Woodside was built on Cabernet Sauvignon. The first vintages were made by Bob Mullen and his friend Bob Groetzinger from some forgotten Cabernet vines originally planted by Emmet Rixford. Nowadays Woodside farms over 20 small vineyards dotted around the Woodside area in San Mateo County. Each year two Cabernets are produced, labelled Estate and Kings Mountain. The Kings Mountain tends to be fruit forward and more approachable on release; the Estate is more structured and should benefit from being cellared.
As is common for the Santa Cruz Mountains, the wines are held in bottle for some time prior to release. I recently took delivery of the as yet unreleased 2005 Estate Cabernet and was curious as to how the older vintage was progressing.
A dark wine with aromas of coffee and bright acidity. On the palate there's a LOT of structure; the acidity is prominent at first, with the tannins - both from the grapes and the oak - dominating the midpalate and finish. There is decent blackberry and cassis fruit, though whether there's enough to hold until the tannins are resolved remains to be seen. 185 cases made; paid $30 on release.
The winery will be open for their Spring tasting event the last two weekends in May, including Memorial Day, from 1AM to 5PM. The winery is located half a mile from Highway 84, outside the township of Woodside.
2 comments:
How do they compare to my Eden?
Good question. The Woodside Kings Mountain is comparable in style to the Mount Eden Saratoga Cuvee; both drink well from the start. Woodside tends to be a little heavier on the oak.
As to the two Estates I'd certainly give the edge to Mount Eden; it tends to be more balanced and elegant. It would be interesting to do some side-by-side comparisons, especially with some older examples.
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