2021 Aperture Cabernet Sauvignon SJ Ranch Vineyard
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Full bottle 1,740 g – too heavy. Aged for 22 months in 90% new French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. Inky, opaque garnet. Smells of black cherry, cola and blackberries. Mouth-wateringly juicy flavours of black cherry and cola mix with dried herbs and flowers, as fine-grained tannins coat the mouth. Expansive and juicy, with nicely savoury notes lingering in the finish as a counterbalance to the exuberant fruit. A powerhouse of a wine but with a breathtaking effortlessness. Stunning. (AY)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon SJ Ranch was raised in 90% new French oak for 22 months and is entirely Cabernet Sauvignon. Displaying an inky purple/black color, the nose is ripe and potent with aromas of blackcurrant, sappy pine, menthol, and lavender oil. Full-bodied, with a weightless feel, it’s the most refined of these wines, with fantastic freshness tying it together, as well as velvety tannins and a long, great finish. It has more tannin, but it’s going to be one of the longest-lived wines in the range. This is next level. Drink over the coming years. Drink 2026-2056. Jesse Katz and winemaker Hillary Sjolund are producing some of Sonoma's best examples of Bordeaux-inspired blends today. The wines offer hedonistic pleasure across the range, offering high-octane power balanced with superb elegance, and their top reds have significant aging potential. They are continuing to offer blockbuster wines, especially their 2021 releases.
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon SJ Ranch was matured for 22 months in 90% new French oak. It takes a fair amount of time to open on the nose, and then it reveals singular aromas of boysenberry, blueberry compote, lavender and Galliano liqueur. The full-bodied palate has a balanced frame of chocolate-textured tannins and seamless acidity, and its core of spicy fruit is still youthfully coiled—its latent finish gives the impression that this SJ Ranch will blossom dramatically after several years in bottle. 230 cases were made.