Characterful and complex, Dehlinger’s cool-climate Estate Cabernet Sauvignon bears a resemblance to the classically balanced, cassis-scented wines of Bordeaux.

Dehlinger is home to one of the few vineyards in the coastal Russian River Valley that grows Cabernet Sauvignon. Our current four and a half acres of the variety were planted in 1982 and 1983, and are positioned on a privileged piece of red, gravelly soil that faces south and invites the autumn sun. Careful viticulture and meticulous thinning of crop load are necessary to grow successful Cabernet in our region, and our hillside Cabernet vines ripen at the very end of the growing season, with the cold nights and mild days of late October.

The rich texture and full flavors of the grape are extracted over the course of a two-week-long fermentation before the new wine is placed in barrel. Over the two-year period that the wine is maturing in cask, it is racked four times — that is, transferred from one barrel to another — to allow the wine to breathe. This process develops the flavors and moderates the natural tannins of the Cabernet grape. After two years in barrel, the wine is bottled and then allowed to age another year. The result is an intense and complex wine intended to create years of enjoyment.

Growing the Cabernet grape has become a part of our heritage over the last 40 years. Made in limited quantities available only to our mailing list, Dehlinger Cabernet is one of the winery’s best kept secrets.