2018 Hidden Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 750 ml

One eloquent member described Hidden Ridge perfectly: “Fantastic wine. Tasted it with a Schrader Old Sparky and it out-Schradered the Schrader!!”

The 2018 Hidden Ridge hails from a flawless vintage and a dramatic vineyard whose fruit has gone into multiple 100-point Cabernets. The site’s name comes from the 2,400-foot peaks that cloister the vineyard, concentrating heat within this hidden pocket even as they protect the 20-year-old vines from heavy winds. The terrain here is so remote and rugged—with vertigo-inducing slopes—that it can only be accessed via four-wheel-drive, helicopter, or mountain goat, if you’ve got one.

A benchmark of mountain excellence, this Cabernet is crafted by 100-point winemaker Timothy Milos from an incredible, remote vineyard perched high in the Mayacamas range. A deep ruby color hints at the power in this wine, rolling out a red carpet for shimmering aromas of cassis, berries, coffee beans, and menthol. Ripe, grippy tannins undergird notes of cedar chest and fresh tobacco leaf, and the wine cruises to a long finish. 

While the surroundings at Hidden Ridge are dramatic, it’s in the stuff beneath your boots where magic really happens. Thin, rocky soils, layered with complex alluvium and volcanic shale, force vines to distribute root networks deep underground in search of water and nutrients. The soil’s infertility also stresses the vines, redirecting resources and energy away from vegetative growth and toward immaculate ripening. Come harvest time, tiny, dense berries are hand-picked off these forbidding slopes, endowed with broad mountain tannins and dense, dark fruit.