowed a decade-high 96 Points), is a superb example of Cabernet from the Alexander Valley. That is to say that the wine is elegant while also refined and more balanced than some of its Napa brethren. Make no mistake, there are plenty of flavors and deep aromatics here, as well.
A little shy on opening, this wine softens with some swirling or decanting. For best results, let this wine breathe for at least 30 minutes.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Darkest maroon hues with perfectly even concentration of color throughout. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | After a few hearty swirls, this wine exudes a classic Cabernet nose with elegant aromas of black stonefruit, leather, dark dried leaves and a hint of mixed spice. |
| Taste: | Far more flavor than the elegant nose initially indicates, with flavors of smoky black cherry, braised stonefruit, baker’s chocolate, cassis, toasty vanilla and subtle spice. |
| Finish: | Very long, silky and elegant with braised black fruits that gradually give way to chocolate, spice and a hint of black pepper. |
| Pairing: | Perfect with a rosemary garlic lamb shank and a side of roasted baby red potatoes with salt and pepper. |
What the Winery Says
Alexander Valley is a premier world-class Cabernet growing region. Mantra has won numerous gold medals and high point score reviews over 90 for this undeniably masterful blend. Noted critics such as Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate called it “Sexy and Hedonistic”. To make this stellar wine, various blocks of our vineyards are harvested and fermented in small lots during various times throughout the year to capture each block at optimum ripeness. This solid wine shows a complex mixture of aromas and flavors driven by blackberry currant and black cherry integrated with subtle hints of toasted oak and mocha overtones. It is big, bold and delicious. Enjoy the 2007 Mantra Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley. Harvested by hand.
- Winemaker
- Mike Kuimelis
- Appellation
- Alexander Valley, Sonoma County
- Fruit Variety
- 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc
- ABV
- 14.5%
About the Winery
Mike and Lorene Kuimelis have been growing reserve designate grapes for noted wineries in the Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys of Sonoma County since the late 1970’s with roughly eighty acres under vine. They passed their enthusiasm and knowledge of wine and vineyards on to their son Mike Jr. who started the next chapter of this story by producing the first wines under the Mantra label.
The origin of Mantra Wines began with a single barrel of wine made by Mike Jr. in a garage from Mike Sr.’s grapes – one barrel led to two barrels and so forth until the popularity of the wine outpaced it’s production. At this point Mike made a decision to abandon his applications to medical school and made a business of making wine full time.
Mantra Wines is a collaborative effort between father and son – Mike Sr. grows the grapes and Mike Jr. makes the wines and runs the day-to-day operations of the small winery with his wife Dez. Our first commercial release was in 2000 with just a few hundred cases of Cabernet Sauvignon – Mantra is now distributed in over 15 states and Canada. True to our roots – we remain a boutique winery that produces hand-crafted wines of limited production levels but no longer made in the garage.