Vintage Overview

The 2009 harvest will be remembered as one of relative ease. As there were no real heat spikes the Hourglass Blueline Estate blocks came into maturity over a relatively long season. The steady season produced showy deep fruit-forward characteristics combined with good varietal expression favoring the darker side of the fruit spectrum. The extended hang time and moderate conditions delivered physiological ripeness without excessive sugars, yielding balanced grape chemistry. This is a vintage, in many ways, similar to 2006.

Tasting Profile

The 2009 vintage represents an evolution of Cabernet Sauvignon from our Blueline Estate. The blackberry pie/brioche character is still a hallmark—think wafting, intoxicating aromas of the sweet, yeasty dough of freshly baked pie—but the 2% addition of Petit Verdot yielded a transformative black magic. That tiny enhancement darkened the black jammy fruit and minty, earthy, pie dough flavors. The natural stony minerality of the site retains vibrancy and textural energy in the mid-palate to lift the added richness of the Petit Verdot. Toasted espresso bean and dusty cocoa interplay with hints of sage and tar weed to reveal a complex sweet and savory character. Polished ripe tannins yield a rounded, weighty texture that has soft edges at the mid-palate while the densely focused core leads to a lingering, haunting finish. 

Cellaring Potential

The 2009 BLCS is a bit more brooding than the three previous vintages yet retains its acidity and structure. For those who enjoy younger fruit flavors, the ‘09 continues to elicit a bright pure fruit expression in its sixth year after vintage. If you want to catch it before it begins to show aged characteristics, drink it over the next year. If you want to see what age will bring, those characteristics should begin to unfold next year and continue over the next 10 years.

~ Jeff Smith, January 2016

Other Vintages

2016 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2015 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2014 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2013 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2012 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2011 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2010 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2008 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2006 Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon