Whenever the folks at Obsidian Ridge mention their Lake County vineyard, clinging to the slopes of Red Hills appellation, they refer to the soil.
Steep, studded with black crumbs of lava, parched of all that allows normal crops to thrive, it is the last place a central valley farmer would consider. For grapevines, however, the location is perfect — at least judging from the wine.
Although young for a Cabernet Sauvignon, Obsidian Ridge’s 2014 vintage provides clues to the savor packed into this particular terroir. On the nose it offers deliberate fruits — somber, though hardly brooding. A handful of cherries and bursting blackberries flow from the bowl, dark but inviting. Behind this trail rustic impressions of dry brush and trodden earth. Yet there’s a homey quality that rises from this, something of mocha or toffee that folds over the fruit.
On the palate this translates into a lavish sensation as stewing cherry and blackberry strolls across. The fruits are ripe, but soft — as if muddled in a worn pestle. This overlaps an earthy foundation still developing certitude. Hints of well-used leather and peppery herbs show through behind milk chocolate and a dense swell of French roast coffee. A tannic grasp reminds you of the wine’s youth, while also promising a finely honed maturity.
For all this, however, a glimmering edge of fresh blackberry keeps the experience cheerful — despite the contemplative impulse.
Winemaker Alex Beloz rested the wine in prized Hungarian oak, 50 percent new with a medium toast, the remaining half subject to a heavier flame. The 2014 Cabernet spent 21 months nestled in the barrel before bottling.
Obsidian Ridge’s 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent wine bound for greatness. Beloz credits the unique conditions of that drought year, in addition to the soil.
“The tricky issue was that, with the record-breaking drought, the vines ripened fruit earlier than ever before,” he noted in a press statement. “Timing aside, the modest temperatures of late summer and fall afforded us the luxury of picking at optimum ripeness.”
Just shows what happens when weather, soil, a stubborn drought and a persistent grape in the right hands come together.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
