Benziger Family Winery

Benziger’s getting plenty of press for its biodynamic vineyard in the Sonoma Mountain appellation. That property produces only four wines, and the family lavishes all the care and expense over them that you might imagine – these are the wines, in California at least, that shut up anyone who thinks biodynamics is for the birds. “Tribute” is the wine that gets the plaudits, but this one, “Oonapais,” costs less and is, for my money, just as good. It’s about two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest split between Cab Franc, Merlot, and Petite Verdot.

Sonoma Mountain isn’t that high, but this smells like it came from a serious mountain nonetheless: intense black over red fruit with vanilla and toast hinting at very good barrels. The wine enters as a plush, concentrated flood of flavor with abundant, fine tannins layered above and below the cool dense core of ripe berries. When the flood subsides, the finish is true to the aromas so there is structural integrity to go along with the in-your-face intensity. I’d lay this down for five years, but I’d be tempted about two years before that.

Reviewed August 2, 2007 by Thom Elkjer.