2018 Broken Earth Winery Cabernet Sauvignon CV Paso Robles 750 ml

Half a century ago, a drive down Spring Street in Paso Robles wouldn’t have clued you in to the seismic shift happening outside town.

There were barely 7,000 people living in the sleepy agricultural hamlet, but Herman Schwartz had grand visions: He planted some of the earliest Cabernet vines in the area and later helped lobby for the creation of the Paso Robles AVA.

Today, those vines are gloriously mature—some of the oldest in all of Paso—and in truly exceptional vintages, Broken Earth bottles tiny-berried Cabernet from those original plantings as their CV. It’s spectacular: boldly dark-fruited, full of power, and gilded with a hint of dusty herbs.

Broken Earth farms over 700 acres on the east side of Paso Robles, all carefully acquired since the first vines went into the ground in 1973. Those original vines form the heart of this blend, with the small berries and their thick skins providing an intense spine that drives the wine forward on the palate. A few other choice blocks are included as well: This is the winery’s top bottling, and they skim the cream off the top for it. Given a no-expenses-spared treatment in the cellar, it ages in 100% new oak barrels for nearly two years.

2018 was one of the region’s greatest ever vintages: It was “a flawless growing season” according to Vinous, who gave the year 95 points—the second-highest score in their history for Paso. The decision to create a CV bottling was obvious from the moment the grapes came in, and the result was one of the best wines ever produced by this pioneering Paso Robles estate.