Louis M Martini Monte Rosso Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon the deep garnet-purple coloured 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard comes galloping out of the glass with notes of crème de cassis warm plums cast-iron pan and bouquet garni plus touches of lavender and olives. Medium to full-bodied the palate is chock-full of muscular fruit framed by firm grainy tannins finishing with an herbal lift.

95+ Parker Points

The Monte Rosso Vineyard rolls across steep, rugged terrain in the majestic Mayacamas Mountains nearly 1,300 feet above the Sonoma Valley. Owned by the Louis M. Martini Winery since 1938, it is named for its rich, red volcanic soils and has produced award-winning wines for three generations. The vineyard’s mix of high altitude, position above the fog line, low-yielding vines and ideal western exposure produces wines with a unique sense of terroir. Monte Rosso is one of California’s most prized locations for wine grapes. Select Cabernet Sauvignon blocks were carefully hand harvested and hand sorted, then gravity fed into small, open top fermenters for cold soak of up to five days. After fermentation, the wine was racked by gravity into oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and aging. The blocks were aged separately for months before the final blend was assembled and sent back to barrel for more aging. The wine was barrel aged for 26 months in a combination of French oak barrels, 75% new, and American oak barrels, 19% new. The 2016 growing season on Monte Rosso’s mountaintop was another in a string of warm, dry and steady seasons with no weather events impacting quality or yield. Consistently moderate temperatures throughout the spring and summer allowed grapes to ripen fully and evenly, leading to near-ideal harvest conditions. This allowed us to pick every block at optimum ripeness, resulting in concentrated fruit of particularly high quality, rich flavours and layers of complexity.