Spring Mountain's Finest, Aged for You
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2012 Ascent Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 750 ml
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
Their Loss, Your Gain: A Hidden Mountain Cab
Timing is everything.
It’s how we scored the 2012 Ascent Cabernet Sauvignon, which has been aged perfectly and is hitting its peak right now. Produced for a private client, the bill for this wine simply wasn’t paid—blame legal battles, trust funds, and the depravity of mankind. With fruit from an exceptional vineyard near Spring Mountain (we can’t name names), the would-be owners were primed to release Ascent at $110 per bottle before reneging on their commitment.
Last year, the winemaking team was in the midst of spring cleaning and re-discovered the 2012 Ascent. Curious, they opened up a bottle to see how it was faring all these years later. They were stunned, and so were we: The 2012 Ascent is a classic example of everything that makes mountain wines so special. Its vineyard’s northern location and relatively high altitude result in wines with generous fruit, energetic minerality, and a tannic structure that allows the best to age gracefully for years.
Today, we’re here with the final cases of this fantastic wine—which now has a plethora of perfect Wine Access member ratings to back it up.
“This is an incredible wine, you can taste the mountain in it, and it was hitting its stride perfectly. Reminds me a ton of great cabs from Pride and Hidden Ridge,” raved one happy member. “Wonderfully drinkable wine for grilling,” and “Great Value!!” touted others.
This limited-production beauty practically hovers above the glass with opulent aromas of blackberry, red plum, and red cherry, all of it complicated by generous hints of cola and chocolate. The palate is anchored by dense flavors of cassis, licorice, and black olives, and the tannins are still impeccably structured—alongside a grilled flank steak, this could make you cry tears of joy at your next barbecue—but have softened to the point where a glass or three before dinner isn’t a bad idea, either.
Better yet, there’s no need to cellar it any further: This is a wine at its peak. At our price, roughly half the Spring Mountain standard (much less one with the perfect amount of bottle age), it represents one of the best Cabernet deals on the market.