2016 Immortal Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Slope’ Sonoma County

JD96 The 2015 Slope is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot, and it’s not far off the flagship with its awesome bouquet of blackcurrants, crushed rocks, graphite, and tobacco. It’s deep, concentrated, has beautiful sweetness of fruit, and the classic earthiness and minerality that common from the wines of this great estate. Aged 28 months in 75% new French oak, it can be drunk today with incredible pleasure or cellared for two decades.

Estate Notes: We believe our vineyard site is incomparable. We also believe our Cabernets invite comparison with the best. Robert Parker gave the 2014 Slope a score of 95-97+ points, which has earned it a place at the absolute apex of the 2014 California Cabernets, alongside Screaming Eagle (97 points, $2499), Bryant Family (97+ points, $700), and Bond (97 points, $849). Showing beautiful blackberry, toast, brown sugar, cassis, and complex herbs and baking spices, the 2014 Slope is an august cuvée that miraculously manages to contain the magic of our special Spring Mountain site in one bottle. Robert Parker praised the Slope’s “riveting richness, concentration, texture and density,” and called it “legend in the making.” And collectors, take comfort: We have cellared the 2014 Slope and it is now ready to enjoy, but Parker believes the it “should age beautifully for 25-30+ years.”

New owners have taken over the acclaimed, Hidden Ridge property and its unique terroir which has produced wines that have earned an exceptional 100 score from Robert Parker. Originally developed by Lynn Hofacket and Timothy Milos in 1990, the property’s wines have achieved a devoted following. One of the partners is Tim Martin who also cofounded Tusk.
Immortal Estate’s distinctive terroir, from its location stretching across fifty planted acres of the estate’s total 150 acres of land in the Mayacamas Mountains, enables it to produce true mountain fruits, creating wines consistently scoring 97 or over by Parker. West of St. Helena, the vineyard spans the slope of the mountainside, providing unique soil and light conditions for the fruits. Wines produced here are rich, dark, and full-bodied, with a range of palette notes including cassis, dense cocoa, sweet spice, and truffles.

This is the Hidden Ridge site, but rebranded as Immortal. The same amazing wine, the same amazing winemaker, but under a new ownership that is reinvesting in the vineyards. Why? Because according to winemaker Tim Milos, this amazing location is producing stunning fruit and making incredible wine “in spite of itself”. Without proper viticultural techniques, you get wild variances in quality and production from year to year, despite similar weather conditions. With getting 100 point scores “in spite of itself”, we look forward to greater consistency and yields in the product moving forwar