Robert Storey Cellars Stuhlmuller Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2007

By Jonathan H. Newman
Robert Storey Cellars Stuhlmuller 08 Cabernet Sauvignon‏
UNIT SIZE: 750.00 ml
VARIETAL: Cabernet Sauvignon
VINTAGE: 2008
GRAPES: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot
COUNTRY: United States
REGION: Alexander Valley, Sonoma and Oakville, Napa Valley
ALCOHOL CONTENT: 14.20 %
Rating: 92+ plus
The Robert Storey Cabernet from single vineyard Alexander Valley Cabernet and Merlot from Oakville’s Napa Valley, is a very well made wine by Fritz Stuhlmuller and his winemaking team of Kerry Damskey and Leo Hansen. A nice purple hue. Rich and fairly full with 20 months is oak; it reveals pleasant toasty vanilla with a nice combination of red and black fruits including dark raspberries, and red currants.  It possesses nice pure vibrant fruit including blueberries, blackberries, violets and crème de cassis. What also makes this wine particularly intriguing is the pleasant mouth feel, with tannins that are already pleasant and lush. This wine will age nicely for many more years and will pair nicely with lean red meats like Filet Mignon and London broil, and a diversity of pork, and chicken dishes.

Stuhlmuller Vineyards:

History

The rich history of the Stuhlmuller property goes all the way back to 1800’s mountain-man and rancher, Cyrus Alexander, for whom the Alexander Valley is named. Part of Alexander’s original 9000-acre ranch, today’s Stuhlmuller Vineyard has undergone many incarnations. Although grapes were likely planted on the property before 1900, Prohibition wiped out nearly all of the valley’s vineyards and by the 1930s it was dotted with orchards and cattle pastures.

In 1982, Roger and Carmen Stuhlmuller purchased a 150-acre property located at the southwestern edge of the Alexander Valley. Impressed by the quality of the 90-acres of original 1970’s vine plantings, the Stuhlmullers realized the remarkable viticultural potential of the land. Bordered to the east by the Russian River, the vineyard is situated on a unique geological site that is part river bench and part hillside. There, the vines benefit from gravel, clay, and volcanic soils, formed during thousands of years of alluvial fan movement and flooding, as well as from rocky, uplifted benchland soils that comprise the hillside sections of the vineyard. These ancient soils combined with the area’s climatic conditions, including clockwork fog and cool nighttime temperatures, yield fruit with a signature mineral quality, good acidity and complex flavors.

Over the years, Roger and Carmen, along with their son Fritz, have meticulously developed the vineyard into 150 acres of prized Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. The Stuhlmullers quickly established a reputation as growers of world-class grapes, supplying such notable wineries as Chateau Souverain, Cronin, and Page Mill with fruit for highly praised single vineyard wines. Fritz was so inspired by the complex, expressive wines being made from his family’s vineyard that in 1996, he established a small, artisan winery bearing the Stuhlmuller name. By 2000, working alongside original winemaker Kerry Damskey, Fritz had achieved his goal of turning Stuhlmuller Vineyards into an estate winery by converting an historic barn on the property into a winemaking facility designed specifically for the fermentation of small lots of fruit.

While many wineries claim to be vineyard focused, as grape growers, this belief is a way of life for the Stuhlmullers. Committed to crafting superior wines from the finest blocks in the vineyard, the Stuhlmullers work side-by-side with their talented winemaking team. In 2004, Stuhlmuller Vineyards promoted Danish born Leo Hansen from assistant winemaker to winemaker. Combining his classic European training as a sommelier, with his hands-on experience at such wineries as Clos du Bois, Chateau Souverain and Bowen Estate in Australia, Leo is dedicated to capturing the rich, expressive character of the vineyard. Rounding out the team are Kerry Damskey, who continues at Stuhlmuller in a consulting role, and vineyard director, Dave Collin.

Today, the Stuhlmuller family enjoys a dual reputation as first-class grape growers and as proprietors of a respected, vineyard-driven winery. Stuhlmuller Vineyards produces roughly 6000 cases of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon annually, with the recent addition of extremely small allotments of estate Zinfandel. The wines of Stuhlmuller Vineyards are available in top wine shops and restaurants throughout California and in select markets around the country. 

Leo Hansen/Kerry Damskey winemaker tasting notes:
The Stuhlmuller vineyards Cabernet grapes were picked by block and clusters were gently destemmed.  They used a mix of open-top tanks with manual punching-down of the cap, and closed-top tanks, where the must was pumped over. The closed-top tanks added to palate texture, while the open-top tanks helped to retain fruit intensity. Malolactic fermentation happened naturally in barrel; the wine was racked a total of 4 times during maturation, three times in barrel.
80% AV Stuhlmuller Vineyards all CS + 20% Oakville Merlot
20 months in oak, a mix of 90% French and 10% American.  42% new in total. The balance was two-year-old French barrels
Oak sourced from Center of French, Troncais for tight grain and Nevers for medium tight grain. All American is Appalachian oak and always M+ toast with toasted heads so deeper brown spice character vs. the classic American oak profile.   .
Cooperages for French Nadalie, Roberts & Son and Taransaud.  American from Radoux. 
Fermentation in a combination of open + closed top, punch down and pump over all using indigenous yeast
Some close top fermenters had some extended maturation on the skins, up to a total of 30 days.
 


 

Jonathan Newman served as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (“PLCB”), the largest buyer of wine and spirits in the U.S., and the largest purchaser of California wines in the world. Jonathan was Wine Enthusiast’s Man of The Year (2003) and received the American Wine Society’s Award of Merit (2004).  In 2005, he was awarded the Guild of Sommeliers highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award. He was also named by Market Watch Magazine as one of the Top Five Leaders in the alcoholic beverage industry (2005). In 2006, he was elected as Chairman-elect of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association.