Mount Eden Vineyards

It took almost seven years of us begging in order to get a little bit of these wines into the state of Oklahoma. And it was well worth it!

It's hard to over-state the historical importance of this tiny winery high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Mount Eden Vineyards traces its origins back to the early 1880s when it was originally the Paul Masson Champagne Company, considered one the most important pre-Prohibition American wineries. Paul Masson's apprentice, Martin Ray, took over the winery after Repeal in 1933 and ten years later changed the name to Martin Ray Winery.

It was also in the early 1940s that Martin Ray purchased land at the top of Table Mountain, well above the fog line, where he built a home & winery, and planted a vineyard that he named Mount Eden. Between the late 1930s and early 1970s, Martin Ray Winery was considered one of the top four or five wineries in America. Martin Ray's wines were lauded by his peers such as Louis Latour and Andre Tchelistcheff (Beaulieu Vineyards), they were consumed by Presidents and celebrities (Herbert Hoover and Charlie Chaplin were customers), and they were critically important in advancing California as a serious player on the world wine stage.

But I think Martin Ray/Mount Eden's most important contribution might be the list of winemakers that came through there before going on to found their own legendary wineries: David Bruce (David Bruce Winery) in the late 1950s; Jack Davies (Schramsberg) in the early 1960s; Warren Winiarski (Stag's Leap Wine Cellars) in the mid-1960; Dick Graff (Chalone) in the early 1970s; Merry Edwards during most of the 1970s; and Ray Coursen (Elyse Winery) in the early 1980s. Since 1981, Jeffrey Patterson has guided the winemaking while living with his wife Ellie in the house that Martin Ray built in the early 1940s.

And in all that time, throughout all of the incredible cast of characters, not much has changed about the place itself or the wines that come from it. As Martin Ray said, "We add nothing to our wines, nor do we take anything from them. With infinite care, we leave them alone."

Sorry to be so long-winded, but I get a little worked up over these wines. Once you taste them you'll understand why! Quantities are limited (fewer than 10 cases of each) but we do have the following wines in stock at Thirst HQ. Please let us know if you'd like to get in on the action!

THE WINES

2011 Mount Eden Chardonnay, ESTATE BOTTLED, Santa Cruz Mts.

In the late 1940s and early 1960s, Martin Ray planted six acres of Chardonnay vines propagated from a Burgundian selection grown in the original Paul Masson vineyard. 20 acres of Estate Chardonnay are now farmed at Mount Eden from which 1,200 to 2,000 cases per year are produced. Yields average one to two tons per acre, far below the average for Chardonnay in California.

96 points Antonio Galloni | 95 Points (#11 Top 100) Wine Spectator | "Mount Eden's 2011 Chardonnay is simply magnificent. Intense and tightly-coiled from the very first taste, the 2011 pulsates with energy, texture and pure class. Bright citrus, lemon oil, flowers and crushed rocks are all vivid in the glass, but it is the wine's exceptional balance that stands out most. The long, vibrant finish is a thing of beauty. In 2011, winemaker Jeffrey Patterson did not make a Reserve, instead all of the juice went into the straight Chardonnay. Readers who want to understand why the Santa Cruz Mountains is one of the world's great terroirs for Chardonnay should start here. Quite simply, the 2011 Chardonnay is a, reference-point for California. The only question is how long it will take to come around." (Antonio Galloni, Vinous)

2012 Mount Eden Pinot Noir, ESTATE BOTTLED, Santa Cruz Mts.

Martin Ray planted Pinot Noir at Mount Eden in 1945. The budwood came from Paul Masson's original vineyard near Mount Eden. Because Masson was a good friend of the Louis Latour family of Burgundy, it is likely the selection came from one of Latour's finest vineyards and was brought by Masson to California during the 1880s. The faith Ray demonstrated in this difficult red wine variety, at a time when America had little appreciation of fine wine, was remarkable. Today, Pinot Noir vines occupy seven acres of the estate vineyard and typically yield a meager one to one-and-a-half tons per acre. The new wine is immediately put into 75% new and 25% one-year-old French Burgundy barrels. It matures for eighteen months before being bottle unfined and unfiltered. Nothing is added; nothing is taken away.

94 points Wine & Spirits | "Rosewater, savory herbs, bright red fruit and mint wrap around the palate in Mount Eden's 2012 Pinot Noir. Intensely aromatic, lifted and perfumed, the 2012 shows good balance in a mid-weight style best suited to near and medium-term drinking. Owing to the abundant harvest, the 2012 is a bit lighter than some other recent vintages, but it is quite pretty just the same. As always, the 2012 includes a good amount of whole clusters, 40% to be specific."

2010 Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon, ESTATE BOTTLED, Santa Cruz Mts.

The heritage of Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon dates back to the 1890s, when the famed viticulturist Emmett Rixford of Woodside, California, obtained selected cuttings from Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux, France. Rixford planted his famous La Questa Vineyard with these selections, in the same proportions as found at Margaux. In the late 1940s Martin Ray planted his first Cabernet vineyard with cuttings from the La Questa Vineyard. The present-day Estate Cabernet Sauvignon vines were planted in the early 1980s using cuttings taken from these vines. Yields are low, typically one to two tons per acre. Soils are very thin (1-12 inches), with a dominant base of Franciscan shale. The climate is cool, especially for Cabernet, and influenced by the vineyard's altitude and its proximity to San Francisco bay and the Pacific Ocean. The vines are trellised in a modern fashion, which allows for a more uniform ripening. The vineyard also contains small blocks of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

96 points Wine & Spirits | 94+ points Antonio Galloni | "Most of the fruit for this restrained, savory cabernet comes from cuttings Emmett Rixford purportedly sourced from Château Margaux in the 1890s. Martin Ray propagated his own cuttings from that selection to plant in this vineyard's shallow, shale-laced soils at 1,800 feet of elevation in the 1940s and 50s, and later Jeffrey Patterson replanted it in the 1980s with a selection from those vines. Is it just a coincidence that, tasting this blind, my thoughts turned to a 1985 Margaux I tasted recently? Maybe it was the gentle elasticity of the texture, the vibrant acidity, the rosy glow streaming through a curtain of ripe, earthy tannins. This feels layered with complexity: Beyond the pure cassis tone you might find lavender, graphite, redwood bark, black olive and green herbs. But you don't need to go fishing for descriptors to appreciate its nuances: just think of it as lovely, integrated, old-school California cabernet. Buy a case and try not to drink most of it until 2030." (Antonio Galloni, Vinous)