TN: 2009 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

WINE TALK
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  • 2009 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (10/23/2015)
    PnP - this was a fantastically drinkable wine. Fromopening to the last glass over a few hours, I was so impressed with the drinkability. The wine was very flavorful but had lots of nuances of dark red fruit and spice which lingered a long time. If I was to visit a friend and they pulled this out, I would continue to be their best friend. :slight_smile: i gotta get me some more… (93 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Joe, I whole heartedly agree with you. During a 3 day 41 year retrospective of Mount Eden Cabs a few months ago, this was one of the stars of the show. My notes seem to agree with yours:

2009 MOUNT EDEN VINEYARDS ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON- wonderful lush dark fruit jumps out of the glass and upon tasting it, it grows into greater heights and the amazing thing is it is so smooth, soft and silky amidst a backbone of bigger and bolder; by mid palate, the taste is redolent with spiced black currant, blackberry and blueberry; a fine wine at this stage and structure enough to evolve for many years.

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That must have been an amazing event! I love Mount Eden Cabs with some age on them.

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Great note Joe, I haven’t tried Mount Eden before but might have to now

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Having a bottle of the 2009 Domaine Eden Cabernet Sauvignon in my cellar, I wonder how it would drink comparatively to the Mount Eden (e.g. is it a Junior Varsity version of the Mount Eden or a completely different wine)? Has anyone a note on the Domaine?

From the Mount Eden website:

  • Mount Eden is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 4% Cab Franc, & 2% Petit Verdot. 50/50 French/American Oak (3/4 new), 1.8 tons per acre yield, 14.2% alc
  • Domaine Eden at 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. 50/50 French/American Oak (1/4 new), 2.8 tons per acre yield, 14.2% alc, slightly higher brix and acidity at harvest

The Mount Eden website alludes to the fruit being from the same areas, but perhaps the Mount Eden fruit is of higher quality than Domaine Eden.

Based on the specs above, should I expect the Domaine to potentially show more nuance and restraint and for the Mount to be bigger and spicier, or is it really not a fair comparison as the styles while utilizing similar fruit are meant to be totally different wines? Being a novice, perhaps the best idea is to locate a bottle of the 2009 Mount Eden and do a side-by-side.

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Mark- I don’t have a lot of experience with the wines other than when I drink them I wonder why I am not buying more of them( will fix that soon) but in looking at the website and from what I knew my impression is the Domaine Eden is meant to be an early drinking wine and a blend of several vineyards where as the ME is a single expression of their estate. Think of the DE as their appellation(SCM) wine and the ME as their Single Vineyard showcase. Looks like pricing reflects that as well.

Thanks for the heads up on the 09. Going to grab some of these.

For those worried they may miss out on the great 13’s or Parker or AG scores now’s a great time to backfill on some wines with age and those that may not be chased or in short supply( check out my note on 08 acv eloge)

Cheers

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Mark - your side-by-side sounds like an interesting idea to guage how close the Domaine Eden comes to the Mount Eden Cab. This could possibly help me find a new daily drinker cabernet so please post your results if you execute this comparison. Maybe a blind tasting? [cheers.gif]

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Hey Joe, have you found Mount Eden anywhere in DFW or are you sourcing through the winery? TIA.