WTN: Domaine Eden 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Domaine Eden 2012 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.0% ABV, 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 3% Petite Verdot, 2% Cab Franc, 2% Malbec. Aged 2 years in 20% new oak barrels, half and half French and American. $40.00. The name of the game here seems to be balance and moderation: there's a solid core of cassis, opening into berry fruit, a distinctive note of Cabernet greenness, but also a broader, suppler influence from the Merlot, fine tannins, and pretty well-integrated wood, all adding up to a really well-made Bordeaux-style blend that just barely reads Californian. In a way, this is not an especially distinctive wine: it doesn't make me think: "oh, that's Santa Cruz"; and more generally it doesn't draw attention to itself, except as a really finely crafted example of the genre. But sometimes that's enough -- like when you've cooked lamb loin chops with the first favas of the year.

[David M. Bueker]

Mount Eden seems to strive for elegance across the range. I am OK with that!

They're new to me, as is much of SCM, other than Ridge and Thomas Fogarty (the latter of whose wine I haven't tried since vintages of the 1990s). I've been on the lookout for one of the Mount Eden estate Cabernets since Asimov's recent article on SCM Cabernet, but I found the Domaine first. I've also got an Estate Pinot waiting to be tried, with slightly more trepidation (having generally had a lot more California Cabs I like than California Pinots...)

I am becoming a fan of the appellation, myself. I've enjoyed the Domain Eden (second label of Mount Eden) cabs before.

I'm not sure Woodside is in the appellation boundaries, but that Pinot Noir I sampled yesterday was quite fine as well.