Gilfillan Cabernet Sauvignon Release
RELEASE DATE: February 11, 2025
"Gilfillan Vineyard at sunset feels like the top of the world. Farming the steep slopes is advanced viticulture and even the smallest details have an impact on fruit quality. The trick is to capture all that hard work and character in a bottle and make a wine that tells a great story."
- Jennifer Higgins, V.P. Winemaker + General Manager
About the Wine
From the first smell, Winemaker, Jennifer Higgins, can remember exactly how the fruit tasted on the vine. Aromas of ripe red berry and black currant intermingle with notes of sweet oak and delicate florals. On the palate, plush tannins present a velvety structure complemented by beautiful acidity. The Gilfillan Cabernet Sauvignon is a true reflection of its high-elevation terroir, offering a wine of exceptional finesse, character, and complexity. We can’t resist decanting a bottle now, especially in the company of good friends, but for those patient enough, this wine will age gracefully over the next 20 years in the cellar.
The Gilfillan Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is aged 22 months in new French oak barrels. Once bottled, the wine matures for an additional two years before being released.
Price | $195
Offered in quantities of 3, 6, or 12 bottles. Complimentary ground shipping on 6+ bottles.
About the Vineyard
Nestled 1,300 feet high on Moon Mountain, our Gilfillan Vineyard is an exciting place. There is almost a high-altitude feel to the air. Spectacular sights captivate the eye with views stretching to the Pacific Ocean. The terrain is laden with fractured volcanic rocks, dense red clay, and the vibrant colors of native wildflowers.
Farming on these steep, rocky hillsides is a challenging task that tests the team's determination and passion. Each vine is carefully tended by hand with every decision aimed at improve vine health and preserve the land for future generations. By harvest, each vine has been interacted with countless times, reflecting months of care and consideration.
The special combination of high elevation, volcanic soils, and western exposure offers ideal conditions for growing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. Vines at Gilfillan are low-yielding - producing small, dark berries with intensity. The result is a wine with remarkable character, beautiful texture, and layers of complexity.
About the Region
Now, recognized as a sub-appellation of the Sonoma Valley AVA, Moon Mountain has been a source of prized wine grapes since the 1860s. To find the Moon Mountain District, you must look upward – straight up the winding, narrow Cavedale Road in the Eastern Sonoma hills. Located east of Glen Ellen, the full moon rises over Gilfillan, at an elevation of 1,300 feet above the valley floor.
Moon Mountain is known for its thin, volcanic soils, which rests on ancient lava flows beneath craggy peaks. The exposure at Gilfillan Vineyard is extreme; it basks in the hot afternoon sun and cools rapidly as a result of Pacific breezes from the west.