Sill Family Vineyards 2015 très CABERNET SAUVIGNON, Rutherford
Sill Family Vineyards is a family-owned and operated exquisite boutique winery with estate vineyards producing ultra-premium, very limited production carefully hand-crafted wines. As a Court of Master Sommelier, Winemaker, Igor Sill became passionate about Bordeaux wines after being introduced to Château Margaux, Château Latour, Château Haut-Brion and Château Lafite Rothschild in the late 1970s by H. Lyman Emerson, a renaissance gentleman and noted fine wine collector.
Concluding with Estate history, however the last chapter has not yet been written! In 2016, the Sill family acquired the 24.5 acre Ardente Estate Winery, an Atlas Peak AVA, Napa winery and vineyards whose Cabernet Sauvignon have achieved notable accolades and top awards among California’s finest premier Cabernet Sauvignon wines. A great addition to SFV.
Sill owns and operates two distinctive vineyards, Atlas Peak Mountain vineyard located on a plateau 1,650 feet above sea level, and St. Helena terraced vineyard. Unfortunately, the Atlas Peak fires of Oct 2017 destroyed their Winery and it’s not yet back open to the public. Good news however, you may purchase wines direct from their website, and if you are lucky enough, find them in a few fine restaurants. Better yet, join their Wine Club, become a member, and you can get a tasting by appointment, can’t get any better than that!
In prior posts, I indicated I will discuss 4 of their fabulous wines (unfortunately this is the last one). Keep checking back with Sipping Fine Wine regularly for more outstanding wine tastings!
Tasting the 2015 très RUTHERFORD CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Sill’s 2015 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon is a hand-crafted Bordeaux-style blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec and 1% Petite Verdot, grapes harvested from Napa Vineyards located in the Rutherford Bench. The Rutherford Bench is a small and unique area in Napa Valley that, some say, produce some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon with a unique character and structure called “Rutherford Dust”. Wines with a Rutherford Dust character are describe as having a specific flavor, cocoa powder or chocolate, or coffee. Sometimes the texture of the wine is described as having tannins with a “dusty” feeling. Now, let’s get to Sill’s Rutherford Cab!
The Sill Rutherford Cabernet, in my opinion, exhibits one of the best examples of “Rutherford Dust” Character. Gorgeous deep dark Ruby that evolves in the glass with a spectrum of aromas from berry fruit, hints of dried herb notes to complex spice with notes of cocoa dust. On the palate ripe black cherry and blackberry flavors adding rich tones of subtle oak, espresso and black pepper. Graceful and elegant, the Sill Cabernet displays super fine “dusty” tannins, perfectly balanced, pleasing length, complex ending with fruit and a mineral edge. Wonderful ultra-premium fruit with world class hand-crafting made this incredible limited production exceptional wine. Wonderful to drink now but will only get better with some bottle age. Grab a bottle before this gem is gone! Tasting Sample (tasted twice)!
Cheers!