J. Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon

Posted on Jun 23, 2016


Paso Robles WineLohr Vineyards and Wines is the creation of Jerry Lohr, a South Dakota farmboy turned land developer who became one of the founding fathers of the Central Coast wine producing region in California. Lohr did extensive research before assembling land in the Monterey and Paso Robles regions on which he planted grapes in the early 1970s.

His first plantings were in the Arroyo Secco appellation within the Monterey County where he planted just under 300 acres in 1972 and 1973 to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The combination of cooler maritime climate an stony loam soils attracted him as a natural for the two Burgundian varieties. Over the years he built up his acreage and the winery now owns 852 acres in the Arroyo Secco and Santa Lucia Highlands AVAs within Monterey County. He also has long term contracts on a further 475 acres in the county bringing totalled acres farmed for his winery to over 1,300.

When it came time to plant Bordeaux varieties Lohr knew these Bordeaux varieties needed a warmer climate to give him the best expression of those grapes. This took him further south down the Coast to Paso Robles. Here the limestone based calcareous soils are ideal for growing Cabernet Sauvignon. (For more on this see our article on how Daou Vineyards discovered the same thing.) He started buying acreages and planting grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon predominantly as well as Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Petit Syrah and others. Total acerage in Paso Robles region including estate vineyards, unplanted land, and leased vineyards now totals over 2,300 acres. He has recently purchased 33 acres in St. Helena in Napa Valley.

One of the great attributes of J. Lohr wines is they really deliver at a fair price point. Perhaps the most notable in their line for over-delivering is their Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon. Originally from just the Hilltop Vineyard, this blend of typically 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot collects the best lots of Cabernet from all of their vineyards in Paso Robles. The grapes are fermented in open-top stainless steel tanks and then transferred to 225 litre French oak barrels, 60% new, where they are aged for 18 months. We have tasted several vintages of Hilltop and this wine consistently delivers the goods. In fact, this wine over-delivers when you consider its price point. Throw it in as a ringer in a blind tasting of Napa Cabs at twice the price and we think you would find it to be of similar quality.

Tasting Notes of the 2005, 2007 & 2013 Vintages:

2005 J. Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon

Dark to the rim, a nose of black fruits and just a touch of cedar with vanilla notes. This wine has great concentration but is very smooth, not at all harsh. “Lush” or even “Plush” would be a good descriptor for its thick concentration and soft, angle free profile. At this price point, we know of no better California Cabernet.

Excellent

Paso Robles Wine2007 J. Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon

Beautiful nose of dark black cherry comes through with secondary notes of vanilla and spice. The texture of this wine is big and mouth-filling with black cherry, blackberry and cassis flavours resting on a powerful frame. A delicious wine that can compete with its neighbours in Napa costing twice as much.

Excellent 

 

2013 J. Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon

Pso Robles

If the  J.Lohr Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon is any indication of the 2013 vintage, we’re in for some great wine to come out of Paso Robles. Consisting of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, this wine is big and bold but already wonderfully complex showing lots of potential. Dark red, almost black, in colour. Black fruits, namely blackberry and black cherry initially dominate the nose but secondary notes reveal mocha, tobacco and a touch of vanilla. A full bodied, complex and quite balanced wine for its young age, we thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to re-visit it in a few years to see how it compares to the 2007 which we drank at 9 years old.

Excellent

1 Comment

  1. dracaenawines@gmail.com'

    We love J. Lohr! A definite automatic stop for us. So many great wines that are only available in the tasting room. (plus they are right around the corner from us – so makes it easy)

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