Wilson Winery
2007 Sonoma County Vineman Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
California: Sonoma County
Mission Briefing
The Anomaly
Today’s Wilson Winery 2007 Sonoma County Vineman Cabernet Sauvignon is a fantastic wine. It started out, though, as a real head scratcher. You see, the wine was very shy at first. It seemed muted and somewhat subdued. As we swirled the wine, it really sprang to life. This was a great surprise and so we encourage you to have this same experience. Try the wine right out of the bottle, but decant or swirl vigorously to see how the wine transforms.
We were lucky to have one of our favorite winemakers, [REDACTED], on our panel when we tried the wine. His insights were very valuable. His most important declaration about the wine was that it would be well described as a declassified Bordeaux. “It has that sort of initial flavor profile and appeal,” he said.
We really enjoy Diane Wilson’s wines, and this one was a thrill for us to taste. Your enjoyment of this wine will increase exponentially with some extended decanting or hearty swirling. While the wine does not possess a great deal of extracted fruit, it is a tasty, elegant and somewhat serious treat.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Slightly translucent crimson through and through, with just a touch of lighter red at its edge. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Leads with subtle dark fruit notes of stewed black currant and plum. These are quickly followed by aromas of fresh forest floor, freshly spread straw, espresso bean, black pepper, and hibiscus herbal tea. As the wine breathes, it unveils added fresh fruit aromas. |
| Taste: | Elegant and Bordeaux-esque on the palate, this is a wonderful terroir-driven Cabernet. The stewed dark fruit sits atop a foundation of sweet tobacco, blackberry bramble, aged mahogany cigar box, white pepper, clove, and a subtle note of fresh rosemary. |
| Finish: | After decanting, this wine opens up to present a refined and elegant quality, with the dark fruit, earth, and spice notes each playing off each other beautifully. A wonderfully long finish, with well-structured tannins. |
| Pairing: | Pan seared ribeye steak, with a rosemary butter reduction, served with roasted root vegetables. |
What the Winery Says
Intriguing aromas of creamy coffee, cassis, blackberry and spicy cedar are lush on the palate. The silky texture offers up hints of fresh cherry, dark chocolate, cola and rich mocha. This is a smooth, well-balanced wine.
- Winemaker
- Diane Wilson
- Winemaker Accolades
- Woman Winemaker of the Year - 2008, Unprecedented back-to-back Sonoma County Harvest Fair Sweepstakes Winner - 2005 & 2006
- Appellation
- Sonoma County, California
- Vineyard
- Wilson Family Estate
- Cooperage
- 36 months in French oak
- ABV
- 14.5%
About the Winery
The Dry Creek Valley, at the very heart of California’s Sonoma Wine Country, is the source of the world’s finest Zinfandels. But it is the award-winning Zinfandels of Wilson Winery that truly epitomize this extraordinary place.
Cross the winery’s century-old threshold and enter a realm utterly unlike any other—steeped in tradition, devoted to quality, and inextricably tied to a family, its land, and its legacy.
When Diane and Ken Wilson first visited Sonoma County they fell in love with the patchwork of oaks, vineyards and expansive vistas. Diane and Ken are devoted to things they value most—family and friends—and are committed to the stewardship and sustainable farming of the Dry Creek, Alexander and Russian River Valleys.
Winemaker Diane Wilson
Diane Wilson is as extraordinary a winemaker as the wines she creates. So bound is she to the land where her wines originate that the Wilson family vineyards are named for those she cares most about. And that love of place is expressed in every hand-crafted bottle of wine that bears her name.
Honored as Woman Winemaker of the Year in 2008 and winning unprecedented back-to-back Sonoma County Harvest Fair Sweepstakes in 2005 and 2006, Diane Wilson has shot to the forefront of the Sonoma County wine industry. These highly–regarded awards, coupled with dozens of 90+ scores and close to 100 Gold Medals, demonstrate Diane’s strong track record as an outstanding winemaker.
Diane describes her winemaking style as unorthodox. “My goal is to maximize the fruit flavor of the grape, making sure each wine has a front, a middle and a back, so it produces a full, rich mouth feel. To do this, it is all about balance. It is about having the right amount of skin contact during fermentation to extract flavor and color without getting too much tannin. It is about leaving the wine to age in barrels for the ideal length of time to soften the tannins awhile adding the flavor of oak without overpowering the delicate flavors of the fruit.”
Diane’s innate ability and years of experience tell her exactly when oak-aging is complete and the wine is ready to bottle or blend. “Watching, smelling and tasting throughout the process ensure the final wine will be perfect,” she notes. Asked which of the dozen or so wines she produces each year is her favorite, Diane refuses to tip her hand. “My wines are like my children; I don’t really have a favorite, but every year a different one needs a little extra attention.”
That extra attention is amply evident in every bottle of Wilson wine that bears her loving touch.
Vineyard Notes
Great wines always begin in the vineyard, and here is where Wilson Winery enjoys rare advantage. Whether it’s the loamy floor of the Dry Creek Valley, the higher, gravelly benchlands overlooking it, or the remote and rugged hilltops as high as 2400 feet, each vineyard expresses Ken and Diane Wilson’s passion for growing fruit of exceptional quality and character.
Wilson Winery’s approach to viticulture emphasizes quality over quantity - lower yields that concentrate and intensify the flavor of the fruit. Careful trellising, conservative pruning and vigilant canopy management enables Diane and the vineyard team to produce grapes that, over time, exhibit extraordinary balance, structure and complexity in the bottle.