2022 Vine Hill Ranch VHR Cabernet Sauvignon
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Deep purple. Thick luscious black fruit, savoury earth, and a vein of cedary spice. Lovely texture to the tannin, soft and silty balanced by fresh tangy acidity and fine cocoa flavour. Quite elegant for being so dense. A touch baked on the finish – something I would not have noticed if this wasn’t tasted next to the 2018. Overall lovely. (SCJ)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
According to Managing Partner Bruce Phillips, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon from Vine Hill Ranch includes only fruit that was picked prior to the Labor Day heat spike. Gentle vanilla shadings accent an attractive mix of red and black cherries on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is concentrated and silky. This really seems to have it all, with a touch of warmth and some chocolaty notes on the lingering finish. It's a really solid effort.
Looking at the Grand Vin from this terrific estate, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon VHR sports a dense purple hue as well as a Bordeaux-like perfume of darker currants, smoke tobacco, sappy flowers, and foresty, earthy nuances. These carry to a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon that has beautiful mid-palate density, a pure, layered, elegant mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. There's clearly a Bordeaux-like vibe in this beauty (I suspect it was harvested quite early), but it has everything in the right place. Give it 3-4 years if you can and enjoy it over the following two decades.
Owner Bruce Phillips: ‘A punishingly hot vintage, with four days at 110 °F. Even the nights were hot in early September.’ They needed to pick early and they picked 80–90% before the heat spike leaving only Block 4. Vineyard manager Mike Wolf: ‘I’d never seen before that the fruit and vines just stopped ripening after a heat spike. Some others picked at the end of October, but at 22 Brix. It was a tale of two vintages.’ Winemakers learnt in 2017 and even more so in 2020, that they needed to pick relatively early because they knew it would be garbage later. They learnt that early picking can yield good wine. Françoise Peschon’s daughter Isabelle concurred: ‘2020 gave lots of winemakers the confidence to pick early. The fire was positive in that respect. They’re no longer waiting for X Brix (which encourages over-irrigation). So there needs to be a trust element that you’re all on the same page at the beginning.’ Cask sample. Polished shiny purple. Very lively and energetic with great drive as well as lusciousness. Mineral. Long and vibrant. Pretty smart considering the vintage. (JR)