Watkins Family Cabernet Sauvignon Bugay Vineyard 2014 | Exclusive Sonoma Mountain Find
Watkins Family Cabernet Sauvignon Bugay Vineyard 2014 pours an inky dark-ruby color greets the eye. While the aromas are led by mulberry and dark cherry with dark cocoa, cassis, and a hint of tobacco. The mouthfeel is lush and powerful with an excellent balance between fruit and spice, along with silky tannins that resolve in a long and memorable finish. Drink now–2028.
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The Watkins Family Cabernet Sauvignon Bugay Vineyard 2014 is an extremely rare library release. Our members have raved about past library wines from Watkins, with one calling a previous offering “my perfect wine,“ while another said that it was “one of my finest tastings of the year.” We’ve got the outstanding, perfectly aged 2014 at an unbelievable price—especially for a rare single-vineyard Cabernet from an excellent vintage.
Bugay Vineyard
Notably, the small-production release off the Bugay Vineyard shows the genius of Winemaker Randall Watkins’ approach, and why his wines are vanishingly popular with those who prefer high-altitude expressions. While the site, which sits some 1,400 feet up on a Mayacamas ridge, has produced stunning Cabernets for Arnot-Roberts.
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So, Watkins sources from the rockiest block of Bugay. Sitting above frosts and fog, protected from damaging conditions and perfectly situated to absorb sunlight. Caressed and cooled by marine air, grapes mature slowly and evenly, maintaining the acidity bolstered by the complex volcanic rock soils interspersed with ash.
Precious little fruit comes off this block in general, making this wine doubly rare. Throw in the $30 price for a single-vineyard library Cabernet, and you’re looking at a deal that is as rarified as Watkins Family Cabernet Sauvignon Bugay Vineyard 2012.
Winemaker Randall Watkins & Watkins Family Winery
We are a small family-owned winery in Sonoma County specializing in limited production wines from hillside vineyards. All of our wines are rich and intensely flavored. While reflecting both their origin in the vineyard and the balance and elegance of small-lot winemaking.
Watkins consults for top wineries like Laurel Glen, but his heart is in the family business, which started in 1979. He specializes in mountain wines, specifically those of the hardscrabble, rock-strewn slopes of the Mayacamas. He focuses on sites with the warmth and sun exposure to ripen late into the growing season. Along with rocky volcanic soils that are well-draining, stressing the vines and leading to small, thick-skinned, ultra-concentrated berries.
