Highland Estates - Kendall Jackson Vineyard Estates

Of the three Cabernet Sauvignons in KJ’s Highland Estates hillside series, this I believe to be the best and the longest lived. It also happens to be the least expensive, although at $50, it’s not exactly cheap. But it’s well worth the price because this wine is a keeper.

Right now, it’s fairly closed up in the nose, with a hint of dried sage coming through. On the palate too, it’s showing its youthfulness. It’s tight with big, brooding tannins. But just you wait (it would be beneficial to have the patience) – because this is going to be a great wine with wonderful complexity. Leave it alone for three years and then watch it develop over the following quarter-century or so.

The vineyard, at elevations at from 900 to 2,200 feet is steep and slightly terraced. There isn’t a lot of water up there – which stresses the vines, and enables the berries to exhibit great intensity and the true terroir characteristics of the site to emerge. The wine was aged for 21 months in French barrels, 72 percent of which were new. The listed alcohol is 14.5 percent and there were 1,200 cases produced. It’s not a lot, but it’s the largest production of the three Highland Cabs.

Reviewed May 23, 2007 by Alan Goldfarb.