2012 Hidden Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 55% Slope Sonoma County 750 ml

A White-Knuckle Drive & An Unforgettable Cab

It had been a while since our team last trekked up the mountain to visit Hidden Ridge, so Vanessa immediately called set up an appointment. “But not just to taste the new vintage,” she was sure to make clear over the phone. Considering how our customers make Hidden Ridge library releases disappear, she knew they wouldn’t mind taking us on a dive into the cellar. “Let’s see how some of your older wines are doing these days.”

And that’s how we found ourselves in a mud-caked SUV one rainy day a couple of months ago, white-knuckling it up to the vineyard. Hidden Ridge, after all, is set amidst Mayacamas terrain so remote and rugged 4-wheel drive is a prerequisite to get to their 48 acres—and it’s still a risky drive. At 1,700 feet above sea level, Cabernet vines search deep into the sandy loam and volcanic basalt make up the slopes, which are slanted at a 55-degree angle—a sharp enough slope that we have to remind ourselves not to look down at the abyss.

But the admittedly frightening drive was worth it: One sip of the 2012 Hidden Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 55% Slope made the vertigo-inducing climb a distant memory.

Even among the other stellar bottles that 100-point-earning winemaker Tim Milos personally opened up for us that gray, soggy day, the 2012 stood out. At nearly seven years old, it still maintains gorgeous blackberry and black-currant jelly notes, yet has also begun to reveal its underlying layers of pipe tobacco, clove, and vanilla. No wonder Wine Advocate awarded it 94 points, proclaiming that it shows “beautiful, sweet crème de cassis, Asian plum sauce, licorice and forest floor notes…this superb Cabernet can be drunk early in life because of its velvety opulence or cellared for two decades.”

With plenty of life left to go, the 2012 Hidden Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 55% Slope is well on its way to becoming one of the most remarkable reds we’ve offered from the vintage. And since it’s been cellared on-site at the winery its development is absolutely pristine, and we guarantee its perfect provenance from their cellars to yours. 

Single-vineyard Cabs of similar pedigree regularly go for close to $100 or more, with prices often spiking when the wines have been held on-site. Because of our longstanding relationship with the team, however, we’re able to offer it here for $50 per bottle.

And unlike our crew here at Wine Access, you won’t have to take a beast of a Jeep up a rugged mountain to discover how delicious it’s become. Thank goodness for that.