2012 Cimarossa Cabernet Sauvignon
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The spectacular 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Cimarossa Vineyard has exceeded my enthusiastic notes of last year. Its dense purple color is accompanied by notes of mulberries, spring flowers, toast, wet rocks, cassis and blackberries. With great intensity, a full-bodied, dramatic, voluptuous texture, superb purity and a fabulously long finish of 45-50 seconds, it should drink well for two decades.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Very dark ruby-red. Brooding aromas of cassis, black cherry and licorice are reticent but pure. Densely packed and powerful, with a youthfully medicinal quality to its flavors of black cherry, spices and chocolate. Chewy, palate-coating cabernet with a powerful tannic structure but no apparent dryness. Again, superb potential here but this is still an infant.
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Cimarossa Vineyard is fabulous. The pedigree of this site on Howell Mountain comes through loud and clear in a structured, vibrant Cabernet endowed with tons of depth. Graphite, smoke and licorice add layers of nuance. Far from an easygoing 2012, the Cimarossa is going to require patience. As always, yields here are tiny, but quality is high.
A deep, potent wine, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Cimarossa Vineyard is endowed with tons of Howell Mountain character. Inky dark fruit, spice, menthol. chocolate, iron, dried herbs and scorched earth add to an impression of gravitas. The 80% new oak comes across as a bit forceful, though, as the wood has never fully integrated. That's my only real critique of a wine that has aged well and still has plenty of life ahead.