2023 Aperture Cabernet Sauvignon Soil Specific
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Opaque garnet in the glass, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon is everything you could want from a modern Sonoma County Cabernet. Varietal signatures abound, with black olive, tomato leaf, sage and gravel underscoring a core of sweet red/blue berry preserves, but this is another wine that needs several years of time to shed some of its serious tannic heft. A creamy mid-palate provides a beautiful canvas for the freshness of the vintage to shine. This is a screaming value at $75.
Critic scores
Erin Brooks, Wine Advocate
Billy Norris, Vinous
More reviews and scores
I tasted the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon in October, not long after it was bottled in August. Grapes were harvested October 5 through November 3. It was blended with 3% Malbec, 1% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot and matured for 18 months in 55% new French oak barrels plus 10% concrete—a new aging vessel Aperture has started experimenting with. It has slowly unfurling scents of cassis, black cherry, dark chocolate, cast iron and floral hints. The full-bodied palate is impressively concentrated without over-ripeness, and its flavors are rich yet minerally. It has an haut couture frame of powdery tannins and refreshing acidity and a very long, elegant finish. It should be very long lived in the cellar.