J Lohr - Hilltop - Cabernet - 750ml

One of Paso Robles best known Cabernets – drawn from J. Lohr’s top vineyards throughout the appellation.

Vineyards

The primary source of this year’s Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon blend was our J. Lohr Shotwell Vineyard located within the cool, Templeton Gap-influenced El Pomar District of Paso Robles. Our J. Lohr Beck Vineyard provided 10% of the fruit from its 1,700 foot elevation in the La Panza range in the Creston District. The final 10% of the blend comes from our J. Lohr ranches located within the mountainous Adelaida District. As is typical, we’ve added small amounts of estate grown Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc to hone the final wine. Our Cabernet vines are naturally stressed in the dry, often very gravelly, and sometimes lime shale-laden soils in the region. Water is at a premium in these vineyards, enabling the viticulturist to fine-tune pruning and irrigation to achieve dark fruit with resolved tannins year after year.

Vintage

In Paso Robles, we received generous preseason rainfall during January 2021, but an especially dry winter and spring followed. Dry conditions in 2021 forced vines to produce small but concentrated berries, typical of drought years in the Paso Robles appellation. Consistently mild daytime temperatures, though, paired with cool nights to keep berries fresh; this allowed winegrowers the luxury of patience to harvest grapes at optimal ripeness. As a result, extractable anthocyanin content in red varieties in Paso Robles reached an all-time high, with resulting wines easily eclipsing color density levels of the acclaimed 2007, 2013, and 2019 vintages. The 2021 J. Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon shows unprecedented concentration and depth, with finesse and an astonishing purity of fruit. Please decant for utmost enjoyment.