The third vintage of this blend, which represents our version of a “winemaker’s wine.” Having spent so much time working in Bordeaux and visiting Burgundy, the Loire and the Rhone, I’m deeply steeped in French winemaking tradition, including their orientation toward the growing site or region. Thus, all our wines are either vineyard designates or regional blends. While Annum is an appellation wine, it is the one blend we make each year that allows us to select from a range of vineyards to make the best blend possible that vintage. This third release is composed of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon from the J. Davies Vineyard on Diamond Mountain and 5% Petit Verdot from our Pedregal Vineyard in Oakville. While we try not to use too much new oak, the density of this wine allowed it to spend 26 months in all new barrels, after which it was bottled without filtration. As with all of our wines, this was fermented with native yeasts and bacteria. Only 440 cases produced.

Highlighted Reviews: 2008 Vintage

94 Antonio Galloni, Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, February 2012
The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Annum is a big, super-ripe wine. This is a decidedly opulent style of Cabernet. Personally, I prefer some of the other wines in the lineup, as the Annum is especially flashy in 2008. Endless layers of dark fruit crescendo to the juicy, intensely rich finish. As outstanding as this is today, it will be even better in a few years’ time. The 2008 is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot from J. Davies and Pedregal. Drink: 2013-2023.

92-94 Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, December 2010
The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Annum also improved dramatically from last year. Deep, sweet black currant, blackberry, camphor, truffle and graphite aromas jump from the glass of this full-bodied effort. With additional texture and layers as well as a sweet inner core of tannin backed up by extraordinary fruit, depth and glycerin, it should drink well for 15-20 years.

93 Wine Spectator Insider, September 21, 2011
Very tight, dense and backward, packing lots of fruit and tannins. The up-front flavors, built around dried currant, mineral, graph¬ite, camphor and cedar, are slow to unfold, showing touches of loamy earth and tobacco on the finish. Best from 2013 through 2024.

92 California Grapevine. Vol. 37, No. 6, December 2011-January 2012
Medium-dark to dark ruby; attractive, intense, cedary, spicy, dark plum, cassis, and sweet black cherry fruit aroma with a hint of mocha; full body; big, dense, extracted, toasty, black cherry and blackberry flavors with notes of graphite and dark chocolate; full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Shows impressive fruit though needs some bottle aging to help resolve the prominent tannin. Very highly recommended.

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