2019 Aperture Cellars SJ Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon | Chalk Hill Alexander Valley Sonoma County California 750ml

This smooth and rich cabernet, a mix of clone 337 and clone 7 boasts an impressive pedigree. Its fruit hails exclusively from SJ Ranch Vineyard, a 7.9-acre parcel at the top of Chalk Hill, directly adjacent to the legendary Verite vineyards on Thomas Road. | Aperture Cellars

From a cooler site on Chalk Hill Road, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon SJ Ranch offers stony, gravelly aromatics, with blackcurrant fruit and damp, forested earth. Persistent in its fruit, which unfolds with lavender, graphite, and plum skin, the structure builds and will be outstanding over the next couple decades. | 97 points, Jeb Dunnuck for jebdunnuck.com