Pauillac on Sonoma Mountain

Nothing's quite as good as being the first house on the beach. A little while back, we were at Joel Peterson's place on the New Jersey shore (exactly what is a guy who lives in Sonoma doing with a house on the Jersey shore??), and Joel's son Morgan -- the wunderkind winegrower at Bedrock -- had just cooked up an extravaganza. Winemaker Michael Havens was there, as was Joel's wife, Mady. But that was just the beginning. There were lamb chops and an amazing potato salad. But all eyes were on the sea -- and the Cabernet lineup that Morgan had assembled. Most of these were mountain wines. All were clothed in white linen, and all were 18 years of age.

Cathy Corison's 1991 Napa Cabernet finished 3rd. La Jota's Howell Mountain was 2nd. First? The Laurel Glen Sonoma Mountain 1991. It wasn't all that surprising.

Patrick Campbell's Sonoma Mountain wines are astonishing for their density, chunkiness and ageworthiness. Particularly when growing seasons are stretched out, this high-elevation vineyard puts out amazingly rich, muscled Cabernet that is as close as these mountains of Napa and Sonoma get to Pauillac. Like fine Left Bank wines, Sonoma Mountain bottles are never "obvious," and unlike most of today's Napa Cabernets, Patrick's Cabs reward the patient.

So when we got back from Joel and Mady's palace, we went down to the cellar and pulled out another of Pat's Sonoma Mountain wines -- the 2005 Counterpoint. From the incredibly drawn-out (grapes harvested in October!) '05 vintage, this one had shown tremendous promise a year ago, and we'd reserved a bunch that was still sitting at the winery. Okay, there were no waves in the distance. And no, we didn't have Morgan's kitchen magic to pair with the rich, concentrated, wonderfully sinewed small berry fruit. But we did have another sensational bottle of mountain Cabernet that was just beginning to hit its stride -- and has a decade of high-tone life in front of it.

Tasting Notes from the WineAccess Travel Log
"Deep, dark ruby color. Wonderful, warm aromas of red fruit, cassis, underbrush, a touch of leather. Full-bodied with velour-like mouthfeel and layers of concentration. Excellent, long finish, speaking to the drawn-out growing season. Tannins are present, but fine and ripe, arguing for an extended life in bottle. Drink now-2020."