Two Fabulous eRobertParker.com Reviews to Share!

2012 Brandlin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Mount Veeder, Napa Valley

"The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Brandlin Estate exhibits a dense purple color, sweet blackberry and cassis fruit, an attractive floral component, impressive purity, and the vintage’s hallmark characteristics of ripe tannin, luxurious texture and medium to full body. Drink it over the next decade."
- Robert M. Parker (10/2014)

90 Points

Retail: 60.00 / Bottle

Learn more and purchase this wine here. 


2012 Brandlin Henry's Keep Proprietary Red Wine
Mount Veeder, Napa Valley

"The sexy 2012 Proprietary Red Blend Henry’s Keep, a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Malbec, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, is a beauty. Its dense ruby/purple color is accompanied by notes of Asian plum sauce, blueberries, cassis and a chocolaty component that emerges with coaxing. Full-bodied, rich, savory, complex and delicious, it should continue to age nicely for 7-10 years."- Robert M. Parker (10/2014) 

91 Points 

Retail: 98.00 / Bottle

Learn more and purchase this wine here. 

"Valentine's Day Gift Guide, What to Get Her"

"Valentine's Day Gift Guide, What to Get Her" 
Men's Journal | February 2015 

"You know what they say: flat wine, flat relationship. Okay, no one says that. But this isn't the time for a bargain bottle. Instead, try this robust red (85 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 9 percent Petit Verdot, and 6 percent Cabernet France); the blend of black cherry, black tea, and caramel is balanced yet complex. $60"

Retail: 60.00 / Bottle

Learn more and purchase here. 

"More Winners for Dinner" - Houston Lifestyles Magazine

"More Winners For Dinner"
Houston Lifestyles Magazine | January 1, 2015

2011 Brandlin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Mount Veeder, Napa Valley

"First planted in the 1920s, Brandlin Vineyard has been nursed and farmed by hand for almost 90 years. It is a certified sustainable vineyard located in the southern Mayacamas range at 1,200’ elevation. The 15 distinct vineyard blocks leverage the site’s diversity of sun exposure, slope and soil. Purchased by Cuvaison Estate Wines in 1998, the Brandlin name live on with the elegant, classy label. Black currants, black cherry, a hint of black tea, followed by a lovely finish. A great new find! $60" 

Retail: 60.00 / Bottle 

Learn more and purchase Purchase Here. 

"Wine Enthusiast's" February Buying Guide

Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide | February 2015  


2011 Brandlin Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon
Mount Veeder, Napa Valley

"Solely from Mount Veeder, this Cabernet Sauvignon has small percentages of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The trio combine to offer currant and cranberry around a complex, woody core of oak, black tea and herbs.  — V.B.  (2/1/2015)" 
90 Points

Retail: 60.00 / Bottle 

Learn more and purchase this wine here.


2011 Brandlin Henry's Keep Proprietary Red Wine
Mount Veeder, Napa Valley 

"Brandlin is Cuvaison’s Mount Veeder-situated property devoted to Bordeaux grapes. This particular bottling is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon with 15% Malbec, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Juicy and woody, it opens with a rich, Cabernet Franc-like nose of herb and cassis and is balanced on the palate, with a ripeness of oak at the end.   — V.B.  (2/1/2015)"

Retail: 98.00 / Bottle 

Learn more and purchase here.

Preserving Tradition Thru Hand Harvesting on Brandlin Vineyard

This year harvest commenced earlier than usual on our Brandlin Estate
Vineyard, with Zinfandel being the first fruit brought in.

Although misting heavily, and the ground was quite muddy, we
managed to capture photos of some harvesting activities.

Later on while studying these images, we were captivated by the similarity
of hand harvesting now and hand harvesting that was done on Brandlin Vineyard
40, 50 up to 90 years ago!

Henry Brandlin’s son Chester, shared the image below. It depicts two women
(circa 1976) standing in the midst of the same Zinfandel vines, holding buckets
filled with grapes harvested that day.

In the quickly changing world that we live in today, there are few processes
and methods that remain untouched over time – even in the romantic world
of grapegrowing and winemaking.

At Brandlin we find it rewarding to preserve the historic method of hand
harvesting our estate vineyard, just as previous generations did before us.

Vine to Bottle – How Winemaker Steve Rogstad selects the best fruit for quality

"Harvest is a bustling time of year in and around the winery, however in
the months preceding I begin the careful process of hand selecting the very
best fruit while it’s still on the vine.

It is necessary for our vineyard crews to understand our high standards, and “drop” 

any berry clusters that are less desirable. Dropping fruit is a measure we take in both
of our estate vineyards to ensure that only the best fruit is harvested."

(Left: No grape cluster is perfect. Right: Fruit clusters that do not

meet our standards are cut off and dropped.)

(The diagram above corresponds with the following discussion points.)

A: Once the berries have been hand harvested and brought to the winery,
they are gravity fed into a hopper.

B: Harvest workers examine each berry cluster on a sorting table,
eliminating any clusters that are undesirable.

C: The clusters that make the grade travel up a conveyor
belt and are gently gravity fed into destemming equipment.

D: Following the de-stemmer, the berries are optically sorted.

Cuvaison Estate Wines was one of the first, if not the first winery in the United
States to employ the use of a Pellenc Optical Sorter. We use this highly tuned French technology for both Cuvaison Pinot Noir and Brandlin Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

The optical sorter scans individual berries at a rate of 1000 berries per second, and rejects those that do not meet our stringent criteria. With its high accuracy, we have peace of mind knowing that only the finest fruit will make it into our wines.

The image above shows a comparison between berries that the optical sorter

rejected (at left) and the berries that the optical sorter identified as keepers (at right). 

Once the berries are optically sorted, they are pressed. Many wineries transfer the
freshly pressed juice via a hose, however we believe this fresh and delicate product must be handled more gently. Therefore we gravity feed into stainless steel
open top fermenters.

- Winemaker Steve Rogstad 

An Educational Tour & Team Lunch on Brandlin Vineyard

Earlier this month, our team enjoyed an outing to Brandlin Estate Vineyard,
which rests 1,000 feet above the Valley floor. It is from this estate in which we produce almost all Brandlin wines, including our Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Henry's Keep Proprietary Red Wine and Estate Zinfandel. 

Varietals grown on this property include Cabernet Sauvignon,
Zinfandel, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. 

Our team convoyed up together and parked just inside the gated entrance of
the estate, where President Jay Schuppert started his educational discussion on the
Brandlin Family's rich history on Mount Veeder, Cuvaison Estate Wines' history
with Brandlin Vineyard and what makes growing bordeaux varietals on
Brandlin Vineyard so unique and special.

The entire team, especially our Regional Managers who flew in from other parts of the country, were spellbound by the scenic panoramas that could be enjoyed from every direction on the property. Cameras were pulled out; each of us wanting to bring back photographic evidence of this rugged and beautiful piece of remote land we are part of.

Jay, who is intimately familiar with the property, lead the group through each block and shared different points of interest. The photograph above shows our old vine Zinfandel with some of the vines dating back to the 1920s.

Our guided hike ended in the Oak Grove, situated on the east side of the
property where the team enjoyed a healthy lunch while tasting through current
releases of Brandlin wines. 

It was a great experience for team members from all different departments
to get together and break bread before the 2014 harvest kicks off.