Now, to begin with, even the regular 2022 Vina Robles Estate Cabernet is the product of a VERY strict selection. With over 2400 acres of vineyards, the winery uses only a tiny fraction of their very best fruit for their own wines, selling off the rest…to many of the top Cabernet producers in Paso robles (for FAR more expensive Cabs). And what little they keep for themselves is very strictly sorted. (They have one of the few optical sorters in Paso.) And it’s aged in only low and medium toast oak barrels from “coopers known for their subtlety.”
Winemaker Kevin Willenborg, who began his career at Petrus and made Coppola’s Rubicon before joining Vina Robles, selects only the very best of the best for this top Cabernet. Again, unlike the regular (which also sees some American and Hungarian barrels), this is aged entirely in the finest French oak.
The results are simply extraordinary. As those who overwhelmingly chose this over Caymus and Jordan (and even more expensive Napa Cabs) at our blind tastings will attest.
