Sbragia Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso 2010

VARIETAL: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon + 5% Cab Franc

VINEYARD: I’ve loved the Cabernet from Monte Rosso Vineyard for as long as I can remember, and I consider myself lucky that my good friend Mike Martini, whose family bought the ranch in the late 1930’s, continues to share a couple of blocks with me every year. With elevations that range from 900 to 1,200 feet, the aptly named (by Mike’s grandfather) Monte Rosso is a classic mountain vineyard, resting firmly on the southwest side of the Mayacamas mountain range in the Moon Mountain District, Sonoma County AVA. Sitting above the fog line with undulating hillsides, the vineyard’s iron-rich soils are red, rocky and well drained. Vines struggle for nutrients here, and the rich concentrated fruit shows it. This harvest marks the 9th vintage for this wine.

VINTAGE: Rainfall returned after three dry years, pushed bud break, flowering and fruit-set back by at least two weeks at the front end of the growing season, and due to the cloud cover, there was no frost damage in 2010. The summer brought cooler than normal temperatures, the relatively cool growing season coupled with the unexpected heat spikes in late summer resulted in a late and shortened harvest with lower yields. Cooler than average temperatures retuned again in early September, but gave way to a welcome, warm and consistent Indian Summer that was just the ticket, bringing good flavor and color development across the board. 

WINEMAKING: Cabernet grapes from the Monte Rosso Vineyard need little in the way of winemaking technique. We picked the grapes by hand and gave them the small lot treatment, fermenting them in small tanks which we pumped over several times a day. After pressing, the wine was transferred to new French oak barrels – from the Nevers forest – where it aged for 24 months prior to bottling.  

TASTING NOTES: One sip of this wine and you know you’re in mountain territory. Bold Cabernet flavors of black cherry, wild blueberry and blackberry fill the mouth, and there’s a minerality in the background that reflects the mineral red soils of the Monte Rosso site and brings structure to the wine. The oak brings hints of cinnamon spice, vanilla and coffee without overpowering the fruit. With chalky tannins and zesty acidity, this is a gutsy Cabernet that’s built for the long haul. 

Alcohol: 14.8% 
TA: 6.34 g/L 
pH: 3.74 
Cases Produced: 538

"The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard is a fabulous and highly representative wine from one of California’s great heritage sites. A wine of tremendous promise (despite its considerable appeal today!), the 2010 bursts from the glass with graphite, smoke, licorice, tobacco, incense and dark fruit. The wine seems to gain volume as well as considerable richness with time in the glass. A huge, enveloping finish rounds things out in style. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030. -AG"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #206, April 2013), 93 pts

"(14.8% alcohol; still in barrel): Good bright ruby. Inviting aromas of crushed dark berries, black cherry, licorice, herbs and graphite. Sweet, deep and rather elegant, with a firm edge to the intense flavors of blueberry, blackberry and cocoa powder. This nicely fleshy, youthfully grapey wine finishes with enticing sweetness, serious ripe tannins and dark berry and licorice flavors accented by a suggestion of iron. Should make an excellent example of Sonoma cabernet. Incidentally, Adam Sbragia describes 2010 as "a cold vintage with a shorter growing season." The wines, he says, are not as intense as the 2009s, a vintage he describes as having "a lot of personality.- ST"
- Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (May/June 2013), 91-93 pts

“The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard is a knock-out, but it will benefit from a few more years of bottle age. From the red soils of this famous Sonoma vineyard, it exhibits a dense ruby/purple color along with a sweet bouquet of loamy soil, black currants, black cherries and underbrush. Full-bodied, rich and moderately tannic, it should drink well for 15-20 years. -RP”
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #210, December 2013), 92+ pts

Sbragia Family Vineyards Estate

Sbragia Family Vineyards is located in the beautiful Dry Creek Valley and is where winemakers, Ed and Adam Sbragia, make their limited production wine. A third generation Dry Creek Valley vintner, Ed is well known for his position as Winemaster at Beringer Vineyards in Napa. He began working at Beringer in 1976, working under legendary winemaker, Myron Nighingale. During his career, Ed has become one of California’s most talented and respected winemakers. The Sbragia family history runs deep in the Dry Creek Valley. Ed’s grandfather came to the valley from Tuscany in 1904, where he worked in wineries, starting at the Italian Swiss Colony. Ed’s father, Gino, acquired his own vineyards near Healdsburg, growing zinfandel grapes for sale and home winemaking. "He made excellent wine," says Ed, "and he taught me that making wine is a very natural process – that good grapes and good techniques will always make good red wine."

In 2001, Ed created his own label, Sbragia Family Vineyards, to focus on making limited, individual lots of wine from grapes grown in select blocks of his favorite vineyards in Dry Creek, Napa, and Sonoma. Five of the wines, including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and two Zinfandels, are sourced from Sbragia family-owned estate vineyards that range in size from five to thirteen acres. Like his tenure with Beringer, Ed continues to make “big reds,” including Cabernets from Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Sonoma Mountain and Alexander Valley. The wines all exhibit Ed’s distinctive and acclaimed style – big, rich, balanced and polished.

The Sbragia Family Vineyard

At Sbragia Family Vineyards, we source grapes from about 50 acres of family-owned vineyards the Sbragias have been farming for over 100 years in Historic Dry Creek Valley. Ed & Adam also purchase grapes from their favorite vineyards throughout Sonoma and Napa Valleys. I’ve always had one foot in Sonoma and the other in Napa. Both areas mean a lot to me emotionally. I’m more attached to Dry Creek because it’s where I raised my kids. But the wines that I’ve made at Beringer are like children, so Napa is also a very special place to me.

Dry Creek Valley:
Dry Creek Valley, a premium winegrowing region, is located in Northern Sonoma County, California, only an hour north of the Golden Gate Bridge/San Francisco.
Renowned for its idyllic undisturbed beauty, Dry Creek Valley is home to over 9,000 acres of vineyards that carpet the intimate 16-mile long x 2-mile wide valley, floor to hillside. With a grape growing history going back 140 years – one of the longest in California – producing premium winegrapes is core to this region. In fact, the valley boasts one of the densest concentrations of Old Vine Zinfandel in the world.

Alexander Valley:
Located at the northern end of Sonoma County, the Alexander Valley is 22 miles long and varies in width from two to seven miles. On the hillsides to the east and west, and adjacent to the beautiful Russian River winding along the valley floor, the valley is home to a diversity of microclimates that support the growth of many wine grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and many more.

Sonoma Valley:
The Sonoma Valley AVA centers on the Sonoma Valley (also known as The Valley of the Moon) in the southern portion of the county. The appellation is bordered by two mountain ranges: the Mayacamas Mountains to the east and the Sonoma Mountains to the west.
Along with being the area where so much of Sonoma County's winemaking history took place, the area is known for its unique terroir, with Sonoma Mountain protecting the area from the wet and cool influence of the nearby Pacific Ocean. 
One finds a wide disparity between valley floor and mountain soils; those found in flatter, valley areas tend to be quite fertile, loamy and have better water-retention while the soils at higher elevations are meager, rocky and well-drained. In general, the structure, rather than the composition of the soil, is the deciding factor where grape plantings are concerned.

Napa Valley:
Though just 30 miles long and a few miles wide, Napa Valley is home to diverse microclimates and soils uniquely suited to the cultivation of a variety of fine wine grapes. Among the internationally acclaimed wines produced in this small region are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Cabernet Franc.