94pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2021 Game Trail Cabernet Sauvignon is crunchy, refreshing and easy to drink. It's scented of fresh blackcurrants and cherries, plus nuances of garrigue and charcuterie. The full-bodied palate is light on its feet with softly chalky tannins, bursts of mouthwatering acidity and a long, mineral-driven finish. You could drink this on its own or have it with medium-weight dishes at the table.

Winemaker Notes

With a dark, dusty, salty mix of carpaccio, sage, and thyme, this mountain Cabernet with coastal influences cranks up with nuance and tension. Inky mulberry stains the mouth followed by puckery intensity, with a silty, dense finish. Deep and clean, tasting is akin to diving into a shaded mineral swimming hole surrounded by craggy boulders and emerging refreshed, vibrating, and wildly awake.

This wine begs for grilled asparagus, roasted mushrooms, and blistered tomatoes with boar collar or a rib roast.

Vineyard Notes

The Yorkville Highlands are the mountain pass between the north end of Alexander Valley and the west end of Anderson Valley. From a high elevation site with coastal influence and large diurnal shifts, the Game Trail Cabernet offers an intense, fragrant, savory, and fresh style of Cabernet that speaks of site and demands to be paired with food. This area, with trails worn by mushroom hunters and wild game that travel through the woods, was a refuge for Chris Bilbro, who hunted here and searched for Chanterelles. The mushroom on the label is a tribute to this unique place and its purity and wildness.