100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Food pairings: A seared tomahawk ribeye or other grilled beef, roast lamb, braised short ribs, and aged hard cheeses.

Scores:

• 99+ points, Jeb Dunnuck

Winemaking: Impassable Mountain is Immortal Estate's top Cabernet, a blend of the best barrel selections from the estate vineyard. The 2019 is entirely Cabernet Sauvignon and was raised for 18 months in French oak, 75% of it new. Vineyard blocks at Immortal Estate are picked by taste, lot by lot, following the vineyard's many aspects and elevations.

Vineyards and terroir: The Immortal Estate vineyard, formerly Hidden Ridge, lies on the Sonoma side of the Mayacamas Mountains, within an enclosed valley on steep, mostly terraced mountain slopes with eastern and southern exposures at 1,100 to 1,700 feet. The soils are a complex mixture of uplifted alluvium and decomposed volcanic material. Lean soils and steep slopes limit vigor and give remarkably small berries, while the site sits above the fog yet is cooled by early-morning and late-afternoon ocean breezes, building well-developed tannins and rich texture while preserving fresh acidity.

Family and history: The property was developed by Lynn Hofacket and winemaker Timothy Milos beginning in 1990, and its Hidden Ridge wines earned a devoted following. New owners, led by partners Timothy Martin, co-founder of Tusk Estates in Napa Valley, and Randy Nichols, renamed it Immortal Estate after the immortal jellyfish, the creature on the label. Timothy Milos continues as winemaker; the estate makes two Cabernets, Slope and Impassable Mountain.

In the pictures: Partner Timothy Martin (courtesy of Immortal Estate); the steep terraced vineyard of Immortal Estate in the Mayacamas Mountains (courtesy of Immortal Estate); and an aerial view of the estate vineyard in its mountain valley (courtesy of Immortal Estate).